Tamiya F201 Williams BMW FW24 Project

The F201 chassis was introduced in 2002 and was a complete departure from the long and storied history of Tamiya F1 chassis.  While most of the other had been direct drive cars with a pan chassis and minimal suspension, the F201 was the first to actually try to simulate real F1 suspension with four wheel double wishbones, pushrods, cranks, and inboard shocks.  That wasn't all though, Tamiya also made this one four wheel drive.  The idea of a 4WD F1 is anathema to Formula 1 fans, but on the other hand RC F1 cars have never been anything like the real thing mechanically.  The intent was apparently to make it handle more like the real thing, even if that meant changing the drive configuration.  In this sense it was successful.  It is much more stable than the typical RWD model and corners much better.  For all its innovation though, the F201 was apparently wildly unsuccessful because it was only ever used in 3 models over 2 years:  the 58288 Ferrari F2001, the 58294 generic body, and the 58303 Williams BMW FW24.  I find that sad, but I understand the reasons.  For those people participating in sanctioned racing, the 4WD F201 chassis was immediately prohibited.  I'd be willing to bet that the percentage of RC F1 buyers who actually race is pretty low, but it was enough to doom the chassis.

This kit uses a plastic chassis with four wheel indpendent suspension using pushrods and inboard shocks.  The shocks are very stiff plastic oil dampers. The kit comes with a 540 Sport Tuned motor with a fixed pinion mesh and uses a standard sized servo.  The four wheel drive system uses front and rear ball differentials to drive the wheels through pivot ball suspension.  The front and rear wings are molded hard plastic while the body is transparent polycarbonate.  Note that the body for this model does not come with overspray film so masking and painting are a challenge.  The completed model is very impressive to look at and just as impressive to drive.  I'm glad it was so unpopular because that made it easier to buy one.