What Is the best f1

[grimidol]

Well as ever down to what you like but I am interesting in getting one again so what is hot and what is not

[ch!3f]

i run a tamiya f103 which is very easy to use hardly any messing with settings other then spring choice oil for shock and tyres,lovely to frive and handles well,my brother has a f109 from 3 racing alot of setting up to do and if slightly out handles like a piece of poo down the lave!best thing would be try and get a few goes of what people run and see which you prefer good old simplicity and drive-ability or modern and pretty technical.

can drop on tamiya f1's on ebay cheap 3 racing loose there value quickly.

[grimidol]

i had one 15 years ago loved it but but they dont seem to have moved on much tbh just a few more makes

[ch!3f]

theres no need to move on much if there perfect?

[watfordtrackwarrior]

the corrally is ment to be on an other level but as ive not seen one myself would have to say the tamiya f103 as ive just switched from the 3 racing f109 which dont get me wrong for the money 109 is a good car if you are racing on a big open track like ardent for example,but on tight small tracks where you may clip barriers the front end starts moving about and the kit bearings are pretty much useless as is the kit spur my bearings went after only 2 months get yourself either a brand new f103 15th anniversary kit or a good used one from the bay but try to get a car with a carbon axle if you go 2nd hand the 15th anniversary already has all the hop ups

[lochness42]

I don't know, I really like my F1'09. I'm beating regularly F103s at my track on rubber tires. Yeah you definitely need front alloy wishbone holders, that's true as std plastic is too soft and breaks easily. Anyway it's fairly cheap upgrade (was less than 15euros from HK for me when I got it).
To spurs - I got myself one of the Core spurs (easy to get for me from schuey as locally we don't have any 1:12 racing so noone have them in stock here).

[terry.sc]

Originally Posted by grimidol

Well as ever down to what you like but I am interesting in getting one again so what is hot and what is not

If you want the ultimate but with no one to race against, go for the Corally. The fact it's a rearranged pan car rather than a proper F1 chassis means it's illegal for BRCA and most other meetings and most people wouldn't want to race with you.

Of the very best normal F1 it's a choice between the Yeah Racing Transformula, the Exotek conversions and the Tech Racing F125, just don't break anything on the Yeah Racing or Tech Racing as with both being Japanese cars spares will have to be found from Japan. The Exotek conversions are as good, and are easier to get hold of with readily available spares direct from Exotek or through DMS.

The most common ones are the Tamiya F103 and F104, and the 3Racing F109. To be honest all three of them have a similar level of competitiveness and none of them have an advantage on the track over the other two. The simplicity of the f103 rear means it's simple to tune the rear end. The F104 and F109 need more work to tune them but they are more consistent and have a much wider range of settings than the F103.

Currently we race on a small carpet track with a mix of an F104, some F109s and a couple of F103s with a mix of 13T and 13.5T brushless, 27T and 32T brushed, all on 2S. They all lap at more or less the same speed with the F103 cars having a small advantage over the modern chassis right now, but they are the also the ones using brushed motors which seem to give better power delivery for the F1 chassis so the motors used is the bigger reason they are ahead.

Originally Posted by grimidol

i was looking at this one on ebay but not sure if it is a good price
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

If you want to go for an F103 the price isn't bad at all, but it does depend on whether you want the carbon chassis or not. Standard F103 chassis can be found for £30-40, and if you are lucky they will have the alloy motor mount which is an absolute necessity to stop you destroying spur gears. The 15th Anniversary chassis is pretty, but you do pay over the odds just because of the printed badges on it which is why they cost twice as much as the standard carbon parts. The carbon chassis isn't a necessity, I prefer the kit chassis as the extra flex helps generate grip although the full length top deck is useful if you use high power motors to help stabilise the flex.

Don't even think about going for an F102. They are cheap to buy but if you are racing with one due to their age you are guaranteed to break the front suspension parts and you are then guaranteed to not find a replacement, and you can't replace the front end parts with F103 ones. Every one of our club members who raced back in the 90s now has a dead F102 in need of spares.

The F109 is good out of the box, but you do have more parts to adjust on it will run faster than the Tamiyas as long as you know what you are doing regarding suspension setup. I could never get mine to suit my driving style which is why I went back to the F103, but all the others love them. I just couldn't get the hang of the suspension tuning, which went against many years of pan car setup experience and I don't like link suspension on 1/12th scale either so the problem with the F109 was me rather than the car itself and I took the easy option rather than spending more time getting used to it. All the other F109s run fine, lap as fast as anything else, and seem to be more consistent race after race than the F103s.

[Chequered Flag Racing]

Originally Posted by terry.sc

Of the very best normal F1 it's a choice between the Yeah Racing Transformula, the Exotek conversions and the Tech Racing F125, .

What about the TRG 109's? http://www.rc-trg.com/trg109.html

[terry.sc]

Originally Posted by Chequered Flag Racing

What about the TRG 109's? http://www.rc-trg.com/trg109.html

Tell me anywhere that actually sells it, or what it's actually won. I wouldn't claim anything is good if it wasn't, the others are all known quantities and are proven winners in major Asian championships.

[Chequered Flag Racing]

Originally Posted by terry.sc

Tell me anywhere that actually sells it, or what it's actually won.

Have seen it in a Euro RC shop on line for €269.90, but can't recall the shop & google's not my friend today. So get googling all if you want to find it.

Probably won a race or two in Japan but as for an F1 series I don't know

[ch!3f]

[/QUOTE] The most common ones are the Tamiya F103 and F104, and the 3Racing F109. To be honest all three of them have a similar level of competitiveness and none of them have an advantage on the track over the other two. The simplicity of the f103 rear means it's simple to tune the rear end. The F104 and F109 need more work to tune them but they are more consistent and have a much wider range of settings than the F103.

Currently we race on a small carpet track with a mix of an F104, some F109s and a couple of F103s with a mix of 13T and 13.5T brushless, 27T and 32T brushed, all on 2S. They all lap at more or less the same speed with the F103 cars having a small advantage over the modern chassis right now, but they are the also the ones using brushed motors which seem to give better power delivery for the F1 chassis so the motors used is the bigger reason they are ahead.


If you want to go for an F103 the price isn't bad at all, but it does depend on whether you want the carbon chassis or not. Standard F103 chassis can be found for £30-40, and if you are lucky they will have the alloy motor mount which is an absolute necessity to stop you destroying spur gears. The 15th Anniversary chassis is pretty, but you do pay over the odds just because of the printed badges on it which is why they cost twice as much as the standard carbon parts. The carbon chassis isn't a necessity, I prefer the kit chassis as the extra flex helps generate grip although the full length top deck is useful if you use high power motors to help stabilise the flex.

Don't even think about going for an F102. They are cheap to buy but if you are racing with one due to their age you are guaranteed to break the front suspension parts and you are then guaranteed to not find a replacement, and you can't replace the front end parts with F103 ones. Every one of our club members who raced back in the 90s now has a dead F102 in need of spares.

The F109 is good out of the box, but you do have more parts to adjust on it will run faster than the Tamiyas as long as you know what you are doing regarding suspension setup. I could never get mine to suit my driving style which is why I went back to the F103, but all the others love them. I just couldn't get the hang of the suspension tuning, which went against many years of pan car setup experience and I don't like link suspension on 1/12th scale either so the problem with the F109 was me rather than the car itself and I took the easy option rather than spending more time getting used to it. All the other F109s run fine, lap as fast as anything else, and seem to be more consistent race after race than the F103s.[/QUOTE]

the f103 is a good choice as there are many about so more spares available too.if you can buy a new f103 anniversary 1 for £150 and that 1has been converted so is not an original 1.

whats wrong with an f102?had a few nice smashes with mine never broken it n its about 20years old. fair enough parts can be hard to come buy but you need the part numbers to get them and you may have to order from hk

also whats the crack with people on oople fair enough most of the advice is good but telling people not to buy something basicly because they dont like it.

have a look round fela set your budget and see what you can get for your money you just need to bear in mind that these cars are very similar and its down to driver skills not the car.

fair enough the pro's use top tackle but if you gave a pro a bog standard f103 to race with they will get it set up proper hot and do mint with it.

[ch!3f]

p.s if your mates wana get there f102's fixed here

[qatmix]

I don't see anyone saying don't buy a specific car because they don't like it on this thread.

Terrys club have been racing F1's for many years and his comments are spot on. I would also say steer away from the f102 as although it is fine to drive the parts are a nightmare. You usually have to buy a whole car of eBay to raid for parts. As most parts are not available anywhere on the web.

I would get a cheap basic f103 for £30-40 of eBay and run it. If you like it you can always upgrade it and I you don't then you will be able to get the same amount of cash when you sell it on.

F1's are great fun. It also teaches you to be smooth on power and how to take corners at speed.

[ch!3f]

so hes not saying dont get an f102 then because a couple of people cant get theres fixed even thought the front end is compatible with the f101?

most of what people say is good advice but then you get people who jump the gun and start telling people the stuff there looking at getting is crap and you need to be getting top of the range stuff to be competitive which to be honest is aload of crap it helps but if you cant drive your just going to p!ss people off smashing them off the track all the time cause thats all they will be doing.

ive learnt alot from using my f1 cars im alot smoother on the throttle now and like you said you learn to take corners at speed + you learn haw to take corners rather then just banging it in and using the power to pull your self out of it.

[terry.sc]

Originally Posted by ch!3f

whats wrong with an f102?had a few nice smashes with mine never broken it n its about 20years old. fair enough parts can be hard to come buy but you need the part numbers to get them and you may have to order from hk

also whats the crack with people on oople fair enough most of the advice is good but telling people not to buy something basicly because they dont like it.

Nothings wrong with the F102, personally my favourite F1 has always been my F102 after having put 8 years of development into mine while racing in the 90s there's nothing that can beat it. If it wasn't for the fact that if I break anything on it I can be waiting weeks or months for parts to pop up on ebay I would still be racing it and only retired it and replaced it with an F103 around 99/00 when spares dried up. You have just assumed I don't like it because I didn't recommend it without actually knowing what I thought of it.

Whether yours or mine has broken or not is irrelevant as that doesn't cover everyone else's experience, for example I've gone through loads of front end parts on my F109 while others at my club have had no breakages at all. With the F102 you are talking about a car and spares that are at least 18 years old so there's no guarantee that they are as durable as brand new parts for current cars as the polycarbonate the plastic parts are made from degrades over time due to UV radiation, which means they will only be as tough as they were 18 years ago if they have been kept in the dark all this time. Several spares (but not all) are only available from UK ebay vintage parts sellers as Tamiya haven't made them for at least 15 years, but if you are racing an F102 unless you want to stockpile parts now there's no guarantee those parts will still be around if you break them in future. You also can't easily get an alloy motor mount for it which is an essential part.
There's also the fact that the F103 battery retainers are so much more convenient than strapping the pack into the F102, mine got to the stage that I had to use lots of velcro to keep the pack in the car.
If someone wants to buy an F102 then I'm not going to tell them not to, but I would rather they know what problems they will encounter so they can make an informed decision.

so hes not saying dont get an f102 then because a couple of people cant get theres fixed even thought the front end is compatible with the f101?

most of what people say is good advice but then you get people who jump the gun and start telling people the stuff there looking at getting is crap and you need to be getting top of the range stuff to be competitive which to be honest is aload of crap it helps but if you cant drive your just going to p!ss people off smashing them off the track all the time cause thats all they will be doing.

If there's one thing I'm known for it's giving good impartial advice, and you will notice I haven't said anywhere that any car is "a load of crap". All I have listed are the good and bad points of each model.

Recommending a car that's been out of production for 18 years isn't a sensible thing to do, even though I do think it's the best handling F1 out of the 7 F1 cars I have.

Grimidol asked what is the best, so that's a choice between the Exotek, TF125 and Transformula, and if he wants to choose what's the best then I have said what they are, while also pointing out they are only great as long as you don't break anything on them. I then go on to recommend choosing between an F103 or an F109 which is the sensible choice. If you reread what I wrote I stated clearly that whether you choose an F103, F104 or F109 you will end up with similar performance, and none is particularly better than the others, so choose whichever you fancy as no one can claim any of them is significantly better than the others.

The one thing I would never do is the old "I've got one of these so you should get one as well" which is so prevalent these days.

Saying all that, if someone is wanting to run in the GP1 brushless class at the BRCA nationals then they are going to have to buy an F104.