Tamiya Rally Car Options

[bRIBEGuy 3050]

15 hours ago, Grumpy pants said:

The TT02 can be modded cheaply to add height and Tamiya make lexan dust covers.

Solid advice right there.

 

12 hours ago, ChrisRx718 said:

I would go TT02 personally - Whilst the XV-01 is undoubtedly a better chassis, there are some annoyances with it and for bashing like this the TT02 will do 90% of what the XV-01 is capable of. If you just want two cars of equal performance without too much modding this is the way to go.

And there.

"Basic" doesn't mean "Bad", and if you are looking to try something new without breaking the bank, a TT02 is a sound option.  My suggestion for maximum fun would be to ensure both cars stay the same as far as running gear/mods.  Run different bodies, but otherwise keep them identical.  A friend of mine have done this with a few "matched" cars over the years (TB01, M03, Slash), and it's lead to some of the most fun I've had with RC's.

 

9 hours ago, Re-Bugged said:

That does look perfect for rally cars 👍🏻

 

Agreed!  If I had that near by, a Rally car would certainly be my first choice!
 

7 hours ago, 87lc2 said:

Thanks so much for the opinions guys, always appreciated.  I have read that the XV-01 is better, but I think for our purposes the TT02 will fit the bill. 

Pictures when you get them!

 

4 hours ago, Kowalski86 said:

Wouldn't hurt to have some on-road tires to save wear on the rally blocks.

Yup, a rally block set and a street spec tire would be $$$ well spent IMO.

[87lc2 2666]

@bRIBEGuy - Thanks for the info.  I agree tha tin this case it makes sense to keep it simple.  The important thing is that the cars are evenly matched and fun!  We always run similar vehicles when we can, but I'll give the edge to dad since it lets me drive all out.  Good example would be the Blackfoot/Monster Beetle.  The Beetle runs much better on that surface due to the spiked tires so he'll run that and I'll run the Blackfoot.  Makes for the most even racing we can get.  

Just need to decide on bodies at this point.  I like the Audi/Impreza so maybe just go with those and let him pick.  We'd both prefer US models but doesnt look like there's anything other than the Mustang available and that body just won't work off road (front splitter barely works on the street).  

[bRIBEGuy 3050]

15 minutes ago, 87lc2 said:

Just need to decide on bodies at this point.  I like the Audi/Impreza so maybe just go with those and let him pick.  We'd both prefer US models but doesnt look like there's anything other than the Mustang available and that body just won't work off road (front splitter barely works on the street).  

What about the Ford Escort (58691)?  I think there are still a few of those kicking around in the wild... I'd go Evo V personally, but I have a soft spot for that Mitsu series...

[87lc2 2666]

7 minutes ago, bRIBEGuy said:

What about the Ford Escort (58691)?  I think there are still a few of those kicking around in the wild... I'd go Evo V personally, but I have a soft spot for that Mitsu series...

Awesome!  Love that Escort, thank you.  So glad this forum is around, great knowledge and always helpful.  I could tell you anything about a crawler or monster truck, but am obviously clueless with on-road and buggy stuff.  Good that we have so many members interested in different aspects of the hobby. 

Thanks again.  Might just get a couple of Escorts and paint them different colors.  That or Escort/Audi, I do like that 80's Quattro. 

 

[OoALEJOoO 3127]

My recommendation would also be a TT-02 if you are more budget constrained or if you prefer a care-free model. The best way to rally a TT-02 is to add front weight (what I call an "XV" spec). More info on my thread:

TT-02XV Ford Escort + Tamiya Rally Review

[Juls1 1661]

I have run (and still have) pretty much all the chassis to some extent as rally chassis, including TA02, TL01, TL01LA, DF03RA, TT02, TT02S, MF01X, M05RA, XV01 and XV02. 
 

if we forget about cost for a moment, and consider driving dynamics. Most of them are quite unrealistic in terms of how they drift/slide/turn in. In reality most of the cars have either a slight rear weight bias or a 50/50 weight bias. I don’t need to tell you that the feeling of realism isn’t great. But it’s like that to make them easier to drive. 
 

when tamiya chose to build the XV01, they threw away the rule book and built a 60% front 40% rear weight bias chassis and in the process built the most satisfyingly realistic rally dirt sliding experience to date. The car pivots on its front wheels, and the rear actually slides out without taking the front wheels and everything else with it. The front of the car actually drives the car where it’s pointing. Something a 50/50 split chassis doesn’t seem to do. 

the cons here though, was they hadn’t figured out what the car was really for though. Frustratingly putting droop stops in which have to be removed to maximise down travel/ground clearance, making it so half the chassis parts also needed trimming for the same reasons. There was some cool ideas here but they hadn’t fully given up on it being a road chassis.  While the heavy nose can cope with any realistically sized scale jump, when it comes to typical rc fun sized jumps it doesn’t really work. Not surprisingly the chassis kits that have buggy’s based off them handle the totally unrealistic sized jumps much better.

when it comes down to it, TA02, TL01,TT01,TT02 and DF03RA all drive fairly similar albeit with the most modern variants having better handling at the expense of rough surface capability’s. None of them manage to give the “rally fizz” like the XV though. 
 

the XV02 is kind of a interesting beast, it’s given up being a road car almost completely, gone are the droop stops, included from day one, the longest possible travel shocks that the suspension can manage without everything falling apart. Gone is the 60/40 split and we get a 53/47 split in its place. We gain the ability to overdrive the front or rear diff depending if you want front or rear drive bias. A center differential is a game changer especially if you want to run on a slippery dry clay race track. But as with the XV01 the XV02 is built as a race kit with all the adjustments you need to go from high grip to no grip setup. That comes along with the complexity’s required to achieve that which people find frustrating when they are not interested in car setup options. A small issue with the chassis is the steering bell cranks, yeah racing makes a part that solves that.

The TT02 is a path many tamiya nutters like because it’s the path of tinkering and supposed minimal cost. In reality it’s a deep pocketed modification bonanza, but that’s fine it’s the journey travelled and personalisation that comes with it, that people find so enticing and satisfying. The ability to incrementally improve things as your budget allows makes a lot of sense if you don’t have the funds up front. 

if your interested in rally and like chassis tuning but also like things to just be done up front and finally if you have a spare chunk of money and your interested in saving money in the long run  then the XV02 really is the best option. 
 

The XV01? Great chassis love it… but the XV02 is so much more of an off road chassis from the ground up. 

[87lc2 2666]

Awesome @Juls1, thank you.   I agre with everything you said.  If we have fun with this I may get an XV-02 Pro Chassis Kit down the road, looks like a nice kit and the only one truly built for off-road running.  

For now I kept it cheap and ordered 2 TT02s; The Audi Quattro and 98 Escort.  Also ordered 2 chassis covers, 2 sets of bearings, and 2 sets of the cheap rally tires.  Going to keep them stock and see what they'll  do.  As I said before, this is purely for fun and entertainment, in some cases the worse they drive the more fun we have    Might throw some shocks on them down the road, but an't see making any other modifications.  I have my race trucks for that, these Tamiyas are just for fun and I liek keeping them as original as possible (with the exception of bearings of course...).  

Thanks again for all of the helpful suggestions guys.  Learned a ton which is why I'm always thankful this forum is here. 

 

[Juls1 1661]

6 minutes ago, 87lc2 said:

Awesome @Juls1, thank you.   I agre with everything you said.  If we have fun with this I may get an XV-02 Pro Chassis Kit down the road, looks like a nice kit and the only one truly built for off-road running.  

For now I kept it cheap and ordered 2 TT02s; The Audi Quattro and 98 Escort.  Also ordered 2 chassis covers, 2 sets of bearings, and 2 sets of the cheap rally tires.  Going to keep them stock and see what they'll  do.  As I said before, this is purely for fun and entertainment, in some cases the worse they drive the more fun we have    Might throw some shocks on them down the road, but an't see making any other modifications.  I have my race trucks for that, these Tamiyas are just for fun and I liek keeping them as original as possible (with the exception of bearings of course...).  

Thanks again for all of the helpful suggestions guys.  Learned a ton which is why I'm always thankful this forum is here. 

 

Good to hear, the cheap China rally tyres are better than tamiya ones anyway, they are softer, gripper and last longer. I don’t know why tamiya insists on making rally blocks from strange hard grip-less fast wearing rubber. 
 

a set of CVA mini oil shocks is all I’d be adding to your list. If you go with 50519 you get soft off road springs included. 

[87lc2 2666]

1 minute ago, Juls1 said:

Good to hear, the cheap China rally tyres are better than tamiya ones anyway, they are softer, gripper and last longer. I don’t know why tamiya insists on making rally blocks from strange hard grip-less fast wearing rubber. 
 

a set of CVA mini oil shocks is all I’d be adding to your list. If you go with 50519 you get soft off road springs included. 

Yea, I know CVAs would be ideal and I usually put them on everything but going to leave the pogos for now.  I'm sure I'll end up doing them eventually so thank you for the part number. 

Good to hear that the cheap tires are decent.  I like that they're a bit taller than the Tamiya stockers also, they look good.  And yes, Tamiya is obsessed with hard compound rubber on everything, I never understood that.  It would be one thing if it lasted forever, but it doesn't.  

[BuggyDad 4477]

19 minutes ago, 87lc2 said:

Awesome @Juls1, thank you.   I agre with everything you said.  If we have fun with this I may get an XV-02 Pro Chassis Kit down the road, looks like a nice kit and the only one truly built for off-road running.  

For now I kept it cheap and ordered 2 TT02s; The Audi Quattro and 98 Escort.  Also ordered 2 chassis covers, 2 sets of bearings, and 2 sets of the cheap rally tires.  Going to keep them stock and see what they'll  do.  As I said before, this is purely for fun and entertainment, in some cases the worse they drive the more fun we have    Might throw some shocks on them down the road, but an't see making any other modifications.  I have my race trucks for that, these Tamiyas are just for fun and I liek keeping them as original as possible (with the exception of bearings of course...).  

Thanks again for all of the helpful suggestions guys.  Learned a ton which is why I'm always thankful this forum is here. 

 

I think you've made a good call there. I would be tempted with some cheap universals for the front too, which I found I wanted for the big increase in steering throw they gave me. Other mods I did are just "nice to haves". Great bodies too. 

[87lc2 2666]

12 minutes ago, BuggyDad said:

I think you've made a good call there. I would be tempted with some cheap universals for the front too, which I found I wanted for the big increase in steering throw they gave me. Other mods I did are just "nice to haves". Great bodies too. 

We'll see, I like running these cheap Tamiyas stock and going from there.  I typically just leave them as is, but if we end up running them a lot some upgrades may be in order.  

Going to let dad choose which one he wants when they show up, so interested to see what I end up with.  I like the Audi better, but the Ford would allow for more freedom as far as paint/livery goes.  For the Audi I'd just go with the stock decals.  Kicking myself a bit for not going Subaru/Audi, I think that would have been a nice pair.  

Also came across the Lancia Rally TA02S kit which I almost went for since it just looked so cool, but wanted us to both have the same chassis.   Watch, I'll have 3-4 rally cars by the end of summer   

[Kpowell911 1899]

2 hours ago, Juls1 said:

I have run (and still have) pretty much all the chassis to some extent as rally chassis, including TA02, TL01, TL01LA, DF03RA, TT02, TT02S, MF01X, M05RA, XV01 and XV02. 
 

if we forget about cost for a moment, and consider driving dynamics. Most of them are quite unrealistic in terms of how they drift/slide/turn in. In reality most of the cars have either a slight rear weight bias or a 50/50 weight bias. I don’t need to tell you that the feeling of realism isn’t great. But it’s like that to make them easier to drive. 
 

when tamiya chose to build the XV01, they threw away the rule book and built a 60% front 40% rear weight bias chassis and in the process built the most satisfyingly realistic rally dirt sliding experience to date. The car pivots on its front wheels, and the rear actually slides out without taking the front wheels and everything else with it. The front of the car actually drives the car where it’s pointing. Something a 50/50 split chassis doesn’t seem to do. 

the cons here though, was they hadn’t figured out what the car was really for though. Frustratingly putting droop stops in which have to be removed to maximise down travel/ground clearance, making it so half the chassis parts also needed trimming for the same reasons. There was some cool ideas here but they hadn’t fully given up on it being a road chassis.  While the heavy nose can cope with any realistically sized scale jump, when it comes to typical rc fun sized jumps it doesn’t really work. Not surprisingly the chassis kits that have buggy’s based off them handle the totally unrealistic sized jumps much better.

when it comes down to it, TA02, TL01,TT01,TT02 and DF03RA all drive fairly similar albeit with the most modern variants having better handling at the expense of rough surface capability’s. None of them manage to give the “rally fizz” like the XV though. 
 

the XV02 is kind of a interesting beast, it’s given up being a road car almost completely, gone are the droop stops, included from day one, the longest possible travel shocks that the suspension can manage without everything falling apart. Gone is the 60/40 split and we get a 53/47 split in its place. We gain the ability to overdrive the front or rear diff depending if you want front or rear drive bias. A center differential is a game changer especially if you want to run on a slippery dry clay race track. But as with the XV01 the XV02 is built as a race kit with all the adjustments you need to go from high grip to no grip setup. That comes along with the complexity’s required to achieve that which people find frustrating when they are not interested in car setup options. A small issue with the chassis is the steering bell cranks, yeah racing makes a part that solves that.

The TT02 is a path many tamiya nutters like because it’s the path of tinkering and supposed minimal cost. In reality it’s a deep pocketed modification bonanza, but that’s fine it’s the journey travelled and personalisation that comes with it, that people find so enticing and satisfying. The ability to incrementally improve things as your budget allows makes a lot of sense if you don’t have the funds up front. 

if your interested in rally and like chassis tuning but also like things to just be done up front and finally if you have a spare chunk of money and your interested in saving money in the long run  then the XV02 really is the best option. 
 

The XV01? Great chassis love it… but the XV02 is so much more of an off road chassis from the ground up. 

Youre hurtint my wallet. I was impressed with my TT02R rally…… now I want an XV02….

[Big Jon 684]

A bone stock XV-01 will run rings around a highly modified TT-02, is more fun to drive, and doesn’t wear as fast. By the time you add bearings, shocks, inserts, dogbones or CVs, fix the steering, and so on, there’s not much cost saving with a TT-02, and you have to deal with torque steer, which is worse with higher ride height. The TT can be built to come close to a stock XV, but the XV can be tuned and modified to be even better, and doesn’t torque steer even with big power.

I built a rally-spec TT-02 a few years ago, and have never really been happy with it, even though it does well in the dirt. It jumps ok and lands poorly, and you’ll never get the suspension to be truly fluid like the XV is stock. It won’t turn in nearly as hard or take throttle as early in the corner on exit. The suspension requires frequent disassembly for cleaning to keep it relatively free moving. It’s terrible on pavement with the rally suspension, and the torque steer is so bad that it’s difficult to be fast consistently. It won’t take much more than moderate power, either. I’m converting it back into a street car as we speak.

The XV-02 looks great. I haven’t gotten a chance to build one yet, or drive one, for that matter. I’m not sure that the huge TT-02 diffs and ring gears are a step forward when compared to the TA06 diffs, and I really prefer belt drive to shaft. The suspension appears to be tweaked a bit. Long damper XV01s don’t drive any better than the standard shock as near as I can tell, but the XV02 uses long shocks, so I’m probably wrong.

The XV is a much more satisfying and involved build than a TT, too, and I love building kits.

[Juggular 4964]

4 hours ago, Juls1 said:

The XV01? Great chassis love it… but the XV02 is so much more of an off road chassis from the ground up. 

Oh man... 

How many kits did I buy on @Juls1's advice? (At least DN-01 & XV-01. Usually from someone else's thread too.)  Now it looks like XV-02 is on my list.  Either I'm easily influenced, or you are very convincing!  My builds are backed up for the moment, so it won't be anytime soon, but I thank you!  

 

[Juls1 1661]

2 hours ago, Juggular said:

Oh man... 

How many kits did I buy on @Juls1's advice? (At least DN-01 & XV-01. Usually from someone else's thread too.)  Now it looks like XV-02 is on my list.  Either I'm easily influenced, or you are very convincing!  My builds are backed up for the moment, so it won't be anytime soon, but I thank you!  

 

Haha, don’t get too carried away. The XV02 is certainly a step up on the XV01, particularly in terms of being an off road rally race chassis. Capability is improved. But it is different to drive than the XV01, somehow the XV02 feels tamer, more settled and sorted. It isn’t necessarily more fun though. 
 

I will say one thing though, I was surprised how quiet my Xv02 drivetrain is. 
 

I think the thing is they’ve made a better handling, easier to drive package on more off road surfaces.  
They’ve taken the idea of scale rally racing and turned up the off road ability significantly. 

they did change that chassis balance though. In real life a Subaru WRX has a 59/41 split, a Mitsubishi evo 60/40.  XV01 60/40 XV02 53/47 TT02 50/50.  

that front of car stuck down, realistic sliding, goes where you point it feeling of the XV01 isn’t lost on the XV02 but it is somewhat diminished even with the rear wheels overdriven. If you’re someone that really gets a buzz out of realistic scale driving I think the XV01 edges the XV02 out a bit. Once you experience that scale realism of driving dynamics with the XV01, everything else feels a bit stupid and fake really. If you’re not into that scale realism thing, the feeling of how it looks and feels cornering, then nothing wrong with a TT02. 

[Kowalski86 3035]

 

9 hours ago, 87lc2 said:

We'll see, I like running these cheap Tamiyas stock and going from there.  I typically just leave them as is, but if we end up running them a lot some upgrades may be in order.  

Good call, that's how a TT-02 is best experienced imo.

Yes you can buy aluminum and carbon bits galore, not much of that really makes a big difference off the track in my experience.

You can fix the steering with a cheap servo saver and some DIY, the plastic driveshaft works fine on a stock motor, and I haven't had any dogbones fall out yet.

I'm not too hung up on the "realism" of how touring cars drive, even well sorted rally cars tend to "skip" about over some terrain. 

[87lc2 2666]

3 hours ago, Juls1 said:

that front of car stuck down, realistic sliding, goes where you point it feeling of the XV01 isn’t lost on the XV02 but it is somewhat diminished even with the rear wheels overdriven. If you’re someone that really gets a buzz out of realistic scale driving I think the XV01 edges the XV02 out a bit. Once you experience that scale realism of driving dynamics with the XV01, everything else feels a bit stupid and fake really. If you’re not into that scale realism thing, the feeling of how it looks and feels cornering, then nothing wrong with a TT02. 

Would adding lead weights (wheel weights) to the front of a TT02 do anything towards recreating the driving dynamics of the XV-01?  Just curious, have boxes of them I use for tuning crawlers and monster trucks so worth a shot.  

[Nicadraus 6201]

18 hours ago, Juls1 said:

I have run (and still have) pretty much all the chassis to some extent as rally chassis, including TA02, TL01, TL01LA, DF03RA, TT02, TT02S, MF01X, M05RA, XV01 and XV02. 
 

if we forget about cost for a moment, and consider driving dynamics. Most of them are quite unrealistic in terms of how they drift/slide/turn in. In reality most of the cars have either a slight rear weight bias or a 50/50 weight bias. I don’t need to tell you that the feeling of realism isn’t great. But it’s like that to make them easier to drive. 
 

when tamiya chose to build the XV01, they threw away the rule book and built a 60% front 40% rear weight bias chassis and in the process built the most satisfyingly realistic rally dirt sliding experience to date. The car pivots on its front wheels, and the rear actually slides out without taking the front wheels and everything else with it. The front of the car actually drives the car where it’s pointing. Something a 50/50 split chassis doesn’t seem to do. 

the cons here though, was they hadn’t figured out what the car was really for though. Frustratingly putting droop stops in which have to be removed to maximise down travel/ground clearance, making it so half the chassis parts also needed trimming for the same reasons. There was some cool ideas here but they hadn’t fully given up on it being a road chassis.  While the heavy nose can cope with any realistically sized scale jump, when it comes to typical rc fun sized jumps it doesn’t really work. Not surprisingly the chassis kits that have buggy’s based off them handle the totally unrealistic sized jumps much better.

when it comes down to it, TA02, TL01,TT01,TT02 and DF03RA all drive fairly similar albeit with the most modern variants having better handling at the expense of rough surface capability’s. None of them manage to give the “rally fizz” like the XV though. 
 

the XV02 is kind of a interesting beast, it’s given up being a road car almost completely, gone are the droop stops, included from day one, the longest possible travel shocks that the suspension can manage without everything falling apart. Gone is the 60/40 split and we get a 53/47 split in its place. We gain the ability to overdrive the front or rear diff depending if you want front or rear drive bias. A center differential is a game changer especially if you want to run on a slippery dry clay race track. But as with the XV01 the XV02 is built as a race kit with all the adjustments you need to go from high grip to no grip setup. That comes along with the complexity’s required to achieve that which people find frustrating when they are not interested in car setup options. A small issue with the chassis is the steering bell cranks, yeah racing makes a part that solves that.

The TT02 is a path many tamiya nutters like because it’s the path of tinkering and supposed minimal cost. In reality it’s a deep pocketed modification bonanza, but that’s fine it’s the journey travelled and personalisation that comes with it, that people find so enticing and satisfying. The ability to incrementally improve things as your budget allows makes a lot of sense if you don’t have the funds up front. 

if your interested in rally and like chassis tuning but also like things to just be done up front and finally if you have a spare chunk of money and your interested in saving money in the long run  then the XV02 really is the best option. 
 

The XV01? Great chassis love it… but the XV02 is so much more of an off road chassis from the ground up. 

There you go. Well said!

[Juls1 1661]

10 hours ago, 87lc2 said:

Would adding lead weights (wheel weights) to the front of a TT02 do anything towards recreating the driving dynamics of the XV-01?  Just curious, have boxes of them I use for tuning crawlers and monster trucks so worth a shot.  

You could do that, but to gain a 10% weight shift you’re going to have to add 100-150g of weight over the nose, you’ll then need heavier front springs. It’s not ideal adding that much weight deliberately. But I guess it’s a low cost option. it may not work how you think though the front of a tt02’s geometry isn’t setup to suit the extra weight. 
 

The weight balance on its own isn’t only what makes the xv01 drive like it does. It’s the whole package, extra castor, adjustable toe, anti squat, Anti dive, myriad of roll centre adjustments. Everything you need in an off road vehicle really. The XV’s do after all have scaled down DB buggy suspension. 

[87lc2 2666]

Kits came in the other day.  Dad chose the Escort so I'm stuck with the Audi Quattro (was really hoping he'd pick the Audi  ).  Has anyone painted the Quattro in anything other than box art?  I think the box art is rather boring and not sure if I like the decals or not.  Just looking for other ideas if anyone has strayed from box art.  

[Aerobert 2149]

You could probably go with the HB racing livery. I think it will look good even without the HB stickers and you could use the stickers from the kit.

Picture from Wikipedia. 

[kontemax 1725]

On 5/30/2023 at 8:06 PM, Willy iine said:

TO, Torino, my home city... <3
Home of Fiat Lancia, home of Lancia Delta
 

Max

[OoALEJOoO 3127]

On 6/9/2023 at 8:23 PM, 87lc2 said:

Has anyone painted the Quattro in anything other than box art?  I think the box art is rather boring and not sure if I like the decals or not.  Just looking for other ideas if anyone has strayed from box art.  

Stickers from (can be also found on eBay):

RC 10th scale 'Clarion' Audi Quattro 1985 RAC Per Eklund RALLY stickers decals | Screenprintdigital1 (screenprintdigitalstickers.com)

[Busdriver 6209]

Fiat 131 albeit on an MF01-X chassis so not pro typical. As suggested elsewhere the M08 would be good with maybe a gyro!!!

[Pylon80 2632]

On 6/1/2023 at 7:01 AM, Juls1 said:

You could do that, but to gain a 10% weight shift you’re going to have to add 100-150g of weight over the nose, you’ll then need heavier front springs. It’s not ideal adding that much weight deliberately. But I guess it’s a low cost option. it may not work how you think though the front of a tt02’s geometry isn’t setup to suit the extra weight. 
 

The weight balance on its own isn’t only what makes the xv01 drive like it does. It’s the whole package, extra castor, adjustable toe, anti squat, Anti dive, myriad of roll centre adjustments. Everything you need in an off road vehicle really. The XV’s do after all have scaled down DB buggy suspension. 

On mine I have installed the ESC over the front bumper and I use a shorty pack slid all the way forward. I will make a build thread hopefully this year. I agree that getting 60/40 would require an excessive amount of extra weight