Corvette C5-R

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JANG's Impressions

This was a rare trifecta of a car to acquire and assemble, as it was fairly inexpensive and easy to build, yet it's a true competition-style high-performance vehicle. As the main TA04 page notes, this chassis is largely based on the race-bred TRF414, but with a plastic chassis tub and lower-end accoutrements all around for budget-conscious club racers. As an -S variant, this kit includes turnbuckles for camber & steering links and a full set of ball bearings. No motor is included, though -- not even a silver can.

The body was a surprise, and not a good one. The package indicates that the kit comes with a "finished body," yet it includes a full sheet of unapplied decals. The body is indeed painted (actually screen printed) and a small number of decals come pre-placed. If you're in a hurry you can run it as it comes, but it will look decidedly plasticky and toy-like. Otherwise expect to spend 1 to 2 hours cutting and sticking on about 60 decals.

What I appreciate most with this vehicle are some of the more subtle details. The a-arms are wide enough that the car runs non-offset wheels, meaning you can add a set of premounted racing wheels & tires without using extra wide hex adapters or any other tricks. The spur gear employs a standardized mounting pattern used by many other manufacturers, so folks in the Americas can easily switch to 48- or 64-pitch gearing. The motor mount is a rigid aluminum piece that allows a good range of gearing choices and also slightly contributes to motor heat dissipation. All four shocks are identical.

On the track in kit stock setup, the car exhibits mild understeer that is at its worse during initial turn-in. Looking at initial tire wear, the standard camber settings look to be quite good. The number one thing I'd recommend for a step up in handling would be a good set of stiffer springs, as the gold ones included are super-soft and also a bit on the long side. The car gives me great confidence, though, that it can be easily tuned to handle excellently, and the TA04 chassis series has enjoyed quite a lot of success in club racing scenarios across the country.

Building tips

See the whole buildup in the Tamiya Corvette C5-R TA04-S build thread on the forum.

• Be sure to remove the overspray film from the wing before adding decals. Since it's machine-cut it can be easy to miss.

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