Review: Team Associated Factory Team TC6.2

Contrary to popular belief, on-road is quite different than off-road racing in regards to the driven line. Touring cars are all about speed and precision. The fastest line around the track is mere millimeters from the corner at the fastest speed possible. Now imagine doing that lap after lap with a whole field of cars, just as fast as you can, trying to find that couple inches to make the pass. Team Associated has been that leading car for a while, winning everything from ROAR to BRCA National Championships around the world. The TC6.1 has been an impressive car but, remarkably enough, there is room for improvement. The boys in Area 51 took pen to paper and revised a few parts, added a few tweaks and spit out yet another winning combination. Welcome the TC6.2 to the touring car world.

AT A GLANCE
WHO MAKES IT: Team Associated
WHO IT’S FOR: Intermediate to advanced racers
PART NO.: 30109
HOW MUCH: $419.99
BUILD TYPE: Kit

FACTS
• Team Associated narrowed the TC6.2’s main deck to a thin 88mm. The result is a tight package that helps prevent the sides of the chassis from touching down during hard cornering. The only drawback is limited chassis space for electronics, but I was able to shoehorn a full-size servo, Futaba receiver and LRP FlowWorks Team ESC … and still have a bit of room for wire tidiness. There is enough room; you just may need to spend a little more prep time keeping things neat.

• The TC6.2 features a new, aluminum dual-bellcrank steering set-up. The aluminum completely removes any flex or deflection over the previous plastic version and is supported by a full set of super-smooth bearings. Ackermann settings are also adjustable.

• Driving the front wheels is a lightweight spool. CVA blades tuck into replaceable composite outdrives to create a low-friction drive system. Out back, a fl uid-filled gear diff powers the rear wheels. This diff is completely sealed and requires very low maintenance. While I’m not a fan of fluid diffs only because it can be a pain when constantly tuning it (from track surface to track surface), once you get it right, it’s a set-it-and-forget-it system.

• AE’s VCS3 shocks are awesome. Features include a bottom-load cartridge, bladder up top and the piston is pinned to the shaft via a M2 screw. No more popped e-clips during a race! Not to mention these are some of the smoothest shocks I’ve ever used.

• One of the biggest improvements is moving the arm mounts off the bulkheads and straight to the chassis. Interchangeable inserts allow simple and easy tuning without all the drama the previous 6.1 car had.

• The TC6.2 also retains the H.D.R.C. roll stiffness system. Yes, it sounds pretty technical but basically what the High Definition Roll Control system does is convert the anti-roll bar system from a single wire to two individual wires. Each wire feeds from the suspension arm link to an aluminum center member that rides on a pair of bearings. When force is applied to one side, the aluminum center member rotates and applies force to the opposite side, similar to what the single wire did. The biggest advantage is the reduction of friction and the addition of a more precise movement.

• As any good car should, this Factory Team TC comes with 22 precision ball bearings.

• The build of the TC6.2 is half the fun, but if you feel unsure about a certain step, you can head over to rcdriver.com/build-blogs/ and follow along the build.

PROS
+ Extremely narrow chassis (only 88mm wide)
+ Comes with a spool up front and a lightweight, fl uid-filled gear diff in the rear
+ Includes AE’s VCS3 hard-anodized aluminum shocks
+ Dual-wire, H.D.R.C. (High Definition Roll Control) anti-roll stiffness system
+ Updated bulkhead/arm mount system to reduce fl ex
+ Updated, ball-bearing supported aluminum steering system
+ Unique “floating” servo-mounting system helps reduce chassis tweak
+ Ballcup eyelets at the end of every turnbuckle make changing locations a breeze
+ Box-stock setup worked excellent on our outdoor test track

CONS
– Fitting electronics can be a bit tricky with the limited surface space

ON THE TRACK
Our test track has seen a bit of a rough winter and with the outdoor season just starting, I wasn’t expecting much in the form of overall performance from the TC6.2. The track was still a bit green and hadn’t seen much action to build up a good layer of rubber. I was in for a surprise…

STEERING: NEUTRAL
The TC6.2 inhibits some very sharp, quick-turning queues when you flick the steering wheel. I found that if I was smooth on the wheel I could put the TC anywhere I wanted to. The steering seems extremely positive now with the aluminum setup, however I’m not sure if this is really true or just a case of the placebo effect. Either way, I was impressed with the steering right out of the box.

ACCELERATION/ BRAKING: EXCELLENT
Power from the Reedy/LRP combo feels really good for a 17.5T setup. Our track is a bit on the short side so I was able to gear for acceleration over top speed. In and out of the corners, the powerband felt smooth as silk and seemed to keep pulling all the way down the straight. I did hear the belt skip once or twice on the first test run but after examination, I found I had installed the rear diff with the wrong cam positions. Pay close attention to this during the build. Once fixed, the skip was gone and the car felt solid both moving forward and slowing down.

SUSPENSION: EXCELLENT
As you’d expect from a competition vehicle, the suspension on the TC6.2 is excellent. Our track has a few bumps in the center of it that, depending on the track layout, can have you bouncing through them. This particular layout has you going diagonally over them while accelerating, so there are times where you can get the wheels off the ground. Almost every time I hit this spot, the TC landed, squirmed for a fraction of a second and then continued to power to the next corner. While this is not really something you should gauge the performance of a TC on, it did feel good that the car never got out of shape. I did get to do a little tuning on the 6.2 as well, changing the shock locations and camber link locations to see how much of an effect they had on the car. In both instances, I had to make drastic changes to really feel the difference in the car; however I was driving on an unprepared track. If you put this TC on a prepared track (or even carpet), I can almost guarantee you you’ll feel the difference in even a minute change.

DURABILITY: EXCELLENT
As I mentioned in the opening paragraph, TC driving is all about speed and precision. The installed 17.5T setup is pretty quick (a 7.5T would have been a bit more fun I suspect) but the human factor is where the precision comes in. I’ve raced touring cars since the day the class started, so I have quite a bit of experience with them. That being said, I tend to sometimes get the feeling of invincibility when driving them and start to really push the limits of the car. That can sometimes lead to a crash and, when it does, it’s a BIG crash. Case in point…I’ve put two packs through the TC6.2, made a few changes and am starting to get really brave with the car. I come out of the final corner that leads to the straight with the perfect line…this next lap is going to be stellar. One thing I’ve learned is that if you don’t focus on the first corner, you’re not going to make the second. As I head down the straight I start to turn into the squared-off sweeper, only to clip the corner piping. This sends me airborne to the outside of the track. Wait, who lines the outside of the sweeper corner with cinderblocks?? The TC6.2 hit the wall flat on the roof of the car. There was the sound of Lexan folding and bits and pieces of stuff just hitting the ground. After everyone stopped “eeewww-ing,” I went over to check out my ride. The body had flattened out, the ESC had lifted off of the chassis and the rear body mounts had broken…that was it! I went back to the pits, taped the ESC back down and took the car back out (sans the body and rear mounts) to see if there was any other damage. Other than a little bit of high-speed slipping around (probably due to the loss of the body’s downforce), the TC6.2 had survived. I was absolutely amazed!

SPECS & TUNING OPTIONS
DIMENSIONS
LENGTH: Varies
WIDTH: Varies
WHEELBASE: 10.04 in. (255mm)
WEIGHT: Varies

BODY, WHEELS AND TIRES
BODY: Not included
WHEELS: Not included
WHEEL ADAPTER TYPE: 12mm
TIRES: Not included

SUSPENSION
TYPE: 4-wheel independent
SHOCK POSITIONS: (F) 4-tower, 3-arm, (R) 4-tower, 3-arm
CAMBER: Adjustable turnbuckles
ROLL: Adjustable ball heights
WHEELBASE: Adjustable with shims
RIDE HEIGHT: Threaded shocks
MISC: NA

STEERING
TYPE: Dual bellcrank
TOE: Adjustable turnbuckles

CHASSIS
TYPE: Flat chassis
MATERIAL: Carbon fi
ber
THICKNESS: 2.25mm

DRIVETRAIN
TYPE: 4WD
TRANSMISSION: NA
DIFFERENTIAL: (F) Locked, (R) Gear
GEAR RATIO: Optional pinion gears
BEARINGS: Full set of shielded ball bearings

WRAP UP
While the on-road side of our industry has been on a slow decline for a while, the production of the top-tier TCs has not. It’s good to see that the big manufacturers still feel there is a market there and continue to support it. Eventually these road-rockets will make a comeback and, when they do, you’ll be prepared with one of the best out there.

LINKS
Futaba, futaba-rc.com, (217) 398-8970
Kustom RC Graphics, kustomrcgraphics.com
LRP, lrp-america.com, (949) 276-6060
Muchmore Racing, muchmoreusa.com, (217) 398-8970
Reedy, reedypower.com, (949) 544-7500
Team Associated, teamassociated.com, (949) 544-7500