Tamiya TC-01 Formula E Performance and Gear Changing Tip

[@alanequest7812]

I gotta say thats the first time I see a gear change in this car and I’m impressed, super fast and easy, definitely soldering mines like that...as soon as they’re back in stock

[@Competitionx]

Ya, it's really the only way to prep the car for fast gear changes without having to solder the wires on and off all the time.

[@stefanczechorskidds5536]

Love the bullet plugs on the motor feature! I realize you can solder and wrench at the venue, but you are there to drive and enjoy your day ; and not "get dirty". Thanks!

[@Competitionx]

Yup - anything to reduce the amount of work at the track is a bonus in my book! :)

[@alexr9030]

Good video Tony , quite impressed of the performance of the car overall , for sure it's built by you but overall love the Tamiya kits keep up the good work 👍

[@Competitionx]

Thank you sir! Once I got it dialed in it was actually quite fun to drive. Going to work a little more with the gearing to help pick up some more speed on the straight.

[@ralphhowing3473]

Yep the body isn't that hard to finish but it go's for a great, nice long build!! That's what I like. Ralphie

[@Competitionx]

Yes, a LONG build LOL More time on the body then on the chassis.

[@muddfoot69]

Wow this is great. I’d love to see how you perform a set up with this chassis

[@Competitionx]

I have a video scheduled to show some of the stock tuning options on this car. Coming soon...

[@stuartleckie]

Tony! Car is looking good, but I don’t think I’d find anyone to run against at my local club. They are still all touring car mad here, and on the black carpet I worry that a stock TC-01 would flex a little too much. Good video 👍🏻

[@Competitionx]

Thank you sir! I agree, in stock form I think it will be a bit to flexy on carpet, but Tamiya has announced some carbon stiffeners that should help with that. And, hopefully like that TA07, they'll also come out with different chassis compounds as well. I think it has potential but will need some tuning - all that rocker-arm suspension stuff will need some figuring out to get it just right.

[@michaelandrew4488]

Nicely done and a good looking, interesting chassis. You and the other driver would make a good "endurance" race team - both lap at very similar consistant times. I don't know if that is a thing in RC raing , but it was popular in 1:24 slot cars racing.

[@Competitionx]

Hey thanks. Yes, we occasionally have long events - 2-3 hours long - where this does come in handy. Might be a fun car to do it with as well!

[@carlosledezma1739]

Got my kit coming next week. Project # 123 but who cares I want it.😜

[@Competitionx]

Good for you Carlos! Going to be a fun class to run!

[@alanequest7812]

Also, the car seems to do really well on the infield, kinda slow on the straights though

[@Competitionx]

Well, it IS a 17.5T fixed timing brushless system. You have to find that fine-point between acceleration and top speed - like I said in the video, it could probably use a little more gear to hit a better top end.

[@burprobrox9134]

Awesome video, thank you. Just have to ask you to reconsider the music volume jumping up and down. Just leave it down, it’s incredibly distracting and I really needed to focus on that motor reinstall.

[@Competitionx]

Will keep that in mind. Thanks.

[@FredLombardo]

I’m just in the middle of my build and I do love the car. My only complaint was that I was disappointed when I saw bushings for the steering assembly. Bearings everywhere else but bushings in such a high use area is stupid. Love the video though.

[@Competitionx]

Thanks Fred! I was a little disappointed with the bushings as well seeing as the rest of the car came with bearings. An oversight for sure.

[@FredLombardo]

CompetitionX I managed to find some Traxxas bearings, part number TRA5114. I also found the smaller 630 bearings on Amazon.

[@Freddie44utube]

@@Competitionx Tamiya had the 630 bearings for the ta03 TRF one way shaft (if memory serves) but I found the steering works really well if soaked in diff lube grease and not an ideal set up for ball races

[@philthyco1]

Great info! She runs great!

[@Competitionx]

Fun little car, right?

[@philthyco1]

@@Competitionx Oh yea

[@NeutronicalGaming]

might wanna do a balance pass on that car, the tyres seem a bit scrubbed

[@Competitionx]

Yes, unfortunately the track is heavy one direction. It scrubs the tires quite hard.

[@aratanas]

What is your gearing set up and how many turn is your motor?

[@japan743]

Hello, with the 17.5T motor, which pignion motor do you use? Thxx Regards.

[@Competitionx]

I ended up switching to 64P gears, away from the Tamiya gears. I think, at the moment, I'm geared 46/96 on a 21.5T motor. That will probably be different for you depending on your track layout and size.

[@bigalrc]

So is this motor esc combo legal to race in this class? I’m new to rc racing.. been racing rtr cars at a velodrome but for sure interested in racing here.. what would be the best bet? This formula e class or f1? I wanna build a car!!

[@Competitionx]

Yes. Actually, I would check the rules of your local track (if you plan on racing). We use TCS rules - the only legal motor is a Fixed Timing Reedy 17.5T motor. Formula E or Formula 1. The two cars are really quite different. Here are the local ruleset we use (Formula 1: uf1rc.com/rules-and-regulations/ | Formula E: uf1rc.com/formula-e-rules-and-regulations/) Give them a look and see what best suits what you might want to drive.

[@babupranav]

are you going to finish the build series on this? I really would like to see how you cut/finished the body - its the only thing that's stopping me from ordering. What color did you use to back the paint if any? black/white/silver? thanks.

[@Competitionx]

Yes. Sorry, just taking alot of time with 4 different builds going on at the same time! Look for it here shortly.

[@babupranav]

@@Competitionx thanks after seeing your video I decided to order it before its out of stock! could you tell me what paint you used for backing? I'll do stock paint - so want to add it to the order. Thank you!

[@helifan2346]

What settings did you use on the ESC? Better yet, did you change any settings on the speed controller? I’m new to this hobby and I just bought this car and have the same electronics except servo and radio Thanks

[@Competitionx]

I run the ESC with the out-of-the-box-settings - for the moment. The class I run this in is a 'blinky' class so I'm not 100% sure what I can change in the settings and still keep in blinky.

[@aiutaki0815]

MAy i ask, what where the mentioned Setup changes ? i also do own a TC01 chassis, and would be interessted in :) Thanks Flo

[@Competitionx]

I will be posting a separate video about the setup changes soon.

[@chriscalloway8999]

How did it handle the crash? Any body or damage to the chassis? And how do you adjust camber, is it fixed?

[@Competitionx]

It handled the crash quite well - a little road rash on the airbox and front fenders. Tamiya has you tape on the center section of the rear 'wing' so the impact did separate at the tape. The sides of the wing are screwed on so it stayed on, but I'll probably be adding another small screw at the center to keep it in place. Camber is not fixed, but it's a little wonky on how you have to adjust it. You have to add shims behind the lower hinge pin mounts to 'space them out', if that makes sense. I have another video coming soon on how to do this as well.

[@StephenPurington]

Nice car , what gearing did you use at cal raceway pinion and spur ? , I run that track and am going to start running my TC01 there looking for a little more speed 😎

[@Competitionx]

I think I'm at 38/64, but I might need to go up a little more since it's a non-timed brushless motor. I still have more testing to do.

[@StephenPurington]

CompetitionX Thank you for that information I really appreciate it 👍😎

[@mingweisun6353]

What size of bullet connectors do you use? Can you share a link?

[@Competitionx]

Anything will do, but I used 4mm ones like this: www.avantlink.com/click.php?tt=cl&merchant_id=4b85b2b7-558e-4304-89fc-54958c8f47f0&website_id=8103a5e4-3fa8-47ec-a3ea-3f6f3a4cbb30&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amainhobbies.com%2Fcastle-creations-4mm-high-current-bullet-connector-set-cse095-0007-00%2Fp34141

[@erikvs1.5]

How did you solder connectors directly onto motor?

[@Competitionx]

It's a bit tricky. Start by tinning the motor tabs, then tin one side of the tubes. Once that's done, set your iron on the motor tabs and, using pliers, hold the tube to the TOP of the soldering iron - so basically you're heating up the motor tabs and tube at the same time. Once the solder melts, remove the soldering iron and set the tube on the motor tab. Keep it steady and wait a few moments for the solder to harden - it could take 5-10 seconds depending on how hot you got everything.

[@junedolim]

you say you've got it running well. do you have a setup sheet?

[@Competitionx]

I don't yet. I'll have to look and see if Tamiya has a setup sheet for it - or I'll have to create one.

[@junedolim]

@@Competitionx there's only one that i've found and it's in japanese, so not super helpful for me. i've found my kit to be super imbalanced with practically zero rear stability. i'm just not sure how to deal with it. everything i've tried has been either a VERY minor improvement or not helped at all, so it seems that all my traditional TC suspension understanding is bunk with this car

[@bigboxMINI4WD]

Hello, I'm not good at English, so I'll ask you a question in the comments. Can you summarize the advantages and disadvantages of real driving?

[@Competitionx]

Sorry, I'm not quite understanding what you mean by real driving. Could you explain that a little better and I'll do my best to answer your questions. Thanks.

[@bigboxMINI4WD]

@@Competitionx real driving = TC-01 circuit control

[@Competitionx]

@@bigboxMINI4WD I have an overview video coming up about the TC-01, but in short the car works really good. The acceleration is crisp and with some gearing changes, the top end will probably be excellent as well (I'm using at 17.5T Fixed Timing Brushless System so I'm a little limited on top end). Depending on the grip level at your track, you will need to do some setup changes for sure. The body doesn't have a very good rear wing, so there's almost no downforce to the rear of the car. This can make handling a little tricky, so tuning will come into play. I added some additional rear camber to the tires and that helped out dramatically.

[@bigboxMINI4WD]

@@Competitionx That was a great answer to the point. I'll refer to the grip adjustment caused by the downforce. Thank you for your precious time.

[@rolandtimario2362]

Could the tc-01 be a good vta chassis?

[@Competitionx]

I think so. There's alot of tuning and hop up parts available so and, with the really low and centralized CoG, I've found it handles good as well. It even comes with additional mounting options for touring car bodies!

[@rcjoe406]

Do you still recommend buying?

[@Competitionx]

Absolutely! I think it's going to be great for Spec series races and, like the TA07, should do well in other classes as well (with some hop ups).

[@rcjoe406]

@@Competitionx cool my hobbytown has one in stock might have to pick it up

[@NiekkieNick]

Seriously!!? Standing outside with a facemask on!!?? 😂😂😂😂

[@Competitionx]

Some people want to be extra safe.

[@NiekkieNick]

@@Competitionx Facemasks don't work! It's totally BS!