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Ideal (single) car for onroad/offroad applications

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I have a friend that has a decent Losi street weapon. Not being a Losi fan, nor a belt drive fan, I have mentioned to him that I can get him a more versatile car. His Losi is delicate and seems to always be breaking.

This is the plan.

1. Sell the Losi for him.

2. Take the money and replace it with something that can do onroad and offroad.

Problem is, something that can do both is not good at either.

The cars I am thinking of are the TL01 as it has a buggy variation, it is bullet proof, dirt cheap, can be heavily optioned and has a plethora of shells you can get for it. I know there are more modern cars that are better but he doesn't have much money and I am always sad when all my friends and I meet up to drive RC's and he is sitting there watching since his Losi undoubtedly broke. I told him we are keeping the car with a stock motor, though not necessarily the 540 mabuchi. His friend (that he bought it from) installed an 11 turn in it. That's way to fast for this cat. He also has a little boy now and I know this would be a great hobby for them.

I know he wants an onroad car since he likes it better than offroad but his friend is always at an offroad track near him and wants him to come along. Two cars are ideal but that wont be happening. One car that can manage for both, I think, would be the best option. I would love some opinions.

Thanks,

Alberto

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Swapping a TL01 to a TL01B is a bit of a faff to do regularly but certainly would just need the longer suspension arms, dogbones and some off road wheels & tyres. I guess the current equivalent is the TT02B and I assume it involves a similar long arm swap (maybe an owner can confirm that?).

He sounds like a road car fan though so maybe a rally type car/chassis would be more suited to his needs. It'll have the road looks for on the hard stuff but can also handle off road with the right tyres?

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XV-01 would be my first pick, definitely. Amazing chassis.

Second, maybe a blazing star, that always looked like a good dual purpose rig.

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I know it's not a Tamiya, but a robust short course truck like a Traxxas Slash or HPI Blitz. Bit boaty on the road, but by default they have hard, realistic treaded tires and are great alrounders with a racing potential.

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I would vote for my DT-02 I am very surprised how well it handles on Tarmac and on grass. Even on a torque tuned it seems to go like a scolded cat as well.

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My vote goes for the Slash. I've never owned one, but when I saw Jang's review of the 2WD Slash on Youtube, that was the moment I realized I will get one someday.

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Plus one for the slash, they look awesome on road, the way they lean around corners and as mentioned the tyres are quite durable, and having driven a 10.5 brushless at full noise off a jump straight into a tree (not my finest hour) it rolled onto its wheels and carried on (cue big OUCH from spectators when it hit the tree). There are you tube videos of people jumping them over houses!,

Not in the same league but a blitzer (stadium or beetle) is a great multi purpose car, low and wide

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non Tamiya - but for something reliable , capable and well priced the Slash also gets my vote . Their tough - very tough , so he'll get far more time driving than repairing . If you want to go with a Tamiya - Blitzer Beetle for sure . Great all rounder if you change the kit tires as they wear out in no time on tarmac .

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XV-01 is amazing but a bit more expensive and intricate than maybe you want. and it is berlt drive whixh you state you do not like (I am with you on that).

For less cash go for a TA-02T so you start with a truck like this...

TA02%2520Truck%25201.jpg

TA02%2520Truck%25202.jpg

but can easily be converted to a TA02 Rally car like this...

TA02%2520Tamiya-Castrol-Celica-TA02.jpg

or a Touring Car like this...

TA02%2520Tamiya-Alfa-Romeo-155.jpg

and you can also easily shorten the wheelbase and slap on a Porsche GT2 shell like this...

TA02%2520Porsche.jpg

The TA02 has been in production for over 20 years now and still features under one of their most recent releases, so parts are plentiful and cheap.

To last 20 years tells you something about how good a base it is and you really only have to tweak shocks and suspension arms to achieve any of the major set up tweaks.

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I would have said the XV-01 but in the original post it seems his friend has had enough of belt drives . TA-01T is a good shout but does he want the hassle of having to do a conversion every time hes running on another surface ?

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Another vote for the ta02. I had the Dakar lancer and it was good on all surfaces. Similar to the TA02T really. Not as wide as a full on buggy.

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The TL01B is cheap and plentiful, the weak points are also recognised as being the suspension towers (on the main chassis) and the front steering knuckles. Fit some re-inforcement to the shock towers and ensure that the chassis bottoms out before the shocks run out of travel (this is important on ANY off-road buggy) and consider some aluminium front steering knuckles and the rest is pretty bombproof.

There are a lot of moving parts in the gearbox of the TL01 however and it is very easy to over-gear them with the optional Speed-Tuned Gears (you also have 3 different pinion options), especially with larger diameter wheels.

I've no experience of the TA02 (shock horror) but they look pretty tough as well, definitely a contender. Parts availability may even be better on the TA02 way into the future too, as the TL01 no longer exists in the lineup (albeit parts of it live on in the WT-01)

Either way, there is no simple answer and one chassis will always be compromised. Personally I have changed my preference over the last few years to favour off-road vehicles as there is virtually nowhere to run my very expensive collection of on-road chassis :(

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If his mate is always at an off-road track and encouraging him to come along, then anything 'touring car' biased is likely to be useless.

Short Course truck seems a good solution, although bodies can be expensive if he wants to be able to change the looks regularly.

Another option might be the old DF-01 chassis - can easily be used as both touring car, rally car and 'off roader' by change of wheels, body and pinions, effectively making it a TA-02T. So Manta Ray could be a touring car or a Dakar Rally type runner (Tamiya did the Porsche Cayenne on the DF-01 chassis)

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DF-01 is pretty good, but as the Lancer (and I suspoect the Cayenne) does have a tendancy to roll over if you corner too fast.

I have a 13T brushless setup in mine and it's about right (for me!)

Also have an XV-01, had no trouble with the belt at all and it handles and drives much better than the DF-01. But the DF-01 does have much better ground clearance for the rough stuff.

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I don't have any where near the experience you chaps have, but my suggestion would be modern Holiday Buggy as ours is great fun even with just modest Hop Ups.

Or a Blitzer variant as they work well on on most terrains, Stadium/Thunder or Beetle.

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Thanks for all your help guys. I am liking the DF-01 and the TA02T so far. It is a chassis I never thought of. I did ponder the TA01 and 02 as I have an 02 but I know the TL01 is a tank but you cannot ignore that it is log out of production. Price is an issue as I am basically working with what I get from selling his Losi Street Weapon. I wll take a look at the DF01s and TA02Ts out there. Maybe I will score and find a used one.

He does know that something that is used for both onroad and offroad is not going to be great at both, rather mediocre at both is more accurate.

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Quick question: What is it about onroad that he likes? Is it the looks of the car, or the convenience of running on nearby tarmac, or what? That info might better inform our suggestions.

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Tamico have both the Racing Lancer and Cayenne for pretty good pricing. Certainly a lot less than I paid for main a few years back.

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Quick question: What is it about onroad that he likes? Is it the looks of the car, or the convenience of running on nearby tarmac, or what? That info might better inform our suggestions.

Good question. He likes the look of the cars as well as the obvious availability of flat surfaces around his house. Plus, when we all get together and drive, we all have onroad cars. However, from time to time, we do visit the off road track. Hence the dilemma.

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In that case, perhaps you are on the right track with a TL01. They run well as onroad cars - certainly just as well if not better than a TT01 or similar, especially if you can get a TL01LA. My TL01LA has shown a clean back bumper to many a TT over the years.

And when the time comes to hit the rough stuff, a TL01 also makes quite a good rally chassis. I configured one as a rally car for my father several years ago, and he enjoys driving it still. Unlike a traditional tub chassis that needs some sort of cover to keep it from filling with debris, the TL01 is very easy to muck-proof with a few strategically-placed pieces of duct tape. Just fit some rally tyres and perhaps some longer shocks, and away you go!

There are a few tricks to toughening up a TL01, such as fitting the kick-up front bumper from a TL01B, and bracing the shock towers, but these are cheap and easy to do. Spares are also still easy to come by even though the kit is currently out of production.

Alternatively, you could look for a TB01. Also well-suited to road and rally use, and built like a tank, breakages are unlikely to be an issue.

Either way, you could top it with a Scooby or Evo bodyshell - something that looks at home as a road or rally car.

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What was his "Losi street weapon"? He is going to want better than that...

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Alternatively, you could look for a TB01. Also well-suited to road and rally use, and built like a tank, breakages are unlikely to be an issue.

Either way, you could top it with a Scooby or Evo bodyshell - something that looks at home as a road or rally car.

I do love my TB01. I have a Lancia shell on it. Best rally chassis in my opinion, very rugged and I like the weight.

Only reason I suggest the TA02 is that I believe the T version is better off-road than the TB01 which is essentially good for Tarmac and fine gravel but not much fun on grass or rough ground.

TA02 parts are cheaper and easier to find too, although you really do not need many spares for the TB01 because it is made out of granite!

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ensure that the chassis out before the shocks run out of travel

That's a good piece of advice that I'd never really thought about before...

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