We just started up a new class at the club I race at - a tamiya spec class. You guys have any recommendations, or am I fine with just picking a TT02 off the hobby store shelf?

Depends to the class rules and what’s allowed. Are the following TCS ProSpec? Box stock?

I stopped trying to put logic to what Tamiya does ages ago 😂

Has to be out of the box, and can just run the Reedy 21.5 silvercan equivalent.

A box stock spec motor class will benefit smooth drivers who don't make mistakes.

One thing to consider though is the body. A lower body will offer a little performance advantage or over a taller body. Also a body that includes a racing rear wing may offer a little more rear stability since the base TT-02 kits don't have adjustable rear toe-in or camber.

Tamiya 58639-a comes with a Mercedes AMG GT body and is a bit lower than a Tamiya 58699-a that only comes with a small rear spoiler.

The other thing to consider is what speed control is included with the kit (if any). Some of the kits include a Tamiya ESC that can run brushless and brushed motors. Some of the newer Tamiya TT-02 kits include a HobbyWing 1060 brushed only speed control.

2 weeks ago for TCS, my son ran his Spec Novice with kit torque tune in ProSpec with us for qualifiers, since the other novice were no show for first day.

Anyhow, we all ran 64/29 gearing and my sons spec novice set fastest lap. 🤣 he had more top end than our brushless

So stick with the kit torque tuned silver can. It has more toque and better top end than the reedy 21.5. Plus the Reedy is sold out.

Before you buy anything find out exactly what the rules are. Each club is going to have some variations to what is allowed and what's not. I ran the TT02 spec class this past season at my local track. Our indoor carpet track is fairly small so we all had to run a Holmes Hobbies 27T crawler motor, 25T pinion with the 70T spur, a set of Gravity Tires. The upgrades that were allowed were ball bearings, the aluminum drive shaft, CVA plastic shocks w/ all 4 of the same stock springs, aluminum motor mount, Tamiya servo saver and metal dogbones and possibly the cva's but I'm not sure. We had to keep the front diff fairly free and couldn't pack it, and we could run whatever normal car or truck body we wanted but no touring car bodies and we couldn't modify the chassis anyway (like dremeling holes and stuff like that. I had a bought a TT02R since I already had a body and it came out cheaper with the upgrades it has, but due to the rules I couldn't use the the aluminum rear 3 degree hubs or the highspeed gear set. It sucks getting stuff setup and then having to go back and replace parts because they aren't allowed and then retune again.

Hi
You just left out fhe TT02RR was for sale , my TT02RR is pretty dam near new . I only ran once on carpet..
Dave Lima knew about the TT02RR was for sell
sorry I sold the car last sunday

Heh! That was the one we talked about right? Wasn't able to at the moment, money is tight. Had a feeling it would be gone by now.

So you allowed non Tamiya bodies, so long as they were non TC?

Yep, we could run whatever brand we wanted. I was running a 2010 Challenger body. But that's what I mean, each club is going to have their own variation to the rules because many times with a class like that they want to keep things fairly level, cheap, and fun.

cheap is a perception and relative. They used the same argument for USGT, now the class is dominated by look a like bodies of hyper cars for $39, vs $42 for license Tamiya bodies. We’re all asking each other.. hey is that a Ferrari, no it’s an Aston, really, it looks like a Lamborghini to me 🤦🏻

Im pushing for GT ProSpec per Tamiya rules at our next big event at 702 on May 28. Keeping it scale

Did anybody test tamiya scale bodies vs the latest and greatest performance only bodies ??? If so, what was the difference???

Well I meant cheap because there were a handful of people using their old bodies in this class and not buying something new. We had a good mix of bodies out there with maybe only a couple duplicate bodies in the class which was cool. The other problem at the time and maybe still is to a lesser extent, was that it was tough to find bodies and other Tamiya products in stock. I just run bodies that I think look cool.

We are doing ProSpec here in Seattle strictly by the rules as well (in TCS preparation). Biggest problem people have run into is difficulty in locating the spec Reedy motors. Bodies seem to be easier to find than a month ago.