Tamiya FF04 Evo X 2022 mods

Front wheel drive (Or Frontie to most),  has had a surge of popularity in the UK. It isn't a true FWD class as you would expect, allowing mid motored chassis to compete with front motor cars, but it is still a fun class and it is really popular at my local club so I want to join the fun. 

As a Tamiya die-hard I have gone with the Tamiya FF-04 evo. This chassis was released in 2014 so as you can imagine over the last 8 years there has been some progress in the class. I intend to run it in stock form for one event, but then look at updating it where possible to improve my lap-times. 

Whilst waiting for the first outing of the std chassis (2 weeks), I have already started to mock up some parts.

SSBB low profile shock towers. 

These are actually 7mm lower than the kit towers. They should help increase cornering response. As you can see at the moment I still used the Tamiya rear body mounts. I think I will be dropping those and instead making the rear posts similar to my TA08 Pro rear tower. So you can use the TRF posts. You can then use conventional vertical mounts, or more importantly use horizontal mounts, again to lower the COG. 

LCG motor plate

Another area I am investigating is a new motor plate.. this is proving a more complex. This current version mounts the motor 3.5mm lower than the original chassis. 

This just clears the suspension blocks. So I could probably not go any lower unless you want to file those down. There are still problems with this height as the front bumper mount is way too large. I may need to do compromise and raise the motor 1mm. This should allow the bumper to fit with a little trimming.   

Goals for this LCG motor plate are to get the motor as low as possible (that extra weight low down will really make a difference), and to allow the motor to go more forward to allow a wider gearing range (Approx 2mm).

I'd be interested in knowing what things you think could help improve the FF04?