FF03-R (Upgraded)

 

I bought the FF03-R a while ago and before I started building it I ordered some hop-ups from RCMart. I waited and waited for those parts to arrive and turns out EMS lost my package. Hong Kong Post said package left country, US Postal said never arrived in country. After many emails back and forth rctmart gave me store credit minus the huge fee for EMS speedpost (yay I got charged for a lost package, great!).. Well, so much time passed that I saw the news about the FF03 Chassis Upgrade Set over on tamiyablog. So I figured I would wait for that since I had been focusing on the M-Four recently. In preparation I ordered some FF03 hop-ups again. The Carbon Motor Stay, Rear Carbon Damper Stay, Alum Racing Steering, Carbon Steering Link, IFS Rocker Arm Set. However… when you get the Upgrade set…

The steering and suspension setup is different – it’s from the TA06, so all three steering hop-ups can not be used… bummer. The kit comes with TA06  Carbon Reinforced N-Parts and no ball bearings to go with them, nor does the FF03R kit. For all the money both kits cost this is very cheap from Tamiya. I bought the TA06 Alum Rocker Arm Set instead.

The Carbon Motor Stay is heavily discounted on TamiyaUSA website and I wonder if it’s a bad part/idea compared to the FF-03 M Parts? After much sanding (of both carbon fiber and motor tab). I could finally get the motor tabs to fit under them at the only angle possible. The picture below shows how tight a squeeze it is. Straight tabs will be easier than the Novak Ballistic 17.5 L shaped tabs.

Other electronics used for this one is the Spektrum SR3100 DSM2 receiver, Novak Edge 2s ESC and the trusty Futaba S9551 servo.

It’s also nice to finally be able to use non-stick pack batteries. This time I used Speedtech Pursuit 5300mah 40C 7.4v Lipo great price.  

The screws included are JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) Phillips and not Hex.

I put on my old Subaru TT01D body (getting a Scirocco body ready for it) and went to West Coast RC Raceway in La Mirada, CA. It is a really good facility. Just call ahead and ask if onroad practice is open. 99% of the visitors there are offroad (and really really good!). Just make sure you have COLD weather tires. Track temp is very low and since it is indoor, sun is no help. I had to glue up a set of Sorex 20R tires to get any grip at all. It actually made me order some tire warmers from speedtech, but more on that later The car was really responsive, super sharp turn in, stable rear end, could drive the whole track at full throttle. Using stock timing and gear ratio. I cranked the timing as far as Novak recommended, but did not get that much more speed out of it. Will have to see what I can do with the gear ratio. Which might be tricky seeing how hard it was to get the motor tab to fit.I have not yet put a stabilizer set on it (it’s in the mail). Might not need it? Will see how it behaves at the Tamiya Track in Aliso Viejo, CA before I decide.

Unfortunately I cannot tell you how it compares to the FF03, FF03Pro or FF03R… since this fully upgraded one is the first one I had… I sure have a lot of FF03 parts left over!