Modern 2wd - TeamC TM2 Mid Mount - Vintage Content Pg.3

[DerbyDan]

So i was offered a 'clubmans' team drive for TeamC through their UK distributer 'SMD' run by none other than Jamie Booth

At my local club (who race indoors on Astroturf) it is apparent that up & coming 'car of the moment' to own is the TM2, following on from the polularity of the easy-to-drive TC02. This new car is proving to work very well on most of the higher grip tracks, ss such the first batch of TM2s were quickly sold which mean't that I had to wait a while to receive my own TM2. Whilst I was waiting the UK TeamC manager & long time racing buddy/pi** taker Alec Springer kindly lean't me his old TC02 car which I must admit I got quite attached to and achieved some decent results with... whether it was any faster than my old Losi CR2 Atomic Carbon is debatable, but it was certainly easier to drive. Anywhoo, onto the build up pics of my TM2...


The box - parts come packed in a draw-string trainer bag which was a nice touch but I'm not sure its something I'll use going down the gym


Nice Carbon parts had their edges softened with the edge of a scapal blade - I also ran super glue around the edges of the chassis plate & wet sanded them back to being nice & smooth - I also dropped superglue around the c/sinks in the u/side of the chassis - this helps give the screws better stability around the head.


Rather than follow the instructrions strictly step by step, I like to build the more complex parts first (shocks, diffs etc) - then I revert back to the beginning of the manual & build the car in those step orders but when it comes to installing those complex parts they are ready to go.

Bag E - shocks - look good quality.


Bag C - gear diff & slipper assembly


Standard TM2 spur gear is renound for stripping teeth, RW racing has already produced an upgrade replacement which is made from a better material (Acetol?)


All three of the driveshafts come pre-built with a light coating of oil - I decided to strip & re-build these with the white grease in the picture - its stuff that is sold for use on bike chains & seems to work really well, we used it on the dogbones on our 24hr race car last year, we experienced zero wear on the outdrives where as the cars in the previous year's event had worn big grooves in their outdrives which actually locked out the suspension I now use the stuff on the driveshafts of my T.C & I swear by it!


Completed Slipper assembly with RW spur gear;


Gear diff about to be assembled;


Completed diff, slipper, centre driveshaft & shocks all completed;


Then I got a bit carried away & assembled the front end (I thought I had taken a pic of the steering bell crank assembly)


Alloy 'C' hubs (in std 25 deg) & 'Castle' block (camber link mount) are all Team C aftermaket parts;


Then I spent longer than I needed to spray up my bodyshell due to it being -1deg in the shed where I was spraying & the paint just didn't want to flow through my airbrush Again this is an aftermarket shell from 'Phat bodies' which had been developed & manufactured & delivered to my door before my 2nd batch kit arrived! This shell is sleeker & better looking (if a Cab forward shell can be 'better' in any way?) than the shell that came supplied in the kit.

[Charlie don't surf]

Hmmmmmm, this is slightly different than what we have available from team C here in the states...

[Phin]

That's a great looking buggy. Really liking the shaft driven 2wd design and the aluminum braces used to stiffen the carbon fiber chassis. Almost makes me want to buy a modern car even though I've got no where to race.

Hmmmmmm, this is slightly different than what we have available from team C here in the states...

Doesn't ROAR have a rule against cars that can only use a shorty pack?

[DerbyDan]

Hmmmmmm, this is slightly different than what we have available from team C here in the states...

Mmm - for some reason my computer doesn't like the U.S TeamC site to see what is available to you guys but I do know of a few TM2 owners in Canada, so I would figure you could get hold of one south of the border?

Anyway - been busy the last few evenings finish off the car, mounting the shell & fitting electrics etc, just got to add the velcro for securing the shell to the sides of the 'Phat Bodies' undertray & add some decals. First run will hopefully be tomorrow night



Shell off;

[hawgfanman]

Very interesting car! Is that just a regular size "shorty" pack?

[jwscab]

seems like it would be less efficient than a regular buggy with that 'half a 4wd' system.

[Charlie don't surf]

Simply wow-

Breakthrough design of the drivetrain IMHO-

[Coelacanth]

It would be great if you could weigh the car, with body, electrics and everything installed EXCEPT the battery! Just for future comparison's sake. Thank you!

[GreenHell]

Cool looking setup.

I’ll be racing carpet outdoor in about a month and I've been looking into Centro and Xfactory B4 mid-motor conversions but that is a neat alternative. You’ll have to keep us posted on how it performs.

[DerbyDan]

It would be great if you could weigh the car, with body, electrics and everything installed EXCEPT the battery! Just for future comparison's sake. Thank you!

I should be able to do that tonight on the club's scales

Yes its a regular sized 'shorty' pack - the design is based around using this size of battery so regular 2S liPo stick packs won't fit. In terms of it being a unique/revolutionary layout - its something that has already been tried over here in the UK with the Kyosho DB1, which is basically a chassis conversion to convert an Ultima RB5 to mid-motor using the rear end & transmission from the 4wd Laser (before the release of the RB6)



The DB1 has proven to be very good on super high grip tracks with people likening its handling to that of a 4wd (very much drive it from the front end with very little power-on understeer) - Unfortuantely this is at the cost of rear end traction when conditions get slippery. The TM2 is marketed as a specialist car for high grip conditions but reports from drivers are saying that it is not as compromised as the DB1 & is actually more drivable in wet/slippery conditions than expected, which I'm guessing may have something to do with where the motor is placed (on the R/H on the DB1 & the L/H side on the TM2) - The DB1 has a heavy brass counterweighted centre shaft which I think is designed to counter balance the torque moment of the motor.

As for efficiency of the drivetrain - the TM2 has fewer meshing gears but also has two extra joints in that centre shaft so its probably about the same as a regular four geared gearbox in a mid motored 2wd buggy, not that it that much of an issue these days with the power available to us with BL motors & the capacity of LiPo batteries

[DennisM]

Nice pictures of a cool looking buggy (without the hat )

[JK Racing]

Fantastic car, I've dream't up things like that, but never had the ability to create one. Those shocks look fantastic as well. 12mm?

[losiXXXman]

I've seen those Rudebits DB1s on Oople before. Team C car looks cool as well. I want to say that someone somewhere has done a similar home brew style conversion using B44 rear end and B4 front. Now that I type that, I think I saw that on Oople also . One of the things I love so much about Oople/Euro off road. There seems to be a lot more experimentation with the actual car design, not only set-ups.

[DerbyDan]

I ran this TM2 for the first time last Friday where we normally run touring cars but in recent months have been running a buggy heat once a month for a bit of fun. This really only proved to be a shakedown test as the grip levels are so low & the track so small that it really is difficult to make any judgement on the car's performance/handling.... but I did take TQ & the double final win from the other half a dozen or so buggies that were racing Most importantly the car drove straight & true & nothing fell off!

The true test of the car was carried out last night at the off-road club near Northampton (where I ran my JRX2 a couple of weeks ago) ... & indeed this will be where I will run this car most regularly. The track is laid out in a sports hall over super high-grip astroturf that gets rolled out & put away before and after the meeting, sand-filled fire hose marks out the track & various constructed wooden ramps add obstacles to make things interesting.

All I can say is WOW! - I can see what all the fuss is about now, the way this car carves through the corners is unreal & it encorages you to push even harder, power-on understeer is almost non-existent & front-end bite & grip really is like that of a 4wd buggy! I've had previously been running an Atomic Carbon Losi CR2 which although seemed to work well for me, I always felt that I was off the pace (laptime-wise) by about 1/2 a sec a lap or more from the top guys, my good results were normally achieved through clean & tidy driving. Literally even on my 1st qualifying run my TM2 was running close with the top drivers with my laptimes just a shade off (0.1/0.2 sec) the two National F1 drivers that were just ahead of me! In the end I qualified 5th in the A final with none of my runs being 100% clean. The final proved to be a bit of a disaster for me in that I made an early error which put me down to the back of the order which lost me too much time to pull back - especially with how close the racing was last night! In the end a 2nd error on my part mean't that I finished flat last.

It was however a very encouraging first (proper) meeting for my new car - the most encouraging part came in the final as the leader came round to lap me (after my mistakes) yet he couldn't make enough ground for me to let him pass so I just drove around in front with a steady gap between us!

[Coelacanth]

Thanks for the performance update. The motor orientation is reminiscent of the Tamiya Avante, I think. So how much did the car weigh, without the battery? I'd also be interested to know approximately where the balance point is, front-to-rear. Gives me a sort of reference point for what I'm trying to achieve with my OptiMutt build.