Toy vs Racing R/C Cars - The Toy Car Keeps Up!

The Tamiya TL01 was released over 10 years ago and was considered a "toy" r/c car aimed at beginners. Personally I loved the design of that car and decided to race the old Tamiya TL-01 in the competitive 13.5T brushless Touring car class. Speeds here probably reach 45mph down the straight!

Surprisingly I managed to qualify 5th in the Amain despite the lack of power (I was using old electronic equipment).


Photo: Left the "toy" Tamiya TL01 versus the Tamiya 416WE rc racing car!



For photos and full writeup, you can read more about the Tamiya TL01 project here.

Bottom line, the TL01 is a better car especially for newbies because:

- It is not tail happy. You can drive it without fear of oversteer.
- Less setup options to confuse you.
- Less maintenance (gear diff, sealed drivetrain, zero chassis tweak)
- It is 5 times cheaper and chassis looks better!

Thanks for reading and hope it gives you more confidence that our "toy" rc cars are actually very competitive.