Tamiya TB Evolution III (Surikarn) Project

The world of Tamiya high end shaft drive chassis changed very quickly.  The first deluxe TB Evolution came out in 2000, and the Evo II followed only a year later with a very similar design reusing all of the plastic parts.  One more year passed, and the 58299 TB Evolution III appeared in 2002, this time with a lot more changes.  All of the plastic parts were either new or carried over from the belt drive TRF 414 chassis.  Specifically, the A-parts, G-parts, and J-parts are new for the Evo III while the C-parts, D-parts, E-parts, and F-parts are from the TRF 414 series while the motor mysteriously moved to the other side of the chassis.  That wasn't the end though.  Surikarn Chaidejsuriya won a racing championship in Thailand with the chassis, and then Tamiya released the special edition 49283 Surikarn Edition with lots of special red anodized parts, a full set of titanium screws, and lots of other little updates which I'll describe further in my build since I was lucky enough to acquire one of these (and paid dearly for it).  At ¥37,800, Evo III was moderately more expensive than its predecessor, while the Surikarn limited edition was bumped up to a whopping ¥49,800.

The TB Evo III is a shaft driven, double deck carbon chassis model with a rear ball differential, front one-way, and aluminum shocks.  There is all wheel double wishbone suspension.  It includes sway bars in both the front and rear.  The Surikarn Edition uses red anodizing on all the machined aluminum parts.