Cant Decide
 

Hey all im wanting to build a kit in a month or so. The thing is i have never built a Kit before and i have been doing a bit of research on these two cars,

Tamiya Mini Cooper M03-M (The club that i race at has a mini class)
OR
Tamiya TA-05 IFS

What would you reccomend? Opinons will be greatly apreciated

Cheers George

Well, which would you rather race? They're about as different as you can get. The M-03 is a lot easier to build and minis are a blast to race. The TA-05 is, in my opinion, among the very best "first touring car" choices. Very durable, very forgiving, and competitive right out of the box. However, it's more difficult to build than the M-03 (although the instructions are excellent).

IMO, they're both great choices so I'd choose based on the one you want more.

Thanks, i race stock class at my club and wanting to go up to 19t stock class. The thing is i will be racing people with tamiya 415s, xray 008 and so on. My question is can the TA 05 be as quick as those other cars out of the box. I have a low budget and if i get the TA 05 im worried that i wont be able to keep up without hopping it up.

There is always a lot of debate about this point, but IMO the chassis (within reason) doesn't make a lot of difference in stock classes. Not nearly as much difference as the driver makes at least. In 17.5/27T stock a solid driver with a box-stock TA-05 (or TC3 or Cyclone S or whatever) will beat an inconsistent driver with a TC5 or 416, etc. For 13.5/19T you really would benefit from TRF shocks, front universal shafts, and a few other bits, but you'll still have fun without them if that's what you're after.

What chassis do you race in stock class?

This has been asked in a lot of other posts. Not sure of your budget, but for the extra $50 or so, the R version comes with more than that in hop ups.

I race a Yokomo MR4TC SD SSG, i want to get a new car as my TC is getting a bit old. In stock class i usually come 2nd, 3rd.

Very true. I recently faced a similar decision...should I pony up for a "pro-level" TC like a 416? I bought a TA05IFS-R instead for $250. It's basically a 416 with a tub chassis for half the price. It's way more car than I'm capable of getting the very most out of.

We've got this RCGT Showdown going on out here, and I've been watching guys with TC3s, TA05s, etc. with 27T brushed motors whoop ass on a field of "state-of-the-art" double-deck CF cars with the latest 17.5s and programmable ESCs because they really know how to drive. That has really opened up my eyes on just how important practice and setup are vs. chassis.

IMO, with the driver out of the equation, TRF models cost more for a reason. As you run more powerful power plants, the more evident the expensive models are better at handling them. They are just more efficient.

TA-05, TB-03... are very good reliable kits for their money and a great way to start getting a little more serious.

Cheers!!

I have a TA-05, not the IFS version but still. It's very nice, quite easy and fun to build and very solid. I race against top-end stuff (416's, JRX-S R, etc) and it still competes with them.
Out of the box they are fairly fast but they also have SOO many hop-ups so a lot of possibility.
I would reccomend it to anyone :)