Kyosho Optima Mid 1/10 4wd Off-Road Buggy Kit

What else can I say, a childhood dream returns! I wanted an Optima Mod ever since I was a kid and my older brother had one (a Turbo SE) while I got his hand me down Ultima. As an adult, I’d keep an eye on auction sights and almost pulled the trigger a couple of times on new in box kits as I’d see them pop up. I never could justify spending the money but then Kyosho started their re-releases and I kept hoping they’d rerelease the Optima Mid. The wait has ended and last night after months of waiting after my pre-order, I was able to do an unboxing video and I finally started the build with my son last night. I filmed it all in a time lapse and look forward to posting it for all to enjoy!

The kit itself is fantastic quality and the build has gone great. I can’t wait to finish it and take this legend for a drive!

This is a buggy I lusted after as a teenager but could never afford it. Over 30 years and now I can finally own one, I am so pleased it was rereleased. The build went super smooth with the typical awesome Kyosho packaging from back in the 80’s. Amain Shipped it promptly as always and I had it on my build bench in less than a week after ordering.

Just finished building this buggy, and the quality of it is astounding, given that it is a 30+ year old design. Great buggy, fun build, incredibly good instruction manual.

Wish I could leave a picture,looks awesome.
A great example in the history of rc.

Finally got around to building this buggy this past weekend and have been driving it and making small adjustments to it to suit my preferred driving feel. First of all I personally loved building this kit. The instructions were thorough and if you follow them step by step from front to back you’ll be fine even if you’re a novice kit builder. If this is your first kit don’t be put off by it just take your time. Fit and finish honestly surprised me. It was excellent. No shims required to remove any slop and everything went together very smoothly. Electronics space is tight but not really that bad. You can run a hobby wing xr10 justock no problem just take off the fan. I’ve tried it geared pretty high with a 10.5 already and esc never got too hot to touch without a fan running in grass and dirt and yeah I got this to drive not sit on a shelf so I sent it. If data log from esc is accurate esc never went over 140 and max amp draw was 54 amps. Driving impressions I’m pretty impressed. Box stock it’s very responsive maybe even a bit twitchy but quick. Quicker than I thought it would be. Some oil and spring changes toned it down and made it easier to be consistent for me at least. Durability so far seems good I haven’t broken anything yet and I have had a few crashes off jumps. Corrects in air pretty fast so plan accordingly. I wanted one in the 80’s but couldn’t afford it so I’m happy I got it now. Probably gonna race it locally, maybe. I do recommend this buggy if you’re nostalgic or want a competent buggy for the track. Have fun. Peace

Also if you’re not aware the regular optima belt is one tooth smaller than the optima mid belt so you can tighten the tension more. I’m running it cause I didn’t want to deal with too much belt skip. Something to consider cause once it’s built that belt isn’t a 10 min swap.

About halfway into the build, it is a great kit. Everything you would expect from Kyosho. I am building it up with a graphite chassis and A&L trailing arms. This will be my 80's re-re dream buggy. Can't wait to run it. A-Main got it to me super quick with no hassles, like always.

The is a must have for any collector. The chassis is beautiful new alloy and every part of it is a pleasure to build. The only downside is that the original run which came with Turbo Optima Mid decals and wing is no longer available. I will treasure mine. I do run it, albeit in the church gym, but I do run it and jump it too. Awesome.

My first rc car was a Kyosho Optima in 1985. I always wanted to get the Kyosho Optima mid the re-release is better designed than the Kyosho Optima re-release. This is typical high-quality Kyosho kit, fun to build, but keep in mind it is a tuner car from the mid 80s.

I have the 1987 model and I love it I will definitely buy this new updated version as soon as it is available