There is probably excess stock of the TRF102 which is why you may still see it available at some places.

The TRF F1 cars tend to have about that 1.5-2yr lifespan before being discontinued and the TRF103 is roughly there. Between the two, get the TRF103. I've had both and the TRF103 is vastly superior to the TRF102 on both asphalt and carpet.

As with all TRF cars, certain parts get harder to find the longer you have the car. For example, you can not really get the TRF102 t-bar plates anywhere now. Or at least extremely difficult to find. For the most part, the Tamiya F1 cars are pretty robust. If you are in it for TCS and club racing, the TRF103 is good. If you aren't doing TCS racing, I'd take a hard look at other brands.

The up side to the TRF103 is that it is competitive with any other car. Exotek sells 2 things that help for racing outside Tamiya races : The adjustable upper arms and the 1/4" axle adapters, so you can run an Xray gear diff or a spool.

TRF103 ADJUSTABLE CAMBER UPPER ARM SET - Exotek Racing

TRF103 F104 METRIC TO 1/4" AXLE ADAPTOR SET with 1/4" bearings - Exotek Racing

Exotek also sells a heavy duty pod plate set, some guys have bent the stock pod plates. The wear items like links, the center pivot, front and side springs, etc. are used across a bunch of Tamiya cars, so that will never be a problem. If you prefer to run the car with a T bar, that could be a problem. I have not seen an aftermarket t bar for the car, unlike the F104 and F103.

If you plan on racing Tamiya races, the TRF103 is a really good choice. You can also have a fast car for non Tamiya races with the same model. If you have no interest in Tamiya races, there are probably better choices for availability and price.

double post

I appreciate the input guys. We are having a TCS race here at the end of march so that would be one of my reasons for getting it. Im also racing VTA and bought a trf420. At that point I kind of prefer to keep my entire fleet Tamiya at least foreseeable future.

Is it possible with the 103 to change the gearing to 64 pitch?

Thanks again for the help!

I've always run the 64 pitch pinions with the Tamiya spurs UNTIL I took the advise of a very reputable racer/engineer/good guy and now run 48 pitch for reliability ;).
No 48 pitch unfortunately for the XRAY gear diff but I broke my gear diffs axle again and frankly I'm over it, so for my ball diffs in my Tamiya and Roche it's 48 pitch.

Yep no problem to change gear pitch. I run 48p in mine but thats to match all my cars (mostly offroad).

Also, this thread just prompted me to search for TRF102 t bars and yes they're hard to find. However, bezerk rc make them in carbon fibre for a good price so not the end of the world, unless this would disqualify the car from the Tamiya races of course. It sounds like the TRF103 is the way to go though

I appreciate all the input guys. Ended up picking it up today. Really looking forward to getting it together and onto the track.

Sorry, my plan really isn't to blow this thread up, but just getting into building, and was planning on using a ProTek 160SS servo i have on hand, but it's too tall. Looking around just a bit on Amain, most servos I'd like to use area ll about the same dimension.

What are you guys using that fits? The 160SS measures roughly 19mm from the bottom of the servo to the bottom of the mount. The manual calls for something 14-16.5mm..

you need a low profile servo. Futaba 9550 or 9551 works as well as any other low profile one.

Ok thanks, I'll look into them. All the low profile servos i have are about 2mm to tall.

The futaba is about 25 mm tall overall. Savox has one that is similar in size (SC-1251MG). You probably need to look for something around 25 mm (1") tall overall

Otherwise, shims under the tabs might work if the body still clears.

Thanks again. I bought a Savox this morning that looks like it's going to get in there.

Looks like RC F1 Lab is back at it again!
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rct...b288c5d952.jpg

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rct...96bbf8e631.jpg

Silly question perhaps but i was wondering, how does the F104V2 compare. It has the side link setup, like the TRF103 and with a new front suspension setup from the TRF101 or the exotek system, does it compare?