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casethejoint

Tamiya 4wd On-road Belt Drive

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Hi all,

Fancy a new on-road toy. As all my previous on-roaders have been either 2WD or 4WD shaft I kind of fancy getting a belt-drive again. Haven't had one since my old HPI RS4 Pro.

I am sticking to Tamiya, brand loyalty and all that, but not sure what my options are. I had a look at the Tamiya website and most seem discontinued. Looks like a TA05 IFS R would be an option, but can't find anyone that stocks the "R" model.

What else is available (or discontinued recently so that I might be able to still get one) ?

Wouldn't mind TRF or something limited edition if there is anything out there. Under £250 preferably (don't need ESC or motor etc) but I'll stretch that if there's a no-brainer option.

Thanks!

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Hi all,

Fancy a new on-road toy. As all my previous on-roaders have been either 2WD or 4WD shaft I kind of fancy getting a belt-drive again. Haven't had one since my old HPI RS4 Pro.

I am sticking to Tamiya, brand loyalty and all that, but not sure what my options are. I had a look at the Tamiya website and most seem discontinued. Looks like a TA05 IFS R would be an option, but can't find anyone that stocks the "R" model.

What else is available (or discontinued recently so that I might be able to still get one) ?

Wouldn't mind TRF or something limited edition if there is anything out there. Under £250 preferably (don't need ESC or motor etc) but I'll stretch that if there's a no-brainer option.

Thanks!

The "R" version of the TA05 is being reworked as Tamiya has just introduced the updated version called "v.2" with these upgrades:

# The new TA05 ver.II chassis features 5 newly designed parts: L Parts (Lower deck), KParts (Stiffener), M Parts (Suspension Mount), Body and H Parts (Wing, Mirror), DC Parts(Motor mount).

# Overall chassis width is narrower which improves road clearance in rolls.

# The battery position is moved forward for improved driving characteristics.

# The separated suspension mounts enable easy maintenance of the drive train.

# The belt-driven 4-wheel drive chassis features isometric drive belts, front and rear 37T ball diff. and a horizontally mounted motor.

# Features inboard front suspension and short reversible suspension arms as well as up-rights with 1050 ball bearings.

# Aluminum one-piece integrated motor mount.

If that's the case, then I won't doubt they will coming out with the IFS version soon considering the TB03 is IFS with shaft drive...

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Thanks for the tip about the new release. Ideally though I'd like to pick something up this week. What am I likely to get at a high street Tamiya stockist ?

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The TA05R was discontinued some time ago. If you aren't racing at a reasonable level you won't notice the difference between the 05R and the standard TA05 chassis and I if you are waiting for a new R version you will be waiting for a long time. Tamiya usually brings out a top spec chassis first, then a base model, then the mid spec R version which disappears soon after so you are left with just the base models.

Wouldn't mind TRF or something limited edition if there is anything out there. Under £250 preferably
A bit of a contradiction there if you are buying new. The TRF416WE for example. :lol:

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Agree completely with Terry here... I have a TA05 non-IFS with a few tasteful mods, and it's a great little car. It has stabilizers, TRF dampers, carbon shock towers and the option of swapping in a front one-way (which is really only useful if you are racing on certain tracks). UJs are about the only other thing I'd consider.

- James

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If you aren't racing at a reasonable level

Car park basher only. But I like nice models, and I like building them.... and I like getting them to handle *reasonably* well.

A bit of a contradiction there if you are buying new.

I'll stretch it to about £400, but half a grand is getting a bit much for car-park bashing. Definitely want new, so guess that's TRF ruled out.

I have a TA05 non-IFS with a few tasteful mods, and it's a great little car.

Thanks guys, TA05 it'll be I think. Possibly with some upgraded shocks.

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A TRF car would be complete overkill for carpark bashing anyway - not to mention that the drivetrain is completely exposed, so will be high maintenance keeping it clean, and the odd stone will do some damage, and spares can be a bit harder to get, especially when that chassis is no longer 'current'.

TA05 is a little bit more enclosed, but the odd stone may still get in.

If you're after a fun car to build, the TA05 IFS is pretty cool. The front suspension has pushrod links like an F1 car, makes it a bit more interesting than the standard car, and a lower nose so you have a bit more choice in bodyshell.

As for the dampers - for a basher, the kit plastic oil shocks are fine. Most non-Tamiya brand aluminium shocks don't perform any better than the Tamiya plastic shocks, they're just bling. The only shocks I'd recommend as being worth the upgrade are the Tamiya TRF shocks, but again these are a bit overkill for a carpark basher. They are very, very nice smooth shocks though.

- James

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TA05 is clearly you best most logical bet.

the v2 also might not be worth the expense over some of the cheaper earlier cars on ebay etc. (non ifs) ifs looks cool but it is at least slightly harder to tune as far as spring/dampner ratio (shock angle) and possibly doesnt actually perform any better.

right now the earlier version also has a lot more options for carbon chassis upgrade kits.

worth noting is if you want something a tiny bit more "interesting" rc mart still have stock of TA04/S and TA03R.

TRF416 has a further rearward weight balance than TA05. which is an advantage with a very fast modified motors for serious racing, but for bashing youre probably not going to want to go past 17t brushed/4000ish kv brushless and with those sort of motors the ta05 might actually have a better suited F/R weight balance.

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TA05 non IFS rocks I bought a second hand one for £50 that had UJ's all round , ceramic bearings, sway bar sett and Amrad belts.

I Put a 9t Ezrun in it and my TRF dampers i bought for my TT01 with a steel pinion and is great, hard as nails too, it gets absolutely bashed in the races i race in and has never broke, the IFS does seam to have a more fragile front knuckle uprights and lower arms so i would go for the non ifs unless you want to run the super low bonnet body shells.

My car was previously ran as an outdoor car so running it on slick tarmac shouldn't give you any issues, any stones etc will get flicked out of the drive train if any get in, the carpet i race on could do with a hoover and loads of **** gets in it and flicked out :-p

My only issue was when i ran the crappy soft alloy pinions they just wore into shark teeth and chunks would get stuck in the spur chewing up the teeth a little and making a horrible sound, getting the better hop up steel pinions stopped this, and they are really fine 0.4 pitch for smoothness.

Have fun

Later

VV

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I've had all the more recent Tamiya touring cars. If you're bashing dont even touch the TRF cars, they are simply overkill and wont actually bash very well, you'll ruin the carbon fibre chassis and its not a durable car. Handling wise though, its the best.

As for which TA05 it will depend on what you want to do with the kit:

- TA05 is a great bit of kit on its own, if you want to just bash and dont care about the bling factor this car is just as good as any.

- TA05R is great if you do plan on buying bling bits because it come with the more useful hop ups.

IFS or Normal: IFS only useful with a few special Tamiya bodies with the lower bonet. Might be a little bit more fun to build. Performance wise i think the regular vertical suspension works better (or just as good) but is easier to setup. There is a reason why all the high end kits have normal suspension designs.

Version 1 or 2: For bashing you probably wont notice the difference between the regular or v2 TA05. If price is your concern, the regular TA05 is much cheaper and widely available. Come time to sell the v2 might sell faster for a little bit more.

Hope this helps. Good luck with your decision!

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Thanks for the help guys. I went for the TA05, and the IFS version only because I really like the look of the Raybrig NSX body.

Am quite impressed with this kit - decent diff's and it has a pretty solid feel to it. Will probably whack some tape over the bottom holes to stop stones getting in though.

Put a 23T in it - that has me on my limits of driving ability anyway and is plenty fast enough to have fun with :)

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Thanks for the help guys. I went for the TA05, and the IFS version only because I really like the look of the Raybrig NSX body.

Am quite impressed with this kit - decent diff's and it has a pretty solid feel to it. Will probably whack some tape over the bottom holes to stop stones getting in though.

Put a 23T in it - that has me on my limits of driving ability anyway and is plenty fast enough to have fun with :lol:

Great pick! I build the same kit - very rewarding in the end, however, all the work you are going to put into the body may prevent you from wanting to run it! Here is a link to my build of this kit...

http://itcrashed.wordpress.com/2008/10/31/...2007-paint-job/

I built it over a year ago and still haven't run it! LOL

You can also check my showroom for more pics.

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however, all the work you are going to put into the body may prevent you from wanting to run it!

No chance of that - I just did it in a single colour. Not a lot of point putting too much effort into a car park basher - I'm only going to roll it at some point anyway :)

Sorry about the poor quality pic - taken with my phone camera. Nice colour though (Tamiya Metallic Sky Blue). I was going to paint the wing and mirrors black, but now I quite like them in their original white plastic :lol:

img26801_05102009135414_1.jpg

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itcrashed - just had a look through your pics. Great job on that shell! Looks **** hard - glad I didn't bother to be honest otherwise I'd probably never have the guts to run it either!

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