The DC10 Drift Car Kit is a rear-wheel-drive 1/10 drift chassis from Team Associated, built by the owner and sold without motor, electronics, gyro, wheels or tires.
The 81T spur drives a 2.6:1 transmission on a 257 mm wheelbase, and the shocks take 10 wt oil. Drift cars want smooth throttle more than speed, so start on a small pinion and move up only if the car bogs as it links corners.
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.
Drive
Only the rear wheels are driven.
Modern drift chassis are mostly rear-wheel drive and use a steering gyro to hold the car at an angle through a slide.
Power
Sold without a motor, so you choose the motor, ESC and battery yourself.
Rows that depend on the motor say so.
Build
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.
Scale
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.
Part number
The maker's product number for this exact version.
A V2, a new color, or a kit instead of an RTR usually has a different number, and parts can differ between them.
Check it against your box or receipt before ordering parts.
Class
Drift
Drive
2WD
Power
Motor not included
Build
Kit
Scale
1/10
Part number
30134
Drivetrain
Pinion
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.
Spur
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.
The Gearing parts table below shows this car's pitch and part numbers.
Transmission & axle
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.
On a belt-driven drift chassis it takes in the pulley ratios as well.
Final drive
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.
Pinion
Not applicable
Spur
81TStock
Stock
Transmission & axle
2.60:1Stock
Stock
Final drive
Not applicable
Wheels & tires
Tire diameter
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.
Tire diameter
Not applicable
Suspension
Shock oil, front
The oil in the shocks slows how fast the suspension moves. Thicker oil settles the car more slowly and resists bottoming out; thinner oil lets the wheels follow bumps.
At the front it mostly shapes the steering: thicker oil makes the car turn in more calmly and dive less under braking; thinner oil turns in sharper and keeps the front tires on the ground over bumps.
On smooth tracks racers change oil in small steps to fine-tune how the car rolls into a corner.
It is graded in wt here. A wt number is the oil maker's own grade and differs between brands, so match the brand, or use the oil maker's chart to convert.
Shock oil, rear
The rear shocks mostly shape grip under power and how the car lands.
Thicker oil at the rear holds the back up on landings and keeps it steadier on the throttle; thinner oil lets it squat and follow rough or loose ground for more grip.
Front and rear run the same oil here (10 wt), so both ends respond alike. Changing one end at a time is the usual way to shift the balance.
Shock oil, front
10 wtStock
Stock
Shock oil, rear
10 wtStock
Stock
Power
Motor
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.
Motor shaft
The diameter of the motor's output shaft, which a pinion's bore must match.
This vehicle comes without a motor, so it depends on the one you fit.
Battery
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.
Motor
Not applicable
Motor shaft
Not applicable
Battery
Not applicable
Performance
Theoretical top speed
It needs a motor KV, and this vehicle comes without a motor. Fit one and the calculator works it out from the motor's KV and the gearing.
Theoretical top speed
Not applicable
Size & weight
Wheelbase
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.
Wheelbase
257 mm10.1 inStock
Stock
How to read these figures
Stock is as the vehicle ships.
Calculated is worked from the stock figures on this page rather than stored beside them, so the two cannot drift apart.
Not applicable means the vehicle does not come with it, like the motor on a roller or the tires on a race kit, or does not have one, like a KV rating on a brushed motor.
Pinion and spur parts for the Team Associated DC10 Drift Car Kit: fitted, and optional gearing supplied in the box
Component
Teeth
Pitch
Bore
Part number
Fitted at the factory
Spur
81T
48P
Not applicable
92296
About teeth, pitch and bore
Tooth counts are the ones in the specifications above.
Pitch is given as metric module (Mod 1, Mod 0.8) or diametral pitch (32P, 48P). They are different standards and are not interchangeable, even where the numbers look close.
Bore is the pinion’s hole, listed separately from the motor shaft.
The spec page and the press release print a 2.6:1 transmission ratio and a 257mm wheelbase.
The kit manual's build steps fit the 81T Octalock spur (#92296); its tuning page suggests starting gearing on 72T and 78T spurs for different motors, which are options rather than the kit spur.
A 48 pitch pinion, motor, gyro, wheels and tires are on the required-to-complete list.
The ready-to-run DC10 keeps its own sheet.
Sources
Every figure on this page traces to one of these; where they disagreed, the note above says which was used and why. Links open in a new tab.