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TA05 Version II - By: Andrew Kuntze

In 2005, Tamiya announced the release of its latest and greatest on-road sedan tub chassis the TA05. The TA05 was designed with many ideas and features taken straight from the IFMAR winning TRF415 chassis, and it showed on the track quickly becoming a popular weapon of choice for local club racing and the Tamiya Championship Series as well. In 2007, the Tamiya engineers revised the TA05 to incorporate an inboard front suspension system and suspension arms directly from the championship winning TRF416. Dubbed the TA05-IFS, this new iteration picked up right where the original TA05 left off in its on track success. Tamiya has once again taken the task of improving upon an already successful and popular vehicle and released the TA05 Version II.

Key Features:

The new TA05 V.2 chassis features 5 newly designed parts: L Parts (Lower deck), K Parts (Stiffener), M Parts (Suspension Mount), H Parts (Wing, Mirror), and motor mount.
Overall chassis width is narrower which improves road clearance in rolls.
The battery position is moved forward for improved driving characteristics.
The separated suspension mounts enable easy maintenance of the drive train.
The belt-driven 4-wheel drive chassis features isometric drive belts, front and rear 37T ball diff. and a horizontally mounted motor.
Features inboard front suspension and short reversible suspension arms as well as up-rights with 1050 ball bearings.
Aluminum one-piece integrated motor mount.

At the heart of the TA05 V.2 is the same dual belt, mid motor drive train that has powered the TA05 since its inception, but now incorporates 37-tooth front and rear differential pulleys, and an 18-tooth center pulley directly from the TRF416 drivetrain. The motor mount has also been redesigned to move the motor even further towards the center line of the chassis, which narrows the chassis up by 1mm, and gives better left to right side weight distribution.

The battery position has been moved forward for optimum balance and better transitioning capabilities. To make maintenance easier, new separate suspension mounts were designed and no longer requires removal of the front and rear suspension components to replace the belts.

Finally, new short suspension arms have been added, which share the same designed as the short arms found on the TRF416X. These new arms have been paired with revised rear hubs using 1050 bearings that are also designed after those found on the TRF416 kits.

New Hopups

With the revisions that were made to the chassis, a variety of new hopup parts were also produced to get the most out of the TA05 V.2:

54095 - Aluminum Racing Steering Set
54137 - Aluminum Rear Upright
54170 - Low Friction Drive Belt
54171 - Separate Suspension Mount (1X)
54172 - Separate Suspension Mount (1A-1XA)
54173 - Separate Suspension Mount (1B-1XB)
54174 - Separate Suspension Mount (1C-1XC)
54175 - Separate Suspension Mount (1D-1XD)
54196 - Carbon Reinforced K Parts
54197 - Aluminum Motor Mount
84101 - Titanium Screw Set

For a complete list of all compatible hopups, please visit: TA05 Hopups

Track Time

As a base line setup, I used the exact same setup as my old TA05 IFS to get a feel of how the changes to the chassis affected the car. Even though most of the changes were subtle, they did make a very noticeable difference in the handling of the chassis. I took the car out to the Tamiya America Test Track in Aliso Viejo, CA on a Saturday for the weekly open practice they have to get some good laps in. After setting the car on the track and doing a few slow laps to get the steering settings right, and get the car to trek straight, and I was off. The first thing can feel in the TA05 V.2 is how well the car transitions from corner to corner. Going through chicane leading onto the main straight, I was able to really feel how much better the car worked than the original TA05 IFS, and that is very impressive considering how well that car handles. The narrower chassis and short suspension arms make the car feel more nimble and more planted all around. I brought the car back to the pits to make a few very minor adjustments and make sure everything was holding together after a late night build. The only changes I made to the car were to take some spacers out from the front inner camber link, adjust the droop and that was it! These minor changes really made the car come alive. I could get into the corners harder and had more steering everywhere. I decided to test the car on a longer run to see how the tires held up. One thing I noticed in my personal experience with the original TA05 was that it had a tendency to lose a bit of rear grip over the course of a 5 minute main. After running for 7 minutes or so, the car was as good as it had been when it was first put down. I couldn't have been happier with the way the car turned out. I didn't think the slight design changes made to an already great platform could have made such big improvements.

Electronics Used

LRP Sphere Competition TC Spec

Orion Vortex 17.5 Brushless Motor

Orion 3800 Race Spec Lipo

Futaba S9551 Servo

Futaba 3pk Radio with

Futaba R603FS Receiver

Conclusion

The TA05 V.2 continues the tradition of superior on track performance, and more than lives up to the reputation of the TA05-IFS and TA05 chassis. With a great platform to start with, and a wide variety of hopup parts available, the TA05 V.2 will suit any budget, and many different classes. Taking all of the knowledge from multiple world championships and customer feedback, the TA05 V.2 makes a great racer even better !

Set-Up

This is a copy of the setup I used for this test. While this worked for me, it might not work for you, so don't be afraid to change the setup and experiment for yourself! Click Here