Alpine A110 M-06 speed edition

[PotatoRally]

Hello

I am posting my first tamiya build, the Alpine A110 on the M-06 chassis. I have been eyeing tamiya kits for a while now but only just pressed the trigger on getting one. Building the kit has been pretty straightforward, just like legos but more advanced. My only gripe with the kit is the included crosshead screws can be a major pain to fully tighten up without stripping. I have tons of hex hardware lying around so I replaced all the regular screws with better ones. I also added shims everywhere I noticed play in the suspension components. The car feels very solid. I built the car with the stock bushings first, the bearing kit is on the way. I used some cheap aliexpress oil shocks I had lying around and a tamiya branded 1060 brushed esc with the kit motor. The servo used is a metal cased low profile servo from aliexpress I had planned for a different project. Now to make things a bit more interesting, I decided to pair the car with a 3s battery. As you might have guessed, it is not the best idea to pair a 2s motor with a 3s lipo, but it got me a staggering 47kmh (29mph) on the stock gearing. The car is so fun to just rip around on the road I cannot understate it. The brakes are a bit too powerful for this car so I ordered a hobbywing 1080 to get better control over them. The 1060 ESC takes the power just fine, but the motor got hot very fast and it got me thinking I should try to make it fast while keeping it brushed, as a challenge if you will.

And so I ordered a hobbywing 555 11T motor, which is slightly longer than the stock one and should provide better heat handling. Have yet to see if it is any faster, as the specifications on motors are a bit confusing.
It came time to paint the body, for which is used 3 light coats of PS16, 2 coats of PS30 and 2 more coats of some generic can of black I had lying around. Me thinking just using PS16 alone won't be dead accurate to the blue used on the real car. I think I got the result I wanted.

Have yet to finish the decal work, just thought it looked so good I had to take pics early. More to come.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, PotatoRally said:

Hello

I am posting my first tamiya build, the Alpine A110 on the M-06 chassis. I have been eyeing tamiya kits for a while now but only just pressed the trigger on getting one. Building the kit has been pretty straightforward, just like legos but more advanced. My only gripe with the kit is the included crosshead screws can be a major pain to fully tighten up without stripping. I have tons of hex hardware lying around so I replaced all the regular screws with better ones. I also added shims everywhere I noticed play in the suspension components. The car feels very solid. I built the car with the stock bushings first, the bearing kit is on the way. I used some cheap aliexpress oil shocks I had lying around and a tamiya branded 1060 brushed esc with the kit motor. The servo used is a metal cased low profile servo from aliexpress I had planned for a different project. Now to make things a bit more interesting, I decided to pair the car with a 3s battery. As you might have guessed, it is not the best idea to pair a 2s motor with a 3s lipo, but it got me a staggering 47kmh (29mph) on the stock gearing. The car is so fun to just rip around on the road I cannot understate it. The brakes are a bit too powerful for this car so I ordered a hobbywing 1080 to get better control over them. The 1060 ESC takes the power just fine, but the motor got hot very fast and it got me thinking I should try to make it fast while keeping it brushed, as a challenge if you will.

And so I ordered a hobbywing 555 11T motor, which is slightly longer than the stock one and should provide better heat handling. Have yet to see if it is any faster, as the specifications on motors are a bit confusing.
It came time to paint the body, for which is used 3 light coats of PS16, 2 coats of PS30 and 2 more coats of some generic can of black I had lying around. Me thinking just using PS16 alone won't be dead accurate to the blue used on the real car. I think I got the result I wanted.

Have yet to finish the decal work, just thought it looked so good I had to take pics early. More to come.

Excellent job on the paint. I have an M06 myself, they are lots of fun. 

[KILLorBE]

4 hours ago, PotatoRally said:

My only gripe with the kit is the included crosshead screws can be a major pain to fully tighten up without stripping.

That may have to do with the screwdriver/bit you're using, I'd recommend getting the Tamiya 74085 Tool Set or get yourself some JIS (Japanese Industry Standard) screwdrivers.
Personally I use Vessel 900 (Jawsfit) screwdrivers for my RC cars and vehicles, and Vessel 100 (Wooden handle) for working on audio/video equipment.

This is probably the best video on YouTube about JIS screwdrivers:

BTW: Looking good and welcome!

[OoALEJOoO]

@PotatoRally Welcome to the club and great Alpine you have there!

If heat is a concern, and judging by the amount of power you are pumping it likely is, I wholeheartedly recommend YeahRacing's M-06 motor heatsink. If you add a fan, even better. When you open up the gearbox for the bearing upgrade, it would be the best opportunity to fit the heatsink in one go.

[Kowalski86]

1 hour ago, KILLorBE said:

That may have to do with the screwdriver/bit you're using, I'd recommend getting the Tamiya 74085 Tool Set or get yourself some JIS (Japanese Industry Standard) screwdrivers.

I have Tamiyas own $7 JIS screwdriver, it makes their screws much easier to work with and it's even useful for just working around the house. On other hand, I dread breaking out my 4 or so hex tools, vs just using one JIS tool for everything.

The M06 is probably my top 2wd M-chassis, as it's basically a small 2wd buggy. It keeps the battery protected and it has a low CoG, my main gripes are the choice of plastic used for it, and the unnecessary complexity in some spots.

[JimBear]

On 6/10/2025 at 8:29 PM, KILLorBE said:

That may have to do with the screwdriver/bit you're using, I'd recommend getting the Tamiya 74085 Tool Set or get yourself some JIS (Japanese Industry Standard) screwdrivers.

I have to say I think that toolset (ours is 74023) is pretty good, and very handy to take along when Junior and I are out and about. At home we use a few JIS screwdrivers, but the kit is a good start. 

@PotatoRally Wonderful colour on a cool car, by the way!

[PotatoRally]

Thank you all for the tips and kind words.

On 6/10/2025 at 10:16 PM, OoALEJOoO said:

@PotatoRally Welcome to the club and great Alpine you have there!

If heat is a concern, and judging by the amount of power you are pumping it likely is, I wholeheartedly recommend YeahRacing's M-06 motor heatsink. If you add a fan, even better. When you open up the gearbox for the bearing upgrade, it would be the best opportunity to fit the heatsink in one go.

I will add this to my list of upgrades to get at some point. I'm not looking into adding a fan with all the air reaching the motor through the vents, but that motor mount will definitely help soak up heat and adds a bit of weight where it helps.

Anyways, the new motor, ESC and bearing kit have arrived and I gave it a rip as soon as I installed those. The motor has a bit more power than the stock one, but it also spins slower, giving me less top speed. It is however advertised as a crawler motor so it makes sense. It also managed to stay fairly cool throughout a 10 minute run. I'm going to experiment with more motors as I just found this cheap surpass hobby 550 3 slot motor available locally that seems more speed oriented.
I did not mention this before but I ordered the rally uprights from the M-05 and gave them a proper test in the mud. The car now has about 20mm of ground clearance, making it somewhat offroad capable. I did get carried away a little and left a few scuffs in the body. For those wondering, I will likely get another body for the shelf, as I made a couple of mistakes working on this one so I don't mind getting it beaten up.

As for those tires in the front, I've 3d printed them. They're a 959 replica design that I found and modified and they'll need a couple more revisions before I can use them on the car.

By the way, if anyone has suggestions for aftermarket tire options for m-chassis, I would love to know.

[njmlondon]

Great looking Alpine, especially when covered in mud!

@OoALEJOoO is doing some great experimentation with tires at the moment and has used Tamtech spikes with M wheels to great effect.

 

[Busdriver]

On 6/10/2025 at 2:26 PM, PotatoRally said:

Hello

I am posting my first tamiya build, the Alpine A110 on the M-06 chassis. I have been eyeing tamiya kits for a while now but only just pressed the trigger on getting one. Building the kit has been pretty straightforward, just like legos but more advanced. My only gripe with the kit is the included crosshead screws can be a major pain to fully tighten up without stripping. I have tons of hex hardware lying around so I replaced all the regular screws with better ones. I also added shims everywhere I noticed play in the suspension components. The car feels very solid. I built the car with the stock bushings first, the bearing kit is on the way. I used some cheap aliexpress oil shocks I had lying around and a tamiya branded 1060 brushed esc with the kit motor. The servo used is a metal cased low profile servo from aliexpress I had planned for a different project. Now to make things a bit more interesting, I decided to pair the car with a 3s battery. As you might have guessed, it is not the best idea to pair a 2s motor with a 3s lipo, but it got me a staggering 47kmh (29mph) on the stock gearing. The car is so fun to just rip around on the road I cannot understate it. The brakes are a bit too powerful for this car so I ordered a hobbywing 1080 to get better control over them. The 1060 ESC takes the power just fine, but the motor got hot very fast and it got me thinking I should try to make it fast while keeping it brushed, as a challenge if you will.

And so I ordered a hobbywing 555 11T motor, which is slightly longer than the stock one and should provide better heat handling. Have yet to see if it is any faster, as the specifications on motors are a bit confusing.
It came time to paint the body, for which is used 3 light coats of PS16, 2 coats of PS30 and 2 more coats of some generic can of black I had lying around. Me thinking just using PS16 alone won't be dead accurate to the blue used on the real car. I think I got the result I wanted.

Have yet to finish the decal work, just thought it looked so good I had to take pics early. More to come.

On 6/10/2025 at 2:26 PM, PotatoRally said:

Hello

I am posting my first tamiya build, the Alpine A110 on the M-06 chassis. I have been eyeing tamiya kits for a while now but only just pressed the trigger on getting one. Building the kit has been pretty straightforward, just like legos but more advanced. My only gripe with the kit is the included crosshead screws can be a major pain to fully tighten up without stripping. I have tons of hex hardware lying around so I replaced all the regular screws with better ones. I also added shims everywhere I noticed play in the suspension components. The car feels very solid. I built the car with the stock bushings first, the bearing kit is on the way. I used some cheap aliexpress oil shocks I had lying around and a tamiya branded 1060 brushed esc with the kit motor. The servo used is a metal cased low profile servo from aliexpress I had planned for a different project. Now to make things a bit more interesting, I decided to pair the car with a 3s battery. As you might have guessed, it is not the best idea to pair a 2s motor with a 3s lipo, but it got me a staggering 47kmh (29mph) on the stock gearing. The car is so fun to just rip around on the road I cannot understate it. The brakes are a bit too powerful for this car so I ordered a hobbywing 1080 to get better control over them. The 1060 ESC takes the power just fine, but the motor got hot very fast and it got me thinking I should try to make it fast while keeping it brushed, as a challenge if you will.

And so I ordered a hobbywing 555 11T motor, which is slightly longer than the stock one and should provide better heat handling. Have yet to see if it is any faster, as the specifications on motors are a bit confusing.
It came time to paint the body, for which is used 3 light coats of PS16, 2 coats of PS30 and 2 more coats of some generic can of black I had lying around. Me thinking just using PS16 alone won't be dead accurate to the blue used on the real car. I think I got the result I wanted.

Have yet to finish the decal work, just thought it looked so good I had to take pics early. More to come.

Possibly the best M06 bodyshell Tamiya has made. Particularly in road trim. I did mine vey close to yours. The Ghia is a real one, not mine, but is also pretty [img]https://tcphotos.net/images/2025/06/18/e827a56c-c303-4007-ae0f-b4457f61ef15.jpeg[/img]
[img]https://tcphotos.net/images/2025/06/18/IMG_3240.jpeg[/img]
[img]https://tcphotos.net/images/2025/06/18/IMG_3239.jpeg[/img]
[img]https://tcphotos.net/images/2025/06/18/IMG_3238.jpeg[/img]
[img]https://tcphotos.net/images/2025/06/18/IMG_3235.jpeg[/img]

 

[technics]

Love this, thanks for posting.

Have a look into “foam” / sponge tires. It significantly increases grip over rubber. Considering this is a speed car you’ll need it real soon if you’re out chasing numbers. It’s not as scale but they do grip. It’s what I started going with on my WRC TRF417X build to get any sort of confidence while pinning the throttle. 
Mind you I have a 6.5T system in that one 😂😃.
 

 

[Busdriver]

[url=https://tcphotos.net/image/zFhO8][img]https://tcphotos.net/images/2025/06/18/IMG_3239.jpeg[/img][/url]

[Busdriver]

Just now, Busdriver said:

[url=https://tcphotos.net/image/zFhO8][img]https://tcphotos.net/images/2025/06/18/IMG_3239.jpeg[/img][/url]

Still not working!!!

[JimBear]

All credits to @Busdriver - it's his car and his photo, just trying to help out a bit ...

Edited June 21 by JimBear
clarification - photo or car not mine

[JimBear]

@Busdriver just the url copied, without IMG and URL tags, as far as I understand it. 

I tried to paste your photo shown above through the "other media" box below right in the edit window, but straight off copying the link into the edit window works too, from my side. 

Just this part, inserted [brackets] so that it just shows the code needed: 

[https://tcphotos.net/images/2025/06/18/IMG_3239.jpeg]

[Busdriver]

Thanks for all the assistance!! Strange thing is all I ever had to do in the past was copy the full bb code and it worked. Don’t know what has changed??

[TurnipJF]

On 6/10/2025 at 9:16 PM, OoALEJOoO said:

@PotatoRally Welcome to the club and great Alpine you have there!

If heat is a concern, and judging by the amount of power you are pumping it likely is, I wholeheartedly recommend YeahRacing's M-06 motor heatsink. If you add a fan, even better. When you open up the gearbox for the bearing upgrade, it would be the best opportunity to fit the heatsink in one go.

An excellent suggestion. I run this setup on mine, and it keeps its cool even in mid summer. Looks nice too!

[PotatoRally]

On 6/15/2025 at 9:35 PM, njmlondon said:

Great looking Alpine, especially when covered in mud!

@OoALEJOoO is doing some great experimentation with tires at the moment and has used Tamtech spikes with M wheels to great effect.
 

These might work good for another build, for the Alpine I'm looking for smaller wheels and tires.

On 6/21/2025 at 5:33 AM, technics said:

Love this, thanks for posting.

Have a look into “foam” / sponge tires. It significantly increases grip over rubber. Considering this is a speed car you’ll need it real soon if you’re out chasing numbers. It’s not as scale but they do grip. It’s what I started going with on my WRC TRF417X build to get any sort of confidence while pinning the throttle. 
Mind you I have a 6.5T system in that one 😂😃.

My build is parking lot fast ripping oriented with occasional offroad, so foam tires are overkill for my use case. But if you know any m-chassis tarmac rubber tires other than Tamiya let me know.

On 6/21/2025 at 6:19 PM, JimBear said:

All credits to @Busdriver - it's his car and his photo, just trying to help out a bit ...

Marvellous

[PotatoRally]

I just came back from testing the cheap 550 motor and I think I just found the perfect recipe for disaster. It packs about as much punch as a 380 size brushless motor. The car straight up does wheelies now. The motor got me a crazy 70kmh top speed on stock gearing on 3s. And it doesn't even get warm until about 20 minutes into a run. The 1080 ESC does however sweat after the run, might have to add a fan. For about €18 I find this surpass hobby motor to be a value hard to beat. Just as a drop in upgrade to the stock silver can this thing pulls even on 2s. And if you're brave then 3s is an option. I think I'll dial the throttle gain down to about 80%, as the car gets too excited sometimes. I'm surprised how well the M06 handles this amount of power though, it goes pin straight even when I turn my gyro off.

The M-06 takes some abuse. I rolled the car over so many times and all that happened is I popped a link.

Also here's a sneak peak into something I have been working on.