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So you ran a silver can for an entire pack at 4-5 FDR and it lived? Better than I would have thought to be honest and good to know. After a 5 minute heat of all out racing in the stock motor classes those things are very hot, and that's at the stock 8+ FDR the TT01/TT02 runs.

Yea, I'm perfectly OK with the open motor/spec turns classes because they effectively eliminate cheating. In the fixed timing/brushed motor classes there are definitely some tricks going on. 25.5 seems slow, but that TT02 was flying around the track nearly as fast a I control it. Same with the F1 and 25.5 motor, about as fast as I'm comfortable going at this point while still being able to hit my braking points & lines. I keep getting pushed to get into 21.5 touring or USGT, but not only are those cars a lot faster, but the chassis require a lot more tuning and I'm just not there yet. I bought a couple of XRay chassis a month or so ago (a 2017 & 2018), but I havent started to work on them yet. I want to make sure I can drive as fast and consistently as possible in the "slower" classes before I make the move. There are too many guys out there ruining other people's races because they went from Euro Truck to 21.5 in a matter of 1-2 months. I won't be that guy.

I can answer that perfectly. I ran TT02 production class & Euro Truck last night as well. Here are my numbers from last night: TT02 Production (27t Brushed - Stock Gearing) / 35 Laps / Fast Lap 6.53 Euro Truck (27t Brushed - Stock Gearing) / 33 Laps / Fast Lap 6.98 VTA (25.5 Brushless - 3.8:1 / 45 degrees timing) / 37 Laps / Fast Lap 6.12 So yes, the 25.5 is faster. It felt a lot faster when running, but the times are actually closer than I thought. I'd say if a silver can could handle the heat of 3.8:1 gearing it would probably be quicker, but hard to say. I doubt it would last an entire qualifier without getting smoked with that gearing though, they're hot enough after a heat in Production/Euro truck with stock gearing.

No problem, hope it helps someone. Great group of racers where we're at, its all about having fun and racing clean. It's funny, after the race our race director asked the other guys if they knew a TT02 just beat them, it was a funny moment. Everyone just had to take a look because nobody believed it. A few of the really fast guys weren't there and I most likely would have lost to them, but even being close with a TT chassis would make my day. I plan on running this one a lot more so we'll see how it goes. I actually think the flex of the chassis with the stock soft shocks is a good combo for this car. VTA is a bit slow with 25.5 motors so its all about taking the right line and getting as much exit speed as possible. This car just dives into the corner and digs in, so much front grip that I was taking much tighter lines and getting better exits than the stiff chassis cars. A flexible chassis is not ideal for high grip carpet (from what I've read), but seems to suit me. I might try to tighten it up just a bit, but going to leave well enough alone for the most part. Just happy that I can finally use my SRX to be competitive in a class. Up until now I didn't have much use for it since the more basic Tamiya classes exclude the SRX due to the TRF suspension.

Finally got the SRX ready for VTA and took it to its first race last night. Took first place in the A by just under a second, it was awesome. I think every other chassis running was an XRay, so pretty cool to win with a TT02. Car handled great and had tons of grip due to the flex so I was able to take very tight lines around the small indoor track. I ended up getting the gear hold-down, center chassis brace, and carbon top deck from RC-Racer and the parts are fantastic. Ended up with a 3.8:1 FDR using a 76t spur and 52t pinion (64 pitch). I can probably go up to a 56t spur before I need to grind the gearcase, but on the small track I ran last night 3.8 was perfect. Great punch out of the corners and enough top end to not lose any time on the straight.

I'm a subscriber and no clue how to use TCPhotos. Is there somewhere on the site that explains it? I rarely post pictures anymore since I've been at the limit for a while.

That's a good point about "messing" with brushed motors, but I still wouldn't mind being off the pace and having $40 worth of electronics in my car vs what I currently have in it Everything is brushless around here these days with the exception of the Euro Trucks and TT02 Production and I love those classes. I don't mess with my motors (just break them in) and I do just fine, but there are definitely some rabbits out there that you can tell do not have box-stock motors. To me that ruins the fun, but if it makes them feel better by all means. There is no reason to overpower one of these Formula chassis, they drive wonderfully with 21.5+ and stockish brushed motors. With the gearing they run they're pretty quick as-is. With the concentration it takes me to drive a 25.5 F1 for 5 minutes and not hit a wall I couldn't imagine driving with a 13.5 or even 17.5 in this chassis. They are quick.

Nice! Haven't even opened it yet. Will definitely give the Sport Tuned a shot.

Yes, I agree 100%. I would actually prefer if they would race using silver cans locally. I have over $200 of electronics in mine with a 25.5, seems counter-productive when a silver can would most likely yield similar results...I did pick up one of those Mercedes C11 kits because I couldn't resist, that will be getting a silver can for sure. I believe that's an F103 chassis? Haven't taken a good look at it yet.

Came here to post this, thanks @Pylon80 I did everything that was recommended and the car came out great, runs fantastic out of the box. Get CRC tires if racing on carpet, they are fantastic. As for your motor combo, I think that would be insane in an F104 We run 25.5t for racing and geared 2.5:1 > 3:1 they are plenty quick to keep you busy. I would think with a 4000kv it would be absolutely uncontrollable. If you're not racing I'd throw a silver can or Sport Tuned in with a 1060 and have fun, it will be plenty quick if you gear it up a bit.

At first I thought you meant semi truck build - talk about diving in head first You're not kidding about value of other brands vs Tamiya. I'm determined to stick with Tamiya cars for on road racing, but you can get budget all out competition kits these days for the price of a basic TT02 kit (Sakura, Xpress).

I'll give it a shot and see how it goes. The car cornered great, I had no issues with the diff as tight as it can be. I'm sure a locked diff is not the way to go on asphalt, but we're using pretty low power motors with very high grip so I think it could work for my driving. I guess we'll see. Thanks again. I absolutely love how these cars drive and the concentration it takes to drive them well. I was racing a few classes yesterday and Pro Spec was after F1. Without fail I went wide on the first 3-4 corners every single time in that car after driving the F1. The TT02 felt like an absolute boat compare to the F104, it took a little bit to get used to going back and forth between them. I'm just glad Euro Trucks weren't directly after F1, that would have been a mess for me

Sounds good, thank you. Out of curiosity, what did you not like about the locked rear? Still new at this and thinking a locked rear will help based on one race day with high grip carpet, but maybe that's not the answer. If I'm looking for more exit speed, is there anywhere else I should be looking? Car moves great once it gets going, but seems to bog down a bit coming out of the corner. Current gearing is 2.72:1 (68/25). I did start the day at 3.09:1 (68/22) but the car was too slow. Trying to learn what I can about these cars.

Great, thank you. It looks like both are readily available in the US and use Kimbrough spurs which is nice since I already have a few. Do you have any experience with either on an F104? They both look similar to the Tamiya setup but would be nice to know that they'll fit without any problems.

I am currently using the 1/8" diff balls, I know that for sure. I'll get a set of those bushings to try it out. I definitely want to try something reversible in case I want to go back or end up running the car on asphalt in the summer, I assume I'd want some diff action then with much less traction. Just to confirm - there is no spool available for these, correct? Just want to be sure, because if that's an option I'd give it a shot. Thanks again guys, very helpful as always.

Thank you. I just remembered I'm running a Kimbrough Spur and Yokomo diff balls, any idea of they would work in the KB spur? Interesting points you make. I'm still new to F1 (obviously) so will take any advice given. The carpet is very grippy but motors are not powerful - we run 25.5 locally. I do feel like the car is diffing out so I will give it a try. I started the day with the diff in the stock setting and it felt better when tightened up a bit so I can only assume corner exit would get better with the diff locked. Also going by the fact that the other experienced racers in the class all had lockers. I intend to try a bit of tuning on the car next time out (didn't touch anything all day yesterday other than tightening the diff a bit), so I'd at least like to try running it locked to see if it helps.

Hey Guys - What the best way to lock up the diff on an F104? Or better yet, is there a spool available? Raced mine on carpet for the first time yesterday and I absolutely loved it! Car drove great out of the box and was very predictable and direct on CRC tires. Took the win in a-main by a lap and even beat a couple XRay chassis. Was happy the little F104 did so well, but really feel like it need a locker to see its full potential on high grip carpet. I was definitely losing time on corner exit due to the diff and have plenty of grip, want to lock it up.

Yea, but if you buy him something cool and he loses interest its yours, haha. Still need to get my hands on that TT02R from my nephew...he'd never know it was missing.

No, of course not! It's completely wrong of them to post as their own original ideas without giving credit. As you said, its great for us to all share ideas in the hobby, but a simple mention of where it came from and who spent the time on it is surely warranted in cases like that.

Yea, I love when they ship from NC. Problem is most of the stuff I order seems to come from CA, takes forever compared to how quick Tower used to get me stuff. Oh well, is what it is. Just have to plan ahead.

Well that's just wrong...

Like some others have mentioned, if you tailor the experience to what you want it can be great. I resisted for years and used my wife's FB for Marketplace until she got annoyed with all the messages so finally broke down and made my own. It's been great, I just ignore things I don't want to see and get to see all of the stuff I missed out on not being on there. Biggest thing for me is the groups and its pretty much all I look at (I have most of my friends muted so I don't get to see their personal crap that I don't care about ). It's also the only place to keep up on local RC race schedules and things like that, would be completely in the dark without it in regards to that. Give it a shot, can always just delete your account if you don't like it.

Yup, I'm done with Tower as well unfortunately. They overcharged me by a good amount a couple months back and never got the money back. Not to mention my points were all messed up, same as you. Stuck with Amain now which isn't much better but at least I get charged the right amount. With them being in CA shipping takes forever. Currently have an ESC on the way that was supposed to arrive Wednesday but shipping went dark and then resurfaced in Alaska this morning, wonderful. It was for a new car I was supposed to race on Sunday and can't find one locally so that's a bummer.

Good deals. Any 2.4 radio for $25 is a steal. Is that the same one Tower was giving out with select Tamiya kits? I was looking at the Mercedes C11 kit and instead of a discount they were including a Tactic radio.

I found the deals to be pretty light overall this year, I seem to remember better in the past. As others mentioned HW had a nice sale so bought a few new G2 brushless systems to replace some aging systems in race trucks and AMain had 15% off of JConcepts so bought 4 sets of Tribute/Renegade in Gold compound to get ready for winter carpet season. I remember JC having 20% off on their site last year (or maybe it was 2021), but they actually had nothing on their site at all. There were a few manufacturers that I remember having decent sales in the past that had absolutely nothing.