Tamiya TT-01 Toyota 86

So another hobby I forgot to mention that I recently got into was RC cars. This was my first RC Car and my group of friends gave it to me for my birthday this new year. It's interesting to have to assemble these cars, but you learn to appreciate them pretty quick. It's fun to put all those pieces together and have them all work in conjunction to build such a fast little car.

The body shell came clear and had to be painted and sprayed. Of course I chose Pearl White to match my real car. I also took quite a bit of time to recreate it as as close as I could too my car which included making custom wheels and a license plate.

The RC Car comes quite fast. I found that I spend a lot of time after more stressful days at work just shutting my brain off and running it around in my back alley. The battery I have in it currently runs for half an hour, a 7.2V NiMH that's 3200mAH, but I have a 6800mAH one on the way which should double my run time.

For the wheels I ordered knock off plastic TE37 look alikes. First thing I did was spray them gunmetal to get the center and lip texture on my actual wheels. I then masked them off and sprayed the spokes black to match my "Black Editions". I then printed some decals out on my laser printer and used a highlighter to get the florescent match.

Another great thing about having an RC car that looks just like yours is that they are a hoot at car gatherings or meets. Everyone thinks its hilarious that you have a miniature exact replica of your car that runs around maybe just as fast.

The last thing that's great about the RC cars are that as a car tuner/enthusiast you're always looking for ways to mod or get more speed out of your car. With the RC cars, its much easier. and SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper. Which makes it all the more worth while to get into. This morning I finally got in my new upgraded engine. The stock engine that came with my car started showing some problems and signs of slowing down pretty quick. It also seemed like something was dragging it down. Since I was getting a new motor I decided I'd get one with more juice.

The downfall of more juice is more heat, so I had to order an aftermarket heatsink and a fan for the speed controller. Here's a box shot:

My current 100% stock chassis besides the aluminum drive shaft upgrade:

New Tamiya Super Stock RZ engine vs the standard 540 engine in the chassis:

Aluminum heatsink and fan attached to the new motor:

I haven't had a chance to put the motor in,but once I do, I'll try to get some footage or something up for you guys and give you guys my impression. For now I wanted to give you a guys a small insight into the things it takes to get an RC car running and that it isn't too hard to get into. And contrary to popular belief it isn't that expensive to start off and it's not just for kids. It's a great way to spend 30 minutes in the sun after a day of sitting in the office for 8 hours!