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touring car chassis life

touring car chassis life

Old 03-06-2014, 03:21 PM
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Default touring car chassis life

How long do you guys keep your chassis for?
what makes you to dump your current chassis for another?
or how many chassis do you guys own?
do you sell your chassis after the race season then buy new?
what is the chassis you had for the longest? and do you still race it?
is it hard to get parts for older chassis?
do you guys just stick to only one brand?
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Old 03-06-2014, 03:35 PM
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Ran a 3 TC4's from 06 until 2012. Still had the first FT TC4 and picked the other 2 up for next to nothing to use for parts.

Whilst not the faster car I was still competitive podiums and the odd win until the weight regs changed.

Previous to this I would normally change chassi every 2 years and I will probably do the same going forwards.
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Old 03-06-2014, 03:49 PM
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I keep my chassis for 1-2 years. Generally, the new car has better flex / engineering in it to make me want a new chassis for the current car, which would cost about 1/2 of the difference between selling the old car and buying the new one.

After about 4 years, parts start to get scarce. The XRAY tc lineup is the exception because their knuckles arms etc are still the same since 2006, but a T2 and a T4 '14 are different in pretty much every other way.

At one point last season I raced three different branded cars, and it was hell. Trying to keep parts for the cars was not only taking up more space, but much more expensive than I thought. I sold one of them as soon as my parts box got full.

The best part of a new kit, expecially for me, is the freshness of the car. The fresh build, the lesser slack of parts, clean seals, a new car for me is always best. (except for my wallet)
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Old 03-06-2014, 03:52 PM
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Originally Posted by TeamThibault
How long do you guys keep your chassis for?
what makes you to dump your current chassis for another?
or how many chassis do you guys own?
do you sell your chassis after the race season then buy new?
what is the chassis you had for the longest? and do you still race it?
is it hard to get parts for older chassis?
do you guys just stick to only one brand?
The chassis I kept the longest was the Associated TC3. I had the base chassis and the Factory Team version and sold them only to regret that years later so I bought another. I finally gave up on the imperial hardware and went to all metric cars. Parts are still available and there are a ton of after market parts and hop ups for this chassis.

I had several Yokomo MR-4TC chassis and a Losi XXX-S and they were nice, but had issues that in the end had me sell for something better.

I do not buy into the new car every year scene like some do and I tend to keep my cars for several seasons. Case in point was the TC3.

I'm currently running a Schumacher Mi5, Tamiya TB-03 (with some upgrades), Spec-R R1, and a Tamiya FF-03 Pro. All great.

I've had the FF-03 for several years and I just can't part with this chassis. It handles great and being FWD is super easy to maintain. It's almost as fast as a 4wd sedan, faster if you are a decent driver. No belts, no shaft no mess. Works great on a silver can motor and with a 17.5 can easily compete in the 17.5 binky class.

The TB-03 was just to compare with the TC3 and so far it's exactly what I expected. Super smooth transmission and great for asphalt as the diffs are sealed. I have started to use this for club VTA races and it works very well. The shaft drive transmission is very free and with a 21.5 BL motor it is plenty fast.

The Spec-R R1 is my main VTA chassis with a 21.5 BL motor and I am continually impressed at how well this inexpensive sedan does against the more known brands. The best value I have ever seen in a sedan is its less expensive brother the S1 that can be bought for around $100.

I have a Schumacher Mi5 for 17.5 blinky racing and it took a lot for me to dish out the money to buy this kit. In the end I am glad I finally bought a high-end kit and it's been an amazing car for me. Runs great, handles great and it's easy to work on. I hate using battery tape so I bought the Tuning Haus tape eliminator kit. With this chassis, I am in the top 5 in GT2 every race day so far.

There are lots of new cars out there and some are very tempting but I will probably stick with my fleet for this year and maybe look for something new next year. Maybe.
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Old 03-06-2014, 04:38 PM
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I still keep my chassis. I have my original Tamiya TA05 that I wom my first club champion ship with, as well as my Team magic E4 and my 2010 Xray T3 which is still a competitive car.
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Old 03-06-2014, 05:46 PM
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Originally Posted by TeamThibault
How long do you guys keep your chassis for?
6 months to 2 years. Maybe a year on average.

what makes you to dump your current chassis for another?
When I started out, seeking better performance, before proving to myself that it's mostly driver / setup. More recently, getting frustrated with it, and seeing something else on the market that addresses the design issues that frustrate me.

or how many chassis do you guys own?
Right now:
- HPI Super Nitro - sits on a shelf, but I can't bring myself to give away, because it's such a cool chassis.
- HPI Pro 3 with a bunch of wack upgrades, that's basically worthless, but it was my first car I raced, so I keep it around.
- Schumacher Mi4LP - still race this in 25.5, and it's still fast. Will never sell it because it was a gift from my mother-in-law.
- 2x Xray T4 2014. I bought the T4'13 and loved it. So I bought the '14, and after a bit of a rocky start, loved it even more. Buying a 2nd and selling the '13 was cheaper than upgrading.

Planning to stick with the T4'14s for a while, since I realized when building / preparing the 2nd one that I really don't like building kits. Plus I think it'll stay competitive for a while.

do you sell your chassis after the race season then buy new?
So far I usually get the new one to try it out before I sell the old one. If I don't like it, it's cheaper to sell it right away and go back to running the old car.

what is the chassis you had for the longest? and do you still race it?
Mi4LP, see above.

is it hard to get parts for older chassis?
Mi4LP is about 4 years old now, I think. Maybe 5. Schumacher is pretty good about keeping the old parts around.

do you guys just stick to only one brand?
This definitely makes it easier if you run multiple classes of the same type. For example two 1/12 classes, 2-3 sedan classes, maybe 1/12 + WGT, etc. The fewer parts you need to keep in your pit box, the better. And when upgrading to the new model, you're more likely to be able to re-use all your spares if it's the same brand, instead of losing a bunch of money basically giving them away with the old chassis.

Also, while most tuning concepts are the same between chassis, it does help to only have to remember the base setup and finer nuances of once chassis. When you get one chassis working well, you can more easily translate it to the other chassis if it's the same chassis.

-Mike
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Old 03-06-2014, 05:57 PM
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My signature tells what I have run... but I have only recently (a month ago) parted ways with my two beloved TC5s for a year old Xray T4. Ive had the TC5's by far the longest of any of my cars. They performed great and performed very well even when I sold them. But I am amazed at what the Xray can do! It is so much better in every way and I went from finishing 2nd and 3rd at the local club with just 1 win in the last 6 years in 17.5, to winning the last two races outright after TQing both! My Xray is currently undefeated in qual/races!

While i didn't buy the Xray new, I absolutely love new cars and building kits. Every now and then I just get an urge that I need to build something (my wallet often doesn't agree being a college kid) so I search around for something new...

I got the TC5 originally to replace my TA05 which had too many issues for me. The TC5 was great. I decided to try something different and bought the TM E4, and it did okay once I got things figured out, but as others have stated it was a hassle stocking parts for multiple cars, so I sold it and bought a second TC5, and ran them for the last 4 years together.

While my TC5s were performing well, I had a VTA motor let go recently. I was interested in trying something new, so I took that as a que to sell both of my TC5s to fund a new TC. I decided to go down to only one TC class, and sadly pulled out of VTA. I had enough selling both cars and half of my electronics to fund a new touring car, so a month or two ago, being an AE fanboy, I was highly interested in the new TC6.2. But the Durango caught my eye and I was torn between the two. In the end I ended up with a 6 month old Xray! And used the money left over to buy all new electronics! Now I am hooked on my new car.

Once I graduate Id like to expand my fleet! And who knows, maybe Ill be designing the cars then!
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Old 03-07-2014, 09:19 AM
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I still have the touring car I bought in 2007 as my spare, and when I use it it is still very competitive. The only thing it lacks is spares availability, a LiPo optimised chassis and a gear diff. Gear diff could be fitted with work but I can't do anything about the other two.

I've kept other cars for anything from 6 months to three years, I only tend to change them when I lose my temper with them (which is sometimes related to spares availability or durability or design but often based on irrationality).
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Old 03-07-2014, 10:12 AM
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I've run a new touring car every season I've run so far but not always current. I like to see what's out there rather than just be told what to buy.

Hard to say if any were better than another. I'm running a $80 car now that I'm better with than a previous $500 chassis lol
I don't think the car is any better or fresher, I just got better in the time between.
Probably be picking up a d06 this outdoor season which will be different still lol.

Too many nice cars out there to settle and close your eyes lol.
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Old 03-07-2014, 12:10 PM
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I keep every car I have ever bought, I still have my first RC10 that I ever purchased. For TC my first was a TRF TA03r which I still run once in a while. I have a TRF 414, TRF 415 then I switched to a Xray T2 007. I retired for a few years and came back with a TRF 417 and a TC6.1. I Still run the TC6.1 as a VTA car, the 417 is a shelf queen now and I run a Xray T4 2013.
For me a new car is something I look forward to. The end of the season starts the hunt for next years ride.
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