HPI have finally got the drop on their main drift rivals Yokomo, and come out with a ‘revolutionary’ drifting car – the HPI Pro-D. With a carbon main chassis, carbon upper deck and orange anodised aluminium bulkheads, it's a very slick design. Only one question remains...
The HPI Pro-D
Why has it taken this long for a manufacturer to come out with this kind of chassis – not one that's a re-hash of another model, but a specific drift chassis? Tamiya, by shear fluke, have already created the perfect drifting chassis, and discontinued it before people even realised that you could drift RC cars – namely the Tamiya TA03F. Since the TA03F is no longer supported by Tamiya, parts and chassis’ are nigh on impossible to get hold of, so some competitive drift series have created rules specifically to ban this car.
So what made the TA03F so great at drifting? Well, good drifting is all about weight good distribution. You'll find most drifters will add a lot of weight to the front bumper so that the front tires will be pushed down and grip more than the rear, and also to give a point for the rear of the car to swing around. The TA03F was created with equal weight distribution to the left and right in mind, so the motor was moved to the front of the car to avoid the drive belts. This in turn provided the necessary weight sitting on the front wheels. Perfect left and right weight distribution also means the battery must be placed across the chassis, rather than along side the centre line. Take a look:
Our verdict: Currently this is only available in Japan, and at a price of 52000 yen (about $450) for just the chassis kit - only hardcore drifters need apply. Although this isn't overpriced considering the specification, the now obsolete TA03 will perform just as well, and these can be picked up reasonably cheaply on ebay. If any of you have a cousin or a brother with an old RC kicking about in the loft, go and have a look, it might just be one of these gems.
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Comments
vl2k
Tue, 04/22/2008 - 10:16am
HPI Club
Tue, 04/22/2008 - 2:51pm
Newbie
Sat, 06/07/2008 - 11:57am
neoproducciones
Fri, 01/16/2009 - 3:32pm
Hi! I've got an old Corolla TA03F, but I don't know if I can mount it a new drift wheels/tyres from a newer Tamiya model. Anyone helps?? Thanks you in advance, nice blog! ^^
Kwagga
Mon, 02/09/2009 - 8:07am
Yeah right,have you seen a rayspeed or a drift master?
The E10 was a disaster with no hop ups or spares compatibility,Shocks for example,now you think this pup can run with the big dogs,dont think it can lift its leg up high enough.
an do not forget that most guys are running hard case lipo's or side by side packs, so how you going to fit it there?,maybe a mod is available to adapt to this but again more money spent to make the car work,why not go back to saddle packs,seeing that they are reverse engineering
Spoon
Thu, 10/08/2009 - 6:43am
I have one of these atm... not a bad setup at all... the only problem with it is it is very heavy, which is great for etended drifts, but does not handle as well as other chassis on the market. It handles hard case lipo batteries as the kit comes with the required spacers. The diff cups and drive shafts wear too much for excessive use if using a high powered motor!
It is hard to get parts from, even the LHS struggle to get the parts, it seems that HPI don't care about keeping ppl drifting after they've spent this much on a chassis.
If I did buy another chassis, I'd probably go with the TA03F, or even a schumaker as they just handle so much better!
I'd give it a 7/10
MCtrlSys
Thu, 12/24/2009 - 3:03pm
No need to be mean guys. They are right though. The TA-03F and HPI Pro D are completely different designs. One is a front mid and the other is a front mount motor. Honestly while the HPI looks cool it is overcomplicated. Really there is no need for a 3 piece shaft. I have been running a TA03F Pro for some time now and I have found that the handling characteristics are not even close. I do appreciate the article on this as I appreciate anyone who writes down what they find out, keep it up, opinions are always needed and they inspire ideas. And guys remember, it is an opinion no need to get hostile.
Newbie
Fri, 01/22/2010 - 8:11pm
I have a TA-03 that I bought back in 1997 or 1998. I ran it then but has been in the closet since, got it out and it works fine if anybody is interested.
lee_brewer@hotmail.com
Cumby Texas
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