Tamiya TRF415 Next Generation! Project kick off

The possibility of getting to the racetrack soon has given me a bit of a boost to look at some of my more racing focussed projects. One of the more popular ones I get asked about is the TRF415 update that I started working on in late 2019.  

The TRF415 is one of my favourites, and I had a lot of great times racing this chassis. As you would expect with the last version being made well over a decade ago some parts are getting quite hard to find now. This isn't a problem for people retiring them on the shelf, however we all know that any TRF should be ready to hit the track. With that in mind, and the desire to always tinker with my race cars I set about to design a new chassis plate set for the TRF415. There were two main goals.

• Improve performance
• Improve spare part availability

To do this I have had to look at how I can achieve this in the most cost effective way possible. The TRF415 poses a few problems for the modern racer. Two of the big issues are the width of the lower deck, this is compounded by the lipo fitment issues.  The second issue is that the whole set-up is very stiff and you do not have a lot of options to tweak the flex. 

The V1 chassis already supports modern Split blocks

Here is the list of goals that I want to achieve with the 'Next-Gen' update .

• Narrow lower deck - Less corner scrub
• Modern suspension Block fitment - Cheaper and provides more flex and suspension mount options
• Even lateral flex - Larger set-up window
• Lipo fitment - Easier solution for lipo fitment, including shorties.
• Low profile shock towers - Lower C.O.G (To run SSBB shocks)
• Revised steering geometry - Turnbuckle length and Ackermann adjustability (This will allow you to run the TRF420 / TA07 / TA08 steering assembly)
• Bodyshell adjustment - Forward and backward 2mm setting from TRF420
• TRF420 suspension design - Shorter lower deck to compensate for the rear arm swing to provide more corner speed and grip. 

As you can see from above to achieve the full vision for the update there will need to be some additional purchases. Key things would be 

• Tamiya or Exotek floating servo mount
• A TA07 steering set-up (Arms and bridge)
• TRF420 bumper sprue
• SSBB shocks (Only if you want the low profile towers).
• 54886 TRF 420 suspension set (Not certain this is actually needed).

Overall this will be a sizeable upgrade. 

Once this Next-Gen TRF415 project is done I will make it so others can also upgrade their Chassis with the Chassis plates being available to you all once finished (Like all things I do, no profit etc).  With this in mind, I am interested in hearing what other interested TRF415 users think of the project. This is probably the last time that the TRF415 will get an upgrade, so it would be good if the TRF community would contribute ideas on what the final version should be. 

V1 is narrower (over 20mm), More equal flex and Floating servo mount fitment.

Have I gone too far? Should I go further? Or maybe reign it in and make a more basic chassis that shares lots of the same components? My concern is that it will not unlock much more performance, but potentially make Lipo fitment better and maybe just support the new split blocks. 

These parts end up costing me quite a bit of my spare cash, and making several prototype chassis plates will set me back a big chunk so it would be good to make something that at least some others would want to run. 

So I am just asking, are you interested in upgrading the TRF415, and if so what do you think should be the next step and how far is too far? 

Please leave your comments below, or via the facebook page (Here)