What Fwd Shells For An Ff01?

[Mad Ax]

I recently acquired another FF01 in a trade as I love these chassis to bits, I want to make another fine road-car shelfer but I'm not sure what shell I can get hold of easily that will fit and look good as a road car.

I'd prefer something Japanese, as I'm a big fan of Japanese road cars and am amassing a huge collection of such cars. Doesn't have to be completely modern as I like older stuff too. It does have to be a genuine FWD model tho - I'm not putting Skyline shell on an FF01!

I see the Civic bodyshell has been released on the TT01D chassis, I'm tempted to bag one of these and use the shell for the FF01, then get something else to go on the TT01D.

I love the old Primera shells but they're hard to come by these days (I'm actually a huge Primera fan, have owned a couple of full-size ones. It's a shame nobody makes a P11 GT shell)

What other manufacturers make good FWD shells? I know there are Golfs and Focuses but these usually don't look right as they're modelled on the 4wd models.

Thanks all for any suggestions

[Spetz83]

VW Golf and Ford Focus are mostly FWD.

I have an FF01 and have a Beams Integra shell on it, with white TE37 rims using 3mm offset.

To be honest, I think Honda makes the best FWD cars out there, so in reality there was never a choice for me (especially when I found the Integra shell for 15 euros at a local store).

There is the ABC Hobby Civic Type R EK9 shell, and the EG6 shell you mentioned. I haven't found any DC2R shells which looked good, and neither any Prelude shells. There may be the Accord Euro shell somewhere.

Let us know how you go

[Mad Ax]

That Integra shell looks like a good option! I'd quite like to build one of those, it would fit extremely well with my collection. I might see if I can find one of those shells somewhere, thanks!

[irenL]

proline used to make P11 GT body (btcc style)

EG6 Civic body still available from frewer every now n then.

DC5R body, u have 2 option: tamiya in 190mm or hpi in 200mm.

IMO, P10 was a better car than P11. Rear floor can be swapped with RNN14 equivalent. then again, were it not for the front end setup, P10/P11 would be another pulsar/sentra.

both tamiya and HPI did the last celica as well.

[WillyChang]

Proline made an RSX in 190mm, i bought mine around time of TB EvoIII's release.

Must have discontinued them, neither is listed anymore.

[Incredible_Serious]

Interesting idea..... that I myself have been thinking of....

The local hobby shop here had new Tamiya shells, but without the wings, masks or decals, for AUS$15 (which is not a lot at all!)... so I now have FF01 and FF02 chassis' with the options of a Tamiya Civic and Focus. As FWD road cars, they don't need the wings, so they make a good road-look sleeper.... just got to sort mirrors from the spares bucket, and some headlight decals / buckets....

Could also consider the Xsara in a similar setup (ie. no rear wing), I imagine it must be available as a FWD road car.....

Alex

[Mad Ax]

Thanks all for your suggestions - I found an Integra Type R shell on the 'bay which I BIN'd, eagerly awaiting its arrival now

I'm very interested in learning more about the Proline (PROTOform?) P11 - I've searched the net and can't find any pictures and only a few distant and spurious references.

I'm a fan of both P10 and P11 Primeras, I had a P10 a few years ago and now have a P11 GT. The multilinked beam on the back of the P11 takes a little more controlling than the P10's fully independant setup, but the front-end is much the same, and front-end feedback is what driving a Primera is all about, and what makes it stand out from every other "normal" midsize FWD car I've driven.

[terry.sc]

As well as the Tamiya one, the Nissan Primera was made by Parma and by Protoform in the mid 90s. I used to run the Protoform one myself 10 years ago.

Not been around for a good few years though.

Protoform part number 1416

ParmaPSE part number 10175

The parma one is still listed as available in the US

http://www.shopatron.com/product/part_numb....7260.17964.0.0

[Mad Ax]

Thanks Terry! That PROTOform shell looks awesome, especially in Leslie's oldschool livery, with the correct wheels too!

The Parma shell as usual looks a bit more jellymould, but I'm very tempted to order one anyway - I have a Calsonic P10 runner (as well as a shelfer) and I might retire the runner shell (which is actually in very good condition) in favour of the P11 shell.

Thanks again all

[sirandy]

Jellymould LOL thats exactly what they look like....

All this talk of FF01's, I am soooo tempted to build my Tom's EXIV....never ever run an FF01 before. Looks like a better chassis than the FF02 mini-based thing....kinda boring.

[irenL]

Interesting idea..... that I myself have been thinking of....

The local hobby shop here had new Tamiya shells, but without the wings, masks or decals, for AUS$15 (which is not a lot at all!)... so I now have FF01 and FF02 chassis' with the options of a Tamiya Civic and Focus. As FWD road cars, they don't need the wings, so they make a good road-look sleeper.... just got to sort mirrors from the spares bucket, and some headlight decals / buckets....

Could also consider the Xsara in a similar setup (ie. no rear wing), I imagine it must be available as a FWD road car.....

Alex

I tested my FF01 in clio short wheelbase format last time... with a protoform focus body, no spoiler... it looks nice, but certainly didn't like the bumpy front straight.

On the other hand... since i'm driving a SWB FWD hatch back to and from work everyday... my... it certainly is fun to use the rear end to point the front end.. even without E-brake.

Makes me wonder how the FF01 will react with rear brake input under throttle.

Sirandy,

i think u best open the box and see how much better the predecessor is over the descendant. The M03 based FF02 has too much front weight bias. I think, if the M05 can be turned into TC size, it'd be the perfect lightweight descendant. I've been looking at M05....very tempted to buy one. Unlike the FF02, the rear end of the FF01 stays planted until u decided otherwise. And that's a good confidence booster.

[Mad Ax]

All this talk of FF01's, I am soooo tempted to build my Tom's EXIV....never ever run an FF01 before. Looks like a better chassis than the FF02 mini-based thing....kinda boring.

The FF01 is great fun to drive. The handling is very positive - it's not like racing a 4wd tourer or a swap-happy Mini. Naturally it has a traction problem when accelerating from a standstill, but that's to be expected - accelerating hard out of corners is fun, as you can simply point the wheels where you want it to go and keep the power on, without worrying about the back end coming around.

With some careful practice you can get some lovely lift-off oversteer too, not much use on a track but great fun for bashing in the car park.

I think my FF01 Primera handles just like my real Primera

[Jason1145]

@Mad Ax how’s your Ff01 going?

I found this thread as I’m trying to mount a Honda Civic Type R J.A.S (51431 meant for an FF03) on to my FF01

I need to find some new body posts as the previous owner chopped them down too short... I’ve found some long ones for the rear which go straight up and line up ok, (I think the stock FF01 rear posts extend backwards)

Anyhow I think I need new posts 50482 to sort the front out as the holes through the shell should be again be directly upwards from the shock Tower with no angles on them, so will grab a set and hope they fit ok.

[Mad Ax]

@Jason1145, it's still going strong.  It didn't get a lot of use for a few years (none of my stuff did, as there was a dearth of good bashing events for a long time), then I dug it out of the loft for an Iconic bash early in 2015, where it lost a few step screws and generally let me down on an open bash at Snetterton.  So naturally it got stuck away on the shelf and not touched again until early last year, when completely on a whim I entered it in the Cotswold round of the Iconic Cup (the track is about an hour from me, the closest on the Iconic calendar).

It performed pretty well - I took along a selection of slicks and tested them out in practice, can't remember what I ran with in the end (maybe a used set of Sorex 24s?) but it held its own against other FF01s.  There were also some FF02s competing, which I've always thought to be an 'inferior' chassis due to the motor location and it basically being an M03 with long arms and a spacer, but the FF02 can take faster gearing with some (slightly naughty) mods and there was no way any of the 01s were catching the 02 boys on Cotswold's long back straight.

Around the twisty section it was great, once the tyres were warm and the track was dry.  It's an outdoor circuit with one section running beneath some trees.  It takes longer to warm up during the day and gets covered in sap, and while the 01 was pretty planted around most corners, it got very sideways in the sap zone.  But being FWD, that didn't necessarily mean taking it steady - there's something really satisfying about hitting a slippery chicane, getting a big sideways on but keeping the power in and letting it follow the direction of the front wheels into the finish straight.

The Cup comes back up Cotswold in April this year so I might dig it out, clean it up and enter it again.

[InsaneJim69]

I love running my FF03 hard, I do take it easy in certain circumstances as not to damage the super rare Kyosho Laguna BTCC body though. But I have the gearing really high and a Reedy KR 12x2 in it and its pretty nippy, but just not quite quick enough Imo. So looking at popping in my Vampire racing 5.5t brushless motor and looking for a suitable esc and then setting my transmitter at 70% throttle and going from there so its not crazy uncontrollable fast , just want it to be satisfying

James.

[Jason1145]

Any of you chaps got a set of white coloured rear body posts that are not angled but completely vertical that fit the rear of an FF01? ( they mate to the car with a small male square part on the post that sits inside the female square on the shock Tower.. best way I can describe it

[firefoxussr]

I bought an HPI Alfa Romeo GTV body last year just to run an FF03 or similar.   Also to mock Fiat/Alfa for making a sweet looking car in FWD 

[TurnipJF]

All this talk of FF chassis has got me wondering what it would be like to turn my M-03 into a FF-02. What shells came with the original FF-02 kits?

[InsaneJim69]

45 minutes ago, TurnipJF said:

All this talk of FF chassis has got me wondering what it would be like to turn my M-03 into a FF-02. What shells came worth the original FF-02 kits?

Peugeot 306 Maxi, Alfa Romeo 146 Touring Car. That's of the top of my head so far 

James.

[Mokei Kagaku]

11 hours ago, Jim_GT-R said:

Peugeot 306 Maxi, Alfa Romeo 146 Touring Car. That's of the top of my head so far 

James.

Toyota Celica (T23) too. And the Alfa was a 156.

[TurnipJF]

The Celica sounds like a good option, although I guess they are pretty rare nowadays.

[WillyChang]

Holy thread revival batman..!  

HPI made the T23 shell too, sometimes that appears more common than T's. 

For sure that's one stunner of a shell... CAN'T BELIEVE ITS NEARLY 19yo!! 

That Yamaha Celica still looks great today; plus I believe it's T's first collaboration with Toyota... they got access to the CAD data and were able to release model kits on the same day as the real car's release!

18yrs and I still haven't stickered...