DarkHorse

I believe CML's FTX Fury Buggy RTR is a Trinity NOW rebadge (EDIT: not strictly true, corrected to IRC Photon V2). Thought the deal was good value, has lots of power, not sure about 40mph, 30mph may be. Initial observation was plenty of power, good nearly no detectable cogging takeoffs from the Mamba25 and Himax 2025 5436Kv motor, wheelies very easy with no slip point on the drive train, so won't be surprised to hear of any gear and diff problems. Does all feel quite heavy though and uses battery power up faster than other lighter 3s brushless models out there. Wasn't impressed with the slop in the steering (too many links and room for slop), nor the slop in the wheel hub and suspension area. Otherwise went well, I was impressed for the money.

First crash test: after 5mins drag racing my 3s brushless Xray m18t we both took a high speed tumble, end over end and the Fury took glancing curb blow. Whoops, oh dear, being that bit heavier a lot of parts broke. Lower front hub case clean break, the other side lower arm ripped out and dragged the rear support assembly (chassis pins broke off), front body shell mount snapped off... and more. That was bad enough but when we started to think about it, the work involved seemed long and tedious to fix stuff (compared to what we're used to)... because of the overall design concept. All a bit of a shame really as the deal is good for a newbie but the extra power will put you off the road in seconds. What's a newbie basher going to do apart from bash anyways.

Oh and the X-ray m18t, scuffed body shell, took another one of hundreds of similar spills. Can't compare to anything else as that's all I have, quicker and easier to fix, lighter, agile and more bashable but such an m18t costs a fair bit more initially.

DarkHorse

Update: The buggy was patched up and moved on to another owner today. After 5mins the rear diff blew out on 2 inch grass grazing, developed a lovely grinding noise, no rear wheel power. Then went back out front wheel drive only, 5 mins later another glancing curb touched... bust this bust that, out drives on the diff cracked. Another few mins fast up and down the street (~30mph), the front diff was toasted, so got no drive. So is it really a good RTR deal?

The reason I'm posting all this is to let you know that if you get this type of truck/buggy in what ever flavour, be aware that it will break quite easily and you need to carefully nurse it around in stock form RTR or your just not going to get a good fun to fix ratio [:@].

ludeman

Wow never heard of the FTX before but sounds like you were describing the NOW! What a POS!

Specialzed

My Feedback: (2)

link to this buggy?

DarkHorse

The FTX Fury (but had Ali chassis and black and red body styling) seems like the Trinity NOW to me. The Trinity badge version looks an even better deal and appears to have ali shock towers, better wheels/tyre and looks better styling. Otherwise looks the same underlying design and probably the same plastic components, leading to possibly similar outcomes. I haven't check the replacement parts pricing, if parts are very very very cheap then may not be all bad. See I'm digging deep to try not to be too negative but it's hard.

DarkHorse

The Team Trinity site mentions an 'Adjustable slipper clutch'. That should have saved the diffs if it was setup correctly but I saw no sign of this.

Mini_Me

Actually, the american reflection is the IRC Photon. They mention version 2 which leads me to believe the slipper and such you noticed in the NOW are now included. FTX is probably still trying to sell through their original versions.

http://www.internet-rc.com/n1brphbubyir.html

DarkHorse

Thanks for clearing that mystery up . My mistake, the IRC Photon V2 seems to make sense.

Silverfang

I have a trinity now and I know there is a slipper clutch. But does any one know for sure if the photon parts are the same as the NOW?

moreon

I have been doing some research for the last couple of days about your question. looking at the parts manual and pictures, the photon looks identical to the trinity now except for the chasis looks like plastic injection molded. But I hope someone answers your question soon because i was hoping to find the best buy and supplier. Then test it extensivly, then open a indoor race track and mini hoby shop between NewOrleans and Baton Rouge La suppling all the parts and hop ups for the winner of these two rtr kits.
Hope someone can answer the question.
"Are these 2 truck parts and hop ups interchangable?" IRC PHOTON, and the TRINITY NOW.

Silverfang

I did contact IRC. They told me the NOW and the Photon are made by the same manufacturer. They also said that many of the parts should be interchangeable, but they cant promise that they are. So basicaly they said they should fit, but buy them at you own risk.

Also I have been looking around and found another truggy that looks like a direct coppy of the NOW. http://www.teamvtx.com/v4/default.asp?mod=vtx-mst1 That link will bring you to the page. This truggy comes with metal difs, slipper clutch, caputred hings pins and ALL the metal upgrades. Basicaly it looks like the thing come with everything I want for my NOW. Its the same price I payed for my NOW. Kind of sucks for me, but the NOW does come with a Trinity motor and not a Hightech. (Openions vary but I like trinity motors.)

I am wating till some things on the homefront clear up, then I will break down and order me some rear uprights. I have Aluminum front uprights so I will try the IRC rear ones. I ordered the trinity aluminum ones from A main hobbies. They are shown as black, but came red. The IRC upgrades are all red so I will give it a shot.

Oh also Team VTX has a Buggy that looks like a direct coppy of the Photon.

DarkHorse

Update: the Fury/Photon in question has disappeared without trace, all that remains is the Himax2025 5400Kv motor and Mamba25 ESC, frankly I'm glad, after every incident I got sick of hearing 'well, it sure ain't no xray...' .

thetable

Actually it is a Feigao motor with a Trinity sticker.

Silverfang

Thanks for telling me that. I don't like giving bad info [:'(]

sblmnlmsg

hey guys..

I was lucky (or is that unlucky) enough to get my hands on one of these almost a year ago from a retailer in south africa..
It was a "prototype" from ACME racing (AMAX toys)

it is the exact same setup as the FTX FURY, IRC Photon, and ultimately the TRINITY NOW which is just a truggy version of the same thing.

First off lemme say that yes it does FLY and its a great fun toy for the first couple of days.. but then the problems WILL start.
first thing i broke was the diff outdrive cups. I fixed them (and i believe the Kyosho mini inferno parts will drop right in, but i havent tried it)
The new all metal diffs were ok for another couple of runs but they failed after running my 3cell through em the second time. All in all i have replaced the rear diff four tiimes and i still cant get more than two packs through it without grinding the diffs to a fine powder.
the front steering hubs are a bit fragile and prone to losing screws, the open spur gear loves to get riddled with dirt en the tyres wont last very long on asphalt... this buggy has more power than it should have in my opinion. the stock servo in my particular model was also rather weak and i soon had to replace that with a better quality item. The electronics are pretty good though, i have to say that but i would rather transplant all of it into a well known brand of rolling chassis and KNOW that i have quality materials and design.

Im by no means slamming the product, but i do know that its a money eater because there is just no way that the stock diffs will handle all that power for very long. I doubt there will be any ball diffs made available for this in the near future..

I have since given up on this project and bought myself a Mini monster Baja.
- sure it also has issues, but at least i know i will get aftermarket support and plenty of hop ups for it.

Bottom line is I KNOW this model is manufactured by ACME (AMAX) hong kong and its not very good quality.

Im not one to buy buy brand names to be fashionable, but when it comes to hobby grade rc i would recommend sticking with the names you can trust. especially when buying rtr. Its really difficult to tell where the components are sourced from these days for many of the rtr combos on the market today... that little purple BL can in the fury is the same thing being sold all over the net with ten different name branded stickers on it. its like the motor industry... FIAT owns Ferrari, VW owns Lamborghini, Chrysler owns Merc etc... (all of which could have changed in the time it took to write this.
Ive learnt my lesson and im sticking with Losi, (or any other Horizon brand for that matter)

see the link: http://www.amax-toys.com/html/index.php

GNO4U

Thanks guys a lot of changes have been made to the PhotonV2 since this last post. We carry a full line of replacement parts at great prices and free shipping; www.gotnitroonline.com. Check out the on-road conversion kits for the Photon and the Vulcan.