Tamiya On Road Chassis - Advice Needed.

[BigSteve]

Hi all I've been into tamiya off road buggies for a while now both vintage and modern. I'm thinking of buying a second hand on road/touring car for a change and want to stay with the tamiya brand. Can someone here offer some advice on the different chassis that are available. I would like something on the more modern sideesc's and can handle hot motors.

Sorry if this seems a stupid question to ask but I'm confused with the different chassis that seem to be out there.

Many thanks Steve.

[Cplus]

Do you know if you would prefer plastic tub based or carbon plate based chassis?

What is you budget for the car? And the whole build?

[HunterZero]

I really like my TA05. Great car.

- J

[drewbush]

Also consider the environment you will be running in, are you going to the local car park and racing around with friends, or considering about going to a dedicated smooth tarmac track? Lots of the low slung chassis cars will scrape and drag on rough tarmac, but on something like a tennis court they really do fly. The only reason I ask is, you might drop a decent bit of cash into a carbon chassis and end up rashing it on a not so smooth street.

[sosidge]

Modern cars are TA05 onwards (belt) and TB03 onwards (shaft) which use the same suspension as the race cars. TT-01/2 is the beginners level chassis and are very different. You also have curiosities like the XV-01 and FF-03. Then there are the TRF and TB Evo cars, TRF416 onwards will fit LiPo and TB Evo 3 onward use the "modern" suspension.

The TA06 and TB04 are the newest mid-range cars but their designs are rather unconventional and the jury is out on whether they are any better than the TA05 or TB03.

I don't personally think any of the Tamiya's are well suited to hot motors when they aren't on a race track. They are best suited to stock motors and enjoying the looks, the engineering and the driving experience.

[Cplus]

TA06 is an odd one.

Central battery is great for balance (but lipo is not hard to balance anyway) but the electronics layout is very odd (some say dumb) and the rear gearbox is a strange one too. Give lots of traction and an attempt to offer improved acceleration, but is overly complex compared to other belt cars.

It is fun to build with sufficient complexity and the IFS is good to look at! I had one with lots of blue bling, but I never really loved it. I had a 13.5t in it and it was probably too much. Conversely, a 13.5t is only just starting to wake up a TRF418!

TB04 pro II would be a really good entry into on road though I think. Running more than a 17.5 in it would be a bit crazy though.