The Tamiya TAO-4 is a great car. I have raced this car for over a year, and it has been one of the best cars in my stable.  

The nice thing Tamiya has going for it is the after-market hop-ups available to all of the cars.

Some upgrades are for show and some are for go. I will let you know what you need to get the most performance bang for your buck!  

Suspension:

This is where all the mechanical action takes place.  You want to make sure that all moving parts are free.  The aluminum shocks pictured below are very nice.  They provide smooth accurate, and predictable control.  If the old plastic shocks are just a little to loose for you, aluminum shocks are the way to go.

Tamiya has the Hard Tuned spring kit available, this is a must! This is where you get into the fine-tuning of the car to get that " just right" set up.

Drive Train:

This is a critical part of the car; this is where the power is put out to the rest of the car.  The one main have to have part, is the Aluminum/Carbon Fiber spur gear adapter.  This little gem is a spur gear saver; it helps the spur gear and pinion gear rotate true.  This will reduce the incident of spur gear stripping.

Tamiya also has the lightweight diff sets.  These save a ton of rotating mass, so if you are looking for insane acceleration, these are for you.

 Bodies:

Yes, I said bodies.  These lexan shells make a big difference on the way your car handles.

Just look at all the different cars, with varying wing sizes, different nose shapes, low rooflines, long/short hoods, they all make a big difference.  If you can, borrow a buddies and try it out, or check out the fast guys at the track and see what body they run.

I hope these few hints will help you on the way to more fun in racing.  It is always more fun to be in the lead pack, and with these few hop-ups you could be on the way to the front of the pack.

See you at the races,

Casey Young