BrickDemon

Absolutly incredible..!

Or that's also part of the mistake.. :) seriously, maybe you are right. but it feels weird to me, as the part wasn't design for that and the same goes for the part you point out. Anyway I'm going to replace that part as well with a frictionless part, see if it get's even better.. or worse. Could be a nice discussion point. I have asked Lego about it, but got no answer on the subject itself. They did send me the 4 LA's and drive fix. Thanks for pointing that out! +1 on fresh batteries.. they make the shifting much better.. and funny you point that out, because that was mainly the reason I replaced the 'friction' part with the 'frictionless' one.. apparently it had to much friction when the voltage drops a bit..

I think there's a mistake on page 79 from book 1, step 35, there's a blue 4206482 axle pin (with friction ridges) pictured but I think that should be a 4186017 without friction ridges, as it's a moving/rotating part. (partnumbers according to book 3, page 44) I replaced it, since the 4186017 is leftover in the set anyway from the fix they made in the transmission to the tracks, and it works much better now.

but.. a super car with a front bumper...?

I wasn't planning on buying this model untill I saw that 32 roadster B model..!! they could have added some more extra parts though for a better grill..

I should do a little introduction as it's my first post. At first I should say please forgive me if my English isn't great, as I'm dutch. I just got back into Lego. The last model I got was in 1992, and now I just bought the 8043 and I'm a Lego addict all over again. With everything online nowadays, it's amazing to see what's possible and how many people, also adults like me, are Lego fanatics. I always like to modify/customize things and discovered bricklink, so I have a lot of parts on the way. I've been reading here a lot already and decided to join the forum as you all seem like great creative people and maybe I can share some creations myself. I will fill my brickshelf soon with some pictures. I also have to check the attic for some ancient Technic sets.. About this discussion: For a Lego model, I think I prefer the original 8043. It's not a real digging machine, it's a Lego model which simulates the movement of an excavator. And I think they have done the best job ever. Just 4 motors to control all the functions and still keep it fully remote controlled is amazing. That's Lego Technic at it's best if you'd ask me. Also the B model is great!! I'd say good enough to buy a second.. But I agree the Ultimate 8043 seems much more playing fun and I will definatly try to build it in the future. About precision, I think the LA's are perfect for a model like this. Air valves in machinery in real life are normally only used for fully open or closed, or set to a prefered distance, and precision valves would be too expensive and large. For an electric scale model, that is not a 'real' digging machine I think the LA's are perfect. The way the LA's work is very much like the way CNC Machine centres are driven, with very high precision. I also have the pneumatic truck from 1992 and I was really dissapointed with the way it operated. Again I think air pneumatics are just for a movement of a static distance. Like opening a door or pushing a product from a conveyor belt. I hope the new pneumatics are better for the people who are going to buy the new 2011 summer model. If the 8043 was pneumatic, I would not have bought it because of the lack of control with the pneumatic truck. Maybe one day we will get oil valves.. maybe with water in them instead of oil to avoid the mess. But again I don't really need it, I think they've already done a great job with the LA's. A big improvement to Technic.