MNDSM, you did pretty well for not being well versed !!
been around tamiya for a long while and all I can say is that the TT01 is a great chassis......for what it is and what it offers. That being a good ,strong platform for a RTR or kit beginner platform. To make it more competitive and able to handle more power beyond the kit can motor you'll have to throw some money at it. That's where it gets tricky. By the time you've thrown a bunch of parts into it you've invested as much as it would have taken to buy a more competitive, stronger, chassis like the TA05, TB02, TA06 or many other great cars from the used market.
As for running ANY rc car for 25 minutes at a time....that takes the right gearing so you don't smoke parts and electronics AND stout enough parts to take that kind of running. A stock TT01 will never make it. Things like the plastic driveshaft, plastic dogbones and bevel diffs have to go. Bearings are a must also. The top speed will always be an issue with the TT01 due to gear ratio restrictions because of the stock motor mount.
If you're primarily looking to drift, it's still going to take some investment. You'll be running at higher rpm most of the time. That just means stress on the drivetrain.
It can be done but there's a bunch of good cars out there that can do a better job for less money.