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Evo III 2003 Reedy Race Performance - Hosted by Tamiya America Inc.

The Tamiya TB Evolution III made a strong showing in all three categories of the 2003 International Reedy Race of Champions. 19 turn Spec, Open Modified and the Invitational class would prove to display some of the most exciting and closely contested races in Reedy touring car history. The category with the most entries was 19 turn spec with 100 drivers competing with a handout Reedy 19 turn motors. With this level playing field, chassis performance, handling and efficiency were critical in order to be competitive.

Rod Canare, an independent driver, took top qualifier honors with his Tamiya TB Evolution III. Four of the top 10 qualifiers were driving Tamiya TB Evolution III chassis. Rod went on to win two of the three A-mains giving him the victory in 19 turn spec. Also, TCS champion Tom Hibler III secured a solid third place finish with his TB Evolution III.

The Open Modified class allows modified motors up to a 10 turn limit and Toshihiko Hara, the designer of the TB Evolution III, proved to be a competitive driver among the ranks of the other factory competitors. Not only did Hara qualify in the A-main but he also finished 6th overall despite some bad luck in the triple A-mains. His performance in open modified reflects on his chassis knowledge and design capability.

The Invitational class consists of the top drivers from around the world. Only 30 are invited to compete and they are hand picked by Mike Reedy himself. David Jun, driving the new TB Evolution III Surikarn Edition, secured a 4th, 3rd and four wins to finish 4th overall. Three points separated the top four finishers who all had four wins leaving the winner undetermined until the final round.

Tamiya congratulates all the Tamiya drivers for their outstanding
performance with the TB Evolution III.

One of the most important things to achieve in building a competitive chassis for the 19Turn class is a free and efficient drive train. Because everyone starts off with a similar motor getting the most out of it is imperative and a drive train that suffers binding will definately hurt your speed. Rod Canare shared some of his building techniques with Tamiya to help both club racers and TCS combatants better understand what's involved in getting that extra freeness.
As with any RC kit built for competition, one can not settle in a stock "slap it together" mentality. Rod believes it can always be a little more efficient and it is never free enough. The first thing Rod did is try some of those new ceramic bearing kits. Ceramic bearings at the moment are all the rage in racing circles, so Rod thought he should give it a try. Ceramic bearings offer less resistance as they are supposed to be using more precise balls in the bearing as well as the longevity that ceramic bearings offer.

When Rod built his EVO III he made sure all the internal drive gears were free from any burrs that are left from the molding process. Because spools were allowed for the Reedy Race it became important to get the EVO pinion gear to mesh precisely with the main diff gear. Rod's little secret here was to further loosen the gear mesh by using Tamiya stainless steel washers to offset the spool and rear diff out-drives from the main shaft pinion. Rod urges caution when doing this as it is only intended for stock or 19T applications. This little demon tweak is not ideal for modified class racing.

Once Rod settled on the internal drive gears mesh, he made sure to build the rest of the car as flat as possible so the car would not exhibit weird chassis tweaks. Rod recommends a good glass coffee table to tighten all of the EVO III's top deck screws or a good straight tweak board. Rod notices that one of the most common mistakes racers make is not making sure their top and bottom decks are as flat as possible. Rod, being a mild mannered racer, concedes

that other than tweaking the freeness of the drive-train he builds the car as per the instructions and just adjusts settings when track conditions dictate a change. Rod's body of choice during the Reedy Race was the proven Protoform Dodge Stratus 2.0. Anyone who knows Rod from the local club scene will notice that he stuck to his standard blue paint scheme with Calsonic livery. As you can see from the pictures within this article, Rod's car was all business and ready to race.