Does Tamiya Purposely Limit their Gearing Options?

[magnumcyclonex 136]

I've been thinking about this for a while and specifically for the TT-01E and TT02 chassis, if you go ONLY Tamiya, the lowest FDR for these chassis is somewhere in the 5 range. Being new to racing, I wanted to try getting a very hopped up TT02 up to speed in the 21.5T Touring Car class. My first attempt used the High Speed Gear Set with 64T spur. The "fastest" I could make the car go with a 29T motor pinion was with an FDR of 5.74.

In the video, you can see the car was just way too slow compared to the rest of the field. I don't know exactly what FDR other cars were running, but it had to be probably around 3.7 to 4.0.

https://youtu.be/05qTsPQtqW8

Now obviously, to achieve lower FDRs, you have to get aftermarket spurs and pinions, and/or modify the gear cover. It is possible. But out of the box, just building with only Tamiya parts, you are very limited. Is this something that is a deliberate design feature of Tamiya, as not to cause too much wear on the drivetrain?

What about for higher grade Tamiyas such as the TA08, TRF421 etc.? I would presume open gearing is a lot more encouraged with those kits that are dedicated more for racing.

 

 

[SuperChamp82 760]

Selling entry below cost with a robust aftermarket ?

Thats been Tamiya’s strategy for years !

[Kowalski86 4987]

The TT kits were built around slower motors, being adaptable to big buggy/truck wheels, heavy NiMH batteries, and having longer run times for newcomers. Same reason why it has fixed links out of the box.

[chris.alex 1936]

TA08 and TRF421 both have an internal ratio of 1.85 instead of 2.6 that the TT01 and TT02 have. With the TA08 you can run 71:29x1.85=4.53 using Tamiya parts only. If the TA08 or TRF421 could take smaller Tamiya spur gears, which I don't know, one could go easily below 4.0 FDR. 

 

[Otis311 421]

High turn, low Kv brushless motors are a relatively new phenomena. Tamiya is typically slow to react to trends on their lower end models. The entry level kits come with silver can motors as well, so they are designed around that motor to some extent.

I have come to a point in this hobby where silver can motors are fast enough for my driving habits. Racing on the other hand is a different story. Modified classes would likely be running top of the line chassis. The thing with the TT chassis classes is that that they seem to follow strict motor rules in which case the playing field is even between all drivers.