Quality

Tamiya’s spares no expense when producing state of the art racing machines. We employ the best materials known to man which include carbon fiber, aluminum, titanium and carbon reinforced plastics to insure the best fit and finish in the R/C racing industry.

Team

Tamiya America is very selective in choosing team members and influencers that know how to share their knowledge. It’s through this teamwork and mind-set that Tamiya’s fan base can count on for help to realize their racing products full potential.

Feedback

TRF racing products get better, with each production cycle, due to constant and constructive feedback from TRF members and influencers. Feedback from the field also helps our sales and marketing teams better provide what is needed to ensure our team members are supported.

Start of TRF - Avante 4WD

TRF's world challenge started in 1988 when Tamiya released a pure racing buggy called the "Avante" (kit #58072). The Avante kit used highly sophisticated materials such as aluminum, carbon fiber, reinforced plastic and other innovative components. The kit also incorporated fully adjustable suspension with a rear trailing arm suspension design. With all of these components and innovative design, the Avante was destined for pursuing racing performance. TRF was founded to be a test team for this machine.

TRF parts and accessory development

The Tamiya TRF team has been competing in high profile racing events since the 1990’s. Through teamwork and setting advice from key Tamiya designers, the TRF product line-up continues to evolve and this also transcends into the development of specialized tools, special Hop-Up-Options, and high quality accessories. With these high-end accessories, every racer can gain an edge on the track. These are excellent additions to any racers pit-box and will provide you with years of use.

Timeline

RC car racing participation
In 1988 early members from the Tamiya Racing Factory entered the 1/10 scale 4WD Avante into the JMRCA Championships in Japan, the equivalent caliber of race as the U.S. ROAR Nationals. This move proved to be a great opportunity as this Japanese National Championship resulted in getting TRF ready for its first appearance at the 1/10 Electric IFMAR (International Federation of Model Auto Racing) World Championships. Tamiya ended up finishing 7th overall in its first international competition and established the current TRF methodology of using information gathered from these races to better develop radio control products.

The Touring car era of RC racing
During the 1990’s, Tamiya established a new trend in the R/C world. The trend began with the introduction of the Tamiya TA01 chassis. This chassis was a modified Manta Ray 4WD electric buggy (58087) that used short length suspension arms so that Tamiya designers could fit scale looking touring car bodies onto a reliable, independent suspension, 4WD platform. Releases such as the R32 Nissan Skyline, BMW M3 Evo, and the Mercedes Benz 190 E single handedly launched the 1990’s touring car craze. By the end of the 1990’s “Touring Cars”, or on-road R/C cars with sedan bodies, increased in popularity worldwide. Many events around the world were held for this new form of racing. David Jun of Tamiya America, racing with Tamiya’s newest car, the TA03F-Pro, won the ROAR Nationals in 1996. In 1997, he again used the TA03F-Pro to win the NORRCA U.S. Nationals the following year. With this success and opportunity, TRF started developing TRF touring cars as the market began to see more advanced machines from Tamiya’s biggest competitors.

The advancement of the Touring Car chassis
By the late 1990’s touring cars began to evolve into more sophisticated machines compared to the early plastic tub cars seen in the early part of the class. In 1998, a prototype of TRF's first high-end, racing only purpose touring car called the "TRF414X" was born. The TRF414X was thrown into race competitions around the world and its development data was gathered and analyzed. A pure racing machine called the "TRF414M", developed by the data gathered from the prototype, debuted right before the IFMAR World Championship in the year 2000. The TRF414M entered the first ever Touring Car category in the IFMAR "ISTC Class". The car made the A Main and it received positive feedback from the drivers racing in the touring car class.

For the next 2 years, before the next World Championship would be held, TRF entered races around the world with the TRF414M and further developed the chassis. TRF re-entered the ISTC class at the IFMAR World Championships in 2002 with the TRF414M and won the title of World Champion. TRF had become number 1 in the world after their inception in 1988. The next IFMAR On-Road World Championships were held in Florida in the year 2004. TRF entered with a new machine called the TRF415MS, a successor of TRF414M, and again won the title and became World Champion. Tamiya R/C became number 1 in the world with its hard work and development and proved its dominance in the Touring Car world once and for all.

Competitions from around the world
In subsequent years, TRF entered many on-road International races among which it has won every single important one at one time or another. These races include the International Reedy Touring Car Race of Champions, held at Tamiya America’s R&D Test Race Track, LRP Masters in Germany, International Indoor Championships in Las Vegas and the Reedy Race of Champions in Asia.

Continued Dominance and evolution
In 2006, Tamiya came out with the next incarnation 4 wheel drive chassis called the TRF416. This new chassis had big shoes to fill following the successful run of the TRF415 chassis. The TRF416 proved up to the challenge winning multiple races leading up to the IFMAR World Championships in 2008. Tamiya once again proved it still had the car and driver to beat when Marc Rheinard once again claimed victory in the prestigious event. The TRF416 has since gone on to win multiple events including the DHI Cup, European World Championship and European Touring Series crown in 2009. After coming off a great year in 2009, Tamiya once again laid claim to the number one spot with their TRF416X and Marc Rheinard winning the 2010 IFMAR World Championship. This win marked the 3rd World Championship for Tamiya.

Revisiting the Off-Road arena
In 2006 Tamiya went back to the drawing board to develop an all new competition level 4WD electric buggy. 4WD electric off-road racing had seen a decline in recent years due to other popular forms of racing, but in 2006 many manufactures were starting to ramp up for the upcoming Off-Road IFMAR World Championships to be held in 2007 with the host company being Japan. In the span of 9 months TRF was able to develop and release the TRF501X. Since TRF gathered valuable information in regards to drive-train efficiency, they used what was learned from the TRF415 and TA-05 dual belt drive systems to put it to off-road use. The results proved to be successful as TRF driver Hupo Honigl, from Austria, made the coveted “A” main with his new TRF501X.

Racing development transcends into mainstream off-road products
In 2006 Tamiya went back to the drawing board to develop an all new competition level 4WD electric buggy. 4WD electric off-road racing had seen a decline in recent years due to other popular forms of racing, but in 2006 many manufactures were starting to ramp up for the upcoming Off-Road IFMAR World Championships to be held in 2007 with the host company being Japan. In the span of 9 months TRF was able to develop and release the TRF501X. Since TRF gathered valuable information in regards to drive-train efficiency, they used what was learned from the TRF415 and TA-05 dual belt drive systems to put it to off-road use. The results proved to be successful as TRF driver Hupo Honigl, from Austria, made the coveted “A” main with his new TRF501X.

The TRF511
Following the success of both the 501x and the DB-01, Tamiya developed a new competition platform, the TRF 511. This new off-road buggy kept in line with the proven dual belt, mid motor layout as the 501x, and even though the dimensions are the same as the 501x, almost every parts has been redesigned to optimize performance. In 2009, the TRF511 took overall victory at the prestigious EFRA European Championship with Marc Rheinard behind the wheel. Then in 2010, Tamiya off-road ace Lee Martin took the European Championship again behind the wheel of the TRF511. These victories solidified Tamiya’s place at the top of the off-road racing world in Europe

Tamiya enters the world of 2WD off-road
After many years of research and development, Tamiya threw its hat into the 2 wheel drive off-road buggy category with its TRF201 chassis. Widely considered one of the most popular and challenging R/C classes, Tamiya took its time to make the TRF201 capable of winning straight out of the box. Debuting at the 2010 Yatabe International Off-road Grand Prix with driver Satoshi Maezumi, the TRF201 finished with a strong 2nd place in its maiden race. In its first full season of competition, Lee Martin took the EFRA European 2WD Championship with the TRF201, making it a Tamiya sweep in both 2WD and 4WD.

The Nitro Engine years
Tamiya TRF, whether it be in Japan or in the U.S. will never rest on its laurels. In 2006 M. Tamiya, the president of Tamiya Inc. set forth a directive to take Tamiya design development into the next phase. That phase involved direct R&D in the U.S. offices in Irvine, California. The fruits of this new directive resulted in a brand new TRF product called the TRF801XT. This was Tamiya’s first venture into the competitive world of Nitro Off-Road racing. The TRF801XT is a competition level, 1/8 scale, racing Truggy kit and it shares the same traditions as other TRF developed products.

The 801x Buggy
After the initial release of the TRF801XT Truggy, Tamiya’s in-house USA designer set out to bring a competitive 4WD nitro buggy into the racing arena. The result was the TRF801X. It shared many of the innovative new features of its Truggy sibling including its efficient straight-line drive-train and innovative “turnbuckle brake linkage system”. Both the TRF801XT and 801X were piloted by Ryan Lutz of the USA as a massive campaign to bring attention to Tamiya America’s efforts to bring TRF into the nitro arena.

The current state of TRF
The Tamiya Racing Factory never rests. In the past few years it has evolved the touring car line-up with many variants of the TRF417 and its most ambitious racing machine, the ALL NEW TRF 418. The TRF418 is the machine that is set to challenge for Tamiya’s 6th IFMAR world championship title in 2014. Tamiya’s off-road program continues to expand as new variants of the TRF201 continue to be developed. After a successful 2nd place finish at the 2013 IFMAR Off-Road World Championships led by British ace driver Lee Martin, Tamiya designers have given the racing community a revised TRF201 that uses a longer chassis and Big Bore shock absorbers. To complement the new TRF201XR Tamiya’s designers have also developed a mid-motor buggy called the TRF201XM. The mid-motor conversion allows racers to tackle super high grip racing conditions with confidence.

Lastly, with the increased popularity of scale Formula One RC racing taking hold across the globe, Tamiya’s on-road TRF experts have used their knowledge to bring the first TRF F1 kit dubbed the TRF101. This new kit has proven to be Tamiya’s most fun and competitive race car in the F1 community and is the first to make sure scale realism complements a sophisticated racing machine underneath.