XV-02 RS Pro Review

#KB161

Updated 2024-02-12 by Rich

Recently I had the itch to get myself a new kit to build - I narrowed it down to a few choices (had to be Tamiya of course). Which left me with the choices between a TC-01, XV-01 and a XV-02.



In the end I settled on the XV-02 for a few reasons. The TC-01 looks super cool with its on board shocks but after doing some online research I found that fitting the electrics in that chassis is literally a nightmare.

There is no room for an ESC fan, In fact there is VERY little room for anything. I absolutely hate squashing everything in - it has to be nice and neatly arranged so that puts me off that car.


The XV-01 looks like a great basher on paper - it has a belt drive so nice and smooth. One issue I don’t like the look of is the battery fitment. It goes inside a box that is very secure but requires a screw to be put in/taken out every time in order to get the battery in and out.


Also, the absence of an XV-01 pro or TC pro chassis (both now discontinued by Tamiya) mean you will spend a fortune in hop ups to bring it up to speed with the XV-02 pro.

Again a cool looking car, but I think I picked correctly with its replacement. This is a brand new release from Tamiya. The XV-02 pro is a rally car and designed for the dirt. This is the on road variant the RS Pro version. The difference is shorter shocks (still TRF) and carbon shocks towers as standard. I thought this was a pretty good deal considering carbon towers are a £50 upgrade on the normal rally version.

I have also specced mine out with several hop ups including the centre differential, front spool and overdrive gear.


The overdrive (bigger gear) is in the rear differential so the front wheels are turning around 3% faster than the rears. This means the car should behave in a very predictable and stable manner hopefully.


Right ... .so everything is built, body is painted, all ready for a nice dry sunny day to see what it drives like.


What a fantastic car to drive. It honestly handles as well as any touring car I have ever owned.


The front bias and centre diff seem to work perfectly.


With the 8.5t Ares Pro sensored motor with a bit of timing and turbo, and a 28t pinion on the 70t spur, it really flies. We measured it at 47 mph on a 2s 7.6v pack. To be honest this is more than enough speed for a touring car.


You can just point and fire this thing. Even from a tight turn and quickly getting on full power it instantly responds and just goes arrow straight (very un-Tamiya like).


We did have a fairly big crash towards the end but this was caused by the body shell not being cut out enough at the back resulting in a parachuting effect taking the traction away from the rear (nothing broke though - also very un-Tamiya like!).


It is important to note the one and only thing that I do not like about this car is the choice of body shells. I think there are very few shells that will correctly fit this car due to the tall shock towers and longer shocks.

It is hard to tell from the picture but the front shock tower especially makes fitment difficult. I have had to not cut the arches all the way up to try to accommodate the shell.


Still looked nice when finished with its retro touring car look though.


So overall, I would rate this kit 8/10.


Build wise and quality - absolutely fantastic. The things it has going against it is body fitment and the price of the kit.


However die hard Tamiya lovers like me I think can overlook this, and it certainly drives and handles amazingly well. I honestly think if you wanted another Tamiya touring car to stay with this on track you would need something like a TA-08 pro which is similar money to buy.


Well done Tamiya - fantastic car which I hope to take to the track soon!