Project Altered Apex The Intro – Team Associated Apex TC Kit

The radio control hobby is limitless when it comes to projects, but RC Driver’s Greg Vogel has been noticing a ridiculous amount of trail truck builds taking over all corners of the RC internet. The cycle must be broken, or at least we’ll try to cause a ripple with a touring car based build. The car to make it all happen is a Team Associated Apex TC Kit and we’re naming the machine; Project Altered APEX. This Apex touring car is a basic build kit with no electronics, tires or body which allows your imagination to decide what form it hits the road as. In this article we will show you some of the exciting features of the Apex kit. Be sure to follow this project series as we build this car as a spec sedan, then transform the same car to a drifter and then to a speed run machine and possibly more. This low budget kit is going to turn into some wild rides!

NEED TO KNOW
Product: APEX Limited Edition 1:10 4WD Touring Car Kit
By: Team Associated
Part Number: 30119
Price: $129.99
Link To Buy: The Limited Edition Kit is only available for purchase on the Team Associated website.
A RTR version is available here: http://amzn.to/2ncVSOl

THE KIT- The Team Associated Apex TC Kit requires a full build up as you may have guessed from seeing the low-profile box photo at the top of this page. Once you’ve completed the build, what you have what you see above, a stripped down chassis waiting for your selection of electronics, wheels, tires and body. This is great! This allows you to build your touring car however you want. Do you want stock class electronics? Go for it? Want to go all out with super fast electronics for a speed run car, you can do that too; your imagination is your limit. Here is a list of things you will need to complete the car: Body, wheels, tires, pinion gear, speed control, motor, battery, servo, 2-channel radio with receiver, CA clue, paint and tools for assembly.

FRONT SUSPENSION- The Team Associated Apex TC Kit has some impressive suspension for a budget kit. Sure the fixed links you see are a little bit of a turn-off if you are planning to build a spec racer. We know turnbuckles would be nice for adjustments, but fixed links are great for those who just want to go run without having to worry about having tuning parts set perfectly. On the better side, the suspension components are molded of a firm composite plastic so handling will feel more precise. The oil filled shocks build up nice and smooth and the suspension operated nearly bind free. TIP: We did have to use a pair of pliers to “squeeze” the ball cups of the links. The new link cups were a little tight and squeezing them will help free up the suspension.

REAR- Inside of the diff cases are bevel gear diffs with steel gears. We were impressed to see steel outdrives on the differentials and steel driveshafts. These should hold up well for the long run. The suspension arms are stiff in the rear too and the rear hubs seem pretty stout as well. Take a look at the faux brake discs that have the 12mm wheel hex molded onto them; pretty cool.

DRIVELINE- Under the top plate you can just about see the blue anodized aluminum driveshaft to send power to the front wheels. The entire driveline rides on a full set of ball bearings; a great feature for a budget priced kit. The motor plate is cast aluminum with a cam-style motor mount that turns to allow you to adjust gear mesh before tightening the clamp to secure the motor in place.

STEERING- The Apex has a dual crank steering assembly with the servo saver integrated into the servo arm. On the bench, the steering cranks seem to have the right amount of throw for spec racing and is sure to be perfect on the street. The steering cranks are molded of a strong composite material like most of the other parts on the car. When building the steering, don’t over-tighten the drag link screws and perform the squeeze tip on the ball cups as we mentioned above.

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WRAP UP
The Team Associated Apex TC kit was easy to build and should be an attractive kit for those looking for a quality car on a budget. This kit can be custom built into any road warrior you dream up. We have a lot of ideas for this car and we’re going to show you how easy it is to get the most fun out of the car. Keep checking back for updates on the Altered APEX Project Car.