greenpea76

iTrader: (28)

It will be a.... TA07 battle or a NSX GT cup race in the GT classes.

Glad to see you got it going yesterday! I was able to get more track time/ experimenting with the 07 and find a good baseline setting that I can go back to. The car is fast, even with so much plastic parts. Even with plastic hubs and plastic suspension blocks.....

gigaplex

iTrader: (2)

Why would you expect the plastic suspension components to slow the car down?

Qatmix

They will not slow the car down as such, but in some scenarios the can mute the car enough to stop you exploiting its maximum potential.

Plastic parts are just softer than aluminium so they add a very small amount of flex over an aluminium part. This flex makes the car easier to drive as it soaks up some of the energy that you are transferring across the chassis. This however slows down the rate and accuracy of how you transfer the weight around.

So depending on the grip / layout sometimes plastic is slower as you are not able to exploit all off the grip at your cars disposal as quickly as you would like it.

Although, as nothing is as simple as it seems sometimes swapping parts to a softer plastic or from aluminium to plastic can make you quicker in certain scenarios. It can calm a car down if it feels twitchy (Changing your ball cups to a softer plastic can just gently soften a car for example). Just making a car less twitchy can make you more consistent over a long run, with the sacrifice being 1 lap pace. Also a plastic part is always lighter than an aluminium one if it's the same design.

As a rule though, harder parts are best. They keep geometry as precise as possible, and hence consistent. So you can just tune your springs / oil / droop etc to remedy your handling issues. It just requires more checking on the set-up station etc.

fat500

iTrader: (51)

@oat....could not have said it better myself

greenpea76

iTrader: (28)

Thanks Qatmix.... I don't always have the time to explain things as eloquently as you.

The plastics do work, I swapped between the plastics and alum stuff to see what sort of difference they make. The aluminum or harder parts worked better at times and worse at others. Did lots of swapping, testing, tuning, and just overall feel of seeing what/ how the chassis responds. Usually run 3 or 4 laps and pull in to make another adjustment or swap stuff out. Most of the parts interchanging was done in the rear, I haven't done much else to the front from the last trip other than running the carbon C hubs. I have a good baseline setting that seems to work for my driving style now. At one point, the car went so far off from my original base, I just couldn't drive it.

Then when all else failed, I just pulled my setup sheet and reset everything using some of the newly found adjustments that worked well for that day and ended throwing down some of the fastest laps I've had with this chassis! There were several witnesses that saw the car "wake up". The laptimes were in the "race day" range considering the grip issues some were having.

Gigaplex,
I didn't expect the plastics to slow the car down, but it certain areas, they do inhibit response. At one point early in the day, I had a stiffer single lower plastic suspension block fitted on the chassis, and while it gained corner speed, I lost grip on power. It was just a matter of finding the right combo and retuning to make it work I'm sure, but I'm trying to minimize the use of many hop-up items to find speed. This chassis just flat out works well without the need for many harder or stiffer parts at the moment.

It was another productive testing day. Day#2!

fyrstormer

iTrader: (1)

Tamiya's plastic is very, very stiff. Their carbon-reinforced nylon doesn't flex at all when I twist it with my hands. Aluminum might be stiffer, but only slightly.

Anyway, if I believe the latest trends in race-grade touring car designs, some amount of flex is desirable. Of course it needs to be located in specific useful spots, but nonetheless there is apparently an upper limit to the benefits of increased stiffness.

sickboy

iTrader: (75)

A lot of new hop-up options arrived in the US. See your local hobby shop.
TA07 titanium screw kit 84428
TA07 aluminum steering bridge 54705
TA07 aluminum steering arm set 54704
TA07 spool 54690
TA07 aluminum ball diff 54689
TRF418 stabilizer set (for TA07) 42281
1A separate blocks 54696
05D separate blocks 54697
05E separate blocks 54698
05F separate blocks 54699
05G separate blocks 54700
05E block 54701
05F block 54702
05G block 54703
All of the new TRF oils have also arrived.

rcmart

TA07 Pro unboxing and we show you some details of the new designs and parts incorporated in this nice piece of kit!

+ YouTube Video

tobyzhang

iTrader: (15)

[IMG][/IMG]

Not sure if this will be TCS legal but will see if this can help stiffen the chassis slightly towards the back. Right now I think the chassis is a little soft for me but before the reinforced plastics are released this will do.

mooby64

iTrader: (3)

Looks like a TCS factory option. It should help the front to back stiffness without changing the side to side flex.

OSherman

iTrader: (3)

if its not in the manual or on the setup-sheet... guess what?

Core Creations

iTrader: (108)

Playing devils advocate, wouldn't running a shorty lipo in a position not called for in the manual or setup sheet fall into that general ruling? For example, hanging a lipo far more to one side on a M05. Or running a shorty with the ESC behind the battery.

I agree in this case, clearly not TCS legal. But at a regional race (non Tamiya USA) track...tech tends to not be as to the letter. And that's not a reflection on the tracks as I think they all do a great job...it's simply a manpower and interpretation issue.

OSherman

iTrader: (3)

you can run any ROAR Legal LiPo... full size or shorty.. clearly stated in the TCS rule book..Tamiya TCS has never policed placement of electronics. they leave it a bit open. look at some of todays mini guys..

when talking about minis and battery placement.. Tamiya sells the alloy battery holders which allow for lateral position adjustment. and as long as the battery is still under the body.

I know this modification of the 'torque rods' is not legal... because a similar idea was asked directly to Fred and it was declined..

ask greenpea76

Core Creations

iTrader: (108)

So battery placement within the confines of the chassis as long as it doesn't require modification would be legal?

OSherman

iTrader: (3)

correct... from what I understand.

and as long as the battery is genuinely mounted in the 'battery compartment'..

no mounting battery to the top-deck of your 418/419. not that anyone would want to but it is possible with no modification.