TA04 carpet setup

[Radiobil]

Hi,

I tried racing my TA04 at my club this sunday and the car was a nightmare to drive.[V] It is a indoor carpet track and I had problem with oversteer going into the corners and understeer going out of the corners. Does anyone have any ideas what I should do? I have alot of hop up's (check my showroom for details) installed, I tried the front one-way unit but that caused the car to oversteer even more. If you a set up that works, please let me know! Also, I had to put in weights in the car, is the TA04 lighter in the front or rear end?

Thanks,

Karl

[]

[supergreg]

I do not have any experience with TA04 at all, but I've learned from racing my TT01, that right choice of tires is EVERYTHING! Most people at local clubs use 'Take Off CS27'. I gave it a try and it made a 100% increase in corner performance.

[Radiobil]

The stock serie I run in only allows Schumacher white belted tires, so I can't change tires. There must be ways to increase the grip and balance by changing springs, camber, toe in/out etc.

Thanks

Karl

[minijosh]

Go and talk to the high dollar racers where you race. See if one of them can use their set up board to adjust your car. Make sure your front has some good camber but not the rear. That will help out alot. Plus make your tires look kind of like this / in the front. Helps your turning speed carry thru.

[Radiobil]

Josh,

thanks for the tip, I will try that.

Karl

[minijosh]

Also there are set ups on the Tamiya website on the TA04's. That's what I had my guys go off of.

[Radiobil]

I found the set ups, that will help me alot I think.

Thanks

Karl

[ArdVark]

Hi. Do you have a transmitter which has a rate trim?

If you do then turn the steering down so the wheels only turn a little less than full lock.

Harden the front springs and harden the rear springs. I use AE copper spirngs front and AE blue springs on the rear. The AE blue springs are about the same rate as the Tamiya yellow springs.

I also use 60w oil in the front dampers and 40w oil in the rear dampers.

I have always found the front to steer more since it is much softer than the rear. Getting the suspension to feel the same all round helps settle the car down.

If the car still oversteers entering the corner then turn the rate trim down more and harden the rear so that you still have the on power steering.

Hope this helps a bit more on understanding how this car handles. I've raced mine for 3 years now. I still find it a good car but just needs setting up.

[Radiobil]

Hi ArdVark,

I tried turning down the steering but it didn't help much. I will try and adjust the dampers like you suggested.

Since 8 out 10 drivers at my club run Schumacher MI2's, I decided to buy one of those. I think I will get more out of racing that way, setting tha car up should not be a problem, I will get loads of tips and hints on how to set it up from my club mates. I am keeping my TA04 and I will work on it to improve its handling, that will be a little project of its own.

Thanks,

Karl

[ArdVark]

Just a thought.

Do you have ball diffs or gear diffs?

If you have the ball diffs then you can harden the front slightly to stop the car spinning out and you will find that the front will turn a bit more on power.

[Racer1789]

Hey Karl,

My dad has had a TA04 for about a year and a half, and I used to race it for about 3 months. I raced it not long ago, and it seems ok, but its only has the standard Diff. in the front.

You say you tried the front one-way, and it caused more oversteer, I'm presuming that is purely down to the way you drive (no offence). If you have been used to racing with a diff, you may use your brakes, but if you use your brakes with a One-Way, it will cause the car to oversteer, as it doesn't brake on the front wheels. To solve this, the best thing to do, is to gently slow down coming into a corner, then just coast through with about half power. In a straight line you may slow down before the other car, but you will make up the speed through the corner, while the other driver is building momentum again.

I suggest you use a softer rear spring, we use Tamiya Yellow on front, Tam. Red on rear. Depending on the size of the track, you will have to change the toe settings appropriatly. If the track is relativly small, and doesnt include too many straights, I suggest maybe 1degree toe-out, to help with corners, if there are some straights, perhaps 0.5 toe-in to help stableize the car on straights.

As for the shock mountings, I would go for the second hole in from the edge on both front and rear on the shock mounts, and on the wishbone, go for the inner holes on the front, and the outer holes on the rear. As for tyres, Foams work very well for grip, or T-27's are another good tyre, not as much grip as foams though.

If you plan on getting some foams, I suggest you get softer rear tyres, this will give more rear-end grip. We use 40's on the front, then 37's rear. This is possible due to most foam tyre's being sold in pairs.

I don't think there is much more to do, perhaps look at the bodyshell you are running, Mazda 6, Dodge Stratus, Nemesis, Alfa 156, these are good bodyshells to start with. Most are good to use, as long as they dont have a overly flat front, like the RX-8. I noticed a huge difference between my old Volvo S60 and the Mazda RX-8. But apart from this, just try different things if you dont like how it is. The main key, is if you over steer, you need to soften the springs/spring tension on the rear, to make it softer, if you are understeering, try tightening the shocks. unfortunatly, most things come with trial and error.

Apart from that, just try playing with gear ratio's, perhaps watch to find a car that you think would be a suitable speed for you, and then go and ask them what gear ratio they use. In the back of your instructions should be a chart with the pinions and spur gears, where you can find a suitable ratio.

If not this is how it is listed in the Book:

Spur

Pinion.id="beige">112T.id="beige">120T.id="beige">128T

34.....id="beige">-......id="beige">-.....id="beige">8.03

35.....id="beige">-......id="beige">-.....id="beige">7.80

36.....id="beige">-......id="beige">-.....id="beige">7.59

37.....id="beige">-......id="beige">-.....id="beige">7.38

38.....id="beige">-......id="beige">-.....id="beige">7.19

39.....id="beige">-....id="beige">6.56...id="beige">7.00

40.....id="beige">-....id="beige">6.40...id="beige">6.83

41.....id="beige">-....id="beige">6.24......id="beige">-

42.....id="beige">-....id="beige">6.10......id="beige">-

43.....id="beige">-....id="beige">5.95......id="beige">-

44.....id="beige">-....id="beige">5.82......id="beige">-

45.....id="beige">-....id="beige">5.69......id="beige">-

46.....id="beige">-....id="beige">5.57......id="beige">-

47.....id="beige">-....id="beige">5.45......id="beige">-

48..id="beige">4.98...id="beige">5.33.....id="beige">-

49...id="beige">4.88......id="beige">-......id="beige">-

50...id="beige">4.78......id="beige">-......id="beige">-

51...id="beige">4.68......id="beige">-......id="beige">-

The lower the number, the more acceleration you are going to get.

Hope this helps

Tom

P.S. I tried to make the chart straight, but it was very hard so thats why its a bit wonky []

[Radiobil]

Tom,

thanks for all your input, I will work on the car when I get the time, I really think it has potential. []

I have just put my Schumacher MI2 together and also tried it on the track. It ran very well and the car is very well balanced. I got some help with the settings and it was really easy to drive. Now I need to improve my driving skills....I will post pics in my showroom when I get around to paint the new body, a Protoform Stratus 3.0 All Purpose no less.

Thanks,

Karl

[Radiobil]

I am picking up this old thread just to let you know how it went......

I took the advices I got in reply to my question and made some adjustments to the car. I put on some softer rear springs , adjusted the front toe-in to 0, adjusted the camber both front and rear, put back in the one-way front diff and all of a sudden the car handled very well. I also removed the rear anti-roll bar after testing with a softer bar. I got more rear grip without the anti-roll bar. I will try it with a hotter motor see if it handels just as well when going faster.

Thanks alot,

Karl 

[minijosh]

I run a 19 turn Chamelion 2 Pro in my car. It is very powerful and has enough torque to make me drive it as hard as I can around the corners.  Get a set of the TRF shocks and that will make it handle a bit better too.

[Radiobil]

I am thinking of buying a 19 turn Orion motor to run in the Super Stock class. I went through my collection of motors today and I realized that I need a new one, the ones I have are not powerful enough.

I have a set of TRF dampers but they are mounted on my Schumacher MI2, but they are easy to move from one car to another so I will try that.

Thanks

Karl