
My humble corner of Honda Tomicas
Not surprisingly, Tomy makes way more Nissan and Toyota Tomicas, but the Type-R case is one of my favorites

Not surprisingly, Tomy makes way more Nissan and Toyota Tomicas, but the Type-R case is one of my favorites
Finally put up the slatwall in the office last night. Tried to group them best I could, but all the empty slots is setting off my OCD.
The torque vectoring RDU really does help the car rotate through corners. There's enough shove to get the rear end to step out, although there are limits to how far it will go even with traction control fully "off". At times the car feels rear wheel drive, but if you drive it like a true rear wheel drive car the front end starts to wash out. Other times it feels more front wheel drive, but if you lean into that too much you never get the RDU to work its magic. It takes some time to understand what it will and won't do, but once you figure it out it really clicks. By the end of the day I had shaved about four seconds off my lap times once everything came together.
The sweepers are where the car really shines. It can send enough power to the rear to get the back end to rotate and start slipping a good amount. But simply adding more throttle does not get it to step out further. At a certain point it sends more power to the front and overwhelms those tires. Lifting and then getting stabbing the throttle mid corner also does not do much to induce more oversteer since the RDU does not react quickly enough to redistribute power that way. What worked best for me was taking a tighter line with an earlier apex, letting the RDU help rotate the car without overdriving the rear, and then adding throttle to bring the rear around enough to point the nose down the track so I could get on power earlier.
Tight hairpins are where the car feels most limited. The rear diff does not seem to be doing much here, and if you enter too hot or go full lock it behaves very much like a front wheel drive car. I can't really tell if much power is going to the rear at that point. Unlike a rear wheel drive setup, you can't use the throttle to rotate the car aggressively and whip the car car around, so you have to drive a more traditional FWD line. I suspect it's a combination of weight and long wheelbase working against it. That said, just past the apex as you start to unwind the wheel you can roll into the throttle earlier than you would in a typical front wheel drive car, and that is when you feel the RDU come back into play. But if you overcook the entry there is not much to do except wait for the front tires to scrub speed and regain grip.
My only real quibble is that even with TC fully "off" the car will still cut power if you get it sliding too much, which kills boost. Aside from that it's very capable at AutoX. I was able to hang with the Miata and 86/BRZ crowd, losing time in those tight hairpins but making it back up in the faster corners.
No mods other than tires, Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 6, and Goodwin lowering springs.
A noble spirit embiggens the smallest truck