BloodClod
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The Tamiya Super Avante #58696 Information and Pictures
BloodClod replied to Mechanic AH's topic in General discussions
Love the race update. Please keep them coming. Are you using the updated metal bevel gears in the transmission or the sick plastic? In my experience the plastic certainly wouldn't handle hard running on a high grip astroturf track.- 1043 replies
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The Tamiya Super Avante #58696 Information and Pictures
BloodClod replied to Mechanic AH's topic in General discussions
Here's a revised electronics layout on the TD4. I think this is possible with a minimum of shaving down battery retainers at the sides of the car. Overall, I think it's a nice clean look and does away with the need for clips and screws for the battery removal/install. Simplified steering setup should provide slightly improved steering response too. Weather has not allowed me to run this yet but I expect it should do fine with the overall lower CG. I also bought a set of non-tamiya hop ups - the front cantilevers, steering bellcranks, steering bridge and also servo mounts are all nice blue aluminum parts but totally non-tamiya. They also cost a total of US$20. If anyone is interested, the finishing of the parts is pretty decent and the aluminum, though probably softer than what Tamiya should be using - is probably gonna work fine. The problem with them is they come fitted with terrible bearings and if you want them to work right there's some elbow grease needed to get those out and to fit some proper ones. I'll provide more info on what I had to do if anyone's interested.- 1043 replies
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The Tamiya Super Avante #58696 Information and Pictures
BloodClod replied to Mechanic AH's topic in General discussions
Hey guys, finally had some time to try some ideas I've been toying around with for the TD4. There are a few things I'd like to improve on for this car (like better dust proofing...) but over the weekend I designed a battery mounting system. To be honest, the stock system isn't really that bad IMO, after some getting used to it really isn't that hard. That said, I wanted to see if I could work out a system that: (i) would easily fit a shorty pack (ii) would be easier to install and remove (hopefully without a hex driver or even snap pins) (iii) would allow me to still run the driver figure (which I really like) (iv) would not require any cutting or mods to the chassis itself Here's my solution. First, I designed and printed a new top brace that gives me direct access to the lipos 4mm terminals. It also allows me to run the driver figure - woohoo! On the other side I have a new battery retaining system that involves 2 3D printed parts - a bar that swings open give me access to the battery cover and secondly a battery cover that holds the battery in. The bar swings open and the battery slides right out. This system uses the stock holes on the chassis available so I don't need to make any new holes or mods to the chassis. Why did I not use the stock battery cover? Well... it was a bit too thick to fit the shorty and I didn't want to shave it down. This new piece is just the right thickness to retain the lipo snugly. Just thought I'd share my version of a battery mounting solution with you guys. The availability of 3D printing has really changed what we can do with our hobby these days. One added plus to this mounting system is that the space in front of the chassis next to the steering servo is now empty so when I get the chance I will relocate the ESC there for a cleaner look and lower center of gravity. Let me know what you think. I have some mods to test out to improve the dust seal of the gearbox too - this is a real pet peeve of mine with offroad cars with gearboxes that don't effectively seal out dirt. Hopefully the mods work and I'll post them up in a future post.- 1043 replies
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Standard 1/10 2.2" wheels. I think most will work but specifically on my car the fronts are yokomo and the rears are from PR Racing.
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For both my TD cars I simply stuck a tiny thin piece of soft foam to one side of the little cap and this makes the fit snug enough so it doesn't fall out during running. If you need a pic let me know and I'll take one later today.
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Yes you can adjust it by removing the little cap at the side
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For the first time in weeks the local dirt track is dry enough for a run so I swapped out the astro tires for a set of dirt threads and went for my first test on a loamy off-road dirt track. Test Comments Acceleration: the installed Hobbywing 10.5t has lots of grunt and is too much for a low grip dirt track so it was a bit finicky putting down the power. While the car was a beast accelerating on astro, on dirt a steady throttle finger is really needed. I chalk this up also to the mid-motor configuration which favors smooth driving lines and gentle throttle/brake inputs. I intend to install the optional RR block to reduce anti-squat and add a on bit of toe-in which I think will calm that rear end down. Cornering: Car cornered well, no lack of steering on the dirt. I found the stock front springs may be a tad soft so as the front end dived under braking there was a tendency for the rear to break loose if too much brake was applied. I lowered my brake epa which helped a lot. The car was surprisingly quick around some corners and would hold its line even with some of the 4wds I ran with. Jumps/landing: this track doesn't really have jumps so there's not much to report on here. But my experience on astro is that the car is a capable balanced jumper. Bump handling: car did well with the bumpy track. I think the stock springs and sick package are pretty good for dirt. Durability: so far the car has been a warrior. Tumbles and crashes have not broken anything... The drive train has been reliable. No issues here. Overall I enjoyed my test run today. The car was certainly not as confident out of corners as a rear motor 2wd, but when driven smoothly it did reward with some speedy laps. I think some tuning can only make it even better but for a first time on a dirt track I think the car did well. Plus, I think that shell just looks awesome zipping around the track!
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Finished painting the body today. I decided not to go with a one color scheme and also not to use the stock decals which I thought emphasized some of the body lines too much. Quite like how it turned out. I really like the bubble cockpit of this shell... I find it's shape and mid-cab placement rather unique amidst today's selection of buggies. Must admit the td2 body didn't appeal to me when I first saw it, but I've really grown to like it.
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One little challenge I'm finding so far is that with the stock springs I'm unable to achieve the lower ride height I normally run on astro. This has resulted in the buggy rolling a bit more so the response around corners becomes a bit lazier and it's easier to roll the car on high speed corners. Will hunt in my parts box for other springs, but I'm trying to see what performance I can get out of as many stock parts as I can. I think the stock springs should be good on dirt though. As soon as weather here dries up a bit I'll try the car on dirt.
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The td2 builds without any steering limiters. Yes, I tested the car further today and with more laps in, my next test is to add a tad more weight upfront. To help the nose have a more natural drop to get back on steering faster on landing the jumps.
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First Impressions at the Track Wired up the TD2 Astute 2022 and took it for a test run at the local rack today. The car is running a basic 120A Hobbywing Quicrun ESC with a 10.5 brushless motor and I have 3 aftermarket items installed in the car. Options and Settings The first is the slipper clutch which I consider a must-have when doing any real sort of track running along with the second item which is a metal diff nut for the ball differential. The third item installed are a pair of old DF02 front shocks that I had in my parts box. The reason I installed them is that the stock shocks have limited travel which results in the front end of the car being unable to bottom out on full compression. The DF02 shocks have more travel once the internal limiters are removed - so I was able to use the rearward shock mounting holes to get more uptravel while maintaining the same droop settings. For those who are interested, I used 3-hole pistons in the front shocks with AE 35wt oil and for the rear I ran 2-hole pistons with the stock kit oil - stock kit springs all around. I was running Schumacher Mezzo on the rears and cut staggers in the front - yellow compound all round. Other than that, the car is pretty much stock. For power I am running a shorty pack in the battery compartment but it is spaced all the way to the left. The space on the left is taken up by some battery foam spacers and another 25g of weight to balance the car out. The Track I ran the car on the local astro-turf track. It is an outdoor track so traction is medium-high and the surface is bumpy. The track has some mid-sized jumps and tight hairpins - overall a decent track imo to test the overall performance of the car. Impressions I really didn't know what to expect when I put the car on the track. After a few slow laps to make sure the car was functioning well I started to push the car more. JUMPINGļ¼ LANDING: The car actually jumped very well - it was predictable, easy to control and had a very neutral jumping attitude. The suspension settings were also surprisingly good when it came to the landings, the car settled well after each jump without being unsettled. I don't expect much out of Tamiya's stock shock settings but this was pretty on point. STRAIGHT LINE: This car was a rocket. I think my gearing was probably too high but the car handled it like a champ. It shot down the straights confidently. I put the car on my scales and the front/rear weight with my shorty pack was about 37/63 which I think is in the ballpark of the typical mid-motor buggy today. Great on the straights. CORNERING: The car corners well but this is where it lacks a bit of the aggressiveness of my other race buggies. I peg this down to the slightly more limited physical steering angles of the wheels at full lock on this car. To be clear, the car doesn't turn like a truck - not at all - but at the tight hairpins I had to push the car harder just to get the front to bite harder and the rear to come around. On the plus side, the car handled the rest of the track very comfortably with the steering feeling predictable and never twitchy. Again I was impressed with the largely stock suspension settings which were just a tad soft for the astro track, but still very good. TRANSMISSION: The transmission of the car is silky smooth. I liked the positive feel of the throttle and how the car puts power down. Time will tell how well the gears will wear, but first impressions are pretty darn good. I did have one problem with the rear dogbones though... and it was a similar problem I had experienced on the front of my TD4. For some reason, after some hard running, the sponge spacers in the outdrives will get chewed up which leads to engagement issues where the dogbone meets the outdrives. I will put a thicker piece of sponge in their and try again - but given the performance of the car so far I might be willing to spring some $$$ for universals. Overall I was really pleasantly surprised with the car. Although I expected it would be able to get around the track, I had thought that it would need quite some work to keep up with the other race cars. The TD2 actually did a pretty good job of keeping up with most of the AEs and Yokomos. I wouldn't say it is a better race car than these thoroughbred competition buggies (it's not and don't expect it to be), but I think in the hands of a decent driver it'd give the other guys at the club a good dogfight or two. I also love the look of that F1-styled body zipping around the track and there's always a bit of fun when a fellow racer comes to your pit table and realizes he was battling with an odd-looking, plastic chassied Tamiya... First track impressions of the TD2 are all positive and I think Tamiya has developed a really unique car that has that Tamiya DNA but yet feels at home at the track - perfect for the guy looking to challenge himself with something different.
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The Tamiya Super Avante #58696 Information and Pictures
BloodClod replied to Mechanic AH's topic in General discussions
Just cleaned up the car but left the dirt on the body for now. The stock body and paint have really grown on me. If using larger race wings (mine is a 6.5") then go with the higher wing mounts included in the box. Otherwise you may have issues with the rear tires rubbing on the wing on suspension compression.- 1043 replies
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The Tamiya Super Avante #58696 Information and Pictures
BloodClod replied to Mechanic AH's topic in General discussions
Thanks, I think it's quite ideal for a car like the TD4. It's a mix of off-road plus race track for a mid-tier race buggy. Glad you found it useful. Lots of great info on here but perhaps not so many impressions and experiences on a race track yet, hopefully more to come. The body certainly is polarizing. I do wish the sides were just a tad more streamlined, but I love that bubble cockpit with the driver peeking out! Lol. Yes, the handling is surprising for a mostly stock setup. Here's my personal recommended upgrade list (in order of priority) so far: 1. Metal diff nuts - the stock ones really didn't last for me. This should've been in the box imo. 2. Db02 bevel gears - also to bullet proof the transmission. Also should've been included as far as I'm concerned. 3. Slipper clutch - not critical depending on your track, but always good to have to protect the transmission. 4. Front universals - I had issues with the stock front driveshafts chewing up the foam spacers and then binding up. No ejected shafts yet though... 5. Rear hinge pin block - option but a good one because it allows adjustable rear toe and anti-squat. I just put mine on with 0.5 degree more toe. Car's certainly not perfect, but I think it checks the boxes for a fun and decently reliable buggy that could possibly hang with the other race cars at a club track.- 1043 replies
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The Tamiya Super Avante #58696 Information and Pictures
BloodClod replied to Mechanic AH's topic in General discussions
Thanks. Local weather has been quite unfriendly to RC running lately so I've not had a chance to run head-to-head with other buggies much. From what I've observed though, the TD4 should be able to hang with most of the crowd. One thing of note is that this is on a 80s-styled loose dirt track without big jumps - the stock suspension setup seems well suited for it and it is quite a pleasure to drive. Some other personal thoughts: - the metal DB02 bevel gears are - in my opinion - a must for a reliable drive train. The plastic ones just aren't up to task for any serious throttle-brake input. - if the car is to run on astro-turf or a more modern-type track, I think it would still be capable, but it would probably benefit from a better set of shocks and more setup work... but I suspect it would be unlikely that the TD4 would see a lot of extensive race setups being generated. - there's a smoothness in the car and a 'feel' that is uniquely 'tamiya' which is a plus of course!- 1043 replies
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Wow. Thanks for sharing. That's really some commitment to this project. After reading your post, I'm reminded to treat my old 201 well. Looking forward to your build.