Mi4 Copy?

[trf415]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1-10-RC-EP-Mi4...#ht_3782wt_939

is this any good?

[DaSloth]

i had a friend ask me about this and im curious to know too.

The thing which makes me suspicious is that no where in the ad, does it say schumacher.

[DCM]

it is made in China, they also do a 416 too

[trf415]

i think that the mi4 one looks better i just wonder whether it would be able to keep up with the official mi4

[DCM]

from my understanding, there isn't any difference, people who have bought the 416 copy have said Tamiya parts go straight on....

[trf415]

i meant whether the plastic is the same quality?

[DCM]

for that price, you could afford to replace all the wishbones and hubs anyhows.

[Garry]

The plastics and graphite parts aren't ''pure'', neither is the alloy. Basically it means that instead of melting down one type of of material and using that in the molds/casts, they use anything to hand, meaning you get a horribly weak car.

The carbon fibre is only carbon for the top and bottom few layers, the centre is FRP, so its bendy too.

Parts from genuine cars will fit, but whats the point when you'll have to replace everything that strips threads and shatters? You'll spend more than a genuine one costs.

Steer well clear and be very cautious if you see an Mi4 or TRF416 on eBay with no box and a photocopied manual.

[emtee]

Man! That looks pretty authentic...

[bert digler]

Originally Posted by emtee

Man! That looks pretty authentic...

oops

[Mad-Wolfie]

i was looking on ebay a few weeks back & spotted the 416 copies, & thought would it be worth buying one - i currently have a 415MSX & many of the parts are interchangeable between the 415 & 416 - it's only really the chassis, steering assembly & bulkheads that are diffferent.. So for about £150 i could technically "upgrade" my TRF415MSX into a 416 by robbing Peter to pay Paul, taking parts from my car & putting them onto one of these fakes.

then i got looking, yes, i can buy the car.. but what about the spares - they sell the car but no spares? does that mean i have to buy genuineTRF spares & have the aggro of wait 6 weeks for them to come from Japan like i currently have to because HobbyCo don't stock the spares for TRF's & I have to send for them on special order via my model shop? still i suppose for the price of one genuine TRF416 i could get 2 of the copies & have one to race/upgrade & pull one to pieces for spare parts.

but then i got thinking, there is a company in the UK that sells (or at least used to sell) copies of RTR Tamiya TL-01's & TL-01b's for about £80 & everyone i've spoken to who has bought one or seen them in the flesh says they are inferior to the genuine article & shouldn't touch one with a bargepole - not that the original TT-01 was anything overly spectacular to start with, but people who had them usually liked them & said they were tough & easy to get it to do what you want if you are an RC novice... so if i buy a copy of a car from the other side of the world am i going to have the same problem because how it looks on pictures on ebay & how it is when you actually get it in front of you & onto a track are often 2 completely different things & i can't exactly go to their shop & get my money back if i'm not satisfied because it's not exactly a short drive down the road to get to Hong Kong or wherever.