Tamiya TA05 Innovation and legacy.

In 2005 Tamiya released a club spec chassis that was not only a huge step forward in performance from the preceding TA04, it was also going to provide a glimpse into the future of tenth scale touring car design. 

The TA05 was developed soon after the TRF415 and it inherited some of the design cues from that car. The concept of the three stiffeners had been translated to a very stiff chassis design. The suspension was inherited from the TB Evo IV. All quite standard, until you get to the drivetrain. 

Tamiya's innovative transmission system featured equal length front and rear belts. Providing great drive efficiency on acceleration, alongside a significant reduction of pitch and dive on and off throttle. 

The belt tensions could be simply adjusted with the eccentric differential holders. These also allowed you to easily change differential height. Tamiya always likes to experiment with it's club  based cars and here they had stumbled onto something quite special.

The TA05 was an instant success in clubs all around the world, despite this however it took quite some time before this drive layout was adopted by high end touring cars. 

Tamiya's TRF team themselves looked at options but at the time they were winning world championships and the world of high level touring cars had become quite conservative. Why would they bring such a dramatic change to threaten their current world conquering championship charge?

Tamiya did let the TRF drivers try out a half way house design with the TA05ms. It  has a successful outing by winning the Reedy Race that year. However the TRF top end cars retained a more conventional drive layout for many years to come. 

It was the Awesomatix brand that helped reintroduce this drive layout. It can be argued that they have been the most significant disruptor in the field of touring car design over the last decade, but it is good to see IRIS and RCMaker recently contribute to the class with their interesting new innovations. 

It took 20 years, but we now have the TRF421, featuring a refined version of this drive layout. The main change is that the belts are now on the inner side of the main spur gear. This helps make the chassis more narrow, bringing in the battery position. The motor mount is still one piece, but is now much slimmer to ensure the flex is along the centre line of the chassis.

The TA05 has always been a very special car to me and many other club racers. My old club car photographed here has put in thousands of laps. It's successfully been a giant killer against top end touring cars, and it's also been a near indestructible tank. I honestly cannot remember breaking anything on this car. The only time I replaced parts was down to wear. It's great to see its legacy continued,  even in an indirect way. I wonder if anyone will look at the TA06 drivetrain as the next step forward.. ;) 

The TA05 has inspired some great updates over the years..

Such as this version by RCCarTips

Or this TA05v2 modified by RC Walrus Jon

What were your memories of the TA05? Do you still run one?