WRC4 me

Thank you so much for the replies - I shall look for those new TD chassis right away - maybe try and hit a Hopper top on one?? Autocross in Europe really began behind the Iron Curtain in Eastern Europe but it's grown fast. Basically full-size Tamiya racing! There is Cross Car for kids age 13-16 with 2WD and up to 75hp, then seniors have 1600 Buggy with 4WD and around 240hp and finally Super Buggy, where 700hp isn't unheard of and some guys run flat-6 Porsche engines. This was the action round-up from the most recent event in the Czech Republic...

Hi all, Been happily buzzing around with bone stock stuff but having attended a few full-sized Autocross events and loved them, I can't help but notice the similarity between these cars and the Grasshopper/Hopper2 and Hornet. Most Autocross cars run replica Fuchs alloy wheels, however... so I'm wondering whether a set of Tamiya Fuchs could be used on on a Grasshopper without major surgery? I guess rally block tyres would be the best option to retain some kind of capability! Here's what I mean by the looks... All and any guidance gratefully received!

Still just generally tidying at the moment. This old girl's looking a little less peaky now that the yellow is on the 555 logos and the Subaru logos. There's nothing for the body to rest on the posts at the moment - assuming these are adjustable pads and that they're MIA.

The 'base' car for my first runner has now arrived. Bodywork is passable, with a few cracks in it here and there. A bit of tape will shore things up. I've removed all the extra stickers that were put on by the previous owner and will get the residual gum off with some white spirit. All that's left then is to refresh the yellow sections to make them the correct colour again rather than the sun bleached off white that they currently are. Here's the way it currently looks: Under the shell it's all pretty much as I expected. The car has obviously been out of use for quite a while Screws are all rusted, the shocks move but stay stuck in the position you put them in but it's pretty clean and there aren't all that many scratches underneath. Here's what I mean about the suspension: The motor case is a bit rusty but it turns freely. Next job is to strip it down, clean and lubricate, fit some proper bearings and shocks and see where we're at with it.

A very busy postman today... no oily bits have arrived yet, but I've now got two Celica bodies with their respective wheels. The secondhand 1993 car from GooneyBird should come up a treat, I'm pretty sure from memory that the standard green and red Tamiya paints are a match, I can print waterslide decals to replace the most torn-up Castrol logos and the off-white paint on the plastic parts is an easy fix. Thank you very much GooneyBird - a pleasure doing business! The tyres on the 5-spoke rims aren't split or damaged but they are quite hard - I'm not really sure how soft they are supposed to be. I've got some magic oils for slot car tyres that will no doubt have an effect if needed, but plenty more fish to fry first... Looking forward to seeing the chassis now.

One thing that we do with slot rally cars is stick a shorter gear or smaller diameter wheels on the front axle of a 4wd car and it does work to pull you through a corner, particularly if it's covered in 'gravel*'. Might be an interesting experiment one of these days to scale it up! *chocolate powder!

Thanks for the offer firefoxussr. I might have to come back to you on that one if a Corolla WRC shell turns up!

Well here we are nearly a week in to my RC experience and thanks to the very kind members on this forum I've got a reasonable idea of where I'm heading. Now's the time to put theory into practice - and look! My very first Tamiya parts arrived today - £6 inc. post well spent, I'd have said: So what it the plan of attack, I hear nobody ask. Well basically, I'm hoping to run a rally car or two in the woods around where I live. There are two commons with mainly sandy earth where we walk the dog and a couple of fairly deep, dark woods with richer soil and narrow pathways closer to home that are also dog walking favourites. All of these routes are going to put a premium on off-road ability but from watching a lot of Youtube videos it looks like a touring car chassis with a decent rally setup would be able to deal with all but the most churned-up earth and exposed tree roots. This thread is starting with a restoration - a secondhand TL-01 that looked used but not overly abused on the Bay. It's clean but lacking radio and batteries while the body (1997 Impreza 22B, Colin McRae) looks like it is in need of some TLC. Exposure to sunlight means that the yellow has almost completely faded to white on the 555 logos, there are a few scuffs and rubs on it and there are a whole bunch of extra stickers that have been slapped on it over the years. Hopefully it can be made presentable again but, if not, it's not the end of the world. Among the other parcels headed this way are a brand new body set for the 1990 Toyota Celica GT-Four that was a bargain from China and a 1993 Toyota Celica GT-Four body from GooneyBird that's a manageable restoration job. The new wheels above are to go with the 1990 car, and there's a used set of five-spoke wheels heading in this direction to go with the 1993 car. I've also got some brand new rally block tyres coming from Dirt-540. First job will be to get the TL-01 running and to see how it fares in standard trim on rally blocks. After that it will be clear which upgrades are needed - I'm expecting it to be CVA oil dampers and ball bearings. If the TL-01 isn't up to the job then I'll put it on some smoother rubber or possibly drift tyres and use it as a car park cruiser before trying out the mods I've seen for the TT-01/02 or venturing into DF-03ra or XV-01 territory. I'm very much looking forward to having at least one rally car to report on building and testing this winter, and if all goes well perhaps might look at a retro buggy for our camping weekends on the coast next summer. To be continued when the rest of the parts arrive...

Yes that sounds quite serious. I'll sit on that idea for now then!

Hi Thomas - I was thinking of the MF-01X from the Jimny kit. That seems really good off road and 239 mm could work?

Can I add a Toyota Corolla WRC to the wish list please?

Lovely build - sorry for digging up an old thread but I'm finding my way around here and an FF build even close to this one would be high on my wish list. I've got a big soft spot for these Castrol Hondas as my Dad used to drive the truck that carted the 1:1 cars around the country - matching cars for Jason Yeomans, James Thompson and Kirsten Kolby and others. Here they are loaded up ready to leave Brands Hatch. A pretty good match to this one, I'd have said!

Yes, I'm sure you'll be ribbing me before long Darat76! The plan is as follows... TL-01 rally setup with drift tyres for the car park (Impreza 97 body) TT-02 rally setup on HPI Pirelli tyres for loose/smooth surfaces (Celica GT-Four 93 body) DF-03ra rally setup on Rally Block tyres for rough stuff (Lancer Evo V body) XV-01 rally setup on Rally Block tyres as the best of all worlds! (Celica GT-Four 1990 body) Sand Rover for the beach (stock setup, custom paint) Sand Scorcher for the beach (stock setup, custom paint) I'd also really like to get an FF in rally set up with a Škoda Felicia Kit Car body on that I've seen on sale in the Czech Republic. I used to work for Škoda when these cars were in the front line and did three seasons of 1:1 rallying as part of the team - but the cost looks prohibitive at the moment. Let's see how far off target I drift in the months ahead!!

I think that Ikonnik looks brilliant for the money, mtbkym01 - thanks a lot. It's on sale in the UK and while more than in the US it's affordable. I plan to have max. 6 models so all is looking rather good for this one!

Thanks Twinset. I might have to rein in my spending on hop up parts for a bit! It's odd, I was ambidextrous as a kid and would change hands half way across each line on my exercise book until the teacher rapped my knuckles if I wrote with my left hand! My wiring's never really been fixed - I throw and play sports as a leftie, write as a righty and play pool either way, depending where the cue ball is! But definitely my trigger finger's on the right and I've got more 'feel' for the steering on the left. Probably I'll plod on with a stock controller tipped over and write a very nice letter to Santa!