Super Touring FF-03 Build - Back to RC

[grip-wolrd 189]

Hi All,

(I posted by mistake in the wrong forum so I'm reposting this here)

There's a common trend "in my 30s and back into RC" and that's exactly where I'm at; did lots of nitro 1/8 buggy as a kid and then gave it up for bigger things and now I'm back to relive the nostalgia!!

A month ago I bought a Kyosho Ultima 2WD, then a Tamiya Grasshopper and now a Tamiya FF-03 (I like 2WD), and I've decided to document this build process a little because the blogging aspect of it interest me. I've got a lot of video, and some pictures, but the build video will come at the end when it's all complete.

The kits is a basic FF-03 kit with the CR-Z body, as that's all I could find; FFs are hard to come by, at least in Switzerland.

CR-Z body was sold immediately and I got a repro Honda Accord JTCC body, as I'd like to make a super touring JTCC style FF car, and instead of the standard Gathers or Castrol colors I've decided to make a unique creation that is still period correct; a JGTC Raybrig liveried JTCC incarnation. Raybrig didn't had a title sponsor in JTCC as far as I can tell at the time, and definitely not with Honda, so this will be an NSX Raybrig inspired livery reproduced on a Honda Accord.

The basic FF-03 has a few short comings that I've learnt from this forum, so I got a couple of upgrades beforehand.

I started out with the MUST haves, and left the SHOULD have once I drive the car and learn it; I've never driven a street RC car before so have lots to learn:

- Replaced the plastic out drives with Yeah Racing Aluminium Ball Diff Kit

- Upgraded the drive-shafts with Tamiya 44mm Double Cardan Joint Drive-Shafts

- Got the Tamiya CNC Motor Mount for improved cooling.

- Aluminium Hex Drives (in various thicknesses).

- I also decided to replace the steering mechanism with the 3Racing Aluminium Steering Kit.

- The Aluminium spur gear mount was impossible to found to I decided to machine my own out of Alu stock; it fits perfectly and it's very stiff!

A few photos:

Green RAYS TE37s from the NSX kit were also impossible to find, so I've got these green Speedline 6 spoke wheels from the 190E kit in 26mm.

First observations after putting the kit together in running form:

- The rear shocks seem almost too short; they are fully extended and the ride height is very low. I don't know if this is how it should be but I might move the upper joint outboard by one hole.

- The front upright mounts are touching the A-arms, which means I cannot add any negative camber (shorten the upper links); is this normal or have I done something wrong?

- The 3Racing steering links are rubbish; there are basically no flats on the hexes so you can't adjust them when mounted. Terrible part.

[grip-wolrd 189]

Tamiya beautiful Double Cardan Joint shafts; perfectly smooth at full steering. Really happy about these:

And the horrible steering link rods from 3Racing; the Aluminium parts are nice but if I want to make any toe adjustments I will need to replace these links with something better:

 

[BuggyGuy 1106]

There's a good list of parts here if you want the part numbers for the Tamiya turnbuckle links: 

 

[Nicadraus 6198]

Actually the 3R (FF03-12/LB Steering Track) is fine. I have this in one of my FF-03 cars which I have been using for street bashing and rallying. I used Tamiya aluminum turnbuckles. 

Below are the steering sets from 3R and Tamiya. The latter with the carbon fiber bridge. Both works well equally. The 3R fitted in my RR while the Tamiya in the Pro-R. 

Another option is XV-01/FF-04 steering set which fits the FF-03 perfectly.

[Nicadraus 6198]

Some other very important upgrades are:

- Aluminum suspension mounts - 54064 1XD (3pcs), 54069 1A (1pc)

- Aluminum bumper mount - 84406 Serves as a heat sink extension to the motor plate and helps dissipate the heat quicker. 

- Aluminum differential joint cups. The stock plastic wears out very quick. I used the Yeah Racing (YR) and works really well.

@grip-wolrd You can also follow and join the discussions here.

Have a happy build! 

[FuzzyFlynn 75]

Welcome to Tamiyaclub. One thing to check: With this type of suspension, the rather large reinforcement struts in Tamiya 26mm rims typically touch the lower suspension arms at the front at full steering lock and the wheels will not turn properly. Wheel hub spacers might help, but then your track might be too wide for your desired body shell.

[grip-wolrd 189]

15 hours ago, Nicadraus said:

Actually the 3R (FF03-12/LB Steering Track) is fine. I have this in one of my FF-03 cars which I have been using for street bashing and rallying. I used Tamiya aluminum turnbuckles. 

Below are the steering sets from 3R and Tamiya. The latter with the carbon fiber bridge. Both works well equally. The 3R fitted in my RR while the Tamiya in the Pro-R. 

Another option is XV-01/FF-04 steering set which fits the FF-03 perfectly.

Interesting to see that you've used the arms from the 3Racing kit but kept the original Tamiya plate design; I might consider this if I dont think the current one or see about changing the rods.

14 hours ago, Nicadraus said:

Some other very important upgrades are:

- Aluminum suspension mounts - 54064 1XD (3pcs), 54069 1A (1pc)

- Aluminum bumper mount - 84406 Serves as a heat sink extension to the motor plate and helps dissipate the heat quicker. 

- Aluminum differential joint cups. The stock plastic wears out very quick. I used the Yeah Racing (YR) and works really well.

@grip-wolrd You can also follow and join the discussions here.

Have a happy build! 

Yes, i actually got the Yeah Racing Alu Diff Cups!

7 hours ago, FuzzyFlynn said:

Welcome to Tamiyaclub. One thing to check: With this type of suspension, the rather large reinforcement struts in Tamiya 26mm rims typically touch the lower suspension arms at the front at full steering lock and the wheels will not turn properly. Wheel hub spacers might help, but then your track might be too wide for your desired body shell.

You are right, and I've already grinded down the reinforment struts in the wheel and now they fit without issue at all steering angles; i can even run 4mm hexes and there is clearance.

 

[grip-wolrd 189]

Here are the ground down reinforcements in the 26mm Tamiya wheels. Had to take about 3-4 mm of the outer ribs.

Now they fit well and could run the original 5 mm hexes on the front and narrower 4 mm on the rear:

[grip-wolrd 189]

Finished up the running chassis basically and fitted the electronics; I'm running a brushed setup as I wanted something low cost, but we'll see how quick it feels.

- Tamiya GT Tuned 25t Motor

- Hobbywing Quicrun 1060

I have no experience with either, and not quite sure what to expect until I drive it for the first time:

Then I've been working on the fitment of the wheels and tires a bit more with the Accord body; Super Touring cars have such incredible fitment and I feel like that has to be replicated.

On the front 26 mm wheels I'm trying out the 24 mm tires that came with kit; they are slightly smaller in diameter and obviously narrow and seem to fit quite well within the bodywork.

At the rear I've decided to use some black 24 mm Tamiya rims; these will be made to match with the front later with some 'upgrades'.

I think it's looking OK; the rear wheel is tucked well under the arches, and the front works well with the steering.

[grip-wolrd 189]

Measured running mass of the car both with and without battery to get a starting point.

1,021 g without battery.

1,248 g in running order with my 2S battery.

[grip-wolrd 189]

A bit more progress on the body; finally got the right Tamiya PS-35, as they are illegal in Switzerland, and could start recreating the Raybrig livery on the Honda Accord body.

For the decals I managed to find a newer Honda NSX Raybrig decal set (No. 58479) that had the right Raybrig logos, but I also used some of the Castrol Accord decals that came with the body.

The large red Raybrig decal on the sides and bonnet had to be hand cut with red vinyl sheet I had:

I still need to finish a few of the decals and then add a couple of smaller accessories like mirrors and wipers, and then actually drive the thing! I've never driven an On-Road R/C car, let alone a FWD, so I'm very curious how it will handle.

The inspiration:

 

[Grumpy pants 4485]

Love this, great thread!

Missed it March, but enjoyed it all this morning.

 

[grip-wolrd 189]

Did my first outing with the FF-03, and first time on track too, and learnt a few valuable things:

• FWD is fun to drive and approachable; the thing goes exactly where you point it.
• 25t GT Tuned motor is nowhere near fast enough for an outdoor track; after a few runs I swapped in my brushless Hobbywing Ezrun MAX10 setup, which made all the difference.
  • I will try and gear it a little longer for this setup as there was a lot of wheel spin and I was maxing out along the back straight.
• Front tires dont last; after about 4 or 5 runs the front where done had to swap the rears in. 
  • Is there something that last longer than the stock Tamiya tires or do I need multiple sets per day?

I had a collision with another car that happened to take the wrong path around the track and it broke the LH body mount and gearbox mount; funnily enough this cracked off piece actually allowed me to fit the Hobbywing brushless motor leads; I'm not sure how people are mounting brushless motors in these FF-03s with this mount intact.

Down to the foam:

My friend brought his Super-Tens and an Inferno GT2.

[ThunderDragonCy 7878]

Very nice! Couple of thing I do with my FF cars at the track. Firstly tyres : I run proper race rubber preglued on wheels (looks boring but works best) staggered front to rear. So I will use harder front than rear. Means buying 2 sets of tyres/wheels. So for instance, I run Rush brand tyres because I like their feel (see what brand is run mostly at your track and available easily locally for you), and generally I run the Rush 32 front, and the softer Rush28 rear. If its really hot I'll go 36 front 32 rear.

As for gearing, depends on your motor, but on a 17.5 brushless race setup with zero timing allowed on the ESC I ran 4.1 FDR in my FF03. You need to add 1 to the FDR for each motor step, so if you have 13.5 you need around 5 FDR, 10.5 around 6 FDR etc. 

[grip-wolrd 189]

13 hours ago, ThunderDragonCy said:

Very nice! Couple of thing I do with my FF cars at the track. Firstly tyres : I run proper race rubber preglued on wheels (looks boring but works best) staggered front to rear. So I will use harder front than rear. Means buying 2 sets of tyres/wheels. So for instance, I run Rush brand tyres because I like their feel (see what brand is run mostly at your track and available easily locally for you), and generally I run the Rush 32 front, and the softer Rush28 rear. If its really hot I'll go 36 front 32 rear.

As for gearing, depends on your motor, but on a 17.5 brushless race setup with zero timing allowed on the ESC I ran 4.1 FDR in my FF03. You need to add 1 to the FDR for each motor step, so if you have 13.5 you need around 5 FDR, 10.5 around 6 FDR etc. 

Thank you for the feedback!

I will take a look what is available locally, and I get the pre glued tires, just a shame I cant use my green wheels! Might have to paint them.

When you refer to FDR, you mean the ratio from motor to axle, or just motor to main spur?

Another picture of the track:

 

[ThunderDragonCy 7878]

@grip-wolrd FDR is ratio of motor to wheel. For the FF03 the internal fixed ratio is 2.6, so FDR is

(Spur gear teeth/pinion teeth) * 2.6 = FDR

You will definitely need to ditch tamiya gears. I moved to the more widespread 48dp imperial pitch gears for my spur and pinion to get good gearing. 

[Juhunio 6830]

22 hours ago, grip-wolrd said:

Thank you for the feedback!

I will take a look what is available locally, and I get the pre glued tires, just a shame I cant use my green wheels! Might have to paint them.

When you refer to FDR, you mean the ratio from motor to axle, or just motor to main spur?

Another picture of the track:

 

That looks like so much fun! Where is it? We’re thinking about moving house soon and I’m really hoping we can end up within an hour’s drive time of somewhere like that. It’s more of a covert search criteria though 🤫 

[grip-wolrd 189]

12 hours ago, ThunderDragonCy said:

@grip-wolrd FDR is ratio of motor to wheel. For the FF03 the internal fixed ratio is 2.6, so FDR is

(Spur gear teeth/pinion teeth) * 2.6 = FDR

You will definitely need to ditch tamiya gears. I moved to the more widespread 48dp imperial pitch gears for my spur and pinion to get good gearing. 

Good to know, thanks! I'm guessing people make an 48dp spur for Tamiya?

So I have stock currently which is 68/26 so 6.8 FDR.

51 minutes ago, Juhunio said:

That looks like so much fun! Where is it? We’re thinking about moving house soon and I’m really hoping we can end up within an hour’s drive time of somewhere like that. It’s more of a covert search criteria though 🤫 

I'm in Switzerland; this track is in Schaffhausen.

[Juhunio 6830]

4 minutes ago, grip-wolrd said:

I'm in Switzerland; this track is in Schaffhausen.

Yeah, bit too far, I won’t get away with that 😂

Looks great fun though 👌

[ThunderDragonCy 7878]

7 minutes ago, grip-wolrd said:

Good to know, thanks! I'm guessing people make an 48dp spur for Tamiya?

So I have stock currently which is 68/26 so 6.8 FDR.

I'm in Switzerland; this track is in Schaffhausen.

The FF03 is a fairly standard spur mount pattern. I bought RW Racing spur gears, but I think pretty much any touring car 48dp gears will work. Stock gearing at 6.8 is way too low for anything but the highest revving brushed motors. What kv is your ezrun motor? 

[grip-wolrd 189]

1 minute ago, ThunderDragonCy said:

The FF03 is a fairly standard spur mount pattern. I bought RW Racing spur gears, but I think pretty much any touring car 48dp gears will work. Stock gearing at 6.8 is way too low for anything but the highest revving brushed motors. What kv is your ezrun motor? 

OK, I guess it will be easy to find. 

My motor is 4000kV. It did feel geared too short with that much power.

[ThunderDragonCy 7878]

You probably want something around 6 FDR for this as 4000kv is approximately 10.5 turns. That is also a lot of power and torque for a frontie. 

[grip-wolrd 189]

Just now, ThunderDragonCy said:

You probably want something around 6 FDR for this as 4000kv is approximately 10.5 turns. That is also a lot of power and torque for a frontie. 

Really great feedback, thank you!

There's a spec series here that run 17.5t Justock Hobbywing brushless combo, so I might get that as a good base, and use the Ezrun MAX10 on something else.

 

[ThunderDragonCy 7878]

10 hours ago, grip-wolrd said:

Really great feedback, thank you!

There's a spec series here that run 17.5t Justock Hobbywing brushless combo, so I might get that as a good base, and use the Ezrun MAX10 on something else.

 

Sounds good! I ran Justock 17.5 in mine with 42 deg advance on the motor. It was still pretty lively! On a tight technical circuit I was running 4.1 FDR using a 62/39 spur / pinion combo. 

[grip-wolrd 189]

Some minor updates, and @ThunderDragonCy I've listen to your advice on a few topics!

Firstly I had to replace the broken front brace from the impact, and got a basic plastic replacement piece; didn't wanna load up on heavy Alu.

I've also decided to get some proper rubber for it; they are Matrix tires and wow do they feel grippy. I haven't ridden them yet but you can just tell the difference just on a table. The car is glued to it. The green wheels will just be for show it seems.

I've invested in a Hobbywing Justock setup with 17.5t motor. It seems to be the standard stock setup for FWD racing. I'm not sure if I'd ever do a race but it's nice to run a spec setup.

And then finally I replaced the stock plastic shocks with some Yeah Racing Big Bores; they feel nice.

I'm waiting on a few parts like a motor adaptor plate and gearing to mount the motor and then I should be ready to go!