TEAM ASSOCIATED "B44"
 

Here is the press release:

New Product. For Immediate Release: 7/10/07
The Factory Team B44 project came
to life in 2003 as a cooperative effort
between Team Associated and
J Concepts’ Jason Ruona and Brad
Reelfs. After Team Associated’s Ryan
Cavalieri won the 2005 IFMAR World
Championships in Collegno, Italy with the
BJ4 Worlds Edition, Area 51 shifted into
overdrive to produce a true ‘Associated’
inspired 4WD buggy that would continue to
dominate the 4WD off road racing class.
The B44 is the result of this two-year
development effort.
During the design and development stages Associated used their
extensive and well-proven skills to make a 4WD competition buggy that
is better suited to production. The results of this optimization are
realized by you, the customer, in a more cost-effective vehicle with
more readily available spare parts.
The B44 is built on a 2.5mm woven carbon fiber main chassis and top plate. What’s new is the
composite front bulkhead and rear chassis plate. These new features greatly improve overall
durability and increase the ground clearance, further enhancing the B44's performance.
Area 51 designers also improved the BJ4’s slipper clutch. The result is the B44’s new externally
adjustable, dual pad slipper clutch, which transfers power to the ground more efficiently and
effectively.
The B44 employs a hardened steel CVA drivetrain with lightened ball differentials for unparalleled
acceleration. The B44 soaks up the bumps using Factory Team hard anodized aluminum threaded
shocks with gold shock shafts. The shocks mount to durable 3mm woven carbon fiber shock towers,
making the B44 more responsive and giving quicker handling.
The B44 gets the full Factory Team treatment with blue titanium turnbuckles, blue aluminum shock
bushings and blue aluminum servo mounts for a car that looks as good as it is fast!
Many Team Associated fans from all over the world have asked us when we are going to build a
4WD buggy. Team Associated is proud to say that day has come with the B44, the only 4WD electric
race buggy that comes from a racing heritage with 20 IFMAR World Championships behind it.
#9060
Factory Team B44
Suggested Retail: $549.99
UPC# 84695 09060
Available: September 2007
2 of 2
Features of the Factory Team B44:
• Composite front bulkhead and rear chassis plate for improved durability and more ground clearance
• Externally adjustable, dual pad slipper clutch
• 3mm woven carbon fiber shock towers
• 2.5mm woven carbon fiber main chassis
and top plate
• Rear hubs use large .187 x .500 bearing
for more durability
• Lightened ball differentials front and rear
• Shaft drive for unparalleled acceleration
• Slotted motor mount for quick and easy
installation
• Blue aluminum center bulkhead cap with
molded bearing inserts
• Ball bearing steering with adjustable servo
save
• Hardened steel CVAs with cross pin retaining clips for ultimate reliability
• Front wheels and hexes are optimized to prevent hex stripping
• Hard anodized aluminum threaded shock bodies with Factory Team gold shock shafts
• Blue Factory Team titanium turnbuckles
• Blue Factory Team aluminum shock bushings
• Blue Factory Team aluminum servo mounts
• Blue Factory Team thumb screws and molded battery straps

WoW now thats what i am buying, i was going to get the hpi d4 but this looks awsome, will match well with my rc18t and rc18b mamba lol

very interesting, but at $549.99 rrp whats it going to be over here!:wtf:

Doubt Bj4 owners will change really, looks nice though

in the USA they use the 'mind tricks' approach to get customers to part with their money. They make up a stupid number and double it - then the actual shop price is about half that, and customers think they are getting a super awesome deal (which, fair enough, they probably are).

looks awesome though - and as a lucky coincidence guys like barton and cree have UK setups that AE guys can use straight away, how lucky is that :)

Kdub works at AE and is giving out some info....

http://www.rc10b4.com/forum/showthre...d=1#post138732

Thanks for the info Mark - the car looks great like I said. It's also good to hear the AE team will run the car. What that means for the AE guys tho currently run other cars than the JC I'm not sure as Kdub seems to suggest all the factory drivers will switch (or did he mean all those that run JC now)

I'd like to see inside that shell at the mods

I hope they at least make a cheaper rtr version to help the class like the Kyosho 4wd rtr. Even better if they could put the budget LRP brushless in it.

I have a feeling the Jconcepts employee's will be running an AE car in the future. As far as I know, Jconcepts only sponsored AE factory drivers.

they are in a good position to produce a 'maintenance free' RTR 4WD.

LRP's 'sport' brushless stuff, radio gear out of the B4 RTR, a few more low grade plastic parts and it should be a great entry 4x4 in the same way the B4 RS is.

should be a surge of bj4's on ebay then :D

The bodyshell looks a bit 'RTR' to me. A bit too boxy and bulky.

Elliott.

the new slipper should be an improvement,
cant wait to change it over,

trekkker

The BJ4 is the most maintenance free car I've run - I ran it most of last year and never did anything to it. The only time I had a 'problem' was the Euros last year when I was lent a fast brushless and team cells, which hammered the slipper and loosened it. With a better slipper the AE car should be pretty much bullet proof.

It would be nice to see a 'sport' version with moulded chassis maybe in the future

thunder tiger wersion :D

Jason Rouna said they will still be producing and selling their BJ4.

Great news!!!

looks like the front caster blocks don't have verticle ball-stud. at a guess they might have a shorter option as an alternative?

Its intersting news about the B44, have associated bought the rights to the design? It seems strange to me that they will be going to head to head selling a very similar product.
Or is there a new J concepts 4wd coming?!

and yet no mention from team ae website that i can see or cml ???

They bought the design yes, and apparently JConcepts helped with the improvements on the B44. It seems JC will still sell the BJ4 and BJ4we - but it would certainly be cool to see them design a new car :)

I hope JConcepts keep up the good work, they have worked so hard over the years and designed the "best" car in the world.

I hope they can take things to the next level so they can say to AE, your design is old now but thanks for the cash:D

cml have no release date, my source thought end of year as there still waiting for the 8th car

Statement from JConcepts:
On July 10, TTR/Associated announced the upcoming release of the new B44. This new vehicle is based on the BJ4 Worlds Edition and was a collaborative effort between TTR/Associated and JConcepts. The B44 was a collaborative project only. JConcepts remains an independent company, and our business will not change as a result of this collaboration. Both Jason and Brad have ties with Associated going back 15+ years. This has led to a close working relationship between Associated and JConcepts on the B44. JConcepts will continue to sell the BJ4 kits, parts and accessories to support new and existing customers. Look for more new and exciting products from JConcepts to fit the B44 and all Team Associated vehicles.

I think its great how all the companies are still copying the ZXR design and moving the motor slightly forward and using shafts

You cant beat a winning design:eh?:

Sure, they both have 4 wheels and 4 shocks ! Oh, and electric power too !:p

Please eloborate on this statment, because I can't see it.

I hope this doesn't mean development of the BJ4 slows down in favor of supporting and developing the B44!! Especially after forking out for 2 new BJ4's recently!!

They will still be ace no-matter what anyone else releases ;)

Don't get me wrong, I'm more than happy with mine, including the current support for the car, and I'm sure I'll get good use out of it!! I just hope the BJ4 doesn't eventually get pushed out the market by Associated releasing such a very similar car. Only time will tell.

I see that the FAKE Welshy strikes again!! :o

REAL :rolleyes:

He he very funny. Well someone has a mental age of 5 but at least your having fun.

Nice that youve copied my picture and Yuasa comments. Kids will play

Fear not - funny as the pretend welshy was he is now sent to the sin bin and banned. Whoever it was is naughty.:mad:

It's called retail pricing, it's been around for awhile:cool:. And we all know what the price will be when we hit the streets. And the price for the B44 will be 350.00 US

finaly

Am I right in thinking this will be the first 1/10th 4wd off road buggy from Associated?

there was the mip belt drive thing based on and rc10 wasnt there?

Was that an official Associated product? My point is, back in the 80's when I was racing, there was speculation and dreams about a 4wd rc10, but I don't remember it ever appearing...

i dont know mate i remeber the pics but i think you might be right this is AEs frist 1/10th 4wd car