How to turn your RC car into Drift Spec

Remote Control Drifting is taking off in a big way, in this article I show you step by step how to turn that old 1/10 touring car into a drifters dream machine. It’s very simple and usually only takes a couple of hours, using this handy guide I’ll have you on your side before you know it.

What exactly is drift?

In a nutshell, drifting is the art of changing your car’s angle of attack, while maintaining full control, so in a typical drift, driver X approaches the corner and turns hard too soon, this will make the rear of the car turn. , Driver X will then turn back onto the slide and keep the car turning the corner while maintaining as much angle and speed as possible, then over-correct and throw the car onto another slide right after the first one, with the least amount of straight . coating as possible.

Can an RC Drift Car?

Yes, if you’ve ever been involved in RC racing you know the level of setup that even basic RC cards come with, and drift is no exception. While a standard RC car may work right out of the box, there are some basic setups and chassis mods that will help you get more angle, speed, and chicks.

Where do I start?

The first thing you need is an RC car, I will use two examples, with which I have had personal experience, the Tamiya TT01 and the Tamiya TA05. The first step to drifting is to break that traction, due to the power to weight ratio of RC cars we need a little help, Drift tires are all you need to get on your side, but there’s a little more you can do if he wants it. to compete. If you can’t find RC Drift tires, you can use electrical tape, make sure you wrap it in the same direction the wheel will turn, a good trick is to put it on and roll your RC Car on it, this is the right way for tires. with tape they tend to work better on surfaces that already have little or no traction, i.e. an underground parking lot, but they don’t last very long. All drift tires have different traction, more traction = bigger drifts, but this is useless if you need to race on a tight track, as the amount of torque used to break traction will also generate a lot of speed, it’s personal in the end. preference.

Whats Next?

Okay you taped up your rims and played around a bit, we don’t need to make the car more predictable, all the standard racing setups apply, shocks, ride height and wheel angles are up to you but if needed is the rear diff you need to lock it, this is also known as a spool differential, basically it means both wheels need to turn at the same time. The result is a car that will brake and regain traction on command, drifts will also be much easier to control, more acceleration = more angle, less acceleration = less angle.

TT01

The Tamiya TT01 uses a planetary gear setup for the rear diff, which is easy to convert (and back if you change your mind later) the two most common ways to lock this diff are 1. Open the diff and fill it with glue from a glue gun, or 2. Take a small piece of fuel tubing, cut it lengthwise and wrap it around one of the planet gears. Once done, close the diff and check if it gives the desired result before putting it back. The other option is to purchase a jump coil differential.

TA05

The TA05 uses a ball diff front and rear, this is not that easy to modify but it can be done. The way I modified mine was to use pop rivets. I opened up the diff and removed the ball bearings and the metal plates that the balls run through. I then drilled three small holes in the side, getting both halves of the diff. I then riveted them together and filed down the rivets. This worked, but be careful. 1. It is not reversible and if you make a mistake, the difference will be destroyed. 2. It doesn’t last long, eventually the forces going through the differential will destroy it because it has been weakened by holes. A coil differential is available for the TA05 and this is the preferred option.

What about the front differential?

Now that we have a solid platform we can experiment with slightly different setups to find the one that suits us best, this varies from car to car but the principle is the same. Personally, I love using a front one-way diff or a center one-way diff for more control. The downside is that using the brakes at any time is the same as using the electronic brake (handbrake) on a real car, the tail will slide in a 180, while this can be useful for starting a skid and transitioning to A second drift from the first is very easy to turn, which is why most people prefer not to use the single directions. Again, this depends on personal preference.

Why drifting is so much better than racing.

Well I love both of them but from a drifting point of view it takes a lot more skill and a lot less car what I mean is while racing takes skill you can compensate with an amazing car there is no way that a TT01 wins consistently. a race against a carbon fiber racing machine. But with the drift you can, a TT01 can overtake any car, yes, it will be difficult, but much of the drift is due to the skill of the driver that anything can happen. This being the case, it is also possible to get into drifting with very little financial backing (unlike racing)

I hope this article has given you some insight about drifting, feel free to contact me if you have any suggestions or need any advice, advice is always free, like the rest of my site.