R/C Drifting

[Panther]

I was thinking to get into R/C drifting after having a go and thinking it was fun. The only car I have that is suitable is an old PIAA Porsche GT2 on a TA03RS chassis, but it's quite understeery and you have to brake hard on turn in then put in a fair bit of power to get the back end out so it's not ideal.

I've seen a relatively new Tamiya kit based on the TT01D and wondered if this would be a better bet for getting into drifting, or is there a way I can set up my TA03RS for better drifting (cheaply).

Any advice welcome.

[Falcon#5]

I'm curious about drifting too.

Thinking about setting up a TA03F drifter.

I have read they are good because the weight is up front, and the rear end is light, so plenty of oversteer.

I'll be watching this thread keenly.

[SteelRat]

Strangely I bought a set of cheap drifter wheels to go on my TL-01 based Audi Quattro day or two ago. Gave it a quick burn on the road outside and it seemed to work just fine. Going to give it a better go at the weekend. I'd say if it's something you want to have a hard core go at, then the chassis and setup probably matters. If it's just something you want to have a play with, then I'd have thought pretty well any 4WD touring car chassis with some drift wheels and tyres on would work.

[Panther]

I'll have a bit of a play around with different drift tyre compounds (if you can get such a thing) and see if I can cure the hideous understeer of my TA03RS. I tried putting loads of preload on the rear springs to make the back end stiff, but that didn't seem to make much difference.

[Henk4Focus]

I'm with Matt on this one. Gooi drift tyres on a chassis and Bobs your uncle. OOPS, I meant, put drift wheels on your ride. The tyres is the big secret in the scheme of things. The normal radials that goes with the TT01/01E cars works relatively well but put some drift spec tyres of the TT01D on......... and a whole new world of sideways driving opens up. There is a huge R/C drift following down in and around Cape Town area and I've seen some of the rides and most use a TT01 in one guise or another. Lots of bling and shine is also a huge thing with the drifting crowd.

The guys who throws a lot of money at it use TA05's and TB03's. The venerable TL01 chassis also seems to be a favourite because of the low purchase cost. The weight distribution is just a bit awkward on the TL to make a great drifter in my opinion.

Hoping to get some drifting going in my neck of the woods as we sold about 20 odd TT01's in the past month or so. Lots of motor and suspension hop ups have followed so maybe, just maybe we can get something going.

[Panther]

What kind of surface do you drift on? So far I've just been making do with normal tamiya tyres on a wooden sports hall floor and it's so slippy that you have a hard time keeping a straight line. If you fit proper drift tyres can you just dift on normal road surface?

[WillyChang]

buy a set of HPI T-Drifts or Tamiya SuperDriftech tyres... that's the minimum you'd need for any electric touring car

TA03F was the bee's knees in drift ... back in 2006 prices spiked as the oldies gained reborn recognition

but since then many drift-specific chassis have been released leading to current "Countersteer" trend.

TA03F has a lot of weight forwards, about 55:45 std but it isn't necessarily beneficial for Drifting.

All the latest motor-forwards chassis have a forward centre of mass, but weight stays 50:50.

[VagabondStarJXF]

Firstly I have to say welcome to the wonderful sideways world of drifting!

I haven't tried out the Tamiya drift tyres yet but... For just having a quick go with drifting pretty much any 4WD chassis will work, with a set of drift tyres of course. If you're running on a slippy surface like indoor flooring then you can use the standard kit tyres because they can't grip properly but if you're out on the tarmac (e.g. in a car park) then I say opt for a set of ABS tyres if you're using a stock 540 silver can. If you're using a Sports Tuned then the ABS will still work fine but you'll need a little more throttle control or you could go for some HPI T-Drift tyres which are still hard but wear better. Any more power and you can pretty much use the softer drift tyres (like the HPI Super Drift) and the high power/low turn motors you can get some decent sideways action with the HPI Stage-D tyres. This all being said the only way to get the really nice drifts, like the long sweeping drifts and tight hairpin drifts, you need a lot of practice and patience. I recommend using a silver can and ABS tyres on the road. ABS tyres are cheap and you can usually get a pack of 3-4 sets real cheap online so you'll have plenty of drift time. It doesn't always look right aesthetically but it'll allow you to practice for ages.

edit:

Another bit of advice. Don't worry about tweaking your setup until you've got your 'flow' right. I have used TL01s, a TA03, a TA05, and then I settled on my TA04 (well a few TA04s actually ). You'll find your own balance, what you like and dislike, then you can tweak from there. I'm by no means an expert drifter, I'm still a novice in my opinion, but I hope this helps you to enjoy drifting. Take your time and don't forget to have fun!

[Mad Zero]

Here you go....

...I filmed this with mr_pushrod's camera stuck on the bonnet of my WW2 - enjoy!

[SteelRat]

What I like most about that video is the comments "Just a bit of pipe over the wheels".

So yeah.. you NEED to spend money on "Proper" drift wheels and tyres don't you

[Panther]

Thanks for your replies guys,

I've ordered a couple of sets of cheap drift tyres and I'm going to give it a try on tarmac. I've got a set of 26mm tyres for a cheap set of disc wheels I got and I also got the staggered 32mm-26mm for my bling wheels to see if it will work or not. It may give too much rear grip but I 'll give it a go.

Nice videos there, I'll need to find a big flat peice of road to practice on.

[Mad Zero]

What I like most about that video is the comments "Just a bit of pipe over the wheels".

So yeah.. you NEED to spend money on "Proper" drift wheels and tyres don't you

It's true back in those days drift 'tyres' where more difficult to get hold of so people glued slices of water pipe onto the rims instead and if you were really posh you made a little cage to hold a smoke bomb (they're used for finding leaks in chimney flues) to simulate the tyre smoke.

A bit later on I bought a pukka Yokomo drift car but in all honesty it was no better or worse than my TL-01 350Z with drift wheels (both pictured in 'the ones that got away' in my showroom) so you pays yer money etc... It's all about throttle control and forward thinking not car setup really so don't get too bogged down with the car. I was never much of a drifter and I soon lost interst so best not to blow a wad before you try it! As for somewhere to drift a deserted industrial estate usually fits the bill - that's where Alan's vid was shot.

Have fun!

Buzz.

[zakspeed]

to be honest I don't see the appeal, however my lad loves it and has a TT01 with Carson drift wheels / tyres and he's getting pretty good.

[gozone]

I run a TT-01 with locked rear diff and AW-grease filled front diff for semi-lock effect, and it works pretty good.. The only hop-ups it uses are the aluminum prop shaft, adjustable upper arms and carbon upper deck, and its powered by an eZrun 4300 kv brushless motor, giving it a bit of extra power so if it tends to "get in line", just press a throttle a little bit more, lol.

Currently, it "wears" an orange-metallic Nismo R34 shell with oversized Topcad rear wing, just for looks of course, and a funny light set making for all sorts of either steady-on or strobe light action. It runs on either HPI T-drifts or Tamiya Driftech tyres, and i think both types work well, either inside on wooden floor or outside on tarmac.

Its lots of fun, and very cheap to get going in this line of RC´ing.

Cheers..

Michael

[SteelRat]

to be honest I don't see the appeal, however my lad loves it and has a TT01 with Carson drift wheels / tyres and he's getting pretty good.

To be honest with you, I didn't really see the appeal either, but one thing is for sure, it's a great way to really learn car control skills.

And surpringly, what little go I've had with my TL01, it's actually quite a lot of fun. Good thing about drifting is that you can dip your toe in and at least have a go without spending a big wad of cash.

[WillyChang]

more fun with company

[Panther]

I've found that it works better on smooth surfaces. Concrete is best but smooth tarmac will do just as well. If the road is quite rough there is just too little traction and the car might go in any direction if you hit a bump.

It's quite good fun though when everything goes perfect and you get a good fast lap without touching the sides.

[commiedoor]

thought about it , so i got a set of drift wheels , put them on ... drifted around for 10-20 minutes .. thought '' yeah that was fun '' .. put road wheels back on and chucked the drifties in the bin ...drift career over ..

[WillyChang]

you need half a doz mates similarly minded... then you all try outdo each other... Only then the fun takes off

[commiedoor]

you need half a doz mates similarly minded... then you all try outdo each other... Only then the fun takes off

well , theres was only 4 of us , but , yeah , a bigger crowd would have been more interesting ..

[J55TTC]

http://youtu.be/H8Zbv1Bx2uo

Some awesome looking cars there and amazing skillz!

[MSM546]

Well my brother has recently built a TT01E chassis which he has converted to drift spec

you can check it out here

if you have any questions just ask and i will ask him

[ParkRNDL]

http://youtu.be/H8Zbv1Bx2uo

Some awesome looking cars there and amazing skillz!

I've had this same vid, or some version of it, in my Favorites for a while now. The old school Skyline (is that what it is? ABC Hobbies body?) in light blue is beautiful. And the bit starting at around 2:35 where they slide around 270 degrees and stop right in a parking space next to another car is AMAZING.

--rick