I remember being a kid in the 80's with no money drooling over the grasshoppers in the hobby store!! On a better note, my older 1st cousin gave me his mint barely used Kyosho Rocky 4WD so I ended up a happy camper. Still always loved the look of the grasshoppers though, think I'll finally get one!
Back in th 80s I didnæt even know Tamiya existed. I was drooling over the Taiyos/Nikkos at the local hobby store and would probably have fanted if I had seen a Tamiya Grasshopper back then. The Kyosho are legends too and I'll bet the Kyosho Rocky handes better than a Grasshopper. In another perspective the Grasshopper is such a timeless and cool visual design and provides great fun even at slow speed :-) Thanks for watching and sharing your memories.
haha same these proper RC cars were always outside of my pocketmoney reach. I could afford the "mini 4wd" cars though with the little wheels on all four corners that you could race around preconfigured tracks a bit like slot cars. Never could afford the track though but had heaps of fun nonetheless
Nice! It's such a great kit. You will have much fun building it and racing with each other! You should race your Hornet against him so he has a chance :-) The 4WD's will have too much grip and control. Looking forward to when my son is old enough for his first real Tamiya :-)
I like the original! that newer style just looks like a toy from a toy store the way the body looks and the rear on it reminds me of a tyco turbo hopper!
I like 'em both. And I loooove the Taiyo Jet Hopper. One of the most beautiful buggies ever made. It's all subjective :-) The Rising Fighter is actually utilizing a Super Hornet 1993 body. Cut the wing from a Super Hornet and mount it seperately and there you have a Rising Fighter. The body just needs to get lowered in the rear and then it will look almost exactely as the Super Hornet.
just don't do anything for me , it's the crazy high rear suspension causing all the funkyness of the buggy... some like it I guess and some don't just my opinion. :-)
Yeah, on that one I agree. The rear needs to be lowered considarably. It's the DT-01 Gear box shcok mounts that causes it. Luckily AMPro already has the solution for that :-) I'm not too found of the decals too. They're ok, but a bit too blinky blinky and sparkly. Gonna fix both some time in the future ;-)
You know what I have a fighter GR DT02 and just thought about it ...the buggy you have is kind of the same see on the GR DT02 I have they have the funky side exhaust going on like your buggy I think tamiya made this the latest style of what you have? i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad53/shenlonco/RC%20cars/grviolet_zps8fb7c2e8.jpg
So cool! This green one is my first Grasshopper. Tons of fun but yes, by modern standards quite slow for a 1/10 buggy. A 540 motor is a nice upgrade for it. Will run as fast as a Hornet :-)
great video! great comparison! do you recommend the 540 and lipo in the grasshoper? Will there be rapid wear of differentials and crown? In short, which is the fastest? Which one supports more speed without such rapid wear the fighter or the grasshopper? Cheers! 
The gears of both the RF and GH are good for speed. Quite durable. Just make sure you change the stock aluminium pinion gear to a steel one (if you can find one for sale) if you want to protect the spur gear. But well, that is important no matter what motor or battery you use. And yeah, the Grasshopper will be much faster with a 540. Got another Grasshopper where I am running a 540 versus this Grasshopper with the 380.
The Rising Fighter does look like the big brother of the Grasshopper. But out of the box the 540 motor gives the Fighter the edge in speed. In a sense would the Hornet be the closer comparison.
Yeah, I think the Rising Fighter is the most 'beefy' of all the five "Grasshoppers" (with a GH or GH2 chassis) mainly because of the DT-01 Gear box and the modern sized 1/10th wheels/tires. And yes, I agree, if it was equipped with oil filled dampers it would sure qualify as a Hornet III. Will do some comparison in the future with both my Hornet and Super Hornet, when they're up and running. Thanks for watching, my friend.
Very nice comarison. I also like the old kits most. And I agree with shenlonco: The Grasshopper I has much more charm, I think. I dont really like the back side of the rising fighter. For me the best hoop up is the hornet!
+MrZinzin2000 Thank you very much. Yeah, the Grasshopper certainly has charm. I simply love it, and has been running it quite a bit here in the summer - imagine that, a model with a 380 motor that you like to run and look at while it's running :-) I also like the GH2 series and I find it quite amazing that it's youngest member is from 2008. I even like the DT-01 series :-)
True Buggy I really like the Rising Fighter body. Take a look at the Super Hornet. It really looks great when the rear is lowered. But I do agree on The Grasshopper. It looks superb, though I normally prefer buggies with a separate wing.
Krakow 04 I'm afraid I have not measured it and as far as I know Tamiya do not have any specifications on it. But they are both not speed demons, that's for sure. Stock like this, I would estimate The Grasshopper to something between 15-20 km/h and The Rising Fighter to something between 20-30 km/h but I'm not sure. Both can be upgraded of course, but there's no official way to change the size of the pinion gears with the 540 motor, but I've seen people run them with brushless set ups, steel pinions and 2-3S LiPo's and the gears can take it. But very fast, they will probably never be :-) But fun to run for sure.
Ahh, the Rising Fighter just needed a couple of adjustments to look good I think. Search for it on my channel and you will find my ‘new’ Rising Fighter 🙂
Yeah, much bigger motor and chassis. But it is very high centered and flips much more easily than the Grasshopper. I just did a long video upgrade series with the Rising Fighter, where I changed all the basic problems it has. Now my Rising Fighter is definitly the best capable of all my hopper/hornets. Thanks for watching, g don.
I remember being a kid in the 80's with no money drooling over the grasshoppers in the hobby store!! On a better note, my older 1st cousin gave me his mint barely used Kyosho Rocky 4WD so I ended up a happy camper. Still always loved the look of the grasshoppers though, think I'll finally get one!
Back in th 80s I didnæt even know Tamiya existed. I was drooling over the Taiyos/Nikkos at the local hobby store and would probably have fanted if I had seen a Tamiya Grasshopper back then. The Kyosho are legends too and I'll bet the Kyosho Rocky handes better than a Grasshopper. In another perspective the Grasshopper is such a timeless and cool visual design and provides great fun even at slow speed :-) Thanks for watching and sharing your memories.
Wish I still had the Rocky, and judging by the prices on ebay, it may be a while before I replace it! Man, I can't believe what they want for them.
+J Trice Yeah some vintage RC models has really gone up in price. That's the beauty of the rereleases :-)
haha same these proper RC cars were always outside of my pocketmoney reach. I could afford the "mini 4wd" cars though with the little wheels on all four corners that you could race around preconfigured tracks a bit like slot cars. Never could afford the track though but had heaps of fun nonetheless
The Grashopper body is such a great style.
True Buggy True! Love it.
Especially in that colour
Old vs new! My dad still has his original grasshopper from the 80's and I've had the rising fighter for 3 1/2 years now.
Yeah! Nice. I hope you have some good races together. I think you can beat your old man if he still has a 1980s 380 type motor in his :-)
Just about to buy a RF for my son as his 1st rc car. I have a re-release hornet and originals of Hotshot and Boomerang. Great fun!
Nice! It's such a great kit. You will have much fun building it and racing with each other! You should race your Hornet against him so he has a chance :-) The 4WD's will have too much grip and control. Looking forward to when my son is old enough for his first real Tamiya :-)
In the middle of building my Grasshopper 2! So excited to run it :)
Ohh, somehow I missed out on this comment. Sorry! Sounds good with the Grasshopper 2! I'm building one myself right now :-)
Run it yet?
Nordic RC Visions yep its brilliant 😊🏎
Solr Clan Good to hear! :-)
I like the original! that newer style just looks like a toy from a toy store the way the body looks and the rear on it reminds me of a tyco turbo hopper!
I like 'em both. And I loooove the Taiyo Jet Hopper. One of the most beautiful buggies ever made. It's all subjective :-) The Rising Fighter is actually utilizing a Super Hornet 1993 body. Cut the wing from a Super Hornet and mount it seperately and there you have a Rising Fighter. The body just needs to get lowered in the rear and then it will look almost exactely as the Super Hornet.
just don't do anything for me , it's the crazy high rear suspension causing all the funkyness of the buggy... some like it I guess and some don't just my opinion. :-)
Yeah, on that one I agree. The rear needs to be lowered considarably. It's the DT-01 Gear box shcok mounts that causes it. Luckily AMPro already has the solution for that :-) I'm not too found of the decals too. They're ok, but a bit too blinky blinky and sparkly. Gonna fix both some time in the future ;-)
You know what I have a fighter GR DT02 and just thought about it ...the buggy you have is kind of the same see on the GR DT02 I have they have the funky side exhaust going on like your buggy I think tamiya made this the latest style of what you have?
i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad53/shenlonco/RC%20cars/grviolet_zps8fb7c2e8.jpg
Yeah, those exhausts on the Super Fighter are funky :-) So funky I actually like them. The latest style of what I have?
I just bought me a grasshopper kit for Christmas man is it slow but boy is a ton of fun...........😁
So cool! This green one is my first Grasshopper. Tons of fun but yes, by modern standards quite slow for a 1/10 buggy. A 540 motor is a nice upgrade for it. Will run as fast as a Hornet :-)
great video! great comparison! do you recommend the 540 and lipo in the grasshoper? Will there be rapid wear of differentials and crown? In short, which is the fastest? Which one supports more speed without such rapid wear the fighter or the grasshopper? Cheers!

The gears of both the RF and GH are good for speed. Quite durable. Just make sure you change the stock aluminium pinion gear to a steel one (if you can find one for sale) if you want to protect the spur gear. But well, that is important no matter what motor or battery you use. And yeah, the Grasshopper will be much faster with a 540. Got another Grasshopper where I am running a 540 versus this Grasshopper with the 380.
Good lord you have some awesome videos! Not to mention awesome cars!!💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼
Thanks man! What an awesome comment! Appreciate it. Got a few iconic cars, luckily they are quite affordable compared to other modern RC cars :-)
Nordic RC Visions anytime, keep up the great work! And yes I'm the same way, the more affordable, the more you can have!! Hehe😅
blzr2bull The affordable ones are also a bit dangerous, as you are in danger of having more than you need and too little space to store them :-)
Nordic RC Visions yes, I can relate, I own over 25 cars now. And I still want more! Sheesh!😅
The RC virus is hard to get rid off ... luckily :-)
The Rising Fighter does look like the big brother of the Grasshopper. But out of the box the 540 motor gives the Fighter the edge in speed. In a sense would the Hornet be the closer comparison.
Yeah, I think the Rising Fighter is the most 'beefy' of all the five "Grasshoppers" (with a GH or GH2 chassis) mainly because of the DT-01 Gear box and the modern sized 1/10th wheels/tires. And yes, I agree, if it was equipped with oil filled dampers it would sure qualify as a Hornet III. Will do some comparison in the future with both my Hornet and Super Hornet, when they're up and running. Thanks for watching, my friend.
Very nice comarison. I also like the old kits most. And I agree with shenlonco: The Grasshopper I has much more charm, I think. I dont really like the back side of the rising fighter. For me the best hoop up is the hornet!
+MrZinzin2000 Thank you very much. Yeah, the Grasshopper certainly has charm. I simply love it, and has been running it quite a bit here in the summer - imagine that, a model with a 380 motor that you like to run and look at while it's running :-) I also like the GH2 series and I find it quite amazing that it's youngest member is from 2008. I even like the DT-01 series :-)
The Fighter's body does not complement the chassis like the Grashopper does, I agree. But I like that the Rising Fighter is like a Grasshopper 3.
True Buggy I really like the Rising Fighter body. Take a look at the Super Hornet. It really looks great when the rear is lowered. But I do agree on The Grasshopper. It looks superb, though I normally prefer buggies with a separate wing.
The grasshopper is OG
What is their top speed?? I'm thinking of buying one but I'm not sure...
Krakow 04 I'm afraid I have not measured it and as far as I know Tamiya do not have any specifications on it. But they are both not speed demons, that's for sure. Stock like this, I would estimate The Grasshopper to something between 15-20 km/h and The Rising Fighter to something between 20-30 km/h but I'm not sure. Both can be upgraded of course, but there's no official way to change the size of the pinion gears with the 540 motor, but I've seen people run them with brushless set ups, steel pinions and 2-3S LiPo's and the gears can take it. But very fast, they will probably never be :-) But fun to run for sure.
Thank you mate, this helped. Awesome video btw
Thanks for the nice feedback! Always glad to help!
I just ordered a Grasshopper off eBay. is built by someone else. Is a Rising Fighter a good first kit to build?
Yeah, I would say any Hornet/Grasshopper is a good first kit to build. Can't get anymore simpler.
The grass hopper is the original
0:52 cute : )
He he, I like the cute Hoppers "talking" to each other too :-)
Good Design vs Bad design
Ahh, the Rising Fighter just needed a couple of adjustments to look good I think. Search for it on my channel and you will find my ‘new’ Rising Fighter 🙂
Not a grasshopper 2 just because they used some elements of the g1 grasshopper. Lol
I've even seen this call hornet 3...it's stupid! 🙄
The grasshopper looks better but the rising fighter smashes it in performance and handling.
Yeah, much bigger motor and chassis. But it is very high centered and flips much more easily than the Grasshopper. I just did a long video upgrade series with the Rising Fighter, where I changed all the basic problems it has. Now my Rising Fighter is definitly the best capable of all my hopper/hornets. Thanks for watching, g don.