What is your favorite and least favorite Tamiya RC when it comes to actually driving them?

[kevinb120]

Favorite is tough, as I pretty much build re-re's to be very close to their original specs/upgrades and they drive as I remember them/loved them.  New ones like the BBX or TD4 are a totally different type of enjoyment.   SRB's are terrible to drive but awesome to drive, willys, orv's of all types, WO, hotshot series, love them all.  Can't really call many of them out as THE favorite.  I'm lucky if I have a mood I usually have a car for it.(not including Kyo or Traxxas, etc).

For the ones I dislike, I build F1 and Group C type cars and never particularly enjoyed them(nor have anywhere proper to run them), they're pretty much shelfers from day one.  I like they way they display and maybe run around the basement or driveway for a few minutes.  Kinda cool, kinda meh.   Everything I build is ready to run whether I run them or not.  Kind of an indifference with those.

But, when I was a kid in the 80's I LOVED my Hornets and was 'known' in the neighborhood for them(and the Blackfoot).   Did many a stupid awesome thing with them, they were magical.  I have a restored one and a re-re that are both runners(the re-re of it brought me back to Tamiya outside of a an occasional restoration), but I find those 2 I don't really enjoy driving at all these days(having them with the intent to drive them from the get-go).    I really don't get anything out of the Hornet any more.  May end up with the Evo at some point.

[Pylon80]

Favorite has been my heavily hopped up M-05 vII:

... but I think the XV-01 is going to change that forever.

 

[CMshooter]

I went way to deep trying to get the bt01 porcshe to handle well as a rear wheel drive.  About the time I think I am doing well with it, I pull out any other vehicle I own and realize how hard I was working at something that should be fun.

 

 

[Kowalski86]

7 hours ago, Pablo68 said:

Special mention to the Wild One. For what it is, it's an excellent chassis.

The Wild One might be the only RC that I've ever driven that was both "scale" for being rear motor and using a swing arm suspension, while still being fun. The XV01 and M06 come close, but you have to put up with a lot of extra complexity (and less off road ability).

[Rinskie]

33 minutes ago, CMshooter said:

About the time I think I am doing well with it, I pull out any other vehicle I own and realize how hard I was working at something that should be fun.

 

 

That's a very good way of looking at it and is exactly how I felt about the M08. Makes me wonder if a RWD on road car is the issue? 

[CMshooter]

17 minutes ago, Rinskie said:

That's a very good way of looking at it and is exactly how I felt about the M08. Makes me wonder if a RWD on road car is the issue? 

Possibly.  I remember there being a huge swing in the popularity of road racing when the 4wd touring platforms caught on.  Pan cars were big in certain places, especially on paved ovals, but not everywhere.  

[ThunderDragonCy]

Least favourite are both my FF01s. I should point out that they are both by far and away my favourite on road cars I have owned, but they are capricious when it comes to handling to say the least. But then I find all onroad cars like that. FF01s are just the least worst! 

Favourite flips between Ultra G and Ultra Hornet. They are both pretty sorted now and really fun on track, without any major handling quirks. Everything else I own there is always a little something I have to drive around. 

[LMF5000]

Favourite is my new tt-02br because it's so ridiculously capable over a wide variety of terrains. I put a 4100kv brushless motor and clocked 75km/h on 3s and it runs fantastic on tarmac, sandy beaches, grass and fine dirt (but the bottom scrapes on bigger rocks when driving on coarse dirt).

My second favourite is my CC-02 land rover because it can go anywhere. I installed a quikrun fusion SE to that (motor with integrated speed controller, frees up quite a bit of space on the chassis). It can do rock crawling, which is technical and fulfilling, and it can also drive on dirt with decent speed, though being scale and narrow and having the motor and battery mounted a bit high makes it more prone to rolling over. For a while I used to take it on hikes with me. The efficient motor means it can do over 4km on a single charge at walking speed, so it makes the hike very interesting and helps me get my steps in 😅.

My least favourite, but still trying to learn its quirks, is the monster beetle. It only has a mild 20T brushed motor, so it's the slowest, and it's my only rear-wheel-drive model, so I'm still not used to the severe oversteer during hard braking. It has amazing ground clearance which means it can go places the others can't, but at high speed on rough ground it tends to bounce quite a lot and can be a bit directionally unstable. I need to put in the time to learn to drive it properly since it's the last model I built and the most different from the rest of my collection.

[Howards]

XV-01 is such a hoot to drive. Superb. Toss up between that and the trf201. 

OG Avante - took it out once or twice but that steering rack can get in the sea. £100 tt01e was more fun. 

[SlideWRX]

My least favorite is my FF-02B, a FWD buggy creation based on the ff-02/M-03 chassis.  It was fun to create, but ultimately the front wheel drive couldn't handle the same grass/terrain that my rwd DT-02 or 03 could handle - it would get stuck fairly quickly.  I may turn it back into an M-03 for on-road use at some point...

My current favorite is my Manta Ray I got this Christmas.  It now has a Blazing Star/Terra Conqueror body and Terra scorcher wing on it,and a few other small mods.  My first 4wd in nearly 40 years and I am enjoying modifying it and driving it around. I was worried it would be slower than my 2wd, but so far it has been about the same speed.  So I added a bigger motor to it...  

[Saito2]

My favorite would be a toss up between the Lunch Box, Monster Beetle or Clod Buster. If pressed for just one, then the Monster Beetle.

Least favorite? Well, there were those I tried but weren't my cup of tea like the TA02T or CC01. Strangely, while the Lunch Box was a favorite, the Hornet might be my least favorite. Solid rear axle buggies were what we had as kids (often toy grade) and I always wanted to progress beyond that. I don't want to go back.

[Kowalski86]

4 hours ago, Rinskie said:

That's a very good way of looking at it and is exactly how I felt about the M08. Makes me wonder if a RWD on road car is the issue? 

It's partly the RWD setup, and partly it being mid-motor. I've had a theory that most on-road chassis are 4wd to make up for their relatively narrow tires.

2 hours ago, Saito2 said:

Solid rear axle buggies were what we had as kids (often toy grade) and I always wanted to progress beyond that. I don't want to go back.

I like working on the Hornet, I like looking at them, but I can't say that I like driving them to be honest. I still rank it above the MF01X for being much simpler and a better care free runner.

[Nicadraus]

Favorite: XV01 - overall. So much fun to drive this chassis. It does what you like. Run smooth on tarmac, drift, jump, and just about anything on and off road except for crawling.

Least favorite: SRB Ford F150. This was my first RC back in the 80s, handed down to me by my dad. On normal driving, it's ok. But once you make sharp corners, it flips on its side. Not a good RC to race on the track too. Terrible in jumps and the suspension makes it really bouncy. Also, having no diffrential gears is just really bad in cornering.

[Andreas W]

@Pylon80. The XV-01 would surely be a gamechanger, being less picky on the surface demanding less to none sweeping/leafblowing and still perform surprisingly good compared with f.ex. the M-05. 

 

I am adding to the ones praising the XV-01. I like it so much so I have got 3 of them (only 2 are runners ATM).  As others have said they can do whatever I want them to. I mainly do RBP and for that they are brilliant. Maybe not always as good as an M-chassis when it gets tight, but far less picky on the surface and super at this time of year when the surface temps are low and there is still plenty of pebbles and dust on the paved surfaces. 

 

All this said my XV-02 Pro is closing up. At least in semi grippy conditions. After I fitted the center diff it has nice and controllable off power oversteer at corner entry. This is especially visible on snow, where the 02 will enter the curve on oversteer almost by itself while the 01 needs flicking or going harsch off and on the throtle (and sometimes understeer anyway,  like an old Audi quattro). I understand why Dario says the XV-02 is the more capable, because it's easier to rotate and will mainly slide in each corner. That said I am still more consistent with the XV-01. 

 

I don't have any models I like the least. But since the rally cars are so capable the Dragons have almost no runtime. That's down to their larger turning radius and the brushed motors. I still like them and if I had something that capable as a youngster I would have been very happy. 

 

If I feel there is something I dislike that's connected to the rally cars

 

- The XV-01 is notorious for collecting small stones. It's not so bad with the steering now (but it happens sometimes still) but jamming of the rear drivecups and/or the rear arms is really annoying when the car otherwise runs so good. 

- The  XV-02 is less prone to get jamming arms and drivecups, so that's fine. What I don't like with it while running the center diff is that it's unconsistent while doing long slides. It was better in that regard without, but then it was a balance on the knifes edge before it would overturn and spin. I think it's down to me beeing kind of spoiled with my two  XV-01 beeing so good, the expectations for the XV-02 is high and there's large shoes to fill. 

[bsy2010]

Well, I only drive my cars on an old school clay race track, but this is where the VQS/Vanquish really shines! Easy to handle, jumps pretty good and reacts to setup changes as I'd expect. And, it's just great to look at

There worst car here is definitely the Grasshopper. This things goes anywhere but the direction I want it to go! Very similar to my Farm King, but at least it looks cool on the track

[Big Jon]

Most favorite: XV-01. This chassis is brilliant and I love rally racing. It makes me feel like a good driver, and it’s very enjoyable to tune and tinker with. One of Tamiya’s all-time greats.

2nd place: TD4. It’s a thoroughly modern Tamiya buggy. Not a race car or a basher, it drives nicely, responds well to modifications and tuning, and is exactly what I want from a 4WD buggy.

Least favorite that I own: TT02. At its very best, it’s meh, and the steering is terrible. Mine has a billion little modifications, so it drives much better than stock, and I still don’t drive it much. Sometimes it goes where I point it. It torque steers even with mild power and is a terrible value, even by Tamiya standards. By the time you bring it up to acceptable spec, with bearings, shocks, servo saver and pinion, you could nearly buy something that drives well… like an XV-01.

All time least favorite: Clodbuster. One of my childhood disappointments. It was awful in ‘87 when my best friend built one, slow and bad driving with no run time. I built one for a customer a few years ago, with Super Stock motors (retimed for reverse rotation), bearings, big servo, good shocks and so on, and I still hated it. I’ve driven some mod Clods, and  I didn’t like them either. I know that everyone seems to love them, so I must be missing something.

[Andreas W]

5 minutes ago, Big Jon said:

Least favorite that I own: TT02. At its very best, it’s meh, and the steering is terrible. Mine has a billion little modifications, so it drives much better than stock, and I still don’t drive it much. Sometimes it goes where I point it. It torque steers even with mild power and is a terrible value, even by Tamiya standards. By the time you bring it up to acceptable spec, with bearings, shocks, servo saver and pinion, you could nearly buy something that drives well… like an XV-01.

Hehe. I wanted a winter/loose surface car last autumn,  since my first XV-01 had evolved more and more into a tarmac runner. I thought about getting a TT-02 with an Escort custom body, but luckily made the maths beforehand. In the meantime an XV-01 LD turned up in the classifieds for less money, so it was a no brainer. The winter XV-01 has got almost no upgrades. I actually downgraded it with dogbones at the rear. After a while an XV-02 turned up for even less money. So even in high cost Norway you can get competent cars for less than TT-02 costs . 

 

Nothing wrong with the TT-02, if that is what you want, but if I have the choice I go for the better alternative. 

[markbt73]

Perennial favorite: anything with the old Grasshopper/Hornet/Lunchbox axle. I have several, and I love them all.

Modern favorite: King Yellow. It's ridiculous, but it handles and drives better than it has any right to.

Quickly rising through the ranks: Hornet Evo. I am in the process of a fairly radical transformation of that one, and it's turning out awesome.

Least favorite? Any Thundershot/Dragon/Terra Scorcher/etc. I just never have warmed to them. Not sure why.

[Guest]

47 minutes ago, Big Jon said:

Most favorite: XV-01. This chassis is brilliant and I love rally racing. It makes me feel like a good driver, and it’s very enjoyable to tune and tinker with. One of Tamiya’s all-time greats.

2nd place: TD4. It’s a thoroughly modern Tamiya buggy. Not a race car or a basher, it drives nicely, responds well to modifications and tuning, and is exactly what I want from a 4WD buggy.

Least favorite that I own: TT02. At its very best, it’s meh, and the steering is terrible. Mine has a billion little modifications, so it drives much better than stock, and I still don’t drive it much. Sometimes it goes where I point it. It torque steers even with mild power and is a terrible value, even by Tamiya standards. By the time you bring it up to acceptable spec, with bearings, shocks, servo saver and pinion, you could nearly buy something that drives well… like an XV-01.

All time least favorite: Clodbuster. One of my childhood disappointments. It was awful in ‘87 when my best friend built one, slow and bad driving with no run time. I built one for a customer a few years ago, with Super Stock motors (retimed for reverse rotation), bearings, big servo, good shocks and so on, and I still hated it. I’ve driven some mod Clods, and  I didn’t like them either. I know that everyone seems to love them, so I must be missing something.

I am with you, The Clodbuster is an awful thing to drive. It doesn't even steer properly and looks hideous.

[Ferruz]

Most favorite Tamiya car to drive: the Hornet.

Least favorite Tamiya car to drive: the Hornet.

[moffman]

My favourite rc to drive out of my tamiya collection has to be the top force considering its design age it’s competitive with quite a few modern day buggies and still has one of the best centre of gravity chassis straight out of the box!

least favourite has to be my super hotshot or boomerang or hotshot basically any of those chassis buggies simply because the gearboxes are so unrefined and noisy like they are chewing themselves up and the daft little metal spacers that you have to organise when you change the pinion size and that front shock design that makes the wheels spread like legs on a new born calf and having to take it  apart to change anything electrical!

[Mikey P]

Favourite Tamiyas to drive are the lighthearted stuff: Lunch Box, Heavy Dump Truck, King Yellow, Dancing Rider. I also love my TT-01E, as I turned that from a humble runaround into a properly-sorted weapon (which also got me back into the hobby).

My least favourite to drive was definitely the Hornet. Didn't handle, couldn't jump, just juddered about the place. Plus, it didn't have the eccentricity to make up for it. Was happy to sell it.

[TurnipJF]

Like others have said, it is hard to identify a single favorite as different terrains and conditions call for different models. Honourable mentions go to my Group C Mercedes C11 for sheer speed, my F104 V2 Pro for nimbleness and responsiveness, my CC-02 for go-anywhere practicality, my WR-01 for ruggedness and bashability, my TC-01 for balance and good track behaviour, and my M-07 for tight-track postal racing prowess.

Least favorite is easy - that would be my Hotshot. It is a lovely model with enormous sentimental value, but I am too worried about damage to really enjoy the driving experience.

[compass]

My favorit are absolute the F104W gp and the Group C chassis (both on foam tyres).
My least favorite is the TA08 and the TA07.

[wtcc5]

Most favorite

Dyna Blaster: Sheer Offroad performance, just ahead of its game.

FF-01: Awesome to watch with all these different bodies, Simple and easy to drive

 

Least enjoyed

Kyosho Outrage ST: Always kaputt and worst performance

… I have no idea for an Onroad chassis, that both didn’t perform and was awful to use and look at…