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Tamiya Ford Escort WRC - #58216 (Radio Controlled Model Review)1/10 Scale Electric Rally Car - TL-01 Chassis:Released by Tamiya on July 9, 1998, this TL-01 Chassis based, self assembly electric RC model, is of the Factory Team Ford Escort driven by Juha Kankkunen in the 1998 World Rally Championship (WRC) series.The lightweight Lexan polycarbonate body shell in this kit is an accurate copy of the cars classic lines. Decals of the Ford/Valvoline livery are included in the kit. 
The TL-01 monocoque frame chassis is shaft driven four wheel drive, with orbital gear differentials front and rear. The suspension is four wheel independent double wishbone with Coil Spring over Friction shock absorbers. The stick battery is positioned in the middle across the width of the chassis. Steering is via two plastic track rods of fixed length. These can be replaced with appropriate length turnbuckles if desired to allow some toe-in adjustment for improved cornering. The kit comes with Nylon/plastic and sintered brass bush type bearings, that after a short while, when dust and grit get into them, will abrade the metal cup drive shafts that spin in them. If you are building this kit to race seriously these should be replaced by steel shielded ball bearings. To drive, with the standard silver can and smooth operating ESC, the TL01 is the ideal car for the beginner. Steering is precise and handling is predictable. Rating:  Reviewed by: RCScrapyard Manual.
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Tamiya Ford Escort WRC #58216 TL-01 - Chassis |
Tamiya Ford Escort WRC #58216 TL-01 - Body Decals
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Buying a Used Tamiya Ford Escort WRC |
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Hints and TipsRadio GearHow to avoid Interference.1/ The first consideration when installing your Receiver into your Electrically Powered Model is to make sure it is well away from the Negative Battery terminal and the Motor. The Magnetic field can cause stuttering type interference at times of high current draw (i.e., Fast Acceleration) 2/ Make sure the Ariel tube is long enough for the Ariel wire. The tip of this wire is highly sensitive and should be as high and as far away from the Motor as possible (yup, its that magnetic field prob again) 3/ If all else fails, a simple tip that often works for all RC Model enthusiasts is to wrap the receiver in Aluminium Foil, to shield against any magnetic and external radio interference. 4/ As a last resort, to protect against servo twitch, try ferrite beads. (available at Radio Shack or Maplins) These are threaded over the red, white (or yellow) and black wires of each servo. 5/ If you are using a FET Servo, the installation of a choke (a small electrical component) in the positive feed wire will smooth out any current spikes and reduce the possibility of "servo twitch". 6/ Another thing you might try is a "glitch buster" or "stutter stopper". Basically, this is a capacitor that simply plugs into your Radio Receiver and attempts to keep a level voltage supply to the Radio system. |
Hints and TipsKeeping NotesIf all you will ever do is go racing at your local track every week, then this article is not for you. However, if you ever look towards travelling around to different tracks around the country, or even the world, the value of keeping notes is all too obvious. Every time I raced in a regional or national competition meeting, I would make detailed notes, aided by a little local knowledge initially and later fine tuned to suit my own driving style. My experience now means there are few, if any outdoor tarmac tracks within a 300 mile radius I haven been to and my notes on motor, gearing, camber angles, shock settings, tire choice and what inserts work best for that particular track, amongst others, allow me to save valuable time on the finer points of car setup, that can be done in the warmth of my own home on the kitchen table days before the meeting, instead of the often crippling heat, or the arduous conditions inside a wind blown tent. There are lots of methods for making notes on setup. The easiest perhaps is to download the blank pages often supplied by your cars manufacturer with a line drawing of your car and spaces for you to fill in as to the setting you prefer. Great if each time you go to a particular track the conditions are always constant. Notes made on a cold windy day will be little use on a hot sunny days racing on the same track. Manufacturers setup pages for their top drivers can also be useful as a starting point, but you should never take that setup as being the best there could ever be. So, the first note you should make is of the weather conditions. The wind and its direction isn't really what I am talking about, although it can have an effect on your cars handling, it is not something you can change your setup to handle. Track temperature and humidity are the main things to note. Not the average for the day, but for each round of racing. And note what tires you used and how the car handled in each race. Detail everything that might be useful in the future, no matter how trivial. Note the motor used and the gearing. Check the temperature of the motor after the race, how much charge is left in the batteries. You may have won the race, but there is always room for improvement … your competitors will be doing just that. Every bit of information you compile will be useful for the next time you visit that particular venue. Weather forecasts these days are far more accurate than they used to be, so the adage "fore warned is fore armed" fits the bill. Simply search through your notes and find a day you raced with similar conditions to those forecast and set up your car to suit. But don't stop there. The conditions may be the same as they were when you made your notes, but that doesn't mean you can't improve your setup. Your practice laps will soon prove if your previous setup was correct, or give you a basis for more fine tuning. If you want to be the best, you have to work at it. Success doesn't come easy. You can be the best driver around, but if your setup isn't perfect you will never step up onto the winners rostrum. My motto … if you never try anything, you never do anything. And if you never do anything wrong, you aren't trying hard enough. |
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