TheOtherBill

QUOTE
I understand the enclosed battery tray, but I don't like having to fiddle with screws just to unplug the battery from the esc.

Hey LongIslander I saw an earlier post on here where the guy drilled a hole to get the Batt. plug up and out of the Batt. compartment. Then sealed it with Shoe Goo I think. I don't know if he charged it in that configuration I wouldn't myself. Since I started lusting for an XV-01 I have read all 101 pages of this thread......more than once.

longuylander

iTrader: (7)

Yeah, I'd rather fiddle with the screws than destroy the looks and the protection of the chassis.

I did take the car out this morning to the park near my house for some dirt driving. The MST realistic rally tires did much better on the short grass than I thought they would, but not quite as great on the dusty, packed dirt. Granted, I didn't get much running time, because within a few minutes, a pebble managed to get through the spur/pinion cover. The front screw was too long, hitting the motor, and left about a 2mm space between the cover and the motor mount. That was all it took. The spur and pinion weren't damaged very badly, but the clicking noise the embedded pebble was making was maddening. I'll have to get back to the part later for a more thorough test.

stormridersp

This is how it sits on normal pretty much stock xv-01 pro chassis with only an o-ring separating the bodyshell and the front suspension tower.





I don't have the long dampers suspension mounts, but I'd say it would probably limit how low you can mount the bodyshell.

Currently I'm in doubt on what to do next. I was planning to convert my xv-01 to TC, sort of a custom made XV-02 dream project, and have some custom carbon fiber chassis cut, but that would probably cost me about 1/2 to 3/4 the price of a brand new chassis like the TB Evo 7 or the new Mugen MTC1. Although I love the xv-01 front engine AWD setup, I hate that tamiya never came up with a carbon convertion for it, given the fact that they released the FF-04 soon after. It feels as if this chassis was left abandoned at birth. It had so much potential and I would think that it was also a comercial success as so many of us bought it, sometimes even multiple chassis, so in the end, I think it was just a wasted opportunity on tamiya's part. I always felt that with a few key improvements, they could have turned this car into at least a competitive club racer.

At the same time, I'm working so many hours lately that when I'm off, I just want to sit, drink and rest in aticipation of the next working week's massacre. Working on the Impreza's bodyshell at least offered me an escape valve for the daily stress, even if I still couldn't get the car to run in over 4 months here in the UK.

I was reading some old posts in this thread, in special @4rollers TC convertion at around pages #80s. Im thinking about going that way too so I would like to ask for a comprehensive and definitive shopping list of the required parts to convert my xv-01 into TC.

Also, I'd like to ask for recommendations of shops in the UK that could precision cut some parts for my xv-02 project if I ever decide to go on with it. In particular, I'd like to make a thick carbon fiber lower deck (or aluminum) and perhaps, to solve the top deck's never ending problem, to design a central dorsal stiffener like the one found in the new TB Evo 7; among other mods like custom made lighter bulkheads with lexan diff covers and a new steering system.

Speed Chaser

iTrader: (5)

That xv-02 project sounds awesome

theVetteman3

iTrader: (3)

Cool, thanks for the pic! Thats exactly what i needed to see and i think you're absolutely right, the body will sit real high.

Raman

iTrader: (94)

Stormrider,

I converted mine to TC road two weeks ago switched it back last week. I decided that it would be too much work to get it dialled in for racing and went back to my TT02S

The grocery list for conversion is a bit long!
1. TRF418/419 arms 54569 since you want to go XV02!
2. 3x46 suspension shafts - you would need 51093
3. 2.6 stainless steel suspension shaft 53825
4. 3x32 turnbuckle 4 54249 for camber link
5. 3x42 turnbuckle 2 54250 for steering
6. TRF 418 steering upright 54568
7. TA05 IFS C hub 51293 - we use this as the 418 version is too delicate
8. Rear upright - either one will be fine 51333 or 54692
9. 44 mm cvd dog bones / may even need 46 in front depending on blocks
10. Suspension blocks - you can buy the plastic version which will give you A/A in front and A/E in rear. What I discovered was that the 44 mm front cvd came out with ease during hard cornering. So ideally you would need a 46 mm in front
11. Suspension block option 2 would be to replicate the FF04 Evo : XC/XC in front and XA/D in rear

This will give you a narrower front end.

4roller

Great listing this all out for people who want to try the TC version of this car.

That being said I did the same thing a while back, but have kept it in TC mode. I still drive it. I added sway bars with a little mod. I modified the arms with a Dremel for the ability to get back to rally ride heights. But I drive this car on road most of the time sub 10mm.

All in all, the TC suspension gains a little more adjustability in the suspension and roll centers. A wider track by a couple of millimetres. Swappable suspension blocks for toe in adjustments. The ability to run 4degree caster blocks for more front tire contact while turning. The cons are ride height is reduced because the arms are designed for on road.

I never got this chassis to be super light. Without a body and full electronics, my car comes in around 1500g. Which is 180-200g heavier than my TA05 and TB03 chassis. That weight isn't significant for everyday driving and bashing but I do notice it in the acceleration, dive, squat and sweet-sweet body roll.

I think the front mount motor for off road is where this car works very well because it pivots from the nose of the car. Other cars pivot from the center/rearish. On road however can be a challenge in dusty conditions and high powered applications. Recovering from speed wobbles (slolam) is difficult as the rear end swings uncontrollably once you pass the traction point.

A good set of tires and finely tuned suspension are what this car needs to handle well on road.

4roller

And Xv-02 would be amazing. A dream that I think many xv-01 owners would love to come true. Who knows maybe they are working on it and the reason they are taking a few years is that they don't want to mess it up. Or ... Why mess with success? A carbon chassis would make this car much lighter but it would remove its dirt shedding ability. That said this car is heavy and would benefit from a 150g weight drop for competition. The cost of the TC conversion is significant. If you can find a cheap Ta05v2 or tb03/4 used, you can basically use the suspension from those cars. 44mm CVDs worked for me. This might be more cost effective since buying those parts new will be around 80-100$ USD. The downside is that once you get a ta05 or a TB chassis, you will undoubtedly want to drive it as it, then realize that these other chassis are better for racing.

Such is life. I still enjoy my xv01TC because it is quite unique and a different feeling to drive.

Your words about wanting to just sit with a drink and wrench on your car do not fall on deaf ears. I believe a lot of us have new or ongoing responsibilities that keep us from this. It's what makes the short time we have to do this hobby that much more special.

I really like those MST rally tires. Their crawler tires I was also very impressed with. If the rubber compound is anything similar, they should last a long time all while giving you that tire screech in hard turns.

4roller

I had a little time this week to set up all my cars. I often switch bodies in my xv-01. This is an HPI Toyota Truneo AE86 coupe. Not the Initial D body, but the same line of sporty Corollas from back in the day. The lack of a rear wing changes its driving characteristics completely. As pictured the body is set pretty high, and so is the ride height at 12mm+. Rally style. Street driving with such high ride heights is not my favourite. But the dive, squat and body roll make for an realistic experience.

I recently tuned my ESC to be a little more agreeable to my driving style. 17.5t Hobby Wing brushless system. 72/29 gearing with slipper. 66/100% punch, 5% drag brake. Turbo kicks in at full throttle 35degree @0.5s delay. HPI x-patterns, on Work emotion rims to give that street drifter JDM style.

I might try my hand and making a custom ridiculously large Ricer wing for fun and mega downforce. We all know this car needs some push down on the butt.

Top speed isn't as fast as my 13.5 and 72/35 gearing. But it's much more manageable in the confines of my tight street with parked cars. I think it peaks around a sane but fun 30mph.

4roller

So much of the driving experience depends on ESC settings. That is if you have those adjustments available to you.

My usual course, the tarmac street in front of my house, is a single narrow straight. I almost exclusively drag up and down the strip with various cars of mine, xv-01 included. I occasionally take it up the driveways and run along concrete sidewalks. But for the most part full throttle pulls down a narrow street with parked cars on either side.

Today I brought the xv-01 to a open concrete parking lot. The settings I recently posted are no good for such a wide open lot. The punch is low, the turbo kicks in too early. As a result while driving the car I found my settings sluggish combined with a generously loose slipper I was unable to lay down power down when I needed it out of corners. On the straights I topped out early so my motor was running on high draw turbo for most of the time. The motor was very hot after a 15 minute run. Forward traction was good on the concrete, it was surprisingly clean. 4 wheel drifts were attainable. Cornering was very good on power. When I let off completely, the rear end would rotate quickly in oversteer. I am currently running a lighr rear sway bar. And suspension in the 12mm ride height.

I now realize that my settings were really only ment to keep the car from crashing (loose slipper, low punch) into cars when making u-turns at the ends of my narrow street course. The settings are optimized for tight corners and straight burst of 30 meters or so.

For those people who have adjustable ESCs, what kind of settings are you running and on what conditions?

4roller

You all might think I am crazy, for owning an xv-01 for almost 2 years and never driving it like a rally car. Up until now I've always had my car pretty low. Like sub 12mm for street driving. But yesterday I mowed my lawn, it's been way too long in length and time. It prompted me to give the xv-01 a short grass run. However with 12mm ride height and semi slick tires, the car just kept dragging on the grass.

I had to perform some surgery to the xv-01 TC to get more front end lift. It consists of shaving the arms and adding spacers under the suspension blocks for more droop. I also had to put 4 washers under the front gear box so that the motor plate would not hit the slightly raised front-front suspension block. I used, from what I am told, the stock CVA dampers from the CC-01. This are pistonless (flat plate directly attached to the damper shaft) and about 65mm in length. This allowed me to get about 25mm of front ground clearance and maximum droop. It sits about 21-22mm high when resting. Coupled with Team associated gold front springs and red Tamiya rear springs, it makes for a floaty ride over the lawn. I never really enjoyed driving this car with so much lift, but for rally, there is nothing better. Dive squat and roll are so evident on braking, acceleration, and turing. The ride height really affords a lot more terrain options.

stormridersp

Tamiya Alfa Romeo 155 dtm + xv01

Finally found the time to paint this one.

SoLost

Just want to share afew pics of my XV-01







10.5T BL Motor



Toro 160A ESC with Savox Servo



Done!



Fun Fun Fun! Love the Rally form factor, I don't understand why there are so few choices.

fyrstormer

iTrader: (1)

SoLost, where did you find those aluminum shock towers? The rear doesn't need one, but the front definitely does. I'd like to get one.

- - -

I finally stopped dragging my feet and put decals on a "show" body for my XV-01 Lancia Delta, so I can stand to take the car outside and drive it.



The one on the left is a FWD-modded "civilian" Lancia Delta.

4roller

I have the carbon reinforced front damper mount. Why do you think the front needs an aluminium one? Does it flex? Or would you have more mounting positions?