Tamiya TA04

[PaulF]

Seems like the Tamiya TA04 is a great chassis, but there are many variations such as the Pro, Race, and Sport. Which one to get?

I used to race cars about 12 years ago and look to get back into it, so I don't know if I fit into the 'beginner" category. Anyone have any insight into the various TA04's?

Cheers,

Paul

[Glenn Samonte]

Hey, Paul
I used to race back in 85 and 86 offroad with RC-10. Just got back into it since there's an on and offroad track close by.
I picked up a HPI nitro basic kit. Then later looked to see how much it would cost to up grade to a pro kit. OUCH, should of picked up the pro kit right from the start.

I think if your going to just use it in the street or a big parking lot low end kit is fine. But if your going to track to play or race the higher end kits make a differance.

Popular kits here are HPI, TC3 and team Losi. Pick a car that your LHS stocks the parts for. So you don't have to special order parts.
Also look at different kits to see witch is easier to access diffs and belts and such. Front and rear diffs need maintenance and some chassis i've seen you have to split the whole thing in half to get to it. Hope my rambling helps. Good luck, Glenn

[PaulF]

Hey Glenn-

Many thanks for your reply. I used to be in the hobby about the same time. I had a few cars, but my favorite was a 4 whell drive Optima that I tricked out with graphite and anything else they sold. We played around a lot with batteries and motors and clocked the thing > 50 mph. I used to do a lot of indoor racing with some of the F1 type cars as well. Then I discovered girls and then lost interest in the hobby.

The TC3 looks like a great car. I live in NYC and there are few hobby shops that cater to R/C. I gained interest in the TA04 because I shop Tower a lot and they carry a lot of spares for this car. It also looks cool ;)

Similar to TA, Tamiya has several versions of their car. However, unlike TA, Tamiya isn't very clear on who the cars are targeted towards. For example, the Pro version uses all the lighweight stuff, but the Race version uses plastic. I thought the exotic materials were what racers use.

I did a web search, and most the sites were in Japanese. Bebelfish is helpful for translating, but I am still uncertain.

Paul

[PaulF]

Glenn-

I took your advice and went with the TA-04 Pro. There's the Race version as well, but after countless research hours on the net, the only bebefits of the Race version has over the Pro is the use of select Carbon Fiber parts compared to the Pro's FRP parts. The difference in weight is only 45 grams, so I didn't see the $80+ as being a worthwhile investment.

The guys I will race against are using heavier chassis with 17 turn motors. I bought a 19 turn motor in hopes of making races more competitive.