Turtle's Modified XV-01

[Nelanzor]

was thinking of buying a rally car to replace my highly modified DF-03Ra which I sold over a year ago, but unsure of what car to buy, hpi, kyosho, tamiya.
read this entire topic (and some others)and now there is only one left, I really really really need a XV-01 asap!
thanks for al the info!

[alexchen86]

Originally Posted by Nelanzor

was thinking of buying a rally car to replace my highly modified DF-03Ra which I sold over a year ago, but unsure of what car to buy, hpi, kyosho, tamiya.
read this entire topic (and some others)and now there is only one left, I really really really need a XV-01 asap!
thanks for al the info!

Lol I was in the same boat as you. But I built 2 DF-03Ra's...BOTH were the same kit haha the Subaru Monte Carlo WRC driven by the late Pete Solberg. After building the first one, I learned all the weak spots and knew where to upgrade the second one. Eventually sold both of them and bought the HPI WR8 Flux....terrible drive. Rubber wears way too quickly. Chassis keeps bottoming out. COG way too high with the sloppy suspension and steering.

Sold that too within a week. Then I considered the XV-01 Pro and getting the Lancia body. On second thought decided not to....there's no good areas to run rally around here!

[trewq]

Turtle this is an awesome build!
You got me hooked to the XV-01. Since I've started reading trough your pages all i was thinking off was buying lots of hop ups

I'll post up few mods of mine if it gets to the WOW stage, but that will be on a back burner till i get all the fun out of the car now!

[TURTLE]

Originally Posted by Nelanzor

was thinking of buying a rally car to replace my highly modified DF-03Ra which I sold over a year ago, but unsure of what car to buy, hpi, kyosho, tamiya.
read this entire topic (and some others)and now there is only one left, I really really really need a XV-01 asap!
thanks for al the info!

You are very welcome! Enjoy the car and get sliding!

Originally Posted by trewq

Turtle this is an awesome build!
You got me hooked to the XV-01. Since I've started reading trough your pages all i was thinking off was buying lots of hop ups

I'll post up few mods of mine if it gets to the WOW stage, but that will be on a back burner till i get all the fun out of the car now!

It would be great to see what you come up with.

[trewq]

Originally Posted by TURTLE

It would be great to see what you come up with.

Thanks,
I have ordered a spare chassis to start my experiment and I will post my results if I get close to what I'm aiming for.

Turtle, I'd need your advice.
I would like to upgrade my suspension dampers which came with my XV-01 Pro and I'd like to now what dampers would you suggest to try. Basically I need another set of dampers for my project chassis to minimise the downtime on the rolling XV-01. I'd probably end up having one "short" road version and one "long" off road version and I would not mind spending money for another TRF set but I'd really like to know if there is a damper which gave you more success than the TRF one.

I would prefer aluminium over a plastic but I have little to no experience with the RC dampers. If we'd be talking about 1:1 it would be another story

Thank you!

[vonmarshall]

Hi Turtle

Awesome thread. I am now an XV convert!

Quick question for you. A few pages back, you fitted the stabiliser kit to your chassis, but I have not found any further reference from you as to how that worked out. Is it something you would recommend?

Two other questions for you or anybody else out there

1) Has anybody tried the Long-Damper kit yet? If so is it recommended and can you fit bodies like the Lancia Delta on it or do the bodies sit too high?

2) Has anybody stuck a Castrol Celica '93 body on the XV-01? I see no reason why it would not fit, unless the front motor/gearbox gets in the way of the relatively low nose of the Celica.

Loving this thread BTW. You should get some royalties from Tamiya for being such an ambassador!

[rnw]

Hi Turtle,
nice thread, now i want an xv too haha..

[TURTLE]

Originally Posted by vonmarshall

Hi Turtle

Awesome thread. I am now an XV convert!

Quick question for you. A few pages back, you fitted the stabiliser kit to your chassis, but I have not found any further reference from you as to how that worked out. Is it something you would recommend?

Two other questions for you or anybody else out there

1) Has anybody tried the Long-Damper kit yet? If so is it recommended and can you fit bodies like the Lancia Delta on it or do the bodies sit too high?

2) Has anybody stuck a Castrol Celica '93 body on the XV-01? I see no reason why it would not fit, unless the front motor/gearbox gets in the way of the relatively low nose of the Celica.

Loving this thread BTW. You should get some royalties from Tamiya for being such an ambassador!

I still use the sway bars on the car, I honestly have not thought about them much since they went on the car. The do seem to help with body roll though, not a ton, but enough to help the car stay on the wheels a little better. Plus I assume they are working at least a little since the mount for the sway bar on the front A arm snapped off a little while back.

I would not call them a mandatory upgrade by any means, but if you are like me and like to tinker, tune and modify it is something to consider after all the more functional upgrades go on the car.

As for the other questions:

1. Personally I have not tried it yet... I heard rumor one of the local guys has it, but I have not seen anything yet. For me the biggest concern is how high the front end is going to be raised and considering my bodies all ride within an 1/8th inch of the front shock tower I can't see it looking too hot.

2. That sir is a rare body, I have seen them but never owned one. I imagine it would fit though... but having never fitted one to this platform I can't be 100% certain. The motor on the XV01 rides pretty low and I really don't see that as a concern, worst case scenario would be some heavy bumper trimming, but I doubt even that would be needed.

Hope that helps.

Originally Posted by rnw

Hi Turtle,
nice thread, now i want an xv too haha..

[stormridersp]

Originally Posted by TURTLE

I still use the sway bars on the car, I honestly have not thought about them much since they went on the car. The do seem to help with body roll though, not a ton, but enough to help the car stay on the wheels a little better. Plus I assume they are working at least a little since the mount for the sway bar on the front A arm snapped off a little while back.

I would not call them a mandatory upgrade by any means, but if you are like me and like to tinker, tune and modify it is something to consider after all the more functional upgrades go on the car.

As for the other questions:

1. Personally I have not tried it yet... I heard rumor one of the local guys has it, but I have not seen anything yet. For me the biggest concern is how high the front end is going to be raised and considering my bodies all ride within an 1/8th inch of the front shock tower I can't see it looking too hot.

2. That sir is a rare body, I have seen them but never owned one. I imagine it would fit though... but having never fitted one to this platform I can't be 100% certain. The motor on the XV01 rides pretty low and I really don't see that as a concern, worst case scenario would be some heavy bumper trimming, but I doubt even that would be needed.

Hope that helps.

+1 for the sways!

To check if they´re properly installed, just remove all the dampers and raise one wheel: the other on the opposite side must respond to this input by raising too, cleanly and unobstructed. If it does not move, or it moves only a little bit, check that those small screws that are supposed to prevent vertical movement at the centre of the bar is either not too tight, or not too loose. Also, make sure that at either end of the sway rods, their attachment is vertical and not inclined to either side or scratching any part of the suspension.

[vonmarshall]

Thanks for the help. I may as well throw the sways in to my order.

Re the Celica, I have managed to get my hands on one... it may end up more of a shelf queen body though given how rare it is.

[TURTLE]

Haven't worked on this one in a little while, but it has gotten some drive time. figured out the weak link on these 2012 Ford Fiesta bodies and tested out these ARP (fastrax) tires.







The good news about the break is it is a small area right where the lexan creases to 90 degrees. The other good news I have 3- 2014 Ford Fiesta bodies in the wing after I destroy the 2012.




And some photos, just because I love photos.

[RallySerge]

I believe there is a company or some one who makes a replica body just like that in Canada, the only thing they do not replicate is the rear wings and stickers or window masking.

[Smile]

Turtle, I just installed cvd's on my XV01. On my first drive, the axle ring that secures the drive pins fell off. Is this an isolated issue?

[bvrc]

Originally Posted by Smile

Turtle, I just installed cvd's on my XV01. On my first drive, the axle ring that secures the drive pins fell off. Is this an isolated issue?

Turtle can chime in with his experience, but I've lost a few of those outer snap rings as well. I'm guessing tamiya is aware of this, because the cvd kit comes with extras, but I don't consider it a huge issue. Sometimes the ring may not be sitting exactly right on the cvd and one rock will pop it off. You just have to throw a new one on and keep going. I know our local crawler shop stocks the replacement rings. They can also be found online.

[TURTLE]

I have had one rear one fall off, but it was still on the drive axle. I put it back in place and I have not had issues since. This was about a month ago and that was the first issue I had. RPMJ I know was having issues a lot at first, but I think we decided that putting some heat shrink over them was enough to keep them in place.

[Smile]

Today on my 2nd run the axle ring popped off again... Guess i'll have to get those shrink tubes to avoid problems in the future.

[CamoCrouch]

G'day,

Just getting started into the XV-01's, this thread has been an awesome read and very inspiring - thanks!

Quick question (potentially first of many!) and apologies if I've missed it earlier but has anyone tried cutting into the chassis underneath the suspension arms to increase droop? It looks like there's a couple of holes that perfectly lineup with the edges of the suspension...

I don't want to increase ride height, but I wouldn't mind if the suspension dropped a little further in the air to cushion the impact when landing.

Thoughts?

Cheers and thanks again for an awesome thread.
Crouch

[TURTLE]

Originally Posted by CamoCrouch

G'day,

Just getting started into the XV-01's, this thread has been an awesome read and very inspiring - thanks!

Quick question (potentially first of many!) and apologies if I've missed it earlier but has anyone tried cutting into the chassis underneath the suspension arms to increase droop? It looks like there's a couple of holes that perfectly lineup with the edges of the suspension...

I don't want to increase ride height, but I wouldn't mind if the suspension dropped a little further in the air to cushion the impact when landing.

Thoughts?

Cheers and thanks again for an awesome thread.
Crouch

That one hasn't been touched on. In our Colorado Rally series we only allow a maximum of 1" of droop. The chassis can achieve this without modifying anything. But if you went to a longer shock notching the chassis could prove beneficial to getting even more out of the suspension out the XV01, but I would definitely go to a very soft spring to keep the ride height realistic. The one thing I would keep a close eye on is the angle of the dog bones at full droop.

[FlightInstrukta]

Originally Posted by TURTLE

The good news about the break is it is a small area right where the lexan creases to 90 degrees. The other good news I have 3- 2014 Ford Fiesta bodies in the wing after I destroy the 2012.

I hope 1 of those 2014 Fiesta bodies is for me? Cause I payed you for one but never made it back to pick it up?

[TURTLE]

Originally Posted by FlightInstrukta

I hope 1 of those 2014 Fiesta bodies is for me? Cause I payed you for one but never made it back to pick it up?

Nope those are all mine. Yours is sitting with joe's and Gary's waiting to be picked up. I posted in the thread the day they came in over a month ago.

I personally paid for 5 of these bodies.