Tamiya TL-01 Ford Focus
This is the car which got my interest going in this hobby. The TL-01 series cars are a simple, robust design that is ideal for beginners. The car features the basics like shaft drive 4wd, geared differentials front and back and uses standard motors, shells etc. The cars generally cost under £100 for the kit and less than £150 with the radio gear, battery and charger. This puts them in reach for many people and they can perform at club level with a few choice upgrades.
The Kit
In the kit you get everything bar
- Radio gear - needs transmitter, 2 servos and a receiver
- Battery - anything from 1400mAh should be ok
- Charger - simple peak detect fast charger advised
- A good phillips screwdriver
The kit has a mechanical speed controller as standard, along with a tamiya motor. The standard motor is ok but there are plenty of upgrades available cheaply.
Assembly of the kit is simple and enjoyable, the instructions are detailed and things like grease and oil are supplied. The best advice is to get a clean work area, take your time and find a really good phillips screw driver. A well fitting tool will save stripped heads and all kinds of pain and a magnetised tip is nice for the less accessible screws. Make sure the servo is at neutral when you build the steering - taking this apart to adjust means splitting the chassis and leaves a gearbox in pieces. So get it right first time, and use the correct horn and screw for the brand of serve you have.
Once its all together, the electronics have to be fitted. The Acoms Techniplus set I bought fitted easily in the bottom of the chassis with my ESC on top. GP3300 cells will need a slight modification to the battery clips as they are often a little longer than older stick packs.
The shell comes with all decals, window mask and is covered with overspray film. All you need to do is appy the window masks and then mask up for the 2 colours. Some shells only need one paint, but the focus needs red and white. Use a high quality masking tape from your local hobby store and good lexan paint. I used Pactra for mine and I am very happy with it. Once painted, pull the overspray film off and do the decals, using warm soapy water to allow you to reposition the decals helps.
Hop Ups
A full set of ballraces for the car should be first. These can be bought off ebay for £12 and will remove lots of friction from the driveline. This should give longer runtimes and more speed. The official ball race set is very expensive so watch out!
An ESC (electronic speed controller) should be high on your list. This will give much greater control over the car and also longer runtimes and lower the weight. The mechanical one wastes battery power as heat and is uncontrollable with hotter motors. Anyway, it can melt a big hole in the chassis if it gives up when you upgrade the motor. I have used the M-Troniks Tempo 15, which retails for £25 and can handle any motor you might want to throw at this car (within reason). Other models are available if you wish to keep reverse available.
Motors obviously will affect the cars performance. A 27-Turn or 19-Turn stock motor would be a good start, and will feel very fast coming from the original motor. These also represent the most popular classes of club racing as well. Cheap motors cost from £15 up, remember less turns = more speed = shorter runs.
All this will add up to £50+ which might mean you were better off with a better car in the first place. But its worth picking up a cheap car from ebay especially if you wan to race at your club on the cheap.