1998 Question of the Week:
"What is the single most important feature you look for in a touring car?"
The single most important feature in a touring car is high quality parts, nothing is more annoying then to have to buy large quantities of hop-ups to be competitive or to have cheap parts breaking.
Look for quality. It may cost a little more but it should also last longer and work better than something cheaper.
Balance and CG
FRONT AND REAR BALL DIFFS
Tunability and handling!
High Quality and Performance. Exotic Materials aren't necessary if the car is fast. Who cares if your car is 99% graphite if it goes slow and breaks all the time?
Actually, I can not say one single feature. I have been racing touring car before it was popular. To me, I look for drive train [4wd vs 2wd]. I love 4wd because it gives a little more traction and control but at the cost of friction and less speed. Next I look for chassis types. These cars are low to the ground and have little shock movement compared to offroads and the chassis needs to be STIFF for me. All my touring cars have double decker graphite chassis, i believe the strongest. Finally how does it send the power to the wheels, dual belt or single, front, mid, or rear motor mounts and through how many gears? Front gives a little more steering, mid i love for it is the best of both worlds and rear is pushy. These are the main options I choose oh yah, it must have a slipper clutch since one of my four does not and is interesting to control on a dirty track.
J.J.S.
graphite or carbon parts such as chassis and suspension parts
Value
The only important features that you need in an on road touring car is good traction control. The ability to not get hung up on small bumps and high quality parts that add to the durability of the car.
The single important feature on a touring car would have to be, tuning options. Without those the car is stuck in one place right out of the box.
The look
Hilaire
More so than any thing else I would choose handling, without it speed is useless
Strength, steering and stability
ADAPTABILITY!!!!! Touring cars are nice but without flexibility they're just another impending dinosaur. Hop-ups are should not be the only upgrades available. The kit should be upgradeable to future versions (within reason), convertible to a rally car, tuning options out the @$$, and of a design to accept most of the aftermarket body widths (looking at one body can get boring). Mostly the upgradeable to newer versions thing. T2 Owner.
Sealed Drivetrain.
Cornering
Tuneability
Great handling and ease of maintenance. It would also be great to have room for stick pack batteries.
The single most important feature I look for on a touring car has to be the chassis, cause there isn't a car without a chassis!
That's easy to answer. Quality kits at a decent price.
HANDLING -- There's nothing more frustrating than a touring car that won't handle well on the course. Responsiveness to controls and speed are key components to handling that are often over-looked by manufactures, in particular, through omission of (reliable) field adjustable components.
the most important to me would be having a powerful motor and still be able to
turn. also having the car keep straight while accelerating and not going to do a donut
Adjustability/tunability---Make it possible to change caster, anti squat and rear toe without having to buy additional bulkheads or blocks. Make it turnbuckle/washer adjustable as in the Schumacher SST2000 or at least include extra bulkheads don't make us go and buy the additional hopups..... That is one of the biggest shortcoming of the YR4M2. Also give it dynamic caster, just like on your dynamic front end.
The suspension has to be very adjustable...I don't like the crappy adjustability of some tours while the DS can be adjusted pretty well...Also the TAO3's suspension ain't bad...Jake Jones
Tight (but not binding) fitting suspension and steering. There is nothing worse than having wheels flapping around on a long straightaway.
The single most important feature on a touring car to me is the upper plate (on those that have them) because they determine, for the most part, where your electronic components go which determines the weight transfer of the car. If the brace has enough clearance from the chassis so you can fit your electronics your car will have a better center of gravity reducing the possibility of rolling which allows one to drive a little harder.
The single most important feature I would look for in a touring car is a smooth and efficient drive train. What good is the car if it eats up horsepower just driving the wheels?
how closely it resembles a well designed 1/8 scaler.
sensei
Id look for a low center of gravity and good stability. Zak
Ease of maintenance and dialing in.
Full ball bearings
parts accessibility
ease of setup and support
HANDLING! HANDLING! HANDLING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SPEEDMAN
Parts contents, does the kit come with graphite? any titanium parts etc.
Single most important? Hmmmm... 4wd. If its already 4wd, some good graphite, or carbon fiber components.
BIG HYME Austin
I know your company will build a great touring sedan, But one thing is very important! Use a American car body! Don't use a import one; Please! If you can do this, then you will have the best looking car also!
I want it to work.
The single most important feature i look for in a sedan is its
weight distribution and
the availability of foam tyres for its rims. (I RACE IN DOORS.) Jonas B. thanks
lotsa steering
Price and quality. Price is low and quality is high. Also tuning options is good, but don't put so many it's easy to get confused. Ease of setup is also a important feature. Oh yeah, it has to be fast.
Lots of BANG! for the buck.
I look to see how well the car holds up.
Durability would be the most important factor.
Handling because your not going to finish high if you can't get around the next turn and you can always block going down the straits.
The ability to buy a gas version and or conversion kit, gas cars of all types are growing in popularity. Also it may be way to late, but why not be the first to have quick release HUB such as serpents, and other on road cars, this is a feature that can easily be implemented. Andrew Humphrey Louisville, Ky
i look for speed just cause its fun, but it depends on what kind of track your gonna race on if your gonna race at all.
Good stability in the turns. Without this all the speed in the world means nothing if you have to practically stop or go a very low speed to make the turns. The car should have very good stability no matter what your setup.
Adjustable wheel base, Front and Rear wheel base can be adjusted independently.
Smooth & efficient drive train, easy access to diffs, and tunablity. Also make it light, and able to use hex drive wheels.
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