Just getting started.
 

I actually have yet to buy anything because I have done nothing but read up on forums, seeing as I have no experience with RC cars, I built a few planes an flew a bunch of times, but that was more of a father son type ordeal.

What at my actual question/s is, what type of motor, esc, and servo should I get?

I know I want a brushless 13.5 sensor motor, but idk which company to look into, and I do want a servo with at least .10 speed, but likewise as before, idk which company to look into. I just want to know of some companies that are reliable for their motor and esc set up.

I do know that I am either going to get the Sakura XI sport, or the TT01D chassis as my starter build, but I also am going to get the Sakura D3 CS as my total build and show car chassis and something I can play with down the road and keep building since it is a CS and starting out on that, as I have read isn't the brightest idea.


Because of all thing, I honestly don't want an RTR even tho it would prolly be best to buy something cheap from Hpi that is Rtr an tear that up while learning the basics, I much rather build the car to know how everything works on it an learn how to set it up from the ground up.

Thank you ahead of time for the help.

Hi there, I got a fusion exceed brushless sensored 13.5 speed controller and motor and find it very smooth, quiet and robust for its price, it is very good quality and very very well build for not being an expensive combination in comparison with others on the market.. I got mine from a company here in the UK called Modelsport, they have provided me with great continued service and always gave a good range of products to choose from.

If you where to take any advice from me, the Sakura d3 cs requires a lot of modification to reduce main belt slap, setting up for smooth countersteer and to reduce the wobble in the main drive pully up front.. It wouldn't recommend it for a beginner to be honest.

The ta06 and ta06 pro is very well balanced as a standard chassis and does not require extensive modifications to set it up as a really great drift car, the ta06 range is very popular in Tokyo and HK. At the moment... And anything that these guys use is the best for the job.. So it would be a great choice. I have had tlo1, tto1 chassis's too but the ta06 is in a different league even in its standard form.

RTR, like you have realised..is not for the serious hobbiest, you want to build the car, get familiar with it, how each part works in isolation and in unison with other parts and is much easier to repair if you know your car and how it functions.

If you've never drifted before, take it from a seasoned drifter....get a 17.5T brushless system. The 17.5T is much more linear and controllable. Drift is not about speed, but smoothness. All my drifters use 17.5T sensored BL or 27T brushed, primarily because anything slower won't have enough RPM to drift well, and anything higher is not as smooth as the 17.5T. 17.5T is just about right for drift, and most all drifters that have been at it for a few years would say the same.

As for brands, that's entirely up to you, but my recommendations are to go to a track, if you have one near you, and ask the racers there, what they like. Why? Because racers put electronics through some hard times, and if a power system doesn't make the cut, they won't ever recommend it.
I will say this, as a personal advisory as a casual parking lot racer and drifter.....DO NOT get anything Novak. They don't honor their warranty, and if anything is even slightly outside of their limitations, the ESC will go pop, and you'll have to pay not only to get it fixed, but the shipping to and from the factory.
I, myself would recommend an LRP system. Their Spin series ESC's have been very good to me, and LRP motors are some of the smoothest and best. Reedy also makes great motors. Of both of those, the LRP X12 or X20 series 17.5T motors work extremely well, and Reedy's 17.5T Sonics are great, too.

On servos, I'm prejudiced. I run nothing but Spektrum servos, and use Spektrum transmitters and receivers exclusively, as well. The Spektrum S6070 is what is known as a "lo-pro" or "low-profile" servo, and is fast (.09 transit speed), powerful (125oz/in) and small, being a lo-pro. They go for $60US, so are also fairly affordable.

As far as kits, The TT01 will be boring for you. They are VERY simple, and require a TON of hop-ups to be competitive, and are easily outgrown. You can easily spend more than the cost of an upper-level chassis on a TT01, and you'll still have what is considered an obsolete design, when compared to other, high-end drift chassis. If you plan on staying with RC, get something just a bit more challenging as a starter. The TA06 is a great recommendation, as is the Sakura XI. If you plan to do CS somewhere down the road, get a belt drive, as there is only one shaft-drive that I know of that can be CS'ed, which is Tamiya's TB03, and like their TT01, requires a LOT of option parts to be competitive.
With a little research, you can find belts and pulleys to CS most belt-drives, and both the TA06 and XI can be CS'ed, when you want to do so, so they are both easily upgradeable.

I have found a source, if you're in the US, TQRC Racing online as a great source for nearly everything drift that you'll need. From chassis to wheels and tires to power systems. Their prices are also very fair, and any order over $100 is free shipping!

I have heard mixed reports about the Sakura XI in terms of parts wearing down quickly

I've not heard that, but in terms of how each person cares for their chassis, it shouldn't come as any surprise. I have seen absolutely filthy chassis. Like they "rode them hard, and put 'em away wet." In regard to how each of us cares for our stuff, that has to be taken into consideration, because even belt-driven race machines, though driven hard, are maintained meticulously.
The average person won't do even the minimum of maintenance, and if they don't mention the maintenance cycles, as they complain about worn parts, the whole story isn't being told. I would be wary of any horror stories unless there are nothing but horror stories about any particular chassis or component. I mention Integy as an example. Integy has some of the worst stuff, made from the cheapest aluminum, and I wouldn't ever recommend their parts to anyone.
Sakura Chassis have been, on the whole, not bad, and though relatively inexpensive, have enjoyed pretty good quality. I have no compunction about purchasing one, if they made one that I wanted to get. I may try the D3, somewhere down the road, but quality isn't one of my concerns.

Thank you for the help and directions, as far as motors, esc an servos, those where really the area I couldn't find much help on through many forums I had read, I guess that is because it's honestly learn what is best for you, but I wanted something that I know I could be a little rough with as just starting out but also feel reliable because I am the type of person to sit down an tear it all the way down to clean and take care of. (use to doing this with hardcore speed ball paintball) I know that your items are only as good as you take care of the. Lol.


But for the chassis, I looked at the TT01 last night more in depth and did realize that it is something that needs a lot of hop ups to make it even a half ass worthy chassis to fine tune and drift with, but I had read so many ppl started out on it and enjoyed it. But as seeing the price to build one far out reaches building the D3 chassis.


The Sakura xi I plan on getting no matter what, as well as the D3 because I do want the challenge of building that from the ground up an using it as my "show off" chassis that stays all pretty an clean with my finest body on it, and it's something I can use down the road when I am comfortable with learning a CS chassis. I don't really want to take a non-CS chassis an turn it into one, which is the reason why I am going to get it. I have read quite a few of your post ToraKitsu, which is why I have already looked into tqrc racing and 3racing. Lol. Quality is a concern but only with the electronics. Like I said before I have built a handful of planes and when something goes bad on those, you pay the price hardcore, and majority of the time is electronic, so if the electronics don't fail me, I'm sure I can take care of the chassis very well.


Now I did look into the TA06 Pro, the only issue I had with it was the fact that it was a bit pricey. I understand getting into a hobby like this isnt cheap, but the way the Sakura chassis is, just seems so much better on my pocket for now. Lol. I will look into it more and see if I could make it somewhat reasonable to go ahead an get the Sakura XI an TA06 as the same time to build.


I mainly want two chassis right away so that I could get a friend or two into the hobby as well, as it seems I haven't read much of the drift races in my area even tho I do live in a highly populated area, most likely starting off in parking garages will be what happens. Lol.


But of all the chassis an electronics, everything of those sorts are easy to find, the diamond in the rough that I am searching for is a 200mm 1972 2000GTR Skyline. Clear body. Everywhere I seen to look, it's always out of stock. :( any hints on finding one of them other then ebay where I have seen a couple but for $100US.

and do be honest of what you think about parts and companies, the internet is really all I go by since most shops are just looking for that sale.

The d3 is ok if you are prepared to buy a chassis that is widely advertised as the newest best thing since sliced bread but neglects to tell you the standard kit hadn't sufficient bits to make it properly drivable, like the serious amount of slip and slap the centre belt does as no tensioner is supplied, and the main drive spur wobbles like a jelly with a decent powerful motor, and that you need to basically redo the entire chassis's main components with alloy replacements before it comes anywhere near being drivable to a decent standard

I hear what you're saying. It can get confusing, with chassis design, but to be fair, the better CS'ed chassis are the ones you CS yourself. Seriously. The D3 is far from and easy chassis to maintain, and it's basic design is overly complicated, so you might find it a pain to have to maintain. I have been into drift for some years, and doing maintenance is just another aspect of it, but something I would have to tear apart almost halfway down, just to clean isn't something I look forward to. :)
The XI is a perfect candidate for CS. You only have to do some studying on which pulleys require changing, and the belts required. The TA06 won't disappoint, though. As with most things, you get what you pay for.

As far as having two chassis, more IS better, but not to "lend" out, or have anyone else drive. I mean that sincerely. I have learned to just say no, when it comes to people who want to drive my stuff. It removes any bad feelings, because the "borrower" will always refuse to pay for damage. Take my word for it.....your work will not be something you want to see bashed up by someone else.

I go through TQRC almost exclusively, with the occasional order to Tower Hobbies, so I would say to use reputable companies, online. If you can't find the Skyline anywhere, who makes it? If it's HPI body, try and order it directly from HPI international (I don't know if they offer it, but it's worth a look). They sell parts from their website, all the time. I've even ordered parts from their website. If it's not HPI, I really don't know what to tell you, except to wait and check the sites you're likely to use, until they restock the body.

Yah, I've gone through quite a few company's electronics, and have only had bad experiences with Novak. Besides which, their components are not very durable, except their motors. I have no issues with any of their motors, but since their ESC's suck so hard, I don't recommend any of their stuff. I have never had an issue of any kind with LRP, Associated, or Reedy. Some of what they offer can be a bit pricey, but again, you get what you pay for.

Oh I know you get what you pay for, that's honestly anything and everything now days, it was the same way when building the planes. And I know most ppl wont lend out their cars because most of the time they don't know how to drive them, but for not I don't see any difference as if I was driving them since I don't know much better either. If you get what I'm saying. Lol. But the person I know wants to get into it also, he just doesn't want to do it alone, so as far as paying back, I trust him for that. And I know maintenance isn't always the fun part, but I work on real cars also, so I know it's better to do the crap work to have the fun later on.

Okay, so I take it, the idea of even getting the D3 is far more out of my league then I think, at least you two are being honest about the chassis, I knew it came with a few problem, but those can always be fixed if everything's planned out before hand, which is basically what I'm trying to do now. I guess I will save that for later down the road if I decide to buy something already CS'd.

As as for that body, I have only seen it on ABC Hobby's website an Tamiya maybe! I can not remember. May have been Banzai... But ABC Hobby seemed to have the best options for what I want to do with the body. HPI is mainly the American body cars with a handful of the stereotypical drift cars. I guess I'll just keep an eye on it and buy one if the chance ever comes.

im just looking forward to Christmas so I can treat myself to some goodies. If the TA06 Pro keeps coming up, I might just nab that and the Sakura XI Sport I planned on getting. Just wish someone would still carry the original Sakura XI instead of the sport.

Not saying you shouldn't do a D3, it's just that the D3 is not something that can just be run and forgotten. Even I would have trouble keeping up with maintenance on that thing, and I'm retired with nothing but time on my hands! :)
I hear you on the XI carbon. It's come down to a matter of whether you want to spend extra for the carbon conversion, but the XI Sport is so inexpensive to begin with, the carbon plates would place it in the same category as a carbon-chassis model from any other maker. The TA06, if you've read my threads, is a VERY good candidate for drift, if the pulleys and belts are a bit hard to locate.

The bad thing right now is, most manufacturers are in a design "slump". There haven't been any decent designs to come out since the TRF416, which was a couple of years ago. I've slowly gone back into grip chassis, because of it. I am giving thought to a "specialty" drifter, like a Donk with "hydraulics" at all four wheels, but that's where we are, at the moment. Until the next generation of RC chassis start coming out, we're stuck with what's already out there, and there really aren't that many to choose from.

Well the sport seems to have died down I the past couple of years, I have been pondering on starting this hobby or not and tho when I noticed USA finally got a yokomo dealer back I was hoping that it would grow a lot more. So hopefully companies will start making new products soon enough.

now explain something to me, I assume the use of a carbon chassis is to just have it more light weight, are there any other uses to it then just that and looks? Because if weight distribution is such a big deal then I could understand making it we a bit less here and there, but it is one of the most expensive upgrades also other then the amount of aluminum parts you can get for some of the chassis. Tho finding parts for cars is just time consuming because of the slump, I'm not worried about spending a couple of hours searching for them for the TA06.

i just can't wait until I finally get my hands on everything to build on an run it, may take me a while to come up with the funds to feed this hobby but I am going to stick with it to keep me occupied.

RC is a great way to occupy time, I have to admit, and it CAN become expensive, if you let it. I am finding being a bit more "patient" with purchases keeps costs down, and slowing things down some make it a bit easier on the wallet, for sure! :)

O.K., carbon is "livelier" when flexing, and actually, if allowed, benefits suspension action. I have chassis that have flex in them, and one or two that are rigid by design, meaning flex cannot be adjusted in. While they all perform well, it took longer to get the rigid carbon chassis to that point, because shocks have to be adjusted and tuned more precisely.
Compared to plastic, carbon chassis have more "spring" in it, and relays that to the driver, in it's effectiveness to corner and accelerate.

Carbon is marginally lighter than plastic, but not so it is carbon's main attraction, other than the weave pattern normally associated with it. It's almost solely it's flex properties that make carbon attractive as a material for RC cars chassis. Most guys don't know this - they just like the way carbon looks.

Aluminum parts on the other hand, are almost diametrically opposed to the idea of carbon plate. Aluminum parts are heavier than their plastic counterparts, and don't flex at all. That's why aluminum parts are never advisable in stressed areas, like wheels, suspension arms, body mounts, bumper mounts or shock towers. Once bent, aluminum stays bent, and is useless. I always advise plastic parts in all these areas. Aluminum is good for parts such as motor mounts, bulkheads and servo mounts.

Weight distribution is important. Fore-aft as well as side-to-side balance. For drift, forward- biased weight distribution is considered optimum, and weight distribution is delineated by percentage, such as "55/45." The first number always refers to the front half of the chassis, as regards weight, and the second number the rear half. This number is different for all chassis, and the differences between drivers is, also. So....Just because a 55/45 WD works for one person, doesn't mean it will work for another. They are good as general references, only, but it's good to know what that WD is for you, personally. My own is somewhere between 53/47 for 4WD grip driving, 60/40 for FWD, and 59/41 for drift.

You seem to be on the right track with sources for parts, but be careful of foreign sources. They can get expensive, if for shipping charges, alone, making their relatively cheaper prices not so cheap after all. That's why I do all my shopping domestically. I like TQRC, because every order I make is always over $100, and shipping is not a factor, at all! :)

Okay, that's makes sense now, I never thought about the car actually flexing under powering through the corner an how it would alter the way the car sits on all four wheels as it slides around the corner. I figured of all things I'd have to throw out a all the knowledge of real drifting and how the cars act. Somewhat similar. But not much on the feed back other then what you would see I guess.

So I assume that you can somewhat use the weight of aluminum to counter balance your car, not to mention other small parts that you can add to the shell you decide to use, but what I think I'm missing is how would you accurately measure WD. I'm sure the way I want my cars to be set up most of it will be in the rear likewise with yours but judging you have your experience, mine will change as I learn, same with setting up what springs and shocks to use as well as which weight oil an type of tires and etc.

Does most of the tuning just come through experience with driving RC cars or is it really just personal preference like most things? Lol. The good ol' whatever your comfortable with use.

No, you can actually develop a "feel" while RC drifting. It probably has more to do with transferring what you see to inputs at the trigger and wheel of the transmitter, but it is palpable.

Usually, aluminum parts are for strength, and if you replace a plastic bulkhead with an aluminum one, it's best to do both front and rear. WD is mostly done with weights, either lead or another type. You can see what your balance is, simply, with a tri-ruler. Just set the chassis on the tri-ruler somewhere between the front and rear wheels, and where the tri-ruler ends up, when the balance is even, is where you get the percentage (say, the ruler ends up closer to the front wheels than the rears - estimate what the percentage is, then transpose the numbers). That's a rough-estimating technique, but works.

Drift set-ups are relatively simple, compared to grip chassis. There are some adjustments that are kind of unnecessary for drift, that make a real difference in grip racing. Mostly, the adjustments that work for drift are: ride height, WD, shock spring rate front and rear, caster and camber adjustments. Tires also have an effect, and there is no such thing as an "all-around" drift tire. Some come close, but no drift tire works well on all surfaces. It's why I have multiple sets of wheels and tires of different types, so I can run my drifters pretty much anywhere. If one set of tires doesn't work, I swap them out for another, until I find what works, but if you stick with one surface, one set of tires that work are fine.

Tuning is adjusting the chassis to your style of driving. It takes a while to develop one, but once you have become somewhat proficient, you pretty much know what you like and dislike, so you would adjust those areas of the chassis that would get you where you want the chassis to act the way you want. If you go to the X-Ray site, and download the manual for the T3 or T4, it has all the adjustment possibilities those chassis have, which are pretty much what any upper-level chassis has, and they all act and react to those adjustments, no matter who made the chassis. It's a good reference to have, so you know what each adjustment does, and how it affects the chassis. You will find that many of the listed adjustments are unnecessary for drift, but it's always good to know what they are, if you ever get into grip driving, which is likely, if you stay with RC for any length of time. :)

It is a shame the sport isn't as popular as it once was, especially drifting which as far as I can see is non existent in the UK.. But none the less it's what I wanted to do, so I bought my ta06 pro around a year and a half ago and slowly but surly have tuned it and modified it to what it is now.. Most of the hop up parts are readily available and sometimes you have to dig a little until you find a supplier... but I find that fun as it's would be boring if it was too easy or straightforward.

I wouldn't worry about not having funds.. It's not the kind of thing that has to be done instantly.. You could buy a part or couple of bits each month and watch it evolve and develop.. Rather than build everything in a rush get bored of it and then spend more money on others

Tora, I would agree with , with regard to not letting anyone else drive my stuff, I've spent a lot of money on my cars over the years and have expensive options and it would not be worth a falling out with a friends for the sake of them having a few minutes of fun to then break something

The way your describing it, just seems like kind of playing video games and being able to hit combos by memory. Lol. Young thing I guess... Shouldn't be hard to implement the concept and know how to drive, I'll prolly start or ding some stuff in the next couple of weeks.

Understandable Tora, I guess I'll have more questions down the road, but for now my rough estimate of spending on what I need to gets tarted it nearly $600US. And that's just the electronics chassis a body and some rims an tires to see what works for what I have around me to use, I just wish my garage was empty so I would have a nice surface to start on and learn. Because there are no skate parks near me and my driveway is that sandpaper type cement. Which PVC tires may have to do for a while, and I know that won't give me something I can really test an tune on. But I'm sure I'll have a blast anyways. Lol.

And as far as letting someone use my cars, not a big deal honestly, after crashing a couple of planes, these cars are like chump change. Because those really aren't rebuild-able when it just just explodes into hundreds of pieces because the wood is so fragile. Lol. And see that happen is like a world coming to an end when you sink so much time into creating each piece by hand shrink wrapping the whole plane. Lol. So a couple broken piece on a car that may end up being $100 max, I won't fight over it, just means I get to replace it with something better or start creating my own parts using a C&C machine. But I guess I'll see how things go when it really happens. Hahaha,

I had one bad experience when I used to run Nitro cars... the throttle was open and on full power and my battery died and the car went at 40 miles an hour directly into a concrete curb and ill I could do was watch and then run over to it and sigh with horrow.

thast exactly what I did.. if something got worne out of broke I replaced it with stonger/better parts.. however my ta06 was like striking golf.. I got a full ta06 pro kit second hand on ebay in mint condition for l20 pounds.. and ive probably spent 600 pounds easily so far.. I still intend to get the r sector chassis conversion and cs it too.. but so far im drifting it 50/50 and having lots of fun.. but the car even though all in all is at least 5 years old it looks like it is just out of the box.. if not better.

Yeah so you know exactly what I mean, when it comes down to it, mistakes are going to be made and things are going to break so if a friends breaks it, I'm sure sooner to later I would have broken it so you just have to be optimistic about things, or maybe that's just me.

if you got that TA06 chassis for 120 pounds, that's no to bad, most of the ones I find are around $260us dollars brand new like the one you just posted, I really haven't searched for any used chassis yet because just getting into it, I'm going to get brand new until I know what I'm doing.

That's the best policy, since used chassis will nearly always have something wrong with it, and there is the problem of a chassis being "tired."

A tired chassis means the plastic (or carbon) has lost it's "spring" like it had when it was new, so won't perform like a new chassis, though for many, that doesn't make much difference.

There are differences that can be seen and felt, and can add extra cost that can bust a budget, though. Then there is slop. Older chassis, especially those that weren't taken care of, will have developed slop in the usual areas (wheels, suspension arms, outdrives, and all pivot ballcups) that require part replacement.

It's best to start new, and get yourself a mid-level chassis. That will give you something you can grow with, rather than having to get something else that drives better, later on. The TA06 I considered a mid-level, and I can work up a small list of a few more, if you like. Get used to the idea that you will spend at least $250 for one, though. Some may be less, some a bit more, but that's about the going rate.

It's interesting that you feel the ta06 is mid level chassis... I didn't thing expert drifters would use mid level chassis and the ta06 is proving very very popular amongst the experts in Asia right now

Tamiya classifies the TA06 as a mid-level. I have to agree with that, since the pro model is all-plastic, with just a few aluminum bits. The MS can be classified as an upper-level, by virtue that the MS is carbon chassis with more options.

What's the MS chassis like? Since I have read so much about the TA05-06, the HPI chassis, and the Sakura, I really haven't looked into any other chassis because these are what I mostly gear about. An if the TA06 has a carbon chassis upgrade, would that mock it up as a high class chassis, or just still a mid level?

TA06 MS carbon chassis http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?sa=X&...5&tx=108&ty=74

TA06 R Sector http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?biw=1...7&tx=146&ty=76

The R sector is the cheaper of the two chassis conversations

There are pluses and minuses with either the MS and RSector, but either will step the TA06 to upper-level status.