Oh, like Webras, or all the other fine European engines? How about Lasers? Winners of virtually all of the scale contests over there.
Renaults, Peugeots and Citroens outnumber all the British built cars in the UK. They are extremely well built, powerful and fuel efficient.
They didn't import them, they were built in Kenosha, WI. I had an Alliance that I loved! You could get absolutely silly on twisty roads and it would just cruise along. It didn't hurt that it got almost 50mpg as well!
Don't let me give anyone the wrong impression, I am an ardent Thunder Tiger two-stroke fan. I have never owned/operated a TT four-stroke, so I can't comment on them.
I am on my third TT 1.20 (used) and I just bought two of their .15's, so no one should get the impression that I am dissing TT in any way. I was just flapping the jaws about those intangible/unquantifiable things that we all notice about our engines.
Ed Paasche was talking about TT ARFs. I apologize for dragging the thread off topic. Lord knows I never do that, you know.
Getting back on topic, I would love to have another TT Super Decathlon ARF. Nice flyer and not snappy in the least. Just pretend that the wing is on the bottom and fly accordingly.
Ed Cregger
Why doesn't thundertirger4u have the new Ace servo's? Oh, not TT? Well I thought they merged. Also have you checked the radios on the Ace Hobby's webesite?
The Thunder Tiger Super Combo packages (ARF, engine, and radio) have included Airtronics radios in the past, I believe. It looks like they may be bundling them with Hitec Laser 4 radio packages now.
They aren't currently offering the Tiger Bipe, the Tiger Stick, the Lazy Tiger P-51, the Seamaster, or the Super Decathalon. They're also $40 more expensive than Tower Hobbies on the Tiger Trainer .60, which seems pretty odd to me.
Hopefully they will add more products as the site grows. The Tiger Bipe is on my shopping list and I'm doubtful I'll get my best price by having to special order one through my local HobbyTown USA.
Oh boy are you in for a shock if you ever get to drive one of these. Looking around here (UK) the place is swamped with them....Why could that be ? Because they are so damned good. Direct injection, common rail, turbo, intercooled diesel.. runs as sweet as you could ever ask. Pulls like crazy and returns 60 mpg. Gearbox is a beaut, smooth and slick. Steering and suspension are an eye opener. Having owned/driven many types of cars over the years, including some American ones, I can happily say that this is the best car I have ever hustled along fast or twisty roads and it is really comfortable as well >:-) If you don't like diesel (poor you) then there is a choice of 16 valve petrol engines.
I didn't anticipate the thing being this good until I test drove it and then started noticing just how many there are all around me. Others had discovered how good they are while I was still waiting for my old car to chug it's last chug.
Much, much better than an OS of any type >:-)
Reg
Oh! Yeah they run good new! But soon become a POS! They don't import them because they cannot meet either our crash tests or environmental tests. Cars that handle well on lots of tight curves are not that popular here, because we have fewer twisty roads. In fact in the midwest most roads are laid out straight in a grid. Even our sports cars have to be fast on a straignt line, as well as the curve.
Any of those made in France?
I bet the Germans are not that fond of them.
Strange... they have been around for a long time and seem to shrug off the UK's somewhat damp conditions. Plenty of older models just going on running, and running.
You sure about this ??? My road tax is cheaper with this car because of it's very low emmisions. (road tax is an annual fee imposed by the government on most every car on the roads here. Small engine sizes and/or low emmision levels get less tax to pay)
Renault have gone all out for safety and are rated the highest level in European tests. Apart from conventional airbags they also have torso protection bags that emerge from the seat sides and also curtain airbags that descend from the roof to protect the head. Passenger compartment structual safety is rated as exemplary.
Fast American cars that can corner.... and you call them sports cars!! Our daily runabouts, used for shopping and picking the kids up from school would probably be too wild for you to handle then, don't forget we can manually change gear while on the move as well, don't need to rely on an auto box to do it for us. Now there's something for you to aspire to, twisty roads, fast cars with superb roadholding capabilities and being able to have much better control over the car by means of it's manual gearchange.... you are never going to manage it... never >:-)
Never used a manual box ? Don't realise what a POS they are until you are stuck with one. Auto boxes are easy... I will grant that much.
Still enough of this O.T sidetracking... Thunder Tigre, was that the original topic?. are damned fine engines
Reg
The US has has the highest environmental standards in the world. I understand most european countries have caught up in some areas, but I am not sure if this includes France and GB.
You can put bags on any car. But in the US they have to meet minimum standards of speed and crash types without structural damage which would injure passangers. I understand that Germany has the highest standards (probabably because of the autoban) followed by the US.
Some of the best sports cars come from the US. Well two that I can think of, one well known, the Corvette, and another better one is not as well known, in fact the name doesn't come to me now.
I have used manual gearbox's. While most of our cars don't handle sharp turns well many do well in a straight line or wider turns.
BTW, I used to be able to do boot leg turns. Probably still do, but been som long I wouldn't dard do this on paved roads, and dirt roads are just not that common anymore. Plus I am not as wild as I was when young.
Saleen S7 Twin Turbo?
That's it Saleen!
There are several that are better than the Corvette, but among production -- as opposed to custom-made or modified -- cars, the Ford GT (not to be confused with the Mustang GT) may be tops:
Last year the Corvette won best sports car in Road and Track. But that was an evaluation which included price in its score. Still the Corvette had the best track time. Although others did better in the slalom, and some even did better in straight acceleration, the Corvette came out on top. The Saleen and some very expensive european cars were not even tested as the cost for this award was much too high. Also the Renaults, Peugots, etc were not tested, I presume because they were not imported.
Hehe, the original topic was actually Thunder Tiger ARFs rather than the engines specifically. Thanks to GP/Tower, you can actually find Thunder Tiger engines around.
Their fixed wing aircraft are another story. Thunder Tiger makes some wonderful ARFs:
Cloud Dancer 40/Cloud Dancer 60 Tiger Bipe Tiger Stick .40 Rare Bear (tough to build right but sweet once its done) Tiger Trainer .40 MkII Tiger Trainer .60 Dragonfly .15 Trainer Pegasus .40 Trainer Seamaster Float Plane Super Decathalon .40 Lazy Tiger P-51 Giles 202 .40 Staudacher S300 .60 Imagine 50 Pattern ship Expo 3-D Giles 202 1.40 sized
Some of these models are unique niche products and still nobody stocks them. You can buy the Dragonfly Trainer with a .15GP engine both for $114.95 from
Thunder Tiger makes a lot more than just great eng>>
I like their products and buy them, but only if at a steep discount. Why? Because I have delt with them twice and have had slow service. The first time was when the rocker assembly bolt stripped and broke out of the .91 four stroke. Took forevner to get a new head. I remember being put on hold, but they actually put the phone down, I heard them talking BS in the back ground for about a half hour before I hung up and called back and got a busy signal. It must have been a couple hours later when they said they couldn't replace the part without sending in the engine and they couldn't sell the part. I called the manager and told him the whole story, including the BS conversation. They sent me the part after that. The second time was when the bearings went out on on of their engines during the warrenty period, it took four months, but they did eventually replace the engine.
If I were a dealer I probably wouldn't want to deal with them, and if I did I bet it takes months from the time the order is placed to when they actually arrive.
Was this Ace Hobby that gave you the run around in particular? My local hobby stores have mentioned that Ace can sometimes be a pain to deal with. I know that one complained that any new products have to be entered into their computer system manually, where as they receive automatic electronic updates from Great Planes and Horizon Hobby.
I'm not trying to turn this into an "Ace Hobby sucks" discussion thread, but it might explain why Thunder Tiger products are getting scarce here in the U.S. despite their high quality. Some folks have mentioned that Ace was recently bought or sold, which I have no idea is true or not. It would be nice to see them do more than just waste ad money for magazine spots promoting products that nobody will stock.
Somebody out at Ace Hobby in California is going to have to roll up their sleeves and start working on improving their relationships with their dealers. If not, Thunder Tiger could one day be relegated to the list of companies that used to be.
Well it was Ace Hobby and it was after TT bought them out. In fact one of those two times, I think the engine repair they blamed it on moving from California. But that doesn't explain their goofing off while I was on "hold"! I have also had problems getting the right part number for parts also. But I think they may have improved, the last time they gave me the correct part number in a proffesional manner, the time before it was the wrong part number after a long hold.
All around the houses and back again >:-)
I have seen the adverts and a review, somewhere, of one or two TT ARTF's.
I was so taken with the Thunder Tiger engine used in one review that I went and bought one.
The review was on a TT Scooter 007 retro style model and the engine used was the TT GP 07. Both engine and plane got good write ups.
The guy who wrote the article reckoned that the TT GP 07 engine was the sweetest running and easiest starting engine that he had ever used and he reckoned he had owned plenty of engines over the years.
This little engine is a veritable jewel... equisitely made and looks just sooooooooo desirable with it's purple anodising on prop nut and cylinder head. Soon as I saw it out of it's box I had to have it >:-)
The beautiful little 07 is currently mounted on a Ben Buckle vintage model Challenger and is patiently waiting for some warm, lazy summer days next year >:-)
Reg
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