The Kyosho MP9 was first shown to the public at the 10th Kyosho Masters a few months ago. However due to a no photos policy, and the fact it wasn’t shown without its shell off we could not get any photos. Since then Kyosho have released their official photos of the MP9 which left a lot of people feeling confused about what had actual changed. One of the RCSnaps team was lucky enough to see the Kyosho MP9 in bits at FDL/Kyosho France and was pleased to report it was completely different! Nothing would be carried over from the Kyosho MP777.

RCSpecial managed to get some photos of one of the Kyosho Works Team Driver’s car in bits which shows how much has actually changed, and how Kyosho have managed to get the weight of the MP9 to just over the legal weight.

We will start with a Weight Comparison of some of the key parts of the MP9, most noticeably the drive chain parts which helps keep the rotating mass to a minimum. This means increased acceleration and a lighter car overall.

Old MP777 chassis and new MP9 chassis! 10gr difference in our scale! (Also note that the old chassis has been used so will be slightly lighter than if new) BUT it seems that Kyosho went in the correct direction. Kanai decided to make a stiff and hard chassis, for plastic braces, maybe bit overweight, BUT as you will see below, all the most important transmission parts, the rotating mass parts, are lighter to much lighter than the older parts for the MP777, even than the option lighter ones! So even if the buggy is now as light as the closer competition and not lighter, the weight saving are placed nicely…

Original MP777 - Lightened MP777 - MP9

MP777 - MP9

MP777 - MP9

MP777 - MP9

Lightened MP777 - MP9

MP777 - MP9

Kyosho MP9 Shocks

Although the shocks for the MP9 are of the same design of the optional ones for the MP777, they have been coated in the same way that the Hong Nor/Jammin ones have been. This means that they are much smoother than before and also that the oil should last a lot longer.

Kyosho MP9 Plastics

As you can see from the photos below the aim again is to keep the car as light as possible. The diffs are slightly smaller, the front/rear lower arms have less plastic and the front upper arms are a lot smaller than previously. The radio box has been split into two sections, a battery section and a receiver section and the switch is mounted on the side for easy access, but it has a small piece of plastic protecting it from accidentally getting switched on/off. The MP9 also comes with plastic rear mud/stone guards to keep the shocks clean, and to stop a build up of mud on the rear arms which could weigh the car down.

A great car with good potential. All mouldings seem good, transmission bearings are really small, wing mount must be light and the arms have all the right curves. The tank has nice features to help with pistol refuelling, the center diff case is much bigger than the F/R ones. Chassis braces are plastic for more flex.

Kyosho MP9 Metals

As you can see the Kyosho Blue anodizing has gone and has been replaced with the more common Hard Coated look. The majority of the metal parts have been milled to make them lighter while making sure they kept their strength which will be key for long mains and the ‘average club driver’. There are no E-Clips on the MP9, all of the hinge pins are now captured by screws or nuts, the wheel nuts also have a nylock design which should make sure the nuts stay tight. The drive shafts are the lightest yet and the Works Car at least comes with all of the available sway bars. Kyosho have kept the old style of engine mount but the knuckles are now a slightly smaller CNC version and not cast like they are on the MP777. The chassis of course has been milled out to lighten it and also it comes with some fuel tube and a fuel filter.

AKA Tyres

This is also the first time that a Kyosho Kit will come with tyres, the new AKA IBeams will come with the MP9 kits. It has been said that the AKA tyres use different types of foams to allow you to change the feel of the tyre as you would do by changing the compound of the tyre. This means that the tyres wear extremely well.

Thanks to RCSpecial for allowing RCSnaps to use there photos. All of the photos used for this report can be found here at RCSpecial and also here at RCSnaps.