Tamiya Formula E Project

I don't know much about Formula E but I know what I hate, and I don't hate this.  I don't really care whether a racing car has an internal combustion engine or not as long as it is fast, and these electric cars are fast.  They are a particularly good choice for an electric RC car since they even sound about right.  This model represents the Spark SRT05E "Gen 2" Formula E car which was introduced in 2018 and appeared as Tamiya set 58681 in 2020 with a brand new chassis.  Tamiya doesn't do new chassis all that often, and even less frequently in the Formula One genre.  The historical Tamiya Formula One chassis tended to be rear wheel direct drive with minimal suspension.  The one exception was the unpopular F201 chassis which was four wheel drive with pushrod suspension.  Having driven several different types, I'd say the F201 is by far the best handling although the driveline was not strictly realistic.  On the other hand the suspension was very realistic unlike the other chassis.  The new TC-01 shares a lot of design features with the F201 (four wheel drive, pushrod suspension), but no actual parts.  In fact, I don't think this new chassis shares any parts at all with prior chassis with the exception of wheels and tires.

This is a four wheel drive, four wheel double wishbone independent suspension chassis which uses a plastic bathtub.  Front and rear differentials are open, sealed gear type with no center diff.  The shocks are inboard and driven by pushrods for a very low profile.  The space for electronics is very minimal, but this chassis was clearly intended to be used with modern brushless systems and batteries.  There are a lot of parts in this chassis making it a fairly challenging build.

The polycarbonate body is among the most complex I have ever seen being comprised of many disparate parts and having open areas around the wheels and air ducts feeding the wings.  All of this makes for a very realistic looking body.  In fact, it may be one of the best looking touring cars I have ever built.  You might worry that this body would be quite weak, but the chassis has plenty of features to protect and shield it so I've had no problems.  If you are an American like me, you may not be familiar with the sponsor for this livery.  Rest assured that the Julius Bär depicted here is the Swiss bank, not the gay bar in New York.

It drives like a dream as well.  With a 10.5T brushless motor and stock gearing it goes as fast as I'd ever want it to and handles like it is on rails.  If you want a good looking, great handling Formula type car, I'd highly recommend this one.

Update:  This model was destroyed in the 2022 fire.  It has been replaced with another build which is nearly identical apart from the motor and steering servo.