Group C racers - Tamiya or Hasegawa

Seems like both tamiya and hasegawa have released their own versions of these:

Toyota 88C
Sauber Mercedes C9


Which ones are better?

Can't comment on the Toyota, but as far as the C9's, the Hasegawa kits are mainly the sprint versions. They are also slightly different in shape (wider in a few areas). The Tamiya kit is the LeMans winner. The Tamiya kit also includes an engine and several more parts. I would personally stick with the Tamiya kit even if you want to do a sprint version. The rear wing is not that hard to modify. Almost all of the aftermarket parts out there are for the Tamiya kits.
Nic

I've built the Tamiya 88CV, but not the Hasegawa version. The Tamiya kit is pretty old, so it's really not up to current Tamiya standards, but it is a good kit; it has a good engine, fairly sparse interior, and good decals. I remember the parts having pretty heavy seams and I don't remember the parts fitting too well. In fact, I remember I had a lot of trouble with the engine cover in particular. I would say it's worth building.

For the Toyota kit you have to take in consideration that Hasegawa and Tamiya kits are for different versions of the car. Hasegawa produced the 88c version which ran in both Japan and Europe. Tamiya made the CV version which run only in the Japanese Sports Prototype Championship, had a different engine (a V8 iirc) and shape. I have both kits but I have not built them. Hasegawa is curbside and pretty much decent quality, Tamiya has a full engine and with a few additions could be built to a great model.

I don't have the Sauber or Toyota, but I do have Tamiya's 956 and XJR-9. Both are from the same era, and if the Sauber and Toyota are similar to them then I woud definately recommend them. The Porsche and Jag are a bit dated now, but they are terrific kits. They were at least as far ahead of their time when they were made as Tamiya's Enzo and FXX are today. For kits made today they're great, for kits made 25 years ago they're incredible.

Wow, that's the second long time lurker who's come forth today! Welcome (sort of) to AF!

I have the Tamiya C9 and Jaguar XJR 9LM and both seem to be great kits with engine, details and a lot of possibility for serious detailing. The Jaggy doesn't have the Silk Cut decals :evillol:

I know that there are a lot of after market detail/up-grade sets available for the Tamiya kits but I don't know what the situation is like for the Hasegawas.

I would say go for the Tamiya C9 at least.

Thanks for all the info.
I was eyeing the Hasegawa Toyota 88C because of the minolta decals, they're quite different from the tamiya ones. The hasegawas are priced a lot higher though.

I have built almost all of the Group C kits from Tamiya and Hasegawa in one form or another. Overall I would say the Tamiya kits are a bit better but the Hasegawa kits do have a better variety of decal versions. Why not buy them all?!!

Mike

Tamiya=Full detail

Hasegawa=Curbside.

What more do you need to know? ;)

I have the Tamiya 88C-V, and it's a gem of a kit (beautifully molded turbos, in particular) but everytime I'm in Hobbytown there's a Hasegawa 88C in Denso colors that tells me it belongs on my shelf.

Honestly when talking Group C kits I'd recommend the Tamiya's first because they are generally full-detail. However, the Hasegawas are still excellent kits, and there are several subjects, like the Jaguar XJ-8 and Toyota 88C that are unique to the line AND their Porsche 962's glass isn't molded to the body.