qatmix

As light as possible is best for a responsive car. As a guide for BRCA race events in the 1/10 class the minimum weight for the car (inc electrics body etc) is 1320g. I have to add 55g weight to make my car legal. The XV01 is not going to be that light, especially with a scale body (race bodies are about 80-90g, scale bodies are usually 150g or more). The XV01 is a good handling car. Just keep it free of unnecessary aluminium parts as the plastics will be lighter. The big advantage will be to swap out some of the steel parts for aluminium ones. Such as diff out drives etc. Although in reality just get a good set of tyres and pump in the laps.

It’s for the std TRF shocks, not for rally. The kit comes with low profile shocks and on more bumpy tarmac tracks it helps to have the option to have a little more travel. The brass mounts are for extra weight and chassis balance.

The red chassis along with clear chassis parts will be available as a hop up

I had to hold onto this for a few days. Here is the CC-02 info https://www.thercracer.com/2019/08/exclusive-tamiya-cc-02-4x4-scale.html

Yep as above, just buy new ones, they are cheap. Use a proper wrench like the tamiya aluminium one. I thread the ball connectors before mounting the turnbuckles. I’ve got lots of Tamiya cars with alloy turnbuckles that are well used and the turnbuckles are still prefect other than a few scratches.

If starting out get the M410 as mentioned above it’s a very neutral shell. The ZooRacing preopard is similar but the 410 is very neutral and good to start out. The popular body is the DBX, it is aggressive but still quite stable. I would suggest trying that once you feel that you need more steering and response etc.

Tamiya USA has the TRF419XR for $395 new atm. Super cheap for a top end touring car

Model sport simply sold out of their stock really quickly. It’s flyong of the shelves. When I got hold of the prototype I can see why, it’s superb! I have one waiting at home to be built https://www.thercracer.com/2019/07/57409-tamiya-rc-lunch-box-mini-hands-on.html?m=0

Wow, 1xD for RF is very narrow. I definitely would suggest you do not go more than 3 deg rear toe, it will make the rear end very locked and cause a lot of drag on the straights. 1Xa RF and 1D RR is 3 deg and is very stable and a good starting point.

As above the 46mm shafts are compatible with the TA06 arms / hubs etc. However, there is another factor, you need to consider the suspension block settings. If you make the suspension blocks more narrow then the 46mm universals might bind suspension movement. The sock kit is FF-A and FR-A and so is the R so assuming you have not gone much more narrow such as XB you should be fine. I did did a guide about Tamiya suspension settings and blocks here https://www.thercracer.com/2017/01/tamiya-suspension-mount-ultimate.html?m=0

Both are very good. The steering setup on the 07 is better than the 05 unless you buy the hop ups. It’s also easier to swap the motor position on the 07. Belts are just as durable as shafts (more so from a wear point of view). A race track outside or indoors is fine with belts. Both are great though, so it really is down to your preference. They are as fast as each other and both have good hop-up options.

Yep a TT02-S is much better than a hopped up TT01E. The main TT02 is not much of a big jump, but it is a more versatile chassis (You can change it to rally by flipping the hubs etc).

The TA03 is a good choice to try to make rwd. The stock car has 2deg caster and that’s a good start for rwd. You up want to up the rear toe in as high as you can go. Then look at your springs. The R version has the motor in a good place as well for stability. I personally wouldn’t go all in with a 11.5t motor until you have the car dialled with a slower motor. Most 4wd cars will oversteer if you chuck loads of power at them. looking forward to seeing how you progress.

54868 upgrade your dampers for the 419x (it makes them all blue and increases the movement range). then use the Black caps on your shocks

On road is fine with plastic. I’ve never had an issue with fast motors. Even the speed run guys who get way over 100mph with a TT02 run the plastic diffs with no issue.