Looking for advice on chassis for first racer

[ozcrawler 3]

Hi,

I am looking for some advice on the best Tamiya chassis to look to obtain for racing on tarmac. I have been around RC for a while, however only been running brushed(sport tuned) and Nimh. Have a Stadium Thunder and a Blitzer Beetle both modded.

So there is an RC club near my house I found the other day, track is open for the public.I have not had a chance yet to go on a race night to see what the members are running there, they have a 21.5T,13.5T & Euro truck classes.

I am looking for some advice on a chassis to firstly get me into tarmac track as I have been only dirt bashing and crawling & secondly, what hop-ups, motors, esc`s, batteries should I be looking for to be competitive, apologies for all the newb questions.

Have attached a pic of the track I would be racing\learning at, look forward to your input.

[Jonathon Gillham 3168]

What classes do they run and whats your budget?

Many clubs run a spec type class, over here its a TT02 class with minimal mods. That could be a good place to start.

Otherwise they will probably have pan cars/F1 and touring cars, and probably a mix of 21.5T, 17.5T, 13.5T blinky and mod.

There are 4 options for touring cars - TA07, TB05, TRF419 and TRF420

I went with a TA07Pro and it now has a heap of upgrades and you would be better to start with the TA07MS, TA07MSX or TA07RR. Higher upfront cost but no upgrades required. I have a build thread, TA07 to RS7 in the builds section if you're interested.

If you like shaft drive then the TB05 is the current option, the R has been announced but I don't think its available yet. Wait to see what that is like then decide between the Pro and R. I don't think the TB Evo 7 is still available, that was the TRF shaft drive car.

Exotek make carbon chassis kits for both the TB05 and TA07 which are worth looking at if you go for the lower models. You can upgrade them to full carbon cars as you improve or have the cash.

TRF420 and 419 are the top end and cars, if you can stomach the price then go for it, you won't be disappointed. I would go for the TRF420 as its the latest but a deal on a 419 would be worth looking at.

Tamiya don't have a 12th scale pancar but their F1 cars are decent. I have a TRF102 and think its good, but I haven't tried any others. A TRF103 would be a good option if you can find one as it can be setup for any track type compared to the TRF102 which is better suited to asphalt.

I would start in the slowest touring car class, for me thats 21.5T, its still fast.

Motors, check the Surpass V4S motors for cheap and good. Any of the name brands are good, Tekin, Hobbywing, Maclan etc

ESC, if you are running blinky then look at the stock spec ESC. This will limit you if you want to move to mod, but they are cheaper and don't disadvantage you in any way. I run SkyRC TS120 and TS160 ESC's and find them good bang for buck. I would try the Surpass 160amp ESC but am staying with SkyRC cos I have the program box. Look at Hobbywing too, many people love them.

Servo, I like the Savox 1258TG for my offroad racers, fast and durable and great value. Only rated to 6v though which could be limiting given new electronics run higher voltage. I also have cheaper ones which work fine, and don't see the point in the really expensive ones.

Batteries, I actually spend a bit on these. I have Muchmore, Orion and gens ace. They last me a few years. F1 runs shorties, touring cars are stick packs. Look for high c rating and probably around 6000mah for TC. I stick to name brands as international shipping is difficult so i get them locally and there is so much debate about the specs that its hard to know what to believe, so I go for the name brands as they tend to have proven themselves over many years.

[sosidge 61]

First things first, get down there, watch the racing, and chat to the racers! Best way to find out what is popular.

The Euro truck class is almost certainly TT-01 trucks. Usually these are "box stock" (or close to it) classes so cheap to run and close racing. Now personally I find the TT-01 a frustrating chassis to race with but they are cheap and robust.

21.5 and 13.5 are brushless motor touring car classes. 21.5 is slower and is where you should start. Although this is Tamiyaclub, I wouldn't recommend racing a Tamiya unless you are a masochist, they are usually harder to find spare parts for, and because they are uncommon, there aren't as many setups around that you could copy. So have a look and see what is popular at the local track and has good spares support in case you break something.

Tamiya TRF cars are beautifully made, but parts orders almost certainly have to come from the far east, and some parts are special order only which means you may never be able to replace them if they break (chassis etc.)  Plastic tub Tamiyas are heavy and have limited gearing options so you are putting yourself at a disadvantage immediately.

Being competitive will take a while - I've seen a lot of people with plenty of experience of bashing come to a track and then be surprised at just how far off the pace they are. So treat any advice that says "you need this expensive part" with a pinch of salt. Basically you need a well-maintained car with the right motor and the right tyres for the track. And lap after lap of practice!

Racing is great fun IMHO.

[BuggyGuy 79]

As above - going and speaking to people who run there regularly would probably be best. 

But in terms of running a new Tamiya touring car, the TT02 Type S is probably the best budget offering, in the mid range the TB-05 Pro (shaft drive) or the TA-07 Pro (Belt drive). 

All 3 of those would be fine on a Tarmac track, with the TB-05 and TA-07 being a bit more capable. 

If you have deep pockets then there's the TB Evo shaft drive cars as step up from the TB05 Pro. The TA-07 MS / RR / MSX versions are better than the 07 Pro. The TRF 420 is the ultimate belt drive Tamiya touring car at the moment. A new TB-05R is also rumoured to be in pipeline. 

 

If I was starting again I'd probably try and stretch to TA-07RR if buying a new tarmac car - but it's all dependent on your budget really (and what the guys at the local track say!) 

[TurnipJF 4988]

You mention Euro Trucks, which I would suggest as a good starting point. As @sosidge says, these are bound to be based on TT-01 chassis with minimal hop-ups, so this is a low-cost entry point into a class where so-called "chequebook racers" are unlikely to benefit. Plus, if you find that trucks are not your scene after all, the TT-01 can be turned into a touring car, rally car or fun basher relatively easily. Your investment is unlikely to be wasted.

If touring cars are your thing though, and your budget doesn't extend to the latest TA, TB or TRF cars, I have found that the TT-02 Type S (not the SR) can be made pretty darn competitive on a budget with a bit of tuning and some sensible hopping-up. Mine is already keeping pace with my TB-03, and I think it has more to give. It would have trouble competing with anything really high-end, but it is a significant step above entry-level, and parts are easy to come by.

[DeadMeat666 1163]

20 minutes ago, TurnipJF said:

I have found that the TT-02 Type S (not the SR) can be made pretty darn competitive on a budget with a bit of tuning and some sensible hopping-up.

Curious. Why not the SR? I have a Type S and somewhat regret not getting an SR.

[TurnipJF 4988]

1 hour ago, DeadMeat666 said:

Curious. Why not the SR? I have a Type S and somewhat regret not getting an SR.

The SR is quite expensive for what you get, plus the hard chassis tub isn't adjustable and thus isn't suited to all track conditions. 

IMO, there are some hop-ups that are both better and cheaper if sourced separately from 3rd party manufacturers such as Yeah Racing, and the adjustability that you get from a standard tub fitted with Fibre Lyte/TheRCRacer carbon stiffeners is superior to a hard tub. You can adjust the overall stiffness by using just the upper deck, just the lower stiffener or both together, and you can further fine tune stiffness by changing the number of screws used to attach the stiffeners.

[ozcrawler 3]

Thanks for all the amazing input guys. Sounds like the first thing I should do is go to the track on Saturday night and talk to some people. I will report back when I have a better idea of what people are running there. I would like to stay true to Tamiya.

[Jonathon Gillham 3168]

4 hours ago, ozcrawler said:

Thanks for all the amazing input guys. Sounds like the first thing I should do is go to the track on Saturday night and talk to some people. I will report back when I have a better idea of what people are running there. I would like to stay true to Tamiya.

I find at the onroad clubs most people run other brands, but there are always a few running Tamiya. Tyres are the most important thing and they won't change between brands.

Parts are easy enough as the commonly broken bits are arms and c hubs and they are cheap so you can order a few sets in advance. Setup help is useful, but the main setup info is universal and once you've worked it out then its not too hard to setup a car, but terrifying when you are starting out!

[GTodd 898]

Great advise, but one thing And it's just my opinion. I don't worry too much about what others run. Learn how to set up the chassis. What adjustment does what to the car.  I've found using others set ups does get me faster but didnt teach me what adjustment did what to the car and I was unable to understand how to make the car do what I wanted it to set up wise.

[Turbotom 96]

Hi, I've been racing rc cars for over 25 years on and off......

I race various tamiya cars trf417v5 and a tt01e truck on road and a top force evolution + egress for off road (also astute and dyna storm in 2wd)

My best advice for when starting out ie a new car or track etc is put the car back to factory settings, turn the timing down on the motor and then have a practice lap. You will get a feeling for the steering and on off power first. No point changing the suspension until you know how the car turns in, then dial the understeer/oversteer. 

Yes take advice from other racers but remember they aren't driving your car so it might not work. 

As for tamiya being expensive or a lesser car in my opinion they are as good as the person driving it. I race against x Ray and schumacher  top end touring cars and it's always in the top 5.

At the end of the day have fun, that's what it's about.

Hope this helps you