Tamiya FF04
 

Looks like along with the TRF 419 Tamiya has also announced a FF04 Evo. Sounds like it will be very bling with aluminium bulkheads and twin deck carbon chassis.

http://www.thercracer.com/2014/08/ta...announced.html

Schweet! Lots of great new cars coming from tamiya. Hope they release a standard or pro ff04 too.

Maybe I'll finally have to retire my FF01...

Hmm.... I think Tamiya is changing their usual pattern of marketing

They released a new chassis with "Pro" (Prototype) series, then followed with "R" (Racing) within 1 or 2 year(s), and subsequently "EVO" or "MS" series within another 1 or 2 year(s) as its prime product.

The "Pro" and "R" series do not contain as many hop ups compared to "EVO" and "MS" series. This can be evidenced from the released history of TA-05, TA-06, TB-04 and FF-03.

However, for this FF-04 chassis, they begin directly with EVO series for the upcoming Winter.


Perhaps Tamiya is adapting with the competition in the market. We understand that almost all other RC manufacturers tend to release a new chassis supported with numerous hop ups directly.


Anyway, I look forward for detailed hop ups / parts to be provided by Tamiya in this FF-04.

I hope there would be lots of development, compared to FF-03 EVO, which just released less than 1 year ago ..... :D

I think pro is just a "professional" or more upgraded version that the base car. It's not a prototype when all upgrade parts are just hop ups, many of which have been around for a while anyways.

I think they are trying to appeal to the serious racer now. They seem be marketing cars not as much towards the newcomer or basher, but as I said, the racer. Maybe trying to bring their image up from cars like the tt and ta series, as well as the re re cars.


The only problem I see with the ff Evo cars are demand. Most people who race tc will skip over the ff cars completely, unless an ff class is run at the local track or club. Then for that you usually don't need a carbon 400-500 chassis for a car probably racing against cars like the ff-01/2/3 cars.

FF is usually a great second class for those who attend TCS finals etc. I think the main focus on making FF popular is to release or re-release great looking ff bodies. Some of the current hatch bodies are somewhat counter intuitive in terms of tuning at medium or lower traction tracks. making the chassis more forgiving to setup parameters should also be on the priority list. So far ff03 has been my hardest chassis to setup to date. Not sure releasing a 400 buck plus carbon ff kit will help the cause. As experience goes, carbon chassis does not give ff too much of an edge over tub if any. But then again, not too many people i know put too much effort on this chassis so i may be very wrong about this.

How do these FF cars feel on the track? Any advantages/disadvantages with 4wd cars?

All I can think of is less driveline drag and less weight.. anything else?

From experience, its harder to find a middle sweet spot on FFs... the car's generally oversteer or understeer... but when the tire choice and track conditions match up, the car drives like its on rails and somehow easier to drive than a 4wd.

The feeling of realism for car handling and car looks.

FF cars handles like driving a real car ..... there are essence of using momentum for driving skills. Driving too fast can lead to over shooting the corner or understeer losing the momentum. Driving too slow lead your car over taken by rivals.

FF cars also use replica of front wheel drive racing cars. I support this body rule because it promotes real car racing realism.

:sneaky:

http://data9.blog.de/media/416/79234...b726631_o.jpeg

Ahh first picture. Looks like a carbon chassis xv01, with from drive of course. (Which it basacially is so far.)

I'm not sure how it's going to work with some of the shorter and lower nose front wheel drive bodies tamiya has. Anyone who had an xv01 knows that the shock tower and body mounts are very tall on the chassis.

YEEEEESSSS!!!! Finally they ditched the IFS... Me want's one as i recently sold my FF03R with the tamiya twinrail conversion kit...

wooohooo! no more IFS!:)

A higher res image of the CAD drawing has been released (see Kentech's blog).

Pretty much what we expected really.

Not sure how the top deck has been mounted yet - maybe similar to the 417FF project, or a bespoke part?

The rear bulkheads look like the EVO ones, but the shocks are rear mounted, so perhaps it is a re-worked part.

The 04 also has a stand up LP servo to save it overhanging the chassis.

Have they mentioned anywhere if the shocks are the new smaller BB ones (like the TB06)?

Anything else that anyone has picked up?

I would think the front top deck mounting is similar to that on the FF-03 EVO, as in the FF-04 EVO introduction an aluminium front brace is mentioned. On the 417FF project this was one compromise so an alu brace here (probably incorporationg the upper arm mounts) will be welcome.

The rear bulkheads indeed looks quite similar to the FF-03 EVO but as you say dampers rear mounted. With the 418 arms the dampers need to be rear mounted as the arms are not reversible in the same sense as the TB Evo 4 arms.

Regarding the dampers it again says in the introduction that the car comes with TRF Dampers (Hard Black Coated) which indicate normal TRF dampers to me. Also looks this way now on the CAD picture.

Other than that the car looks to use the XV-01 bumper like we use on the 417FF which is good as it means a short front overhang of the chassis. It will be interesting to see the motor position though (height/how far back) as this is a bit tricky with the XV-01 gearbox/bumper setup. What is obvious though when I compare it with the 417FF is that the front wheels are further back on the FF-04 EVO. Which is natural with the TRF418 rear swept front arms. Also the reason I have not used these on the 417FF as I want the motor as close to the front axle as possible.

Overall the car looks good. Can't wait to see it for real.

Thanks for the more in depth review - I should have read the original blurb more thoroughly.

I'm with you re the front wishbones, on my FF I have dremelled 2mm of the front part of the wishbone to push them further forward and move the motor that little bit closer to the axle - seems to work ok.

A few of these parts should improve your 417FF nicely. I prefer your electronic placement and steering set up though.

Thanks!
Agree with your thoughts on the electronic placement and steering. Maybe I'll run the FF-04 EVO with a different chassis so I can retain these or then just upgrade the 417FF with the useable parts from the EVO. We'll see once the car is available and can be tested. Anyway, still have some ideas to test which I have not seen on any FF car yet... :sneaky:

why Tamiya dont do a open gear box like 3racing sakura FF 2014 ? many company who made FF chassi do this and seems to be good in performance and for regular maintenance. for the moment i run a FF03 EVO chassi and I dont know if i will buy the FF04 evo or the 3racing sakura FF 2014 because for the price the 3racing seem to be good and the chassi layout seems to be nice ! I hope for the FF04 EVO the battery spot will be not off center please !

I'm so tempted to buy one of these.. It's just that.. it's FWD.

I've always had a bias against FWD but that comes from full scale cars.

Would be nice to have another touring car though, something different. I just don't know how different it'll be. Already have TRF418 and TB Evo6. (Both great cars)

FWD do drive differently than sedans. Aslo different than mini-fwd (tamiya) cars...

Unique style required, but very attainable.

My favorite class and I will be buying the ff04 evo to compare to my ff03 evo.

Sounds like Orlando is going to make FF a competitive class here in So Cal. :lol: HK squad bought 3 ff03r at TCS. We should be able to see lots of FF actions in the near future :nod:

In!

Just picked up a used FF03 Pro, and am loving it. Coming from a generation of FWD 1:1's (first car was a 87 CR-X Si, currently own an EG), this thing handles sooo well, a lot better than I ever anticipated. As you, I can't wait to see the new ride.

When do you think they will release it here in the States, and second how much do you think they are gonna price it at? I figure there will be no tires, body, but all the good hop-ups, right?

Sorry for the newb questions, but never bought a new kit, and am interested in this one...

I've tried in the past with 'ok' results.. But that was when TCS mandated silvercans. So all we knew and attracted were the silvercan fans, which was very limited.

Now that TCS has allowed brushless I think we will get a bigger following. Recent TCS participation is an indication as to the appeal/favor of the Brushless idea, if not just for TCS its a step in the rite direction. I'm all in! :nod::sneaky:

Looks like our friend kentech has not toiled in vain. Maybe you get a job with Tamiya's development department.

Still, no YR-F2 or FF02.

Not sure if this is the final FF04 EVO. I got this photo from rc-champ.co.jp

Nice! :)

No, it is kentech's 417FF. Same mistake was shortly yesterday on redrc's web page.

Damn! And I just got an FF03! I hope its not only FF04 for next year's TCS.

http://www.thercracer.com/2014/09/ta...-high-res.html

New cad image, not alot extra to see but its in higher resolution

http://kentech.blogs.se/

http://data9.blog.de/media/596/79545...ef2e962_o.jpeg

nice! :)

I want it! :D

Nice!
Do you guys think that the xv-01´s rear diff could fit on that carbon chassis?

ETA of sale? What do you think the price will be at?

ETA = around late November in Japanese domestic market.

Pricing = 49,800 Yen (RRP - before discount)

The list price is exactly the same as on the FF-03 EVO last year.

Some more FF-04 EVO details.

http://data9.blog.de/media/730/79557...2b4e729_o.jpeg

http://data9.blog.de/media/734/79557...a5ee29f_o.jpeg

http://data9.blog.de/media/735/79557...d6aa613_o.jpeg

You'll find more at http://kentech.blogs.se/

Plastic suspension mounts...:weird:

I see a lot of xv-01 in there...

pre-order here 450$US

http://www.rcjaz.com/tamiya-84394-ff...-90067440.html