Tamiya TT-02F Positive Ackerman (Tuning option). Available Now

The base TT-02F kit provides some anti-Ackerman on the steering.  This is not the conventional layout you will find in an RC Car. Most use pro Ackerman or neutral Ackerman (Parallel). So it might seem odd to run a car with this style of steering.

On a FWD touring car, the front tyres are doing almost everything: steering, pulling the car, and most of the braking/rotation work. Too much normal Ackermann can make the inside front tyre turn too sharply, which can scrub speed, overwork the tyre, and make the car feel edgy or draggy mid-corner.

Anti-Ackermann does the opposite. It reduces the angle difference between the inside and outside front wheels, or can even make the outside wheel steer more than expected. The result is often:

• more stability on corner entry
• less inside front tyre scrub
• smoother steering response
• better corner speed on high-grip carpet
• less chance of the car “hooking” or over-rotating

For a FWD RC race car, anti-Ackermann can make a lot of sense if the car already has plenty of front bite. It can help the car carry speed rather than pivot too aggressively. This is especially useful on high-grip carpet where the car can become too reactive or start scrubbing the front tyres.

The TT02F conversion was principally developed as a cheap and simple kit for the standard TT-02. These kits don't provide a lot of options to tune the rear of the car, other than toe-in rear hubs. So when running this default steering configuration I was really happy with how planted the rear of the car felt when driving on my local medium grip carpet track. 

I had spent some time testing and tweaking the steering. I even made a steering simulation tool  of the TT02F where I could try different steering systems, Ackermann etc.. I found that the base kit was the best general solution for the design principles of the TT-02F

The default position of the steering arms provides quite a mild amount of Anti-Ackerman until you get to the extreme extents of full lock.  

However, I have decided to provide a tuning part for the car that will actually give a more conventional Ackerman steering feel. You will probably need 7mm hubs to ensure you have enough clearance with 0mm offset race wheels. 

You can download it here..

(Click to download)

Note: The (TT02-S versions will appear soon when I am back in the UK, I cant seen to upload their files).

You need to attach the parts from the underneath, use 2x10mm screws to securely attach the Ackermann extensions to the existing knuckles (I just mounted them on the grey knuckle so you can see how the part fits)

Now you want a 20mm m3 screw attached from underneath for the spacers and the nut. 

As the pick up points are now different, and further away, you will need 42mm Tamiya turnbuckles to reach. I had 26.1mm gap between the two connectors on each turnbuckle. 

So you can now try this set-up, and see if you prefer it to the kit setting.. ( On carpet, I find the kit setting better with the BRCA FWD tyres.). 

More parts to come very soon :)