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Willsls1

TA08 bad idea for racing?

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Wanted to step up a level with a belt drive car and was looking at the TA08pro for carpet racing as seemed like a good value car to start with, but after doing some searching it seems like it has a fragile rear end that's prone to break often? 

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RCTech has a good thread on the TA08. By all accounts its fast but that rear end is fragile. There are some braces being made which should help. I think that part of the problem has been the parts supply, its been very hard to get replacement chassis.

After my experience of starting with a TA07Pro a few years ago I wouldn't do it again. I would get whatever is most popular at the track, and generally its cheaper to buy the best kit upfront as it has everything you need included so you don't need hopups. The TRf420X is good value despite being expensive up front as it comes with both carbon and aluminium chassis so can be set up for any surface.

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I've had some quite big accidents with my TA08 and not had any major breakages yet.

Where the ball stud goes into the chassis at the rear I have swapped this for a longer item. I also added a top deck to reduce flex

I'm interested in the rear brace that bridges the RR suspension mounts but haven't got round to it yet and I've not broken this part (just read about a couple of guys doing it on rctech).

It's a really nice handling car and its easy to drive. Other than the mods above I don't think you really need any hopups other than the anti rollbars and the spring kit to have a good stock carpet racer.

I have added the aluminium suspension mounts and the servo mount to my car, as well as an aftermarket servo saver (but if you have a decent servo you probably don't need a servo saver anyway). I added the CF damper stays as well - but they were nice and cheap at £7. 

TA08 for me is the best of the TA series since the TA05 - it's really nice to drive, and pretty cheap to get going with. Still a lot cheaper than the latest Xray or Yokomo even with a few hopups (and most importantly - it's a Tamiya :-) )

 

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As a novice driver, I’ve really enjoyed my TA-08. The build is much more challenging than a TT-02 and it handles well out of the box. I got into touring cars last year and started racing last summer. I’ve hit a LOT of barriers and have not damaged the main chassis. Broken a lot of steering knuckles though (5?) on the hard metal perimeter on our outdoor track - stock up on those. In clever Tamiya style, you can use the same part at all four corners of the car. Being a flexy plastic car, it bounces back from collisions without getting tweaked. The downside is you’re going to have a bad time trying to get the weight balanced on all 4 corners. In a year or two, when I stop running into so much stuff, I’ll move to a 420x or similar. But for now, not tweaking after a collision is pretty great for a new racer. 

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Yeah I think I'll pull the trigger for this then. I can get a rear brace for it if that helps. Just something to run at my local carpet track. Not gonna get crazy and dump a grip of $$$ into it like my TT02 cars. Thanks for the input guys! 

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Would also mention, per the rcracer recommendation, I tapped all the holes on my first kit. It was kind of a pain. On the second kit (one for the track and one for the garage), I tapped some of the parts and didn’t tap others to see how they hold up. I would recommend tapping as much as you have patience for. It makes it easier not to cross thread parts when you strip and reassemble and the connections feel more solid. 

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I have a really nice rear brace all ready to be released, just waiting on the final test part to arrive. it will be less than a tenner and should totally eliminate any concerns about the rear of the chassis. 

 

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2 hours ago, qatmix said:

I have a really nice rear brace all ready to be released, just waiting on the final test part to arrive. it will be less than a tenner and should totally eliminate any concerns about the rear of the chassis. 

 

I haven’t broken a chassis yet (My hypothesis, based on being a bad driver and hitting lots of stuff, is that keeping all the plastic kit parts and having no aluminum bits gives things a bit more give) But I am looking forward to that coming out and will be promptly ordering two. Thanks for developing those! Maybe I’ll add some blingy bits on after. 

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