- Tamiya TRF502X - Lee Martin - Moto Arena - November 2010 -

The first race for the car was at an indoor venue at the Moto Arena in Silverstone. The track comprises of Carpet, slippery floor and tarmac with jump sections. In the morning I ran in the diffs and tightened to the required level then hit the track for a bit of practice.

Straight off the bat the car was good, after a few sighting laps I began to lap faster and pushed the car. The noticeable difference over the 511 is the amount of forward traction the car has, or initial punch it produces from the direct drive type system. The second thing I noticed was how well if landed from jumps, this was a worry of mine as most shaft cars I have driven in the past tend to double bounce and become unsettled over jumps/bumps, whereas the 502x seemed to soak it up and get on with its job!

After qualifying was complete I sat on pole position for the final, the car had been wonderful and I had only changed one part of the set up from where I started out (moving the rear shocks to the middle hole on the arm from the inside, this made the rear end more stable on the high bite corners). One thing I had noticed, the diffs had become slight gritty, I think in the future I will use ceramic diff balls as I didn’t with the 511 and this will limit this from happening.

It has to be said I went on to win the final with a near perfect run, the car felt fast, agile and predictable, it already has the makings to exceed the 511, a car regarded as the best 4wd on the market. Time will tell if it can…

Front

Middle hole on tower – middle hole on arm – 400wt MR33 shock oil with pistons #3 and blue springs

Camber links – standard positions – ball studs fully screwed into bulkhead – no gap.

Rear

3rd hole on tower (second from outside) – middle on arm – 300wt MR33 Shock oil with pistons #4 and yellow ‘cut’ springs

Camberlinks – standard positions – ball studs fully screwed into bulkhead – no gap.

Wheelbase – As book (long)

Anti–squat – As book

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