marcod13's Tamiya XV-01 WRX STI

[marcod13]

Hey everyone, im new to the site, ive seen some other members on here with some nice looking XV-01 builds and ive been looking at the kit for quite some time now and so i finally bought one! Im probably going to start a small build thread on it, and take a close look at how well the kit builds (so far Tamiya has been amazing to me and im sure many others here), as well as a longterm documentation of how the kit is holding up.

I know many want to buy this kit but since it is fairly new, most are weary of what electronics to use.. either brushed or brushless set ups and so on. Now ive read a few threads on here about XV-01's and most are running brushless, i am going to do the same so i wont be much different there, however i have heard of someone running a the stock brushed motor and they feel it to be very 'scale' and responsive as an rc rally car. So to each their own.

NOTE: Ive never really ran brushless on a 1/10 touring chassis before so this is new to me.

So far my current electronics set up is:

Castle Creations Sidewinder SV3 combo with Castle 4600kv motor.
HPI MG SB-5 Steering Servo (had this one laying around so ill give it a chance).
FlySky 2.4GHz GT2-B Transmitter and Receiver (many don't prefer these Tx/Rx setups however, i find them to perfect for beginner and intermediate RC bashing use).
2s 40c lipo pack w/deans connector.

So far my Hop-Ups that i figured would be necessary and worthy of purchasing before the build are:

Tamiya Reinforced Drive Belt No. 54448
Tamiya Slipper Clutch No. 54378
Tamiya Differential Cross Shafts No. 54311 (Necessary as kit ones are plastic)
Tamiya Hard Tuned Springs No. 49382

The Subaru WRX STI body im still partially debating the final colours, ive come down to a few schemes so im going to save this until the body set is painted and finished.

Also, any useful criticisms and tips will go well appreciated!

Will update this thread as i go along, thanks and enjoy