PDA

View Full Version : Impulse v3 Discontinued by Proboat



microsalmo
05-21-2016, 08:12 AM
FYI, Ive had a replacement hull on order for some time, then got a notice from Proboat that they've canceled the order because they've discontinued this model.. I phoned them to confirm and it's true 😣

...just wanted to share the sad news.

I wonder if Rafael is planing a replacement?

bigcam406
05-21-2016, 08:26 AM
FYI, Ive had a replacement hull on order for some time, then got a notice from Proboat that they've canceled the order because they've discontinued this model.. I phoned them to confirm and it's true 

...just wanted to share the sad news.

I wonder if Rafael is planing a replacement?

wow after updating it with a new motor and esc and they call it quits already? somethings up for sure.:spy:

microsalmo
05-21-2016, 10:05 AM
Yeah, I even called twice and spoke to two different people because I was in disbelief and figured one guy just had it wrong. Today I was emailed the cancelation invoice from Proboat, and it read but the product had been discontinued. So sad.

I don't understand being that less than a year ago Rafael was making movies on itt for us highlighting the benefits of recent changes. Perhaps he'll see this, and let us know what's up?

Rafael_Lopez
05-23-2016, 09:39 AM
Hey Guys. Sorry for the inconvenience for those that had hulls on order.

Yes, it's true. It's being discontinued, but I have nothing to do with it or up my sleeve to replace this boat. The boat has simply ran it's course and the powers that be have decided to do away with it.

Darin Jordan
05-23-2016, 11:42 AM
Ummmm... Yeah... I'd sure like to understand some of these decisions. But, alas, it is what it is.

It was definitely great to be able to help bring this boat to the public. Seems to have been a decent success. Sure is a solid runner and an excellent, timeless, platform for performance upgrades.

Sad to see this go.

A video of the first production sample boat in action with a "LITTLE" bit hotter motor...


https://youtu.be/C5Pn-9sO6ZA

And some pics of the VERY first Production boat... I'll have to see if I can find the portable drive that I stored the pics of the original wooden plug I built for this hull!!

143253
143254
143255
143256
143257

Rafael_Lopez
05-23-2016, 12:10 PM
Darin, I'll give you my take on it. The boat is great, but doesn't fit anywhere now that we put a larger motor in it and we don't have a production motor, installed in the boat, that is NAMBA legal for P-LTD class. The other thing is that the Voracity can handle more power and rougher water than the Impulse can. People are seeing this and drawn by the Voracity more than the Impulse; hope you get what I'm hinting at here. It's a great bot to be ahead of the pack with, but once water gets churned up it's a handful to drive, IMO. It was a great boat while it lasted. I don't know if they will blow out the stock we have, but I can tell you there is nothing on the books to replace it, right now.

Darin Jordan
05-23-2016, 01:07 PM
Darin, I'll give you my take on it. The boat is great, but doesn't fit anywhere now that we put a larger motor in it and we don't have a production motor, installed in the boat, that is NAMBA legal for P-LTD class.

I agree... it's probably time. And, please note, that I think building ANYTHING targeted towards racing in P-LTD specifically is really kind of a miss these days anyhow. These boats don't sell based on their racing prowess in a LTD class. They sell because they are "FAST", and/or because people are shown (or see) the performance potential.

Technology has definitely moved ahead of what the LTD classes offer.

That being said, for the time when these were released, they WERE some of the nicest RTRs ever made. If you consider what was available before, the door was really opened when these hit the market!

And then some guy came along and made them even BETTER! ;)

bigcam406
05-23-2016, 06:11 PM
thanks for chiming in about it guys.its a shame that its discontinued,but business is business i guess.

Darin Jordan
05-24-2016, 08:35 AM
Found some of the original design info for the IM31, a lot of which never made it into the final design (captured prop shaft, internal liner, etc.)

The Impulse 31 had a good run, as far as RC stuff is concerned, and it was fun to help bring this to the masses!

143348 143349 143350143351 143352

Darin Jordan
05-24-2016, 08:42 AM
And, some pictures of the original plug that I built. This was ultimately sent to the manufacturer, who digitized it and produced what you see today.

The hatch there in the picture was what I had originally hoped they'd use. It was originally from what was a VERY early sample of what later became the Miss Geico (smaller, 24"-ish, horribly narrow version that was being considered before I got involved. ;) ). However, the lead developer at the time wanted something different, so I included the flat hatch section you see in the pics and they used their CADD development tools to design the hatch you have today.

For what it's worth... I liked my idea better.. :thumbup1:

143353143354143355143356143357