b3master

iTrader: (1)

I have a tamiya tt01 that i bought as an XB drift spec, it came with tamiya cva oil damper that feel very smooth and seem to work good.

but i want to know benefits of aluminum shocks over these. I will be racing stock tt spec class.

the movement of the shock is so small i would like to hear racers point of view of plastic flex vs aluminum/alloy dampers... would there be a tangable difference? If the flex is slight can i choose a slightly thicker oil to make up for oil escaping between piston and plastic shock body.

or am i missing somthing here? Perhaps a slight difference in rolling movement, but a greater difference in shock absorption? But onroad tracks are flat and smooth...

Nicadrauspro4

Aside from sturdiness of the aluminum over the plastic, it has threaded collar adjuster for the spring. Also aluminum shocks look way too cooler than plastic ones. I heard that the 3Racing and Yeah Racing aluminum dampers are very nice for about a third of the price compared to the TRF. Although I believe that the TRF is one of the best.

NumptyRacing

I would sum this up by, if you were to put high end alloy shocks on a TT chassis you probably wouldn't notice any difference between them and a well set up set of CVAs. But if you were to put a set of CVAs on a high end chassis, you would definitely notice the difference between the CVAs and the high end shocks

b3master

iTrader: (1)

with as much flex and play the standard stock tt chassis has, and the limiting speed the spec class has, your reply makes perfect sence.
as for the higher grade chassis with as much power speed and precision im sure it would make bigger difference.

im used to good old days of dirt offroad racing with shocks being as important as tires and with as much displacment or movement they have going from full compression to full extention god knows how many times per lap i just was not able to see how effective 2mm of onroad shock movement can make a difference.... the displacement is so small im shocked that some shocks leak or loose their setting (rebound etc) perhaps on impact with borders and corner bumps etc...

b3master

iTrader: (1)

call me old fashioned i like to encourage newcomers and prove to others they can enter and be competative with as little change or cheap as possible. I might have to try one of those shock sets just to confirm to myself as an experimenter that it wouldnt make that big of an impact.
sure they are hella cool looking and easier to tune ride height with the threaded shock body, but also with fixed colars you know your preload is spot on... unless you wana tweak the chassis, then threaded shock bodies is the way to go...

Speed Chaser

iTrader: (5)

Aluminum all the way at least for me. Have you looked at trackstar brand shocks? Really cheap and not that bad I originally bought a set for a shelf queen but now have several of them on my low end touring chassis.

Nerobro

iTrader: (2)

Slop.

That's the big difference. Good shocks will have good piston to wall fit. This doesn't rule out plastic body shocks... but the tamiya CVA shocks don't have machined pistons. Lots of their flow, happens around the piston. In good shocks, they fit much better and do not have as much leak by.

Now, things get more complex, when speeds and forces go up. Tamiya's shocks are ABS. Which is a fairly soft plastic. This plastic is stretchy, unlike the aluminum of "better" shocks, or even the nylon reinforced plastic you might find on a Sakura, or other low end kit. This is a problem under load. When the load goes up, the abs pistons and abs shock walls, both flex, and allow more oil past, screwing up your precious damping settings.

Thankfully, damping is a game of horseshoes, and close is good, usually. So the CVA shocks work really quite well. Especially for on-road, where shock speeds and loads are fairly low.

The difference? Is predictability, and consistency. With fully machined shocks, it's more likely they will all behave the same, and stay the same when you're driving hard.