Tamiya FF-03 Project

The vast majority of Tamiya touring cars over the years have been All Wheel Drive.  The TA, TB, TL, TRF, and TT series chassis have varied in their use of shaft or belt drive and in their positioning of the motor, but all have driven all four wheels.  Formula 1 and Group C chassis have been Rear Wheel Drive, the standard for real racing cars.  No sensible person would race using Front Wheel Drive, but that didn't stop Tamiya from producing a line of strange looking FWD chassis titled "FF" for a period of a little over 10 years.  It started with the FF-01 in 1993 and ended with the FF-04 EVO in 2014.  The table below recounts a brief history of this chassis series and presents the differences and similarities in their design over the years.

	FF-01 (58121):  This model was first available in July of 1993.  It was never available as a standalone chassis but first released with a Idemitsu Motion Mugen Honda Civic body.  There were a total of sixteen bodies available with this chassis between 1993 and 1998.  Features included laterally front-mounted motor, front wheel drive, 258mm wheelbase, plastic bathtub chassis from the TA-02, ball differential, plastic CVA dampers, plastic bearings, dual bellcrank steering, dog bone style axles, double wishbone suspension, fixed upper links, and 0.6 mod gears.  The kit included a standard silver can motor.
	FF-02 (58224):  This short lived model was first available in October of 1998 and was completely different than the FF-01.  It was never available as a standalone chassis but first released with a Peugot 306 body.  There were a total of three bodies available with this chassis between 1998 and 1999.  Features included laterally mid-mounted motor, front wheel drive, 257mm wheelbase, modular monocoque chassis, gear differential, plastic friction dampers, plastic bearings, dual bellcrank steering, dog bone style axles, double wishbone suspension, fixed upper links, and 0.6 mod gears.  The chassis was literally just a stretched M-03.  The kit included a standard silver can motor.
	FF-03 (58467):  This model was first available in July of 2010.  It was never available as a standalone chassis but first released with a Castrol Honda Civic body.  There were a total of six bodies available with this chassis between 2010 and 2012.  Features included laterally front-mounted motor, front wheel drive, plastic bathtub chassis, ball differential, plastic CVA dampers, lateral inboard front suspension, stamped aluminum motor mount, full ball bearings, dual bellcrank steering, dog bone style axles, double wishbone suspension, turnbuckle upper links, and 0.4 mod gears.  The chassis was configurable to short (233mm) medium (245mm) or long (257mm) wheelbase.  The kit included a standard silver can motor.
	FF-03 PRO (58463):  This variant was first available in June of 2010.  It came out at the same time as the regular FF-03 and was a slightly more deluxe version for sale as a chassis kit without a body.  Changes included a blue machined instead of stamped aluminum motor plate, blue aluminum instead of steel tie rods, high torque servo saver with aluminum horn, blue aluminum ball connectors, and aluminum TRF instead of plastic CVA dampers.  By far the biggest upgrade was the dampers which cost nearly as much as a whole standard FF-03 kit if purchased separately.  The kit included 5-spoke wheels but no tires, body, or motor.
	FF-03R (84288):  This variant was first available in May of 2012.  It started with the FF-03 PRO and added a sealed gear instead of ball differential, aluminum suspension mounts, CVD instead of dog bone axles, carbon reinforced plastics, clamping aluminum hexes, and a carbon battery plate which doubled as an upper deck.  Interestingly, the aluminum servo horn from the PRO went away and reverted to plastic.  As a pure chassis kit, it did not include tires, wheels, motor, or body.
	FF-03 Upgrade (84314):  This upgrade kit was first available in January of 2013.  This was not a complete chassis kit; it assumed you already had a standard FF-03, PRO, or R and provided the necessary parts to convert to a full carbon chassis.  The kit added a carbon chassis with twin vertical plates and stiffeners, aluminum center bulkheads, carbon steering stiffener, aluminum steering cranks and bridge, aluminum damper bridge, and converts from lateral to longitudinal inboard front suspension.  The converted chassis could only be configured to the medium or long wheelbase options; there was no way to configure the short wheelbase.  Whether or not this chassis included a gear differential, TRF damper, or other upgrades depended on the type of model used as the basis of conversion.  If converted from an FF-03 R, this chassis was in many the equal of, or even superior to the FF-03 EVO which came out later the same year.  The photo at left shows the upgrade kit installed on a basic FF-03.
	FF-03 EVO (84354):  This variant was first available in August of 2013.  It started with the FF-03R and replaced the standard plastic bathtub chassis with a double deck carbon chassis and converted from lateral to longitudinal inboard front suspension.  Additional changes included a metal drive gear, carbon motor stay, aluminum steering cranks and bridge, carbon shock towers, double cardan axles, and aluminum rear bulkheads.  The kit also included special bearings with fluorine coated seals and used hex screws instead of JIS hardware.  The aluminum suspension mounts of the R reverted to plastic for some reason.  Unlike the other versions of the FF-03, this version did not have an adjustable wheelbase and could only be built in the long wheelbase configuration.  There was no battery plate on the EVO; the battery was intended to be installed with glass tape.  As a pure chassis kit, it did not include tires, wheels, motor, or body.
	FF-04 EVO (84394):  This model was first available in November of 2014.  This new model came out barely a year after the FF-03 EVO.  It used carbon upper and lower chassis decks like the FF-03 EVO, but replaced the gearbox with the one from the XV-01 and used TRF 418 suspension arms.  Apart from the sealed gear differential, axles, and knuckles, pretty much every other part was changed.  The longitudinal inboard front suspension was replaced with standard vertically mounted shocks.  The chassis was designed for a low profile steering servo but included provisions for standard servo as well.  As a pure chassis kit, it did not include tires, wheels, motor, or body.
	FF11:  This model was first available in June of 2011.  The FF11 was not a Tamiya model, it was an aftermarket carbon conversion of the FF-03 by a defunct company called Huge RC. From the manufacturer: "Over 6 months in development by former World Champion Surikarn Chaidajsuriya, Huge RC have release the FF11 FF-03 conversion. The prototype was used to win this year’s FWD class at the TITC in Thailand, with the design aimed at making the car more rigid, tunable and reliable on the track. The kit features a narrow 2.5mm carbon fibre chassis allowing it to rip through corners as well as a 2mm carbon fibre top deck held in place by 8 screws which can be removed to adjust flex. A new battery mounting system, utilizing an o-ring and aluminium mounts keeps it in place while tape slots allow it to be secured further. Other features include 3mm carbon fibre front and rear shock towers, one piece aluminium front motor mount and blue anodised aluminium lower bulkheads, which are symmetrical in design allowing the bulkhead to be interchangeable front and rear."

As someone who is interested in a broad range of chassis styles, I knew I wanted at least one FF chassis in my collection.  The problem is that the vast majority of the hatch back bodies available were not appealing to me.  Looking through the list of possible chassis options, I settled on the FF-03 EVO, a deluxe chassis variant with no body, as my target.  Finding one to buy proved to be difficult.  The FF chassis were never particularly popular (probably why Tamiya stopped making them), and the limited edition EVO models are even more rare.  For a long time I couldn't find one available at any price.  Finally I found a huge lot of FF-03 chassis and parts on eBay.  This particular lot came with 6 different versions of the FF-03.  There were two copies of the EVO (one stock and one upgraded), two copies of the PRO (both heavily upgraded, one with blue aluminum and one with clear aluminum), one copy of the R upgraded with the carbon fiber upgrade kit, and one copy of the aftermarket FF11.  There were also literally hundreds of spare parts.  Because I'm me, I went ahead and purchased 6 cars to get 1 with the intention of selling the other 5 and recovering as much of my investment as I could.  Before I sold them though, I decided to take the unique opportunity to disassemble and then build every version of the FF-03.  You'll find my documentation of each of these build on the pages that follow.

For the FF-03 EVO that was my original goal and I intend to keep, I installed a relatively simple brushed power system which is plenty fast for me.  I've been surprised at how well this front wheel drive chassis handles.  With all the weight over the front wheels, I'd expect a lot of push and understeer but it actually drives incredibly well.

Page 1: FF-03R	Page 2: FF-03 Upgrade	Page 3: FF-03 EVO
Page 4: EVO Upgrades!	Page 5: FF11	Page 6: Final Photos