Help! I can't choose..

[Sohopunk 1]

Hi all,

I'm from the Netherlands and about 15 years ago I bought and build a Nitro RS4-3 18SS car with great pleasure. For the last ten years I haven't touched the car and will be selling it one of these days, because of the area I live in now and the sound it makes. 

I want to re spike my interest in RC cars and for the last couple of days I have been searching online for a new, electric RC car to buy and build. I've narrowed my choice down to a couple of options and I would like to hear your opinion about these. 

So I have decided to go with the Tamiya brand. The models I still have in mind are the regular TT-02 or the TT-02 Type S. 

TT-02
The TT-02 is still wide available in shops near me. I'm leaning towards this type, because it looks like a nice beginnermodel and the upfront costs are a bit lower. My idea would be to build and ride this car, and as I ride and experience it, upgrade parts in the upcoming months. Building a car for me is at least half the fun of owning a car, so I wouldn't mind tearing it apart to replace some parts in the future. 

TT-02 Type S
The TT-02 Type S is almost unavailable in shops near me. I found a shop which can order it from the distributeur, but this will take some time and costs a bit more. I've also found one on Ebay which would ship from Germany, I'm not sure how keen I am on that idea. 

So my reasoning woud be to go for a regular TT-02 and, over time, upgrade it towards a Type S. I've also seen the new model Type SR, but this would cost me aprox. € 200 more than the TT-02 to get it ready for a spin. Again, my reasoning is, since I like building the car and won't mind upgrading it in the future, I think it would be wise to go for the TT-02 model (which will be aprox. € 400 including all necessary parts to get it going) and upgrade over time.

What do you guys think? Have any tips?

Cheers,

Soho

[TurnipJF 9192]

If you enjoy the upgrade process, there is certainly no shortage of things to upgrade on a standard TT-02. However Tamiya upgrades usually cost a lot more if bought separately, so you can save money by buying a better spec kit at the outset that includes the upgrades. 

[Jonathon Gillham 4605]

There are a few upgrades I would build a base TT02 kit with, namely bearings and oil shocks. These will give a big improvement and you could stop here. The high speed gear set and Yeah Racing alloy mount could also be on this list, allowing you to swap to more common 48p gears and give unlimited gearing options for any motor. You will also break stuff so could upgrade as you go.

At this point I would think about what you are actually wanting from the car. If you want to remove all the slop and spend a heap on upgrades, then consider whether that is the best option or are you better buying a TB05 or TA07, both of which are a big step up and will perform better out of the box. Get the Pro version and you still have the upgrade path if thats what you want to do. But in the end you'll have a very capable car. And having 2 is always useful, no doubt friends will be keen to give it a go and you can run them together.