TRF201 Special

[jo90]

Hiya

With Maritime close to being completed im looking nito a 2wd buggy. Tamiya looks like the way I want to go and have seen that there is the TRF201 and the TRF201 special (has additional bits and bob hopup's and upgrades).

Is it worth paying the extra £££'s and go for the special version ?

cheers

[discothesnake]

Hi, from what I've seen and I might be wrong the only differences are lightweight bodyshell, carbon battery brace, lightweight motor plate and lightweight gears. Sure that's all it is so I'd so no, don't bother.

Regards

Dave

[jo90]

Thats what I saw, just wondered if anything else was in the box not mentioned. To be honest for the extra amount the 'special' bits don't seem worth it really.

cheers for the help

[Aussie Top Force]

I have one. I decided to get one from Stella Models. The car is great and I didn't have to order a body and reinforced gears. The carbon fibre battery holder looks great.

I went that way as the cars are hard to find in OZ. One shop had the standard kit but could not find the part Nos for the body? Go Figure

[carpaste]

I wonder whether the lightbody is easily broken. cheers

[Origineelreclamebord]

Just a comment about the mention of Stella Models... I ordered 2 kits there, both very well packed, in tip top condition, quick communication to their clients... And a good price too! So I recommend buying it there!

And in regard to the 201 vs. upgrade pack 201, all you get in the upgrade pack is a body, reinforced gears (not lightweight gears), carbon battery plate, lightweight motor plate and a lightweight body.

If you feel the lightweight body is REALLY going to help you get the best out of the car, get the upgrade pack Otherwise, I think you shouldn't. The carbon battery plate is more bling than functionality really. The reinforced gears are cheap to buy seperately and not every user had problems with the original gears to start with. The lightweight motor plate (this version at least) I heard is (relatively) prone to bending and like the original motor plate has a bad seal with the gear cover. A better motor plate has been released already (#54276, shown in this build) to make a better seal with the gear cover, is developed to be stronger yet also still is more lightweight than the original. There is by the way no wing included with the body, so you still have to order some stuff for it together with the tires of course.

So what I'd do is get an original/stock 201 if you can find one NIB, and with the money you save buy a body, LMR wing (which is a lot thicker and tougher than the Tamiya ones), reinforced gears and ceramic diff balls

If you go full out on it, also buy the new battery plate with the better seal (it will save you changing a spur gear and pinion within 25 runs), ceramic balls for the thrust bearing of the diff, Associated springs (the TRF ones give only 3 options in stiffness and the discrete dot of colour coding at the edge of the spring easily wears off) and perhaps the LMR brass front suspension block/weight (running on clay, I needed 45 grams of weight behind the servo and some other setup changes, including a change in roll balance, to get the understeer out).

[Aussie Top Force]

Originally Posted by carpaste

I wonder whether the lightbody is easily broken. cheers

No it's not. The body that comes with the LE Version is the same as the standard body you would have to buy seperately. TRF just calls it "Lightweight Body Version 1". There is no version 2. But plenty of other options on the after market or the Tamiya Zarhawk or whatever it is.

My car has taken an absolute beating, as I haven't raced in years and I'm staging a come back. At St Ives Sydney NSW Australia I had troubles with tripples (say that fast serveral times), until I got use to them. I'm amazed nothing broke! It's a testement to the car.

At the end of the day, if you don't want to stuff around ordering all the bits and peices, buy the LE Version. You wont be disappointed. I wasn't. the price difference is not huge, the motor mount is not an issue (btw the original is included). The problem is actually the gear cover. The design is flawed. All you need is some electrical tape to cover the gap to create the seal. I have no problems and race on dusty tracks.

More info here:
http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_m...2331&sid=33946
http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=112347
http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=112382

P.S. Stella Models is great to deal with. If I had more cash I'd by another 201 LE and Build it for the shelf.

[carpaste]

That is great. The reason I wondered about that is that I had had a F104 pro with a lightweight body, but the lightweight body is not strong enough to experience collision. Thanks for recommending Stella Models. In my city, luckily, there are many shops to get the Tamiya products, which charge popularly too, which is one of the reasons I love Tamiya.

Having looked your car, I realise my painting is so poor.

[Aussie Top Force]

Originally Posted by carpaste

That is great. The reason I wondered about that is that I had had a F104 pro with a lightweight body, but the lightweight body is not strong enough to experience collision. Thanks for recommending Stella Models. In my city, luckily, there are many shops to get the Tamiya products, which charge popularly too, which is one of the reasons I love Tamiya.

Having looked your car, I realise my painting is so poor.

I only use Tamiya rattle cans for polycarbonate. The 'fade' effect is not that difficult to acheive and does not require masking except the windows. Always start with the light colours first. Over time you get better. Some of my early attempts (1990) were shockers! As with driving the R/C's, when painting, practice is everything.