BigTb17

Hello.

I recently took out some stuff I had gathering dust in my closet to decide what to do with it. One of those things was an old Associated TC3. I almost forgot I had it. I bought it years ago and it was always run with crapy brushed motors (I know there are good brushed motors, I'm not knocking brushed motors, I just had crapy ones) and 1500-2000 Ni-Cd batteries. I liked it, but between glitching caused by cheap motors causing interference with cheap radios, and poor power and runtime from crap batteries I just lost interest in it. And it eventually got scavanged of it's electronics and put in a closet.

I think that with brushless motors, high quality Ni-MH or Li-Po batteries, and a 2.4GHz radio I could really get into touring cars again. I suppose the obvious answer is to simply drop some stuff into the TC3 I have. It has no electronics and the body is in rough shape, but mechanically it is sound. But it's a couple generations old and I suppose there are better touring cars out there.

I just want to explore my options before I start putting electronics into a car that is outdated and hard to find parts for (I don't know if that's the case yet, I'm just saying). There's always the possibility the shocks will start leaking right away (old seals) or something like that, and I'll have to put more money into an old car.

I'm not looking for something to win races with, I doubt I'll race it. I would like it to handle great (that the fun of a touring car after all), but the TC3 is the only first hand experience I've had with touring cars, and that was a long time ago. So it probably won't take a world class performer to satisfy me.

I would like it to be able to reasonably handle the rough pavement and occasional small debris (little pebbles, etc.) associated with parking lots and streets. I think shaft drive would be better in these scenarios, but if I'm wrong let me know.

I would prefer a kit. I really like building, and I already have a DX3S, not to mention several "RTR" radios laying around, I don't need any more. Plus I prefer to chose my own electronics.

I know that's a lot to ask, and I'm going to be looking around on my own to see what's available. However, I just though that maybe somebody would have some suggestions or recommendations. I have very little experience with touring cars. Maybe the best bet is to simply keep the TC3[&:].

Thanks for any help/ideas.

BigTb17

I see Tamiya has a rally version of their DF-03 chassis and that looks interesting. It probably wouldn't handle as well as a true touring car, but it would be more likely to be able to handle the rough pavement I will most likely have to deal with much of the time. There is also less chance of getting stuck and having to go get the car if it slides into some grass or something.

Anybody have any experience with these? It does seem like any time you mix styles you never get the best of both worlds, you get a watered down version of each. It's not going to be great at anything other than mild off-road once you leave the pavement, so it might not be worth it if it sacrifices a lot of on-road handling.

Druss

It is based on the buggy chassis so I doubt you're going to get the handling you're looking for but it is better suited for rough pavement. Look at the TB-02 or TB-03 as well.