Avante 2001
Model Number: 58085
Released
19-Jun-90
Drive
4WD shaftdrive
Suspension
Wishbone multilink
Chassis Description
FRP upper & lower plates
Body Type
Lexan polycarbonate
Motor
RS-540 Sport Tuned
Is this is first appearance of the Sport Tuned motor in a kit? Av2001 is a Vanquish with FRP chassis plates and the famous Avante body in a lenghtened & skirted (to clear rear suspension arm) variant. Wheels are white with "Avante wings" retainer.
Reviews
sunnyjai
As I a kid I have always wanted the 72' Avante but never had the opprotunity to do so citing cost being the main reason and ended up with a Terra Scorcher instead.
Forward to 1994 I finally got the chance to acquire one and by this time Avante 2001 was available alongside the 100' Top Force. When viewing the car, initial impressions were apparent;
1. The new design reflected an in between a Vanquish and an Egress, with a much simplified chassis design and styling of the iconic 72' Avante.
2. Driving impressions were mixed from a personal point of view. Considering I am a big fan of the Avante series I too was disappointed with the handling of the 85' 2001. On tarmac she was sublime in typical Avante fashion with a gear ratios that made it blindingly quick on straightline speed but come off road the suspension was still inadequate, probably due to weight and under-damped front CVA dampers of the time. In fact the Vanquish handled much better like I mentioned probably due to weight issues.
3. Comparing to its sucessor the Top Force it felt very archaic with the Top Force ushering in a two fold improvement in driving dynamics, weight savings and design simplicity.
However having stated its downfalls it was one gorgeous piece of kit, though to many not as sought-after as the 72' Avante but from personal opinion, still a gorgeous piece of kit. It is also the most rare among the series so when looking for one to restore one needs to take heed of the following;
1. Original body sets and decals are rare hence its high demand and commanding prices.
2. Its trademark 'white' wheels are also rare so too they command a high price, but if one is very patient can bag one in time, tho price-wise that depends.
3. The front FRP damper stays were prone to breakages from minor frontal impacts. Rare but have seen numerous sets available for sale, but not for long!
4. The FRP chassis is unique only to the 2001' though no where as expensive as the Egress's carbon graphite items are beginning to dwlndle in availability as more and more enthusiasts snap them up for restoration projects.
5. The 3x42mm rear suspension link countersunk screws are too unique to the 2001', Egress and Vanquish are fast becoming difficult to source and often a common problem as they are prone to bending from minor side impacts.
6. The 'black' CVA dampers are too rare items and getting a restoration project with nice dampers a bonus. However most people would rather whack in a set of Hi-Cap dampers and it helps with resale values to a certain extent.
Other parts such as most screws, tires, gearbox and drive components were shared with other Tamiya models of the era and readily available for reasonable prices.
With with re release of the Avante 2011, Black Special and Vajra has made prices for suspension and gearbox parts alot easier and cheaper to source, but be aware of one minor point;
1. The vintage rear gearbox lower hatch has a 'non recyclable' icon stamped on it while the re:re item does not, so in the keen collector's eye this is a dead give away. In my opinion it's a small issue as i'd rather have a new case and it doesn't matter either way.
So all in all a nice desirable kit to have in one's collection and one day will command the level of desirability and respect as a collectable like the Egress and Avate 72' does at present.
mud4fun
A very big disappointment when I first drove this car. This isn't a buggy in the sense that most people think of them. This is basically a wide tracked touring car and can only really be run on flat surfaces. The stock suspension is just awful, very little articulation, far too firm for off road use and badly designed. The rear suspension features an anti roll bar straight off a terra scorcher but it is too firm for the already stiff rear end and causes excessive bounce. Front end is even worse with near zero suspension travel and stupid amounts of oversteer, not helped by the very quick steering. The stock Avante2001 bounces uncontrollably on rough ground.
This is also one of the least robust buggies I have ever driven. The rear uprights are held onto the rear trailing arms by two 3mm step screws rather than the usual single long suspension pin. There is also very little material around the screw holes in the uprights (Tamiya haven't adhered to basic engineering principles) and they crack on even the smallest impact. The front end isn't much better with extremely weak front uprights. None of this is helped by the stiff suspension which fails to dissapate the shocks of travel over rough ground.
The motor mounting is also a pain, the lower screw is very difficult to access. The gearbox top screws, which you need to undo to get at the pinion to set mesh correctly, require the removal of the wing. This is all because the Avante2001 doesn't have a fixed range of gearing, instead the motor can be slid in and out to allow a miriad of pinion sizes which in itself is very good.
I also own a couple of Vanquish and they are superior for off road use. I had to apply the same suspension configuration from the vanquish to the Avante2001 before I could really use it properly. This includes fitting long stroke CVA shocks, moving the rear shocks ahead of the rear axle as per vanquish, removing the rear anti-roll bar etc. I also made my own modifications to the rear hubs to give them some strength although they should have been made from solid alloy.
The center diff is also a stupid addition to an off road car, this simply looses you traction and power. I locked mine up immediately to give massive gain in traction and power delivery. I also switched to an LSD in the rear gearbox.
In stock form the Avante2001 has attrocious oversteer. I got over that by fitting narrower front wheels/tyres, adjusting the suspension geometry and fitting soft oil/soft springs in longer shocks up front.
The car is also more difficult and fiddly to assemble than most other Tamiya buggies. The use of c clips on the suspension pins is bad enough but they aren't even easily accessible on this chassis. Shoulder/step screws are used for most of the front suspension and these work loose very quickly, use of threadlock is mandatory.
On a positive note, the car is fast and on tarmac will perform much the same as most touring cars, in fact, better than most. The car runs quietly compared to earlier buggies such as Manta Ray and Thundershot. It has fast steering response and awesome cornering speeds.
It was also very easy to modify to fit an 8.4v battery pack too, taking just 10 minutes to relocate the forward support pillar by an inch or so. In conjunction with a Dyna Run ST motor or Technigold and 8.4v this buggy flies!
Conclusion: In its day it probably was a very capable buggy but that was due to the flat smooth tracks that were in favour by the late 80's, against the rougher off road tracks when I first started in RC cars. The lack of robustness was less of an issue when new as spares would have been readily available. Now however spares are almost impossible to find and very expensive. Not that many of these cars were sold in comparison to earlier buggies. They are beautiful cars to look at and technically advanced over earlier designs but best kept on the shelf. If you must have one of these family of cars to use then I'd recommend the vanquish which has the more supple suspension and taller tyres to cope with more serious off roading.
kontemax
I used the Avante 2001 for a long tima and it has the same problems of all these chassis. The front suspension are shorts, the front end is very fragile, the front hubs and hub carriers are more than fragiles. The rear shocks was not really able to absorbs all terrain holes and the car bumped frequently on rear end. An oversteering is always present on Avante 2001. But maybe I wasn't very able to set up it. I loved a lot this car and it was the fastest 4WD I ever had. Positive points are the very very high speed, the low noise, the great balance on the jumps and the fun during driving. The car is too much heavy and the shock are not good for a car like this. The son of the myth, the Avante, need absolutelly the Hi Cap Dampers instead the plastic CVA! The shorter steering plate allow major travel on front suspension. After 3 cars finally Tamiya did understand it!
loopjuice
I love this car ! I was a Tamiya die hard at my local buggy club when everyone else was racing Schumacher cars. I loved the original Avante, but when the 2001 came out I had to have one !
It raced pretty well, although it was heavy it proved reliable as nothing ever broke ! On certain tracks, such as tarmac oval the oversize front wheels provided awesome grip (tho' too much on grass tracks) and the car would just go flat out ! The sport tuned motor was no power-house but did the job OK. Won me a B final straight out of the box against faster cars, but the solid tortoise usually caught up with the broken or flipped hare !
Overall a good club level racer, tho to be a credible racer needed to be lighter and easier to set-up.