I'd like to think HPI isn't stupid enough to discontinue a highly successful line of products (namely their wheels and tires), and I've noticed lately that a couple tires that were backordered for years are finally available again...but I don't trust them anymore. For all I know they'll decide to discontinue them anyway for some reason that makes absolutely no sense outside of the boardroom.

Okay, I looked up the chassis you mentioned, and the TA-03F-S is the closest to the XV-01TC. There's no meaningful similarity between the XV-01TC and the TT-02, aside from they both have four wheels. However, unlike the TA-03F-S, the XV-01 has a longitudinal mount for the battery, and can hold a standard hardcase LiPo pack with no modifications necessary.

Theres a bunch of guys in Colorado that compete in rally class.. (Thread is on rccrawler) Believe it or not the stock Tamiya tire their number one choice. They also use the Rallye legends tire a lot.

I have both rims and the HPI is good for Tarmac and light dirt. For heavy dirt, snow or mud, the Tamiya tire is superior.

There also guys in Czech Republic that have copied the Tamiya tire and made a softer compound.

At this point man, I don't think it's up to HPI. I can only hope they survive... whatever problems they may or may not be having, and improve their parts supply chain sometime in the future.

I should have a new front bumper skid arriving soon along with a sweet pit bag to haul my cars around in without damaging their wings and mirrors and such. I still need to install that last aluminum suspension mount under the motor and swap in the new carbon reinforced A-arm in the rear so it'll match the other side. I'm also building a new 30 amp charging box at the moment and I've been working on a crawler course in my backyard. Many RC things are happening right now!

Oh and that Rally Legends Stratos is 206mm wide. I just ordered it and two sets of yellow, 5 spoke wheels. It'll have a bit of overhang on the sides until I can find some 9mm offsets that look good on it.

The Delta Integrale is 196mm.

Fair enough, the tread on the Rally Block tire is basically the same as a dirtbike tread, but I don't run my rally cars on terrain that rough -- I have trucks for that purpose.

So...off-topic, but I just finished building a DF-03Ra to keep my XV-01s company.

http://i.imgur.com/Nb1G21q.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/FTAsenx.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Xzs6oOo.jpg

In terms of build quality, the XV-01s are far and away better, but the DF-03Ra runs well enough. I didn't have the "massive push" problem that Jang reported when he built his; not sure why, but I'm not complaining. Interestingly, I tried using CVDs front and rear, and I had to remove the rear CVDs and replace them with the stock dogbones. Because the DF-03Ra is a converted buggy chassis, the rear axles are swept sharply forward to achieve a proper 1:10 touring-car wheelbase, and that sharp angle means the rear axles chatter like crazy unless the axles have the exact same type of articulation joints on the inboard and outboard ends -- different articulation joints have different angular-velocity profiles as they complete each rotation, and the difference between a dogbone joint and a CVD joint is significant enough at this sharp angle that the rear axles want to vibrate the wheels off the car. Since there are no sliding-spline axles or double-cardan axles that will fit the DF-03Ra, the only way to get the same type of articulation joint at each end of the axles is to go with the stock dogbones.

All that is to say, I like the drivetrain layout of the XV-01 better. :) But the DF-03Ra is an interesting change of pace nonetheless. And if I ever decide to get rid of it, the body mount holes are the same as the XV-01, so I can just move the body to a different chassis.

Gentlemen. I just ran a pack through my XV-01. It is RC excellence. That is all.

I'm glad you like it. :) I admit I was a little concerned you'd get one based on my suggestion and then hate it.

I just went back through this thread a few pages and saw where you posted that your friends are envious of your XV-01 even though they run WR8s. That's pretty cool. I'm sure the WR8 can drive fast on rougher terrain, but the XV-01 has unmatched handling. If I could only have one touring(ish) car platform, it would be the XV-01. It's just so versatile.

Oh, ok. Yeah, the WR8's were mine. I sold the 3.0 a few weeks ago so I just have the WR8 Flux now but to compare the two, I'm favoring the XV-01. It's so smooth and quiet. The WR8 is loud and clacky but also stupid fast on 3S. I have not felt the need to run the XV-01 on 3S yet but I'm sure it's also pretty crazy. It's so perfect on 2S with 4600Kv and the stock gearing, I just don't want to mess with it. It runs cool, it's very quick off the line and plenty fast on the top end. I don't have rally tires on the WR8 so I can't compare the street handling but the bigger car does indeed handle off-road better, even with Gymkhana tires. It powers through where the XV-01 gets stuck.

My RC buds get more jealous every time I run the XV-01 but I still can't convince them to try building a kit. It has quickly become the first car I grab when I want to go for a quick bash down the street or greenway and it handles our rough lot at work with ease, most of the time. :)

My Rallye Legends Lancia Stratos body has shipped.

Try replacing the motor in the WR8 with a slotless motor, like the ones Tacon sells. They don't make nearly as much noise because the stator coils are wound around plastic cores instead of iron cores, so there's nothing for the rotating magnet to interact with when the motor is unpowered. They spin perfectly smooth when the vehicle is coasting. I've been using Tacon motors for years and I've never had one fail. I'm pretty conservative with my gearing, though; my fastest car goes 40mph.

so if i want a rally car, should I get the tc pro or xv01t? or just stick to a regular xv01 and get some metal motor mount etc? since xv01 pro isn't available

I'm thinking more like clackety drivetrain noise. The WR8 has big, steel gears and three 1/8 scale diffs all connected with dogbones. It rings, dings, clicks, clacks and makes one heck of a racket compared to most electrics. It's all good though. It's not THAT loud but next to the XV-01, it's pretty loud. :D

If you want a rally car, get one of the normal XV-01 kits; the normal kits are all intended to be rally cars right out of the box. They all come with aluminum motor mounts, but I recommend at least getting carbon-reinforced toe-blocks if you can't afford the aluminum ones, a reinforced drive belt, metal diff gears if you're going to run brushless, the slipper clutch kit (which lets you use commonly-available 48p pinion gears and slipper-compatible Team Associated spur gears for more gearing options), a swaybar kit, and a spring tuning kit. (it's a front-heavy chassis, and it benefits from stiffer springs in the front.)

The long-travel dampers and taller shock towers are a nice upgrade but not a necessity, and so are the CVD axles -- the stock dogbones get the job done, of course, so you can wait a while before deciding whether to spend money on CVDs.

I genuinely think HPI should continue to exist as an accessories vendor. Their car line hasn't been cool since they killed the Cup Racer.

But they are awesome for making the 34mm rear / 31mm front tire combos, VTA wheels, and the bodies they have under license are cool (unfortunately many of the cool ones haven't been made for years- TVR, Lotus, Lambo, etc).

I do wish them the best, and keep making Cup Racer parts for eternity! Or sell the design to someone else to make! Cup Racer II would be awesome.

I'm biased, my best working car atm is my Cup. Had a blast with it yesterday.

I've got 2 WR8. It's the drivetrain. Still sounds same with different motor. Really wish I could see one of these in person.