Rally Questions.......paging Turtle

[nascarkeith]

I really enjoy WRC, Global Rally Cross, and the GymKhana type of racing. I have experience with 4wd touring cars and I have a blast with my TT-01 drift car. I would like to have a rally car but the problem is I don't really have anywhere to drive it.

There is an indoor off road carpet track with pretty small jumps nearby that allows anything to race, no classes run what you brung. There is an off road track I race at that I could play around on if I took it easy on the jumps. Then there is my small front yard, parking lots, and the walking trails at Moss Rock. I would be driving by myself, which is how I drift 99% of the time. Would it be worth the investment?

As cheap as TT-01's are I thought about buying another and doing the rally conversion on it. Would that be good enough or is it really worth it to step up to the df03ra?

Please educate me.

[alexchen86]

The amount of effort you spend to get a typical entry level touring car like a TT-01 with non adjustable arms not to mention you will need at least 40-60mm shocks that must be oil filled and I'd recommend aluminum shock bodies and some nice material shafts for the shocks.

Second (your preference) is look into sway bars once you drive your creation...sways make a huge difference when you have uneven road and pebbles when you're turning. My first rally car was a Tamiya DF-03Ra....I ran a mild 4600kv motor on it with a Sidewinder on 2s. I also opted for Tamiya's slipper clutch and did a lot of mods along the way.

Once you build a true rally car like the DF-03Ra which is based on the DF-03 (Dark Impact) buggy you will start to understand the suspension geometry, adjustability, and driving style that rally cars have over touring/drift/drag cars.

Each car is tuned and designed for one specific thing....not to say a TT-01 won't be an awesome rally car if you know what you're doing....hell a CC-01 will actually make an awesome true to scale rally car with it's independent front end and solid rear axle! But Tamiya considers the CC-01 a "crawler" even though they throw a hot 27t motor in it lol.

Read up on some rally conversions and you'll get the idea. I've converted a TC3 into rally, Slash 4x4 PE into rally, and a TT-01 into rally. All 3 do not perform nearly as well as my 2 DF-03Ra's.

Ask around on rctech or rcuniverse that's where I learned a lot on building rally cars.

Good luck and post a build thread buddy!!

[DeweyCJ5]

i would start at the carpet track...we had one open up 15 mins away from my house and our rally class started with just 2 traxxas rallys in about 2 months time we are now at 12 rallys racing and are the biggest class their now. as for a car , find the best one you can afford then mod it up as you go and maybe you can get more people interested you can sale yours to upgrade

[TURTLE]

Hello!

I Got the DF03Ra in 2009, I drove by myself for maybe the first 6 months. Until RPMJ picked one up too, even though I often drove by myself. Rally for me is fun regardless of the company that comes to play, now saying that it is more fun with a bunch of people out.

Tracks:

The great thing about rally is you can do it anywhere. I have driven mine on dirt roads, tarmac parking lots, back yard tracks and RC tracks. Its rally and different surfaces, terrain and locations are all part of what makes rally so great. If someone says you can run your car at a location I say go for it, worst case scenario is you don't like and go somewhere else to drive. In regards to tracks for me the funniest places to drive are really tight tracks with lots of corners. But it sounds like you have some fun trails that could be your own personal stage rallies.

Now Cars:

There is one guy in our club who rallies a TT-01 and it seems like it is always broken or breaking, personally I would stay away from that car when it comes to off road use. The DF03Ra is a good car, but to me there are some handling characteristics that could be a little better. I do have a brand new recommendation, something I have never mentioned before. Rally Legends, specifically this car: Cars

I can't divulge too much information, but I can tell you its awesome, and better yet comes RTR with head lights, brake lights, reverse lights, turn signals and has some pretty fantastic driving characteristics.

Check the up coming RCDriver for a full review.

Hope that helps.

-Ty

[chuckatruck]

Originally Posted by TURTLE

Hello!


Now Cars:
I do have a brand new recommendation, something I have never mentioned before. Rally Legends, specifically this car: Cars


Hope that helps.

-Ty

i've been eyeballing these for a couple months now. $350 seemed steep for something i've seen no reviews from turtle about. the fiat looks sweet

[radishkid]

I think that rally will be the next big thing following Short Course, especially with the rise of rallycross here in the states. Within this class, the Tamiya XV-01 is going to be a chassis defining vehicle when it finally hits the US.

Clicky

[EeePee]

Originally Posted by radishkid

(sorry for the long link, I'm a little rusty)

Check out our new technology at work.

[radishkid]

Fixed it for ya. Thanks, now you made me think of beer.

[EeePee]

Well then, my job here is done.

[alexchen86]

The only thing I don't like about the XV-01 is that it's belt driven. I know it's protected but sooner or later dirt and small debris will get in there....I love the chassis and front engine layout though!

[TURTLE]

Originally Posted by radishkid

I think that rally will be the next big thing following Short Course, especially with the rise of rallycross here in the states. Within this class, the Tamiya XV-01 is going to be a chassis defining vehicle when it finally hits the US.

Clicky

I hope you are right, rally has been a segment of rc for 20 plus years now, it has seemed to have its ups and downs, right now is definitely a rise, in the end the customer is going to determine the market. With the RC market making a shift toward scale appearance though it may just find a place to stay this time.

My fingers are crossed.

Originally Posted by alexchen86

The only thing I don't like about the XV-01 is that it's belt driven. I know it's protected but sooner or later dirt and small debris will get in there....I love the chassis and front engine layout though!

Yes and no, its hard to say until we have it in our hands. I have a Losi XXX-S and so do a few other guys that race rally here. They drive really well and the belts are completely sealed and nothing gets into the belts. My issue is that once its starts to get hot it toss' the belt off. Otherwise it is a really good driving car. If I spent sometime on the Losi I could probably get the Losi dialed in, but I love my Tamiya TB-01.

[DRW-FJ40]

Originally Posted by TURTLE

I hope you are right, rally has been a segment of rc for 20 plus years now, it has seemed to have its ups and downs, right now is definitely a rise, in the end the customer is going to determine the market. With the RC market making a shift toward scale appearance though it may just find a place to stay this time.

My fingers are crossed.

Seems to me like RC rally has a lot of potential. Unlike 1:1 motor sports that are spectator driven, the RC counterpart has different factors contributing to it's success. I like the potential for building a scale course with structures & landscaping. I like the fact that I can realisticly "play" by myself or get together with friends & run laps. I've also felt that by running a tight narrow course, I don't need to be going 50 mph & won't go through parts as fast. I have 3 boys so all my RC is $x4.

I can see a rally legends/Tamiya XV-01 Turtle showdown in the near future.

[nascarkeith]

Digging this thread back up. I came across some rallied out Tamiya M-03's. I have always kinda wanted on of those little buggers and now this RALLY MINI me jonesen for one.

[xigtc]

First thing that jumps out at me: Short wheelbase, ball diffs & because of its size the possibility of slack of interest from locals...Other than that they seem stout & after market was pretty good. Quick look on eBay I saw a couple of good deals & tons of parts.

[TURTLE]

Originally Posted by nascarkeith

Digging this thread back up. I came across some rallied out Tamiya M-03's. I have always kinda wanted on of those little buggers and now this RALLY MINI me jonesen for one.

I have wanted to build one, but everyone I have talked to says they just don't handle the dirt very well. I could see them doing well on a packed track that is well groomed, but thats not how we race around here.

[nascarkeith]

That's one thing I don't have to worry about. The only thing that races around here is off road.

I had to start my own club at the school where I teach just to have someone to race ovals with.

I'm thinking if the kids really get into it we could have a fundraiser to order a few cars we could rally.

Parking lot global rally cross style is an option plus we have lots of land we could build a track on.

I've also considered a nitrorcx.com $100 4wd car to play around with in the dirt. I want the new Tamiya or df-03 but I'm trying to be cheap.

Either way I think m-03 or m-05 is in my future.

[chuckatruck]

I run a m05 on my track it does less than stellar with the mini rally blocks but not too bad with 1.9 rally blocks