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Scottrc

Complete beginner starting to race my TT-02

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Hi

This is the first thread I’ve made since I’ve joined. I bought my TT-02 Audi Quattro during lockdown as something to do to keep me occupied while on furlough. I’ve always been into anything with an engine and work in the motor trade so building my own rc car from a kit sounded like the perfect answer to stop the boredom!

I kept it completely standard and enjoyed taking over the local car park with my kids for a mess around. Just happened to see a few videos on YouTube about Tamiya racing and it spiked my interest. Had a look around and found a RC club about a mile from my house! AAORC in Aylesbury. Went to have a look and it looks so much fun! 
 

over the past couple of weeks I’ve been doing a few mods to the car to get ready to race. So far I’ve fitted Yeah racing shocks, wheel hexes, turnbuckles, alloy prop, high torque steering servo and sweep racing tyres. 
 

I’ve decided I’m going to race this Friday and I’m looking forward to it! Also a bit nervous as I know I’ll spend most of my time in the barriers! 
 

Just need to decide whether to use my Audi shell or Supra shell. Will update once I’ve had my first race 😬🤞🏻

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All I will say is that you should use the shell you like the least. Racing is hard on bodies! I speak from personal experience 😬 Have fun with it. Couple of little bits of advice :

1) If running on carpet indoors most tyres need additive to work properly, so contact the club and ask what they recommend and ask if someone can give you some of theirs on the first night just to see you through your first go.

2) If the TT02 is anything like the TT01E I raced it will be wildly tail happy out of the box, so try fitting the hardest springs to the front and the softest to the rear, and maybe rebuild the front shocks with pistons with one less hole than the rear. This should help calm the steering down. 

3) Set up the ride height. For carpet you will only need it to be 4 to 5mm with battery on board. No need for fancy setup boards, just get the car on a flat surface and use something the thickness of the desired height under end end. I use lego bricks. 

4) Those shells look lovely. I would seriously recommend getting something cheap off ebay to beat up! 

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I'd be inclined to get a generic cheap race shell that you wont mind getting bashed up. Would be a shame to damage either of those as youve done a great job with the finish on them. Does the race you are entering have any specific body shell requirements?

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13 hours ago, ThunderDragonCy said:

All I will say is that you should use the shell you like the least. Racing is hard on bodies! I speak from personal experience 😬 Have fun with it. Couple of little bits of advice :

1) If running on carpet indoors most tyres need additive to work properly, so contact the club and ask what they recommend and ask if someone can give you some of theirs on the first night just to see you through your first go.

2) If the TT02 is anything like the TT01E I raced it will be wildly tail happy out of the box, so try fitting the hardest springs to the front and the softest to the rear, and maybe rebuild the front shocks with pistons with one less hole than the rear. This should help calm the steering down. 

3) Set up the ride height. For carpet you will only need it to be 4 to 5mm with battery on board. No need for fancy setup boards, just get the car on a flat surface and use something the thickness of the desired height under end end. I use lego bricks. 

4) Those shells look lovely. I would seriously recommend getting something cheap off ebay to beat up! 

Thanks the shells aren’t perfect but came out well. I think I’m going to start with the Audi shell first until I can keep mostly off the barriers then switch to the Supra shell as think that should be more aerodynamic. 

Thanks for that tip didn’t even think of tyre additive! Will ask when I’m there what they use and if I can use someone’s to get me started 👍🏻.

My shocks came with loads of different spring rates so will swap them around, currently they are both medium springs front and rear.

Got my ride height maybe a touch high at 5mm front and 7mm rear. Will see how it goes but could possibly lower it a bit.

Thanks for your help 👍🏻

 

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13 hours ago, Superluminal said:

I'd be inclined to get a generic cheap race shell that you wont mind getting bashed up. Would be a shame to damage either of those as youve done a great job with the finish on them. Does the race you are entering have any specific body shell requirements?

Thanks 👍🏻. Both shells came out alright as the first ones I have done, they aren’t perfect though so don’t mind as much bashing them up a bit. The only requirement is that it looks like a scale car and not a gt style shell so both would be ok. Think the Supra would be better eventually as it’s lower more sleek and has a big rear wing. Also looks a bit more fragile though 😬 

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The chassis nearly finished and ready to race. Just need to mount the stop/start switch properly and tidy the wiring up a bit better. 

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1 hour ago, Scottrc said:

Thanks 👍🏻. Both shells came out alright as the first ones I have done, they aren’t perfect though so don’t mind as much bashing them up a bit. The only requirement is that it looks like a scale car and not a gt style shell so both would be ok. Think the Supra would be better eventually as it’s lower more sleek and has a big rear wing. Also looks a bit more fragile though 😬 

I hope the shell it OK. Racing really does beat the crap out of shells. You want to be happy to put it in the bin if you have a bad night. I spotted a cheap shell on ebay. Its got wi Dow stickers so you could get that, empty a can of flouro polycarbonate paint at it and not be bothered. Bright coloured racing shells are also good! 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-10-RC-Car-Clear-Body-Shells-Peugeot-408-/125187177115?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0

You really do need the super stuff springs up front. Leave the medium rear. Just even out the ride height at 5mm and call it done. Have fun! 

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Last night was my first ever rc race and it was so much fun! I also came second! There was only two of us in the TT class though! 😂 The first race I went with a set of scrubbed in sweep 34 tyres and the car was nearly uncontrollable until a few laps in. Some of the guys there thought I had drift tyres on! 😂

For the second session I swapped to a brand new set of sweep 28’s and kindly another racer gave me some tyre additive to use. I also lowered the ride height to 5mm all round. The car was transformed and I was getting used to it and making it round without hitting the sides. Couldn’t keep up with the other racer but was really pleased with the progress. 

For the final I kept the car the same and just used more additive. Started off well but around half way through kept grip rolling around the tight right hairpin 😬. Then the car started to make a loud clicking noise but I carried on and finished the race. 

Had a great time and will be back next week and will make some changes to the car. A lot of the guys were saying I should change the position of my front shocks and fit stiffer springs on the front so will try that. Also need to strip the car and find the noise. Think it may be a diff or the spur gear 😬

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Had a spare hour yesterday evening to have a look at my car from the last race. The shells held up really well after a few scrapes on track. All of the blacks marks rubbed off with a bit of brake cleaner and there’s no cracks or flaking paint. 

Disconnected the propshaft to find the clicking noise and found the noise was coming from the right hand front hub. Stripped it down and couldn’t find anything wrong apart from possibly an overtightened wheel. Built it all back up and the noise is now gone so will keep an eye on it. 

While I was there I moved the front shock positions to the outer holes now just need to fit the stiffer springs to the front. 

Still need to mount my new transponder somewhere?!? Fit the springs and adjust the front toe a bit before the next race Friday but can’t wait to get it back on track and see if I can improve my times. 

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Got back in the garage tonight to get the car ready for racing tomorrow. 
fitted the stiff springs to the front and the next stiffest springs to the rear. I then set the ride height front and rear to 5mm with the help of a 5mm Allen key as I haven’t got any set up tools yet! I also adjusted the steering turnbuckles to give me less toe out as I think I had gone too far before. It’s still slightly toeing out for now.

 
Fitted my new transponder and have stuck it to the top of the receiver for now but not sure that’s the best place to put it!?! Any better ideas??? Tidied up the servo, esc and transponder wiring while I was there too. 
Will see how the car runs tomorrow and see if i need to make any changes but think now I probably just need a lot more practise! 

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I think the transponder is fine there. I have the one on my TB03R in the same place. You just have to put them somewhere. The only time I did something clever was on my TT01E. I dug a little pocket in the foam bumper and stuck it in there, and used a servo lead extension wire to reach the receiver plug. 

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On 3/18/2022 at 7:21 AM, ThunderDragonCy said:

I think the transponder is fine there. I have the one on my TB03R in the same place. You just have to put them somewhere. The only time I did something clever was on my TT01E. I dug a little pocket in the foam bumper and stuck it in there, and used a servo lead extension wire to reach the receiver plug. 

That’s a good idea. The amount of times I’m crashing at the moment though is probably break it! 😂

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Last night was race night again! 😬 There was 4 of us in the TT01/TT02 class I was the only one with a TT02. The other 3 guys were all really experienced racers that drive in other classes so I was a bit nervous! As usual it took a couple of laps for the tyres to get some good grip and by that time I had been overtaken a few times plus had a few touches with the barriers! 
Once I found some grip I started to keep it off the barriers but was very wary of getting in the way of the faster guys and made sure I got well out the way when they came past. 
I finished dead last in the first heat as expected but I survived and didn’t ruin anyone else’s race. The only thing I noticed was the car was making a loud noise again but not a click more of a rotary noise. 
I stripped the car after the first heat and found the issue was my high speed spur gear had stripped. Looks like the motor mount had come loose moving the motor enough to cause the gear mesh to be out 🙄. For the second heat I fitted the old standard 70 tooth spur gear and the noise went and car felt good. I felt like I got a bit tidier but still can’t get the car to look as planted as everyone else’s probably down to my inexperience at driving. Came last again but wasn’t as many laps behind at the end. 
For the final I kept the car the same and just tried to slow down my driving a bit and concentrate on my lines and not crashing. 
Think I drove the best I had all day but was still moving right out the way for the other racers and just doing my own race. Managed my fastest lap but still at least 2 seconds off the other racers fastest laps. 
Still really enjoyed it again and glad to see I’m improving slowly. 
Next I’m going to order a new high speed spur gear and maybe the yeah racing slotted motor mount and leave the car as it is for now and just get more driving experience. Looking forward to next Friday!

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If you are buying a new spur gear, might I suggest ditching Tamiya parts? 48dp or 64dp pitch gears are way more available and you can get proper good options like RW Racing who do delrin spur gears and steel pinions. More choice of gearing and harder wearing. 64dp will sound soooo smooth 

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48 minutes ago, ThunderDragonCy said:

If you are buying a new spur gear, might I suggest ditching Tamiya parts? 48dp or 64dp pitch gears are way more available and you can get proper good options like RW Racing who do delrin spur gears and steel pinions. More choice of gearing and harder wearing. 64dp will sound soooo smooth 

Thanks that’s not a bad idea. I need to talk to the club to see if I will be ok to run them though as originally the cars were supposed to be iconic spec so only Tamiya high speed gear sets and limited mods. They don’t seem to be too strict though so may let me change to better gearing. 
My poor Audi shell is starting to look a bit more battered now but I’m glad it’s being put to use instead of sitting on a shelf in my garage and it looks awesome going round the track. 

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Decided to check over the car last night and all seems ok apart from my steering arm friction screw keeps coming loose causing play. Tightens up ok so will keep an eye on it. Also trimmed down the body posts for a cleaner look and fitted some larger bent body clips. Found a brake pipe cutting tool was perfect for cutting the posts and leaves a great finish. 

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Race night last night! There was only 2 of us in the TT01/02 class which was fine by me, less people to crash into! 
I started off slow as usual as really struggle with rear grip for the first few laps. Then after 8 laps I touched the barrier with the front left wheel and lost a half shaft! Got the car back but couldn’t get it to go back in without taking the front suspension apart so race was over.  
In the second race I started slowly again but then started to get some grip and was making good progress keeping off the barriers and putting some ok lap times down, then on lap 12 I touched the barrier with the rear right wheel and snapped the rear hub! Really annoying as it was more of a brush then a big hit must of been weakened already. 
Unfortunately that was the end of my race and night as a rear hub was the only spare part I didn’t have! 🤦‍♂️
Spoke to some of the experienced guys there about setup to try and tame the rear end and they have said I should move the front shocks into more or a straight position, put slightly softer rear springs in, put a bit more toe out on the front and fit 2 degree toe in rear hubs. So that’s what I’ll be up to this week in preperation for Friday. 

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Toe in rear hubs will make a big difference. If you want to try something quick and fairly cheap (compared to tamiya aluminium toe in hubs) I have a spare set of toe in hubs I 3d printed for my TT01E and they should fit. Drop me a DM and you can have them for a few quid. 

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11 hours ago, ThunderDragonCy said:

Toe in rear hubs will make a big difference. If you want to try something quick and fairly cheap (compared to tamiya aluminium toe in hubs) I have a spare set of toe in hubs I 3d printed for my TT01E and they should fit. Drop me a DM and you can have them for a few quid. 

Thanks for that but ordered toe in rear hubs yesterday 🤦‍♂️ Have been told by a few people that it should make a big difference so fingers crossed. Not sure they are technically legal in my class but as I’m at the back they’ve said they will allow it. 

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While waiting for my rear hubs to turn up I adjusted the front toe for more toe out and also re fixed my esc and on/off switch as they had come loose. The motor wires being too long was starting to bug me too so I cut the wires from the esc and soldered them directly onto the motor instead. 
All that’s left now is to die the new rear hubs and try them out on Friday. 
Still debating whether to swap my stick transmitter for my wheel transmitter to see if I like it as the wheel one has a lot more adjustments. 

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My yeah racing toe in rear hubs turned up today so fitted them to the car. Also my new car pit stand turned up so gave that a test. Cars now all ready again for Friday and hopefully I will notice a difference with rear grip and also finish all three races! 
Going to stick with my stick transmitter and see how it goes on Friday but still thinking of swapping over to my wheel radio. 

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Race evening number 4 was last night. After fitting the toe in rear hubs my first drive was in the first heat of the evening, got there a bit late so missed any practice! Instantly the car felt so much better! Pretty much no oversteer on the throttle or lifting off. Handled so much better! Managed to get some good laps in and mostly stay away from the barriers and the other 4 racers. 
Heat 2 I started slowly trying to slow down more around the corners as I have a tendency for going in too fast and end up going wide. Started to get some good laps in then hit the barrier on a tight right hairpin with the wheel on full lock. Instantly saw the front right wheel didn’t look right and couldn’t steer. My race was over around 12 laps in. Looking at the car in the pits I had managed to snap the front right hub! Should of learned from last week and brought more spares with me but didn’t have a front hub so that was that. 
Really enjoying racing even though I’m having a few breakages and I’m always last! Every week I’m starting to get smoother though and starting to bridge the gap between the quick guys. 
For next week I’ve ordered two parts trees for front and rear hubs so I should have two of every part possible if/when I break something again! Going to use my wheel radio now too as my stick controller is very basic and I think is causing the steering to be very jittery. 

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