TT02 newb, first attempt at on-road

[Saito2]

Well, when my wife asked what I wanted for Christmas, I told her a new WRX to replace my aging '88 Foxbody 5.0 Mustang as a daily driver. While that wasn't going to happen, I was pleasantly surprised to pull the wrapping paper off a new Tamiya TT02 WRX STI NBR Christmas morning. Clever girl . I'm a newb at both the TT02 and on-road driving so I have a couple of questions.

1. There's much talk of replacing the TT02B's diff with the old DF02 metal diff for durability's sake. Is that needed in a road car or will the stock plastic parts hold up ok with the stock Torque Tuned motor?

2. There's two options for ride height. While the NBR version does not look destined for any rally work (video of the real-deal looks strictly on-road), which setting should I choose? The pavement I will probably run on has a dip or two and a few cinders/small pebbles here and there (not gravel covered by any means but not billiard table smooth either)

3. Since all my runners get steel pinions, does the TT02 take the normal "metric 48 pitch" or 0.6 mod pinions as most newer Tamiyas?

4. She'll get bearings for sure, but are there any other required hop-ups for just starting out.

Other than that, I have no idea what to expect. I've been a lifelong off road enthusiast so this is totally new territory for me.

[a.w.k.]

Hello Saito2,

The plastic diff on the tt02 is fine,even for racing. The reason for a metal diff on the tt02b is mainly for taking up the load changes or torque changes while jumping and becuse of the bigger wheels, i hope you will not do much jumping with your tt02. Also you want as low rotating mass as you can get to help with acceleration.

Set the ride height to the lowest to help with cornering and not getting grip roll.

The tt02 uses 0.6 module gearing.

The drive shaft from rear to front diff is better as the one found on the tt01, but a metal one is always less wobbly and quieter than fhe plastic one.

Open rear diff and locked front diff also helps with acceleration after corners, so normal grease in rear diff and aw grease in front diff are ok.

[a.w.k.]

And dont forget oildampers.

[TurnipJF]

The "big 3" apply as with most Tamiyas - bearings, oil shocks and a steel pinion.

 

 

[Kingfisher]

Along with everything that's been said, I suggest the ball bearing steering kit. Either from Yeah Racing or Tamiya. I have the YR in two different TT02's and two different TT02B's. It's much better than stock, because the stock pieces have a bunch of slop in them.

Here's a link to show what it looks like, though I have found it cheaper on eBay.

http://www.rcmart.com/yeah-racing-tt02042bu-sample-p-36566.html?cPath=595_744_1585

 

 

 

[Saito2]

So, may I ask, what are some activities to try with touring cars? I'm only familiar with seeing old pan cars in action back in the day. Those were laser responsive but needed a very clean, smooth surface to run. I know this sounds silly, but what should I expect from a touring car? I'm used to rooster tails in dirt, jumps and LOTS of suspension travel.

[TurnipJF]

From what I've seen of them at the track, you can expect tenacious grip, balanced handling, realistic squealing tyre noises through the corners, rapid acceleration as all four wheels put the power down, and a bodyshell that starts to look tatty fast as no matter what angle the collision comes from, the shell will bear the brunt of it.

 

[Kingfisher]

2 hours ago, Saito2 said:

So, may I ask, what are some activities to try with touring cars?

Along with what TurnipJF said, there is always this:

Join us in the fun. 

[a.w.k.]

For me touring cars are all about racing competitively against others around different tracks and finding the perfect setup and the perfect line through the corners. As most will do i started out on an empty parking lot bashing around, then friends joined in and we were running the cars togehter looking for the fastest. Then we set up a track with empty coke cans. Fast forward some years i started racing in a hobby cup with my kids were the costs are manageable. The class we are running is plastic chassis only (here are the most Tamiyas), 23T brushed, gear ratio fixed . There are 6 to 8 races a year indoor and outdoor on different indoor and outdoor tracks.

[Jonathon Gillham]

Here in NZ there is a Tamiya GT class which is the TT02 with minimal mods allowed - bearings, oil dampers, heat sink or motor mount and the drive shaft. No other mods and no race shells - they encourage scale shells finished like the real ones so they look cool racing together. Most clubs run that class as its a really popular entry level class and a step up from M05. One is even trialling a Super GT with a few more mods allowed and 17.5T brushless as a faster but still cheap class before going to touring stock.

Anyway, check out the clubs, they will be bound to have something. They will probably also run allcomers so you can take a buggy along and make a night of it.

Otherwise you could try to make it drift?

[dc-arena]

My first post here after just viewing threads for months

I got my first touring car for Christmas this year, a Tamiya TT02 Raikiri GT. I’ve never had a road RC car before so this will be a unique experience! 

I’ve already got a ballrace set and the Tamiya driveshaft and cups, and will be getting CVA shocks for it too as the kit came with friction dampers. 

I quite fancy sticking a brushless motor/ESC in there, I’ve been watching some vids on YouTube and they look like a lot of fun in a large carpark etc. I’ll be doing a bit of research on this though as I don’t really know much about them (and even less about Lipo batteries).

It was interesting reading through the advice here, thanks for that!

 

[markbt73]

23 hours ago, Saito2 said:

So, may I ask, what are some activities to try with touring cars? I'm only familiar with seeing old pan cars in action back in the day. Those were laser responsive but needed a very clean, smooth surface to run. I know this sounds silly, but what should I expect from a touring car? I'm used to rooster tails in dirt, jumps and LOTS of suspension travel.

Heh... makes me think of when I used to race M-chassis on an indoor carpet track... and one day I brought my old RC10L to a practice day, and no one could figure out why it was so fast. Nor could the couple of fellow racers I let try it complete a lap without hitting the boards... I miss pan cars. Those things took skill.

As far as touring cars go, it should have enough clearance and suspension travel to handle asphalt or concrete surfaces with some bumps and cracks. I used to like to practice with mine on the rarely-used tennis courts at my old apartment, using the fault lines as impromptu lane markers and trying to stay inside them at increasing speeds. You'll probably over-correct every line until you get used to actually having traction; it will be twitchier than a buggy, but hold its line better.

And if all else fails, grab some rally tires, crank up the suspension a notch, and hit the dirt.

[Saito2]

4 hours ago, markbt73 said:

You'll probably over-correct every line until you get used to actually having traction; it will be twitchier than a buggy, but hold its line better.

Yeah, this is what I was imagining might be the case. I'm so used to throwing vintages buggies hard into a corner and then sometimes flicking the brakes to get the tail to come around on a hairpin. Actually having traction (and the possibility of squealing tires) sounds intriguing. Do they roll over easily? The closest thing I had to a touring car was a TA02T and it rolled constantly (albeit on dirt).