| Remote Control Drifting is taking off in a big way, in this | | | | that will break and regain traction on command, the |
| article I show you step by step how to convert that | | | | drifts will also be much easier to control, more throttle |
| old 1/10 touring car into a drifters dream machine. It's | | | | = more angle, less throttle = less angle. |
| very simple and generally only takes a couple of hours, | | | | TT01 |
| using this practical guide I'll have you sideways before | | | | The Tamiya TT01 uses a planetary gear setup for the |
| you know it. | | | | rear diff, which is easy to convert (and convert back |
| What exactly is drifting? | | | | should you change your mind later) the two most |
| In a nut shell drifting is the art of changing the angle of | | | | command ways to lock this diff are 1. Open the Diff |
| attack of your car, while still maintaining full control, so in | | | | and fill it with glue from a glue gun, or 2. Take a small |
| a typical drift driver X approaches the corner and | | | | piece of fuel tubing ,cut it open along it's length, and roll |
| turns in hard too early, this will bring the rear of the car | | | | this around one of the planetary gears. Once done |
| around, Driver X will then turn back into the slide and | | | | close the diff and check if it give the desired result |
| keep the car going around the corner while maintaining | | | | before you put it back. The other option is to buy a |
| as much angle and speed as possible, then he will over | | | | hop-up spool diff. |
| correct and throw the car into another slide right after | | | | TA05 |
| the first one, with as little straight lining as possible. | | | | The TA05 uses a ball diff at the back and the front, |
| Can a RC car Drift? | | | | this is not as easy to modify, but it can be done. The |
| Yes, if you`ve ever been involved with RC racing, you | | | | way I modified mine was to use pop rivets. I opened |
| know the level of setup that even the basic RC Cards | | | | the diff and removed the ball bearings and metal |
| come with, and drifting is no exception. While a stock | | | | plates that the balls run along. I then drilled three small |
| standard RC car can drift out of the box, there are | | | | holes in the side, getting both halves of the diff. I then |
| some basic setup and chassis modification that will | | | | pop riveted them together and filed down the rivets. |
| help you get more angle, speed and chicks ;) | | | | This worked, but be careful. 1. It's not reversible and if |
| Where do I start? | | | | you make a mistake the diff will be destroyed. 2. It |
| The first thing you need is a RC car, I'll use two | | | | doesn't last long, eventually the forces that go through |
| examples, both of which I've had personal experience | | | | the diff will destroy this because it's been weakened |
| with, the Tamiya TT01 and the Tamiya TA05. The first | | | | by holes. A Spool diff is available for the TA05 and |
| step to drifting is to break that traction, due to the | | | | this is the preferred options. |
| power to weight ratio of RC Cars we need a little help, | | | | What about the front diff? |
| Drift Tires are all you need to get sideways, but there | | | | Now that we have a solid platform we can |
| is a little more you can do if you want to compete. If | | | | experiment with slightly different setups to find the one |
| you can't find RC Drift tires you can use insulation tape, | | | | that suites us best, this varies from car to car, but the |
| be sure to wrap it in the same direction that the wheel | | | | principle is the same. I personally love using a front |
| will be turning, a good trick is to lay it down and roll you | | | | one-way diff, or a center one-way diff for more |
| RC Car over it, this is the right way, Taped tires tend | | | | control. The downside is that using brakes at any time |
| to work best on surfaces that already have a little to | | | | is the same as using you e-brake (hand-brake) in a |
| no traction, i.e. an underground parking lot, but they don't | | | | real car, the tail will slide around in a 180, while this can |
| last long. Drift tires all have different tractions, more | | | | be useful to initiate a drift and transition to a second |
| traction = bigger drifts, but this is useless if you need to | | | | drift from the first it's very easy to spin out, so most |
| compete on a tight track as the amount of torque | | | | people prefer not to use the one-ways. Once again |
| used to break traction will also generate a lot of speed, | | | | this is down to personal preference. |
| in the end it's down to personal preference. | | | | Why drifting is much better than racing. |
| What next? | | | | Well I love both, but from the drifting side it takes a lot |
| Okay so you taped your tires and played around a bit, | | | | more skill and a lot less car, what I mean is that while |
| not we need to get the car to be more predictable, all | | | | racing takes skill, you can compensate with an |
| the standard racing setting apply, shocks, ride height | | | | awesome car, there is no way a TT01 will consistently |
| and wheel angles are up to you, but if there is a must | | | | win in a race against a carbon fibre racing machine. |
| have it's the rear differential, you need to lock it, this is | | | | But with drifting you can, a TT01 can out perform any |
| also know as a spool diff, basically it means that both | | | | car out there, yes it will be difficult, but so much of |
| wheels must turn at the same time. The result is a car | | | | drifting is down to driver skill that anything can happen. |