Back in the day, the Optima was like Street Fighter II. There was the Optima, Turbo Optima, Optima Mid, Turbo Optima Mid, and Turbo Optima Mid SE- if I remember correctly.

Thanks for posting - I purchased one of these kits - its first one I've built since buying and building a Turbo Optima as a teenager back in the 80's so its a great video to refer to in building this machine. It's so cool that Kyosho have released this kit. Thanks again.

Thanks for putting the time and effort into this fantastic video! 👍 The Mid is really an enjoyable build 🙂

Beautiful vid Jason. Amazing detail on the comparisons to the old components, especially in the gearbox area. Finally a Mid that won't be chewing it's own gears up. The sintered gears in rere optima and Ultima are great

Great first look at the new kit. Awesome work Jason, gave us a great quality look at the build. Love some of the updates, the threaded shocks are a nice option that no doubt will make it more useable in the future.

Your channel deserves to (and I am sure will) take off. Gorgeous footage. Professional editing. Keep up with the great work. 👍

Good stuff mate, first Mid build I've seen. Great video! 👍

Thank you for comparing the original to the rere. All the modifications they made to a legacy product is amazing.

Excellent video and really enjoyed the content - thanks for all your hard work in bringing this to everyone

Professionally done my friend, impressive. I ordered one myself, looks like an easy build. Thanks for sharing!

I owned turbo optima mid at that time🎉🎉 my precious toy 😊😊😊

wicked video ,im shocked it took so long for some one too release a vid , great detail showing the rear toe pills and the foam on belt covers and how the car has change from old/new like gears and wire holders well thought out , looks like it will be a vintage class weapon , well done mate

Absolutely gorgeous kit!!!

I just built this last weekend haha was a fun quick build. Everything fit perfect.

That's good to see this. Thanks, great build 👍🏼

Outstanding work their mate. Enjoyed the vid. Kyosho have really made superb kits with these re-re's. Which reminds me, I've got to get around to finishing my Ultima re-re. I also have what I think is a combined original and re re Optima that needs a body and setting up.

excellent video , thankyou for showing the differences between the old and new

Great video buddy, really takes me back to when i got mine for christmas in 87, was built that day & raced on boxing day, i'm a bit disappointed they haven't brought back the original shocks as i could have done with some spares but the belt tensioner is a nice touch, have not ordered one as yet as i still love my cats too much but i might get one to build with the kids in the future as they are running my swb cat atm & they scare me everytime they hit the track with it!!! haha

I really enjoyed this video series. Your formula works. Keep it up!

Superb video man!! I love to see the differences!! Thumbs up for sharing!!

Amazing! Looks like an awesome build! I am very jealous 😂

Awesome build video my friend 😊👊🏻

Great video I've got one back ordered in the US can't wait to get it.

Great video, I like the colour of the original chassis you showed

What a kit! Excellent! Thank you

Can’t wait to receive mine.😍🙌

Awesome video friend thank you very much.

Nice build video, looking forward to building one of these myself after having rebuilt a couple of vintage ones. I see some nice improvements here and there, with the exception of the plastic link that joins the steering pivots. Also you have a very steady hand when cutting out the body.

Really cool un boxing video optima mid always my dream buggy👍👍👍👍

Very well done video.

Great video! Funny that mine came with a little bottle of blue thread lock.

Good video 👍

Fantastic build video mate 👍 I say paint it in the Turbo Optima mid scheme. Awesome to see the changes from the original. I got mine yesterday, and I cannot wait to build it. Just have to finish a few other cars before I start however. I think Kyosho are releasing an aluminium option part for the drag link btw.

awesome car!

Thank you Jason, I really enjoyed this. Kyosho Europe is still waiting for the kits that are stuck on the “slow boat from China”. That’s what you get when trying to do the right thing and buy locally 😳 next time I’m going back to ordering from Japan or HK.

Nice model!!!

I just finished building mine. What a satisfying experience! So where did you get the undercarriage protector? I'd love to get one for mine.

With mine I'm going to buy an extra body and make both versions!!!

I had a new original in 88 and raced it . The only problems I had were the pins on the driveshafts sheering off and tie rods breaking. Other than that bullet proof. In its defence I ran modified . Carpet was extremely hard on it , mostly I'd say from its weight being much heavier than the competition.

Aaah, nostalgia. I remember during this era Kyoshos really made an impresson on me. The fine anodized shocks were simply called "Gold" and on the lower spec cars you would get the "Black Gold" which were a nicer word for plastic :). The only thing I still haven't figured out is why the earlier "black gold" were red plastic?

Great video Jason. Outstanding work as usual. My kit should be in my hands in the next week. Looking forward to it.

Great video, will be a help when I build my kit. I noticed you did not seal the edges of the FRP.. is this just going to be a shelf queen.

Nice..I always wanted one

Nice bud i bought a chassis from the states. The entire drive system was chewed up as little stones would enter gearboxes etc

Thanks for the video... I have the Turbo Optima Gold kit to build, and have been having a blast with my Ultima... I am torn as to whether or not to get a Mid.... Question, where does the ESC go? As far as colors and Stickers.... I like the blue Turbo stickers, but not on a yellow base color...?

hey great clip man, I just ordered one of these. I'm only 1 year into RC and I race 1/10 touring (nitro + electric). This is my first foray into the vintage buggy scene. I guess its mandatory to use a silver can? I'd prefer to use brushless - is this a daft idea? Nothing crazy (21.5T or something)

Building mine currently, this video has been very useful for build tips. Did you bother glue the tyres or FRP edges? Personally I've just sanded the FRP and it seems OK (although may glue where body pin goes through), and the tyres are quite snug anyway. Curious to know what you've done.

Very nice! That brings back some 1980s memories. I never had an Optima Mid my first and only 4wd was the Lazer ZX but I guess it's the same lineage!

Turbo!!!! 😃 Beautiful build Jason top notch!!!

I dont want to shit on Tamiya but damn Kyoshos packaging is next level

Great video Where did you get your motor from Looking to put one in my Ultima Pro

nice 80s retro synthwave...

i love to have one

You know I wish kyosho would remake all their old brushed motors I also feel the same way about Tamiya.

Hi dear thank you for bringing memories my mum threw it in the bin in 1999 she was thinking i grew up and its only a kids toy!! I felt crying 😢 Whats the Cost today of a fully assembled 2022 with a radio controller?

Hi dear thank you for the video, Is Everything i need to assemble is included like (lubes,and liquids to add ons) Or! What else i need to purchase (electronically) to run the car?

Great video. I see you used Grease instead of diff oil. Any pros or cons? I just received this kit and was curious about oil vs Grease.

Does the rere come with both decal options or did you order the Turbo Optima Mid SE ones separately?

I am currently building my kit. Did you go with a brushless motor? If so, what did you go with?

lovely job, im just about to build mine and ive decided to go brushless however im struggling to see where i can fit the Hobbywing MAX10 esc? it looks very tight and not much room for a fan cooled esc? any ideas?

I see kit supplied grease was used for the differential. What others and myself found confusing is that Kyosho states we can use a diff. oil, however, provides no reference for a starting point. There are literally dozens of different weights! Any suggestions?

Can we purchase the one way bearings for optima buggy nowadays? I mean the re realsed ones...,

Just a question for all out there - I’m up to the stage of installing ESC. Really struggling to see how it can fit - space is very limited and it doesn’t screw into position as shown on manual as I’m using a different ESC. Any ideas?

I’ve wondered how well this would do racing against the never vehicles given it was one of the first mid motor 4WD buggies

Where did you get the chassis under tray from?

Where did you mount your ESC?

will this stand up to brush less 10.5t

groovy ass build lol i was stuck & watched the whole thing :) i had the original as a kid

Hey guys. I've just bought this kit after 30 years since my last rc car. Can anyone tell me how much silicone grease to use in the differentials? I don't see that step in these video's so I'm not sure what the setup is. I've got some 15000 ready to go when I work it out. Cheers Nick in NZ

Does it take 2.2 wheels?

This car is going to dominate vintage racing.

What did you apply at 5:31?

still backordered here in the US 😫

Can the gearbox and pulley system take a hot brushless system like 5, 000kv or up?

SPA240!!

I saw that you used a wire cutter and stripper to hold the shock shaft it doesn't matter up does it cause I could use that to hold my shock staffs when I want to put them together on any car please answer this.

turbo optima mid

Turbo pls

Why red loctite wouldn't that be a problem if you had to replace the gear diffs?

I was told that the "red"thread lock was permanent

This and the Schumacher Cat XLS have one glaring detail in common, which is that the bottom portion of the belt passes UNDERNEATH the motor can. It's a struggle between ground clearance and lowering the center of mass of the car. The motor is a very dense object; that and the battery pack. While the Schumacher won an IFMAR worlds (because it had an outstanding driver at the wheel), the Optima didn't, and while it's an excellent design I think what prevented it from reaching higher success is this limitation, of having the mass of the car raised slightly. I've been working on a better strategy; similar but better. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/bdicpchnkrC2fnk.html Another great assembly video, this Optima Mid one that you posted. I will refer back to it if I need to see some of the details. I usually consult with PDF versions of instruction manuals to get my info/ideas, but sometimes there isn't enough detail there. Well this video has plenty of detail. Thanks.