Yokomo GT-R RTR II: Upgrades!

Ok, after giving you, the Super Street Online reader a sneak peek at our newest project, we have some more updates for you. We, like you, would rather eat two pounds of hissing cockroaches than leave our cars stock. That goes the same for our R/C cars. After flipping through the Yokomo product catalog, we elected to obtain a couple mods. But you know how it goes. It's just like the real McCoy you have sitting in your driveway. First, you want to lower it. Then, you want bigger wheels and tires. Can't forget the I/H/E trifecta (intake, header, exhaust). Soon, your wish list gets longer and longer. Parts start piling up in your closet and overflow into your living space. Well, the same thing happened to us with this Yokomo GT-4. Good thing these cars are 1/10 scale. All the Yokomo modifications fit neatly into one shoebox.

Throughout this page, you will find a picture of each and every modification we will be installing on our GT-4, along with it's function and why we chose to use it.

Suspension Upgrades

Part: Machined Aluminum Chassis Function: Serves as a solid backbone for the entire car.	Part: Front Shock Tower Brace Function: Stiffens the stock composite shock tower helping retain the shock angle when the suspension is under load*.
Part: Rear Shock Tower Brace Function: Stiffens the stock composite shock tower helping retain the shock angle when the suspension is under load*.	Part: Aluminum Radio Plate Post Function: Ties together upper chassis deck increasing tortional rigidty.
Part: Aluminum Radio Plate Support (Right side) Function: Increases the fore-aft rigidity of the entire chassis.	Part: Aluminum Radio Plate Support (Left side) Function: Increases the fore-aft rigidity of the entire chassis.
Part: Aluminum Middle Layshaft Mount Function: Provides a stronger cradle for drivetrain which improves throttle resonse. The stock composite mount flexes when using high horsepower racing engines.	Part: Aluminum Rear Shock Tower (front not pictured, but available). Function: Stock replacement offers the greatest rigidity. *Stronger than the brace pictured above.
Part: Rear Bulkhead Brace Function: Provides solid mount for throttle and brake linkage improving response. Does not flex like stock composite unit. Ball-bearing equipped for smooth operation.

You'd be amazed. There are bushels of hop-ups available for the GT-4. The best part is that they are actually manufactured by Yokomo! Think about it: imagine if Honda made their own race-level parts available to the public. Not just add-on lips and revalved shocks, but real deal race level parts: coilovers, roll bars, twin-plate clutches, diffusers, and carbon synchros. You would be guaranteed that the fit and quality would meet Honda standards. Well, we can guarantee you that the quality of Yokomo's products are awesome. We were in awe of their machining and anodizing work. See for yourself below. The chassis and suspension braces are machined to exacting tolerances, and we dream of the day that our the chassis parts on our real cars looked that saucy.

The Yokomo GT-4 II can hit 60mph out of the box. All that speed is great on the straightaways, but what about those pesky hairpin turns? We won't bore you with a Physics lesson, but just know this: this stiffer the suspension components, the better. They allow the shocks and springs to do their job. We decided to replace all the factory plastic bracing with rigid aluminum pieces. An added bonus is that all these parts can be had in Yokomo's trademark blue anodizing (they are also available in polished aluminum).

Must-Have Suspension Parts

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1. Our pick for the coolest suspension piece is a draw. The teflon-coated coilover shocks and front anti-roll bar are must have items. If you want to know what to upgrade first on the suspension, buy these first. The coilover shocks have threaded bodies, just like a set of TEINs. Lowering or raising the collar will allow you to change the ride height of the vehicle, aka, droop. To change the spring rates, simply swap out the springs. Yokomo recommended that we use their "extra hard" (gray) springs in the front and "firm" (yellow) springs in the rear. Oh yeah, the part you have to experience to believe is how damn smooth these shocks are. The difference is night and day.

2. We used Team Associated Pure Silicone shock fluid. The numbers on the bottle indicate the viscosity. As a base setup, we're going to use 40WT in the front and 30WT in the rear. It's a piece of cake adjusting the damping. All it takes is the removal of two screws (we'll go over the process in the next installment).

3. The anti-roll bar comes in very handy for huge parking lots or high traction surfaces. Unlike the Suspension Techniques sway bar on your Civic or Eclipse, the Yokomo bar can be adjusted to alter the roll center of the car.

Hattori Hanzo Hardware

We told you they made everything for the GT-4!

With all the stiffening that's provided by those nifty billet blue suspension braces, reusing the stock hardware was a big negative. Holding firm and true to our adage of "never leave it stock", we opted to use Yokomo's super strong Titanium Screw Kit. Not only are the screws stronger, but they are considerably lighter. Remember, this is a 1/10 car, so every ounce you remove equates to about 50 pounds of weight reduction on a real sport compact car. Yeah, that's what we said.

What, you didn't think we would just upgrade our suspension without adding a little more power? We're going to replace our stock Mr. Hanky-looking exhaust pipe for this trick big-bore Polished Racing Pipe. The pipe should increase midrange and top-end throttle response. Super Street Online will provide some good sound clips in our last installment, so sign up for the newsletter to get updates!

Drivetrain Upgrades
The GT-4 already comes with a ball-bearing supported automatic-shifting 2-speed transmission. What could be better? Read on.

Part: Front Universal Driveshafts Function: Reduces friction while offering more responsive acceleration. Also eliminates the risk of falling out during a race.	Part: Solid rear axle Function: offers improved punch out of the corners on high traction tracks. Good for short, tight, tracks.
Part: Front Gear Differential Function: Offers more stability than one-way differential, especially during acceleration. Good for low traction situations.	Part: Front One-Way Differential Function: Offers better response and quicker acceleration on bigger, high traction tracks. Good for experienced drivers only.
Part: Shoe-Type 2-Speed Transmission Set Function: Offers adjustable clutch engagement and smoother, more consistent shifting during long races. Hollow center shaft for lower center of gravity and quicker acceleration out of the turns.

Tools You Should Buy Before You Start

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1. If we were true soldiers, we would have toughed it out and used the supplied hex keys. But we're lovers, not fighters. We don't think our girlfriends would appreciate fingers that looked like they've been put through a meat grinder. We ponied up $60 and picked up a set of these ultra-high quality hex drivers from Team Associated. They feature color-coded anodized handles and precision ground tips that fit each bolt perfectly. Now, we know what you're thinking. The $60 pricetag might seem high, but trust us, once you use these tools on your GT-4, you'll never go back to using anything from the hardware store.

2. This all-in-one screwdriver (yellow) features a pretty cool ratcheting feature. We picked it up at a local Costco for about $12. The part that looks like a revolver cartridge is a contraption that holds the bits. The bits are of suprisingly high quality, and the ratcheting feature saves time and stress.

3. All those rappers are always bragging about a fifth of this and a fifth of that. Well, this is the most valuable fifth (of an ounce!) on the planet. Pacer Z-42 medium-strength thread locker. Put one drop on EVERY screw and bolt on your GT-4. If you don't, we gay-ron-tee that the fastener will eventually back out, causing your car to fall apart during a race.

What's Next?

All that's left is painting the HPI NSX GT body and installing some wheels and rubber. What kind of wheels? Well, we can't make up our minds. Maybe we'll leave it up to our readers. In our next installment, we will give you the step-by-step installation process of the parts featured here, then the real fun starts. You didn't think that we would just build this race car and not race it, did you?

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For more information on these high performance R/C cars, be sure to check out www.YokomoUSA.com.

News Flash!
Mark your calendars for June 19, 2004. Super Street and eurotuner have teamed up with Nitrous Express, Honda FACTORY PERFORMANCE, Yokomo, and RC Driver Magazine to bring you the RC Drift Expo. You'll be able to check out the 60mph Yokomo GT-4 featured here, as well as the RC Drifting featured in Super Street. There will be plenty of free T-Shirts and Magazines, but supplies are limited. RC Drift Expo will be held at the Southbay Pavilion in Carson, CA. For more information and to register to race (or drift), click on www.glarcrc.com. We'll see you there!