Wheel choice on a rally Subaru?

[TamiyAddict362]

Hello, I love RC Subaru rally cars so much, both for the sheif and bushing. It is something I had dreamed of but couldn't afford, a TA03F WRC 97 model. (I was just able to buy a cheaper TL01 at my age of 12).

So, now to compensate for the childhood losed, I've been building Subarus for whatever purposes.

I have no real life racing knowledge but it seems to me that the WRC team had used different types of wheels. Some rims are obviously smaller than others, but with "thicker" tyres with taller tyre walls. Compare the following two sets of photos. The first one is what I mean (looks like more rally) and the second is presumably more street. In terms of scale, Tamiya RCs seem to faithfully capture the street versions, using typical-sized touring rims.

2004:

2007:

 

Yes we could use the rally block to resemble the thicker tyres but then the proportion looks wrong. The normal touring rims are just too big and the rally block is still not thick enough.

 

I'm building this for rallying and causal bushing, so I prefer the car to sit higher. Suddenly when I was looking at an online store I was fascinated by the TT01E racing truck tyres. I think they make a better rally tyre than all others.

Then I found someone in the forum had mentioned that the racing truck rims are just m-chassis size. So I'm experimenting this - use the racing truck tyres on m-chassis wheels.

This set of wheels (#51362) features a matt-silver colour which is also very nice in my eyes.

 

One problem may be that there is no suitable insert, so I just leave it empty inside.

I'll see if it's better in terms of bushing performance (if I'll ever go to run this car).

 

Thoughts?

Anyone has rally experience with these truck tyres?

And what insert do you put in them?

 

 

[Frog Jumper]

I’ve made foams for tires using upholstery foam cut into strips…

 

[mtbkym01]

Not much to add other than using the M chassis wheels with the TT01 Truck tyres is a brilliant idea, and has plenty of scope for scale builds of many older cars and muscle cars. cheers for the idea

[Big Jon]

My MF-01X Escort has VTA wheels and tires to get the big sidewall. They're Minilite-style, so they look the part.

The racing truck tires look just about right. 

There are a bunch of wheels out there with fake sidewalls built in. They might look nice with some MST Michelin LTX tires.

Hmmm. I'm doing a Renault R5 Turbo body for my XV-01, think I'm going to try it.

 

[ThunderDragonCy]

This is, excellent! I hage also thoyght this is the way forward for scale rally. Needs someone to make some nice treaded tyres now. Another visial slight of hand would be to design some 1.9" wheels with a small inner spoke pattern and flat side you can then paint black. @Pintopowerdoes this on some wheels for his Hornet Superfly to fit modern 2.2 race track tyres whilst keeping the vintage look from 5 feet away. 

[Nwc100]

I’ve also got nothing to add on the tyre front, I’d be tempted to stick with the gold rims though, I think they look great together as seen here with a gratuitous shot of the Evo! 

 

 

[TamiyAddict362]

The shell is done after 4, 5 hours of continuous decaling job. My fingers are painful rubbing too much. But I'm happy with the result.

[TamiyAddict362]

On 7/23/2021 at 7:17 AM, Frog Jumper said:

I’ve made foams for tires using upholstery foam cut into strips…

 

Thanks for that suggestion. Not a bad idea, but I've not enough confidence to get the right size by my bare hands. I always find it difficult to cut foams (into a good shape), even more difficult than cutting plastics (which I can remedy by sanding).

[TamiyAddict362]

On 7/23/2021 at 12:16 PM, Big Jon said:

My MF-01X Escort has VTA wheels and tires to get the big sidewall. They're Minilite-style, so they look the part.

The racing truck tires look just about right. 

Never thought of VTA wheels. Sounds like a good idea. But Tamiya doesn't seem to produce these, is there any other good brand?

Upon googling I found some Protoform, but they are expensive.

 

Quote

There are a bunch of wheels out there with fake sidewalls built in. They might look nice with some MST Michelin LTX tires.

Quote

This is, excellent! I hage also thoyght this is the way forward for scale rally. Needs someone to make some nice treaded tyres now. Another visial slight of hand would be to design some 1.9" wheels with a small inner spoke pattern and flat side you can then paint black. @Pintopowerdoes this on some wheels for his Hornet Superfly to fit modern 2.2 race track tyres whilst keeping the vintage look from 5 feet away. 

For those with fake sidewalls, yes I've seen some, but I personally don't like it. Perhaps I want the whole thick tyre to be real rubber.

[TamiyAddict362]

12 hours ago, Nwc100 said:

I’ve also got nothing to add on the tyre front, I’d be tempted to stick with the gold rims though, I think they look great together as seen here with a gratuitous shot of the Evo! 

 

 

Yes blue and gold are always a good match but personally I've been conditioned to think that this is a Subaru trademark.

Mitsubishi Evos are, on the contrary, in red and white.

Just kidding. Yours does look nice.

[Matty36]

I put yellow wheels on my chassis, as it matched the stickers, but gold is a subaru thing. The stickers do take a long time, but worth the effort.

[hedge]

  

On 7/22/2021 at 11:41 PM, TamiyAddict362 said:

 

 

 

Love a scuby 

[TamiyAddict362]

9 hours ago, Matty36 said:

I put yellow wheels on my chassis, as it matched the stickers, but gold is a subaru thing. The stickers do take a long time, but worth the effort.

HPI shell, isn't it?

I think Tamiya has a better overall proportion, and the HPI one looks a bit different (more ball-ish), so it's quite easily distinguishable.

For this 2004 version, there is one thing I like of the HPI, it's the front light decal. The Tamiya one doesn't look too good on the front light decal, unlike many other models with more realistic decaled lights, like the 97 or 99).

I love your seats, do you 3d-print them? Are there any other interiors?

[mtbkym01]

Here’s my take, MST wheels

[Matty36]

9 hours ago, mtbkym01 said:

Here’s my take, MST wheels

I have those in gold and black.

[Matty36]

9 hours ago, TamiyAddict362 said:

HPI shell, isn't it?

I think Tamiya has a better overall proportion, and the HPI one looks a bit different (more ball-ish), so it's quite easily distinguishable.

For this 2004 version, there is one thing I like of the HPI, it's the front light decal. The Tamiya one doesn't look too good on the front light decal, unlike many other models with more realistic decaled lights, like the 97 or 99).

I love your seats, do you 3d-print them? Are there any other interiors?

It is hpi 200mm version. Unlike the tamiya version, it doesnt have the mirrors or roof scoop. The seats were off ebay, I made a seat mount and interior for it.

[rich_f]

23 hours ago, TamiyAddict362 said:

For those with fake sidewalls, yes I've seen some, but I personally don't like it. Perhaps I want the whole thick tyre to be real rubber.

For my Porsche 934 project (still yet to be started), the only scale looking wheels I found were ones with the fake sidewall. I decided to try HPI vintage tyres with them and most of the fake sidewall is covered by the extended sidewall lip of the HPI vintage tyres, so that could be an option. 

[Frog Jumper]

23 hours ago, TamiyAddict362 said:

Thanks for that suggestion. Not a bad idea, but I've not enough confidence to get the right size by my bare hands. I always find it difficult to cut foams (into a good shape), even more difficult than cutting plastics (which I can remedy by sanding).

Meh.  It’s foam and doesn’t need to be accurate.  I did some HotShot tires last night. Eye-balled four long strips each the approx width of a tire. Cut with my wife’s bread knife using a piece of timber as a straightedge. Stuffed inside, I used scissors to cut off the extra length.