Darkseid

iTrader: (9)

How much time had they spent setting up and practicing with those TA05 cars compared to their MSX cars? I'm willing to bet that its quite heavily tilted in the favor of the MSX. I would have to see a team driver give equal set up and practice time to BOTH cars before I would automatically say that they are faster with the MSX.

But of course we wont see that. The team drivers know there is no way that Tamiya will have them running kit that starts at $130 over their kit thats starts at about $450. Yokomo already went down that road in the past with the MR4TC.

I think a team driver giving the cars equal time and interest could be just as fast with either. And I know that the average club racer can be just as fast with either. Especially if the club racer doesn't have hours to spend getting their MSX 'just' right. With the $130 TA05(plus a few 'essentials only' hop ups), you throw it down, make a change here or there, and your within' a few tenths of the $450 cars. After that, you let your driving and the TA05's durability take care of the rest. So to be competitive and win with a car that tops out around $250-$280 even with hop ups, I'll take that compared to $450+.

But thats me...

sportpak

iTrader: (26)

I totally agree. Being prepared and practiced will make up for any carbon fiber or blue aluminum. I notice too many people get wrapped up in the flashy stuff, myself included. Alot of us would save a TON of money if we were honest with our ability and would just ask ourselves "do I really need it?". This car is awesome with a few upgrades. We run rubber tire on carpet at my home track. The flexxy plastic tub works pretty good. I'm still chasing the setup because we're just getting our winter carpet programs going and traction is slowly coming up by the week. I can handle more then a few "high end" cars around there.

Ben

OscarF1

Just before the summer of this year I bougt two TA-05 kits.
One as birthday present for my son, ( clubchampion in the beginner class )
and one for myself.
The kit for my son was totally hopped up with great 3Racing stuff an carbon chassis.
We are getting now to a point that the setup and balance of both cars is realy good.
Now and then we swich cars to see and feel whitch one is easier or better to drive.
The both drive equaly good but the one with the 3Racing chassis was much easier to setup, because the car responded more direct to changes in the setup.

In our small indoor club ( carpet ) we had a qualification day for the next race season.
I drove the standard TA-05 and managed to set the best time in the 19 turns class.
Only a MSX (mre) with a 12 turns engine was 0.2 seconds faster in his best lap.

I think i shoud swich with te MSX to make a complete compare.

Never had so much fun, shouting here comes the 90 dollar car!

The only things i want to change still are de diff balls,
I ordered ceramic ones.
Further I made new shock bridges from epoxy plates to get the right ride heigt with the standard shocks.

There are still some refinements to make at the setup,
but it takes a lot of time , since you can only change one thing at the time.

I am open for any usefull setup suggestions on the standard car.

My mission in our club is to prove that you dont need all those expensive hopups to have a fast and reliable car.

Core Creations

iTrader: (108)

Yeah, I don't see the TRF drivers being allowed to run faster with the "budget" car...at least not if they want to keep their jobs.

If I remeber correctly, when the car was first resleased it was leaked that testing in Japan proved the TA05 was putting down faster lap times than the 415...

sportpak

iTrader: (26)

I wanted to try some 3Racing stuff, but I intend to catch some TCS races this coming year. I don't want to get liking the car one way, then have to buy another one or change this one back.

Ben

Jam-ehz

iTrader: (6)

Listing my TA05 built totally from spare parts..

http://rctech.net/forum/showthread.p...43#post2730343

Might as well throw it out on the block, see if anyone's interested.. even has hop-ups of its own, alu screws, Aramid belts, among others.. do some housecleaning while I'm at it..

I rebuilt this bad-boy from scratch, man does it make a difference with smoothness when you do.. The drivetrain is so frickin free! Should do that my current car..

I'll post pics of my fully-hopped Xenon soon... Stock motor and 3300's brings me to the foam weight limit of 1425g.. Even with 3800's and rubber tires, I'm under the 1525g limit.. time to do some balancing, as if it needs it..

Tsquare

iTrader: (4)

Even the non-factory drivers that have both the TA05 and MSX, will choose to race the MSX over the TA05 at the Reedy Race of Champions, the TCS Nationlas (GT1 Class) and The KoPropo Gran Prix. All these races attact the best factory and non-factory drivers from across the country. And all these races are held at the Tamiya Race Track - US Headquarters in Southern Ca. I race and practice there myself quite often, and I can say with all certainty that the MSX is a faster chassis and that is with no dis-respect to the people who drive the TA05 chassis.

With that being said, the TA05 is a great car for the money and if you want to speak about value for the dollar and being competitive that is fine, but if you want to have a realistic chance at winning against the Xray's, Cyclones, and Yokomo's at the national events, I think your time would be better spent with the MSX platform. If the TA05 was such a superior chassis, non sponsored racers would be driving them and winning with them at big events already - that hasn't happend - why? Because they are not as fast as the top-line racing chassis's.

Darkseid

iTrader: (9)

Here we go with that again...."to have a chance to compete with yadayadayada...." you have to run this...

Man, that is such a limiting train of thought. The idea that to compete, you HAVE to use this car or that car....

By the way...you used the term "top of the line racing chassis".

Ummm....what exactly "makes" a car a "top of the line racing chassis"? It should be one that wins right? Yet every new (and expensive) Xray, Corally, Tamiya, Hot Bodies, Associated or Losi that comes out is "top of the line" before it even hits the shelf. In my experience, 9-10 times, its the price that gives a car that label. Not performance, not features, but yes price.

You could stick a top name and wheels on a steaming turd and price it high enough and people will call it a "top of the line racing chassis".

Core Creations

iTrader: (108)

Ok, let me clarify my statement then....for 99% of the average racers, this car will be faster, easier to setup, stronger and easier on the budget than the 415, RDX, T2 etc...Only the top 1% of the national caliber racers can extract and setup well enough to make those "HIGH END" chassis' faster than the 05.

jakster

iTrader: (2)

i have both and they are both great cars 415msx and ta05
i feels so good when your beating a guy with a car 3 times the cost.
the ta is a smooth easy to drive ride, but the 415 is also.
tamiya is just spot on with design and testing, thats why eveyone copys there cars!
tamiya rocks!

Tsquare

iTrader: (4)

We can agree to disagree.

Darkseid

iTrader: (9)

What "makes" a "top of the line racing chassis"?

Most people who use this term probably can't answer that question. I mean how do you define "what" a "top of the line racing chassis" is.

Is it:
*A car designed from the ground up to be a racing car.
-Well that doesn't automatically guarantee that a car is capable of winning. Thats just what the company had in mind when they made it. The Factory Team TC4 was designed to be such a car, but I would put a stock TA05 up against it any day, let alone a hopped up TA05. Then you throw in the success of the budget minded MR4TC. That car wasn't intended to be a racer, so how could it do so well at local, national AND world level? Hmmm...So original design intent can't be the definition.

*A car that doesn't need hop ups right out the box.
-Well how many cars have any of us seen run box stock. In fact, before I got my TA05, I considered a Xray (can't remember which one since they change so quickly), but when I asked if there was anything I needed for this car that claimed to be "competition ready from the box", and what I got shocked me. A list of items a mile long. Hard arms, different thickness upper decks and chassis, $50 battery straps that DON'T come with the car, the list went on. So if not needing hop ups is a requirement, the every Xray I've seen is out.

*A Nationals level winning car
-Well now see we have a problem. Cause last I checked, there are A LOT of "top of the line racing chassis" that haven't won jack. Thats not even counting the cars that are "top of the line" that haven't even hit the shelves yet.

*A high price
-Name one low price car that has ever been considered "top of the line", even if it performs excellent. Just one.... Now, name a couple high priced kits that didn't handle worth a crap out of the box, that were still consider "top of the line". I sure we can come up with quite a few, starting with the FT TC4 and a couple of the Xray line of cars. Case close!

Its been implied that the TA05 doesn't qualify as a "top of the line racing chassis", but let me ask this. What about when Tamiya starts selling a TRF version? I'm talking fully decked out, maybe even with a graphite plate chassis that some people seem to want so much. Would it qualify then? If yes, then Why? What would make that car different than the car that many of us has already put together from seperate hop ups? Maybe the fact that we've spent around $290 making our TRF cars, but Tamiya would most definitely charge upwards of $350+ for their version. And if a TRF version of the TA05 still wouldn't be worthy of the "top of the line" label, WHY NOT? The hopped up MR4TC was considered "top of the line" after Yokomo slapped all the hop ups on and relabed the package.

Its an interesting question, "what makes a top of the line racing chassis", but its my bet that the people who use it to prop up one car, while completely eliminating another, probably don't have the answer to what seems like a simple question.

CRASH

iTrader: (26)

I have seen CIVIC91 and Darkseids cars run in person. I must say that they are just as competitive.

I am so tired of people saying you have to have a T2, RDX or this or that car and then you need to add all of these parts to make it work.

I saw CIVIC91 TQ Brushless 4300 LiPo, by the way it was a field full of T2s with BMI Chassis and RDXs.

Hey Charlie I think your brushless and Lipo cost more then your whole car.

So a cheap car with a few upgrades layed the smack down on those very expensive cars with tons of hop ups to make them work.

Face it in the hands of us normal people the TA05 with its tub chassis design is PERFECT!

But unfortunately most of us(myself included) have to have the top of the line(TRF415 MSX etc...) its all about the bling.

Later,

Darkseid

iTrader: (9)

Damn!!! I never thought of it that way. Even with the hop ups, its still close.

Thats pretty messed up!

sportpak

iTrader: (26)

I figure run what ya want. If your kids are going hungry or your waters shut off, maybe you really didn't need "the next big thing". I police myself based on my ability. When my needs change or grow, the car will change.