Team Associated TC8 Graphite-Spec Team Kit 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.

• Touring cars are 4WD on-road cars for asphalt and carpet tracks, often raced in classes with fixed motor and battery rules.

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.

Sold without a motor, so you choose the motor, ESC and battery yourself.

• Rows that depend on the motor say so.

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.
• This one is 360 mm long.

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.

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.

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.

• On-road racers often compare gearing by rollout instead, because tire sizes differ between cars.

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

• Race tires wear down over a day, and a smaller tire gears the car shorter.

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.

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 (30 wt), so both ends respond alike. Changing one end at a time is the usual way to shift the balance.

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 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.

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.

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.

Overall length as the maker states it, usually with the body fitted.

• Useful for comparing real size, since scale labels are loose.