Tamiya Mercedes AMG GT3 Project

As far as I can tell, Tamiya started making drift chassis in about 2005 with the TT-01D which was a slightly modified TT-01.  So what's the difference between a drift chassis and any other?  The biggest obvious difference is the tires which are hard and smooth instead of soft rubber.  This makes them slide and spin very easily.  The TT-01D also added a motor heat sink and ball bearings to deal with running at high RPM so much.  The TB-02D and TB-03D followed a few years later.  They were similarly modified versions of the stock chassis which also included a range of upgrade parts including ball differentials.  By 2010 they released the TA-05 VDF (vertical double frame) chassis which was actually custom made for drifting instead of being a slight modification of a standard chassis.  This is a 4WD belt drive system (my first) with parallel axle steering and extended steering knuckles for increased lock angle.  The kit is equipped like a TRF (Tamiya Racing Factory) chassis with the best versions of everything including lots of aluminum, carbon fiber chassis, and the best Tamiya shocks.  The front uses a ball differential and the rear a locked spool.  Other VDF chassis appeared later including a Version II of the TA-05.  I got the older Version I on clearance for about 60% off, a price which I couldn't resist.

As a chassis only kit, this did not come with wheels, tires, electronics, or body.  My local hobby store had an AMG GT3 body which I had been wanting anyway, so I chose that.  I can't imagine anyone would actually make a drift car out of a GT3 in real life, but it sure looks good.  The choice of body determined my choice of wheels because I wanted the scale gold ring.  The tires are standard Tamiya driftech.  I chose a high torque waterproof Savox servo mostly just because it has an aluminum blue case so looks good with everything else.  I wanted a reasonably high RPM brushless system, but the load isn't very high so I picked a Hobbywing Justock 3600kV combo.

I can't claim to know much of anything about drifting so I am woefully unqualified to make comments on the performance of this car.  As far as I can tell, it is real good.  Drifts all over like crazy and is reasonably easy to control with some practice.  So far, this is not a "countersteer" system with overdriven rear wheels, but I could easily do that by changing to a different rear pulley.  There was no need to upgrade much of anything because the kit was spec'd so high to start with.  I did add a swaybar that I happened to have available from another set and a new aluminum horn for the servo saver just because it looks cool.

About a year later, after having discovered my severe lack of drift talent, I decided to convert this to a standard touring car which required only changing the tires.

Update:  This model was destroyed in the 2022 fire.  It has not been replaced.