Hello to all. Well I have been reading lots of posts here to try and gain some knowledge for drifting cars. I have been racing RC for over 10 years, mostly 1:8th scale onroad. So I have lots of racing knowledge and experience. However I got a wild hair to want to learn Drifting. My question is pretty basic and I do understand that ALL cars are capable of being drifters. I have like 4 or 5 electric Xray chassis just laying around (3 have NEVER been ran) and was curious if I should give one of these a try to get my feet wet in the drifting thing. Or should I consider purchasing one of the cars that seem to be more popular in the drifting scene. I have yet to see anyone with an Xray. I do have an older Tamiya TL-01 (I think) chassis. It's shaft drive with the shaft on the side and a stick pack battery goes sideways in the middle of the chassis. It was given to me years ago and never used it for anything. It's definately an older "starter" type chassis. I like the shaft drive cars better for the fact of pebbles and road debre won't mess up any belts. The Tamiya is in good shape, but don't like the fact that your limited to chassis tuning and gearing options. Also the plastic shocks don't use oil and such. You can tell I'm use to full race machines. Or should I just purchase a car already designed for drifting? Sorry for the long post, I tend to get over detailed on stuff. But I have been trying to do my research, but there are a LOT of posts here. As far as getting a NEW machine, what would you guys suggest if you think I should go this route? The Tamiya TT-01 seems to be popular and I like some of the Yokomo cars as well. I also noticed the new Losi drifer however I think it only comes as a RTR. I don't want or need an RTR, I have TONS of electronics laying around so would prefer to stick with a GOOD kit, actually whatever the BEST kits that are available is what I would want. Money is not an issue. I will keep researching, but thought I would throw this post out in the mean time. Thanks for everyones input. Again, sorry for the long post. Later everyone!

The X-Ray would make a good Chassis. Just because it is belt doesn't mean it isn't a good drifter. You will always hear mixed opinions about the subject. If you have the TL-01, might as well use that too, but the X-Ray would make a much better car, due to the tuning capabilities.

Oh boy. If you've got an xray, by all means, drift it! Setup will be completly different. You want the thicker shock oil in the rear. Try running yokomo titanium soft springs all around. Run with 0 camber. 3 degrees toe in rear. 0 o 1 degree toe in front. Use HPI t-drift tires or abs. ABS has less grip and control.

I myself run a lcg as my main car, have used a ssg, rayspeed, tc3, also have a ta05 and have a jxrs and a mi2 on the way. I like testing cars.

Hey Serpentd, you obviously know good kit, getting a tt01 would be going back YEARS!

...Xray's are the top of my recommend list, top quality & performance

...belt is the only way - just ask Andy Moore

My baseline setup for any drift noob is 0° camber all round (with plastic tyres), uber soft front springs, slightly stiffer rears (we're talking springs never even dreamed of being used by grip racers), shock oil isn't anywhere as important as springs but 30wt front/rear to start, 3° rear toe, front toe to suit (I prefer 1° toe-out through habit), then lock the diffs by removing the diff balls and tightening the diff back up - the diff washers create more friction on the diff gear and this makes the car MUCH more stable and chuckable.

Now your driving, be prepared to totally reprogram the way you drive, your throttle finger/thumb will be doing most of the work, let's just say CONTROL (the steering just makes the car look good)

Kev

Cool guys. Thanks for your feedback and all! I trully appreciate it. Yes the Xray cars are very awesome chassis'. Just wasn't a 100% sure about them for drifting since I didn't come across anyone that seemed to be using them. But I now know where I stand with my cars. Make them DRIFTERS!!! LOL. Also Aries326...thanks for the heads up on what I need to do for a starter set up. Speaking of setups, I have read some different recommendations as far as the front and rear diffs. I do have extra ball diffs I could use in the front. But I currently use either a one-way or a spool (Locked diff). The rear of the car has a regular ball diff. My question is should I stick with the spool (Locked Diff) in the front and tighten the rear diff up, or should I put a ball diff in the front as well so I have some adjustability for the front tires? Remember that I come from a race background where you don't want your tires to slide, but grip instead. I'm sure I can figure it out, I just have to go backwards from my thinking. And that 10+ years of learning to get the best traction. So any recommendations for a starter setup on diffs would be great. I can figure out the rest pretty easily, but not 100% sure what to do with the diff situation. Thanks again for your guy's input. You have all been very helpful and appreciate your time and input. Thanks everyone. Later!

Thanks Kev, that all made perfect sence bro. I need to go to the hobby store and see if they have these super soft springs you are talking about. Other then that I think I am good to go. Thanks again for you help man. Totally appreciate it!! I let you all know how things turn out. Later!

No, don't put the spool in the front. You'll set yourself up with some frustration. My first TC3 was used and had a spool in the front. It was a disaster until I swapped it out. The setup I currently use with the LCG is a spool in rear and a front one way. It works awesome. I can tap the brakes really fast to bring the rear end around, sorta like ebraking, instead of trying to power over all the time to drift. Definitely use the spool in rear and try the one way in the front and with the ball diff just to compare and see what you really like. For ride height, people used to tell me to go as high as possible, but I found that it made for a sluggish response when wanting to switch back. Go with a 1mm higher ride height in the rear.

Dude, thank you VERY MUCH for the input! I was going through my gear today and was reminded that the Xray has that multi diff. So I can change from either a diff, onesay or spool. My Xrays have been on the shelf all season with me focused on my 1/8th scale onroad nitro racing. I totally spaced out that I had all these different choices right in front of me. So you timming is perfect for me with your post! I need to order those shock springs off the internet as my local hobby store carries squat! But that's cool because then I can order a few other goodies to get this machine looking killer. I'm a bit stumped on a body right now, I love so many different cars it's difficult to choose. Plus I like to be different then the crowd. Decisions, decisions. LOL. Anyway bro, thanks so much for the heads up again and pointing me in the right direction. It's very appreciated! If anyone has extra advice, feel free to post away. I'm sure after I get up and rolling I will have a few questions, so we'll just have to see how things roll along. Either way I am extremely stoked about this DRIFTING project. I'm starting to get impatient to go out and PLAY! OK, now I'm rambleing again, sorry. Thanks again Aries326! You rock bro. Later.[8D]

Hey, bro, happy to help. If you need some more info, join www.drccentral.com We've got body of the month contests, etc, up to date rc drift info (well, we try to keep it up to date) a bunch of rc drift teams and the forum is great for meeting other locals. The nicest shells, if you're into D1 shells are Yokomo shells. You can buy them from www.rcdriftshop.com They offer good discounts.