Tamiya Lancia Delta Integrale on TT02 Review

This one was my second lockdown build an i wanted to move up from the front wheel drive M05Ra to a four wheel drive car. The TT02 is a bit maligned in some RC circles as recently near all Tamiya releases have been a TT02 variant. The photo below gives a comparison not just in size but also layout of the TT02 and M05Ra.

For entry level the TT02 is great kit. It is not that complex to build and there is a wide variety of upgrades and spare parts available. Like most entry level kits it comes with standard silver can motor, plastic and brass bushings as well as pogo stick friction shocks. The kit I chose was the Lancia Delta Integrale, Tamiya kit number 58570 which was released in 2013. It was the first release of this body kit on a TT02 chassis. The first release of this body being on a TA01 chassis in 1992. This body kit has been released on other chassis as well, such as the TT01 DF-03Ra and TV01. It was also released on the TG-10 nitro fuel chassis. Both the TT02 and TV01 versions of this car were released at the same time but are very different. For example the TV01 is a belt drive and comes with oil shocks as standard. The opinion of most is that the critical upgrade, best done while building, is adding bearings. Doing this improves the performance of the car dramatically. I bought mine as a set from https://www.ebay.com.au/str/twokeysrcparts Based in Australia he is reliable and delivers quickly. in this case the chassis is a much easier build than the body kit. The standard TT02 chassis is easy to build following the instructions. The kit has 3 sets of instructions, the basic TT02 instructions, the specific motor mount instructions and the body kit instructions. Remember that this is the rally version which has a higher ride height which makes it easier to cover different conditions. As you can see in the photo below, chassis construction is not too challenging.

In the photo most of the chassis is done. From this stage onwards its more about fitting electronics and there is plenty of room. Have your bearing set ready to install as it is much easier than pulling it all apart to retrofit. I even found that even retrofitting an aluminium drive shaft a bit of a task. The complex part of the Lancia is the body kit. Unlike the Renault, the wheel arches are per cut which makes things much easier. While it is a simple paint job being one colour it is the stickers that are the trouble. The tricky bit is with positioning the stickers over the front and rear wheel arches. You really need to look at using soapy water and a hair dryer to position and shape the stickers over the changing shapes and curves. There is a great YouTube clip by RCKicks that looks at this issue. You can, on close inspection of the photo you can pick out the flaws in the stickers. These are the hard part, which my older fingers had a wee struggle with.

I suggest that if this is your first or even second kit, look elsewhere unless you are not going to do the box art scheme. The chassis no worries its just the stickers. Saying that once done the Lancia in Martini livery does look really cool but it is a proper challenge. Final comments as a first or second chassis the TT02 is great. There are plenty of upgrade options and spare parts available. The bodykit looks great but is not for a newbie. Upgrades to mine so far (see photo):- Tamiya Sport Tuned motor Yeah Racing oil shocks with ball joints Tamiya aluminium drive shaft Bearings and Tamiya Rally cockpit kit.

Next upgrade:- Front steering Universal joints front and rear. Again as a size comparison here are both the Renault and Lancia.

Feel free to comment or leave suggestions.