Tamiya TT-02D Chassis

The kind of vehicle the maker sells it as. It sets what the car is built to do and which cars it is fair to compare it with.

• Drift cars are set up to slide through corners on hard plastic tires, with the rear wheels turning faster than the front or driven alone.

All four wheels are driven, which puts power down more evenly and keeps the car steadier accelerating out of corners.

• The cost is more parts to maintain.
• Some drift cars are 4WD with the rear geared to turn faster than the front, which is the counter-steer ratio.

A kit you build yourself from parts.

• Most kits come without motor, ESC, servo, radio and battery, and many without tires or a painted body.
• The manual lists what to add.

The maker's nominal size compared with a full-size vehicle. It works more as a class label than a measurement.

• A 1/10 monster truck is far bigger than a 1/10 touring car, so compare length and weight for real size.

The small gear on the motor shaft. Fewer teeth gear the car shorter: quicker acceleration, lower top speed and a cooler motor. More teeth do the opposite.

• On a chassis sold as kits, each kit brings its own.

The large gear the pinion drives. A bigger spur with the same pinion gears the car shorter.

• Pinion and spur must have the same pitch, or tooth size, to mesh.

Every reduction after the spur, multiplied together: transmission, differentials and axle gears.

• It is fixed by the design; the gearing you change is the pinion and spur.
• This one is worked out from the tooth counts the maker publishes.
• On a belt-driven drift chassis it takes in the pulley ratios as well.

How many times the motor turns for one turn of the wheels. A higher number is shorter gearing: more acceleration and pulling power, less top speed.

• Drift cars are geared for fine throttle control through a slide more than for top speed.

The outside diameter of the mounted tire, tread to tread. A taller tire covers more ground each turn, which gears the car taller.

• Drift tires are hard plastic and barely change size as they wear, so the gearing stays put.

Motor KV is the RPM a motor turns per volt with no load.

• This vehicle comes without a motor, so there is no stock KV; it depends on the one you fit.

The highest LiPo cell count the maker rates the electronics for.

• This vehicle comes without electronics, so it depends on the ESC and motor you fit.

The distance between the front and rear axle centers. A longer wheelbase is steadier at speed and over bumps; a shorter one turns more tightly.

• This chassis can be set to more than one wheelbase.