The BEST Tamiya Off-Road Buggy in 40 Years!

Just bought the Sand Scorcher. I'm 56. I had one when I was a kid and loved it. You don't stop having fun because you get old. You get old because you stop having fun.

Tamiya has the absoloute BEST box art ever.

Respect to Tamiya for edging ever closer to 1990s standards of technology.

The 'tire sniff' is truly one of the unappreciated pleasures of the new-build.

So..today is my 40th birthday.. and 30 years later I still remember my cousins Tamiya RC that looked identical to this one in blue.!! That thing was so good and handled anything in front of it ..many good memories from then. I have yet to get a legitimate RC car..I'd love one of these for sure.!!

You have reminded me why I fell out of love with RC cars & that is that they break every time you take them out! 💚🇬🇧🌱

It was 1982. I was 9 years old and I had saved up enough money raking the neighbors' leaves and mowing their lawns to purchase the Tamiya Rough Rider. I spent at least a week building it and painting the body. Putting the decals and lights all in the right spots. I had never spent that much time on a body before as I was not really into model making, but I did love RC cars and I thought this thing would look so cool. -- It's all done and while I know it's for the dirt I just wanted to do a couple quick passes on my street before my dad came home to drive me somewhere I could really use it.-- I got a little too excited and gunned it on the last run. It rolled about 87,000 times ... or at least it seemed the way to my 9 year old brain. What were once perfectly aligned decals, smooth paint and beautifully mounted lights ... were all shaved off, broken or torn. I remember even one of the "driver roll bars" snapped. -- Boy did I learn a lesson that day. I've yet to ever invest more than minutes on painting a body since. -- Loved the video ... but it was also triggering. :)

So good to see a Tamiya modern long travel buggy. Rather that the usual floor scrapers.

Great video. My first Tamiya kit was an XR311 from early 80's which was a 3 day build and used to break torsion bars for fun. Later had a Holiday Buggy, still in loft I think. Then got 8nto boats and amphibians. Watching this made me want to revisit my youth although always enjoyed the build and painting them as much as running it. 👍

Wow this took me back to one that I made with my Dad about 40 years ago! Thanks for the nostalgia. Great video, that looks a great buggy.

Great review as always. loved what you did with it. It looks really balanced on all those little jumps. Really nimble and nice landings. This is the first time I've seen someone put a decent motor esc combo in it. Nice to see it work so smoothly. Very very good.

Tip for doing the snap rings I've always used, I pull out a clear plastic bag that's large enough for the part, tool and my hands and do the assembly inside the bag. Then on the off chance it "pings" and shoots off it will almost definitely end up inside the bag instead of lost in the void. I do this for anything I'm building/assembling that is small and has a part under tension like a spring, snap ring, etc. Works a treat and has saved my butt many times for just the cost of a ziploc gallon freezer bag. This buggy reminds me of the Grasshopper I had when I was a kid nearly forty years ago, I might have to order one of these!

Excellent video! I really appreciate the attention to detail, the nice camera angles, and the info on the kit. Well done, and beautiful car!

Really good to see a Tamiya kit that is up-to-date with Hex hardware, decent shocks and bearings! Makes them much better value for such small changes. Hopefully it's a sign of them waking up to the fact that relying on Nostalgia for sales isn't good long-term. Tamiya have felt like a sleeping giant for a very long time now, if they can produce more kits to this type of standard (and better) then they can easily lead the market for quality scale cars. Leave the big stuff to the others and focus on their core strengths. A decent carpet racer, crawler and Touring car chassis to this level would be mint.

I've never owned a Tamiya (but always wanted one as a kid!) and I'd been looking at this for a while. Watching this video pushed me over the edge I've just bought one (on eBay from a German seller but looks legit). Can't wait to make some free time and build this kit!

Grew up on Tamiya RC kits, this is so freak'n awesome to see! I'll be eagerly watching what Tamiya do going forward.

Great video. Thanks for the walk down memory lane. My first "real" RC car was a Tamiya Hornet that I saved up for when I was 14... almost 40 years ago! Awesome to see Tamiya still making quality kits that you need to assemble.

Great to see you building a Tamiya again, Phil! I could tell from your voice that you really, really like this one! Love the paint choice, I think you nailed it! So pleased you didn't crash it on the first run, it really is a beauty and too good to smash up. I think you might be right about it being the best in 40 years, although (apart from the looks) the TD4 is on the same level in terms of plastics, hardware and design. Love the way mine drives. Looking forward to see where you go with this one, mate. Enjoy! 😎😎👍👍

That driver is the same one I got with my 1983 Racing Buggy Sand Scorcher and it used hex drive fasteners, all aluminum suspension and oil-filled shocks as well. Its still running today. From what you say it would seem Tamiya are getting back to their roots. Best hobby I ever had.

Wow, so cool. My Dad raced buggies back in the 80’s and remember wanting an RC just like this