Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI WRC
Model Number: 58257
Released
TBA
Drive
Shaft Driven 4WD, 2 geardiffs
Suspension
4 wheel independent double wishbone, oil filled coilover shocks
Chassis Description
ABS Bathtub
Body Type
Clear Lexan polycarbonate
Motor
540
The first Tamiya car to use the TB-01 chassis. Also the fourth in a long run of Mitsubishi Lancer Rally cars. The TB-01 had a low centre of gravity and a motor mounted parallel to the chassis. Very popular car for beginners and rally fans alike. (entered by acprc) Unlike most Tamiya models, the TB01 isn't very easy to build correctly, normally resulting in excessive friction and poor performance if built by a novice.
Reviews
chungleong
I got this car as a gift from a friend. As such I built it up stock at first without the intention of racing the car.
Building the car is dead easy, there's no ball diffs to faff around with and the car comes together well. Maintenance and adjustment is a pain though, especially when changing pinions and spurs. Too many screws to undo!
The long stroke suspension is useful for negotiating gravel but lacks the suspension travel to clear even short grassy areas. The standard geartrain is TG10-gas car tough, so durability is hardly an issue. Weight however, is an issue, with the car weighing in at 1800gms ready to go. As far as rally cars go, this is probably the best thought-out one Tamiya has put out so far. One feature I really like about it is the well-sealed chassis, with its array of foam seals, the only debris that gets into the chassis is fine dust. After rallying my TA02, I had to shake the debris loose from the chassis before I was even able to remove my battery!
The minus about having the inner body is that you're basically limited to high turn motors - it got so hot in the chassis the solder on my motor leads melted off. Consider yourself forewarned......
Highly recommended mods include the lightweight centre aluminium shaft (DO NOT GET THE CARBON SHAFT - THEY DELAMINATE), ball bearings all round, lightweight diff gears, and maybe the long arm suspension set. Otherwise, you're basically set to have a ball of a time rallying.
Driving the car on tarmac in stock setup, the car has a tippy feeling to it, being long travel and all that. But in gravel it is in its element, gliding along, and gaining remarkable speed and all the time looking very realistic with great clouds of dust billowing behind it. On such loose gravel, constant steering input is needed.
All in all, a fun do-everything car, but does not excel in either pure on or offroad. The middle ground it takes makes it more of a fun car and less of a dedicated machine. Perhaps we all need to get away from single-purpose cars and just go out and have fun.
P.S: Later on, I hopped my TB-01 up to TB-EVO standards for onroad racing with pretty good results but when I got a proper EVO, the -01 was returned back to a highly modified rallycar state. Currently it sits with ball diffs in both ends of the car, ball bearings, long arm suspension, aluminium steering kit, aluminium centre shaft, as its mods.