Lets step back and have a look at the RC world and how it has evolved in the last few years.
I was digging back through my imagery and I found this TA06. In a way, it is so current. So ripe for a modern take. I remember driving this on carpet about 4 years ago. Fast, but with a genuine rear bias, it was easy to drift. (Ketsukaki) Full Counter Drift - also known as Counter-Steer setups were the norm but still looked a bit incorrect when scrutinized.
I've owned many Counter-Steer chassis with different setups. The difficult parts to modify were in fact the belts, gears and pulleys to the front.
Running from 1.5CS through to 4.5 and more, Belt drive and shaft drive. I have definitely had a lot of chassis targeted at asphalt, carpet and polished concrete. Full Tune, Full Alloy Silver carbon and complete parts upgrades to admire.
While around 2.5-3.5 seemed to give a realistic-ish feel, the driver is often compensating for the built in chassis imbalance.
I've also had more than a few 50:50 plastic tub thrashers with many different configurations.You gotta try them all.
for a long time, I had two favourite chassis that I considered near perfect as I evolved. This custom DRB was CS2.5, included a narrow scrub front end and true mid-ship balance.
My first Yokomo DRB chassis was upgraded and 99% customised. I thought I'd keep it forever. almost as well balanced and able to drift at any speed. I have a ton of memories tied up with this one.
But my experiments with this beast and others were always niggling at something better. Something new and something true RWD.
While chassis like this still get my attention,
This drift master copped the hacksaw, drill and more as I learned about RWD. Throwing out 3.4CS and changing every other thing as a learning curve was diminished.
Experimentation... more more more and then with a bit of research and sharing I finally found what I needed.
Returning to a more normal layout and adding flexibility... a fair bit of effort led to this.
And that silver full overdose DRB that I'd never sell will stay a lot longer.
It seems that many small manufacturers were playing a long also. Wrap Up Nervis, Bianca, Hayabusa, Exceed and MST variations are now so numerous. Buying a new chassis is no-longer a simple task.
In 2016 there would now be about 100different directions in RC chassis variation on the market. Front, mid & rear-motor variations. Mid and Rear Battery, Inline and Lateral. Weight Shift and low CG, Belt and Shaft, 2WD 4WD. The options are endless.
I've sold 30 DRB-REW and no two of them are yet to share suspension components, and the lust for tuning also remains. That Taimya TA-06 inspires... The Overdose XEX and the up-coming Yokomo YZ-2 all share a plastic gearset in the rear end that was not forgotten, but now we are seeing 1000 different aftermarket parts to swap and change as you like.
One thing that has stopped however is the Front Engine Rear Drive road car / Sportscar.
Since 2009, there hasn't been many rear wheel drive sports cars released for drifters to enjoy. This part of the car industry is almost dead.
So while there maybe a new V12 Ferrari or Bugatti released every other day, the mid range small engine rear drive fun cars are nowhere to be seen. Even the GT86 is now an old design.
That means no new body shapes, but lots of aftermarket kits. Something that TRA-Kyoto knows all to well.
Anyway...
While an ND Roadster will soon be in my real garage, my RC garage will be stuck in time.
What shall the 2nd half of 2016 bring? YZ-2 and loads of tuning. Lets see if Yokomo can re-ignite the passion that drift Package owners had in the past.
