Volkswagen Golf VR5
Model Number: 58206

Brat Attacks

What can one say about a car that has spanned 16 different bodies and as many wheel sets for the same chassis other than it must be good. And it is. Within the space of 100 models tamiya launched this one chassis several times and and boosted its appeal. From Renault Clio to Honda Civic and then some BTCC or the like cars and 2 VW Golfs this simple yet effective chassis has done the rounds.

As a result of its mass appeal there is a wealth of Tamiya hop ups and though some look impressive l would add just one other extra first and that is oil shocks. The frictions ones are crap and unable to handle to power of the standard motor let alone a 15d that l have in mine. Out of the box it will bounce off the road and behave like a fox chased by hunters.

Unlike the other FWD chassis that Tamiya have made like the Mini that struggles to put the power down, the Golf really is quite tractable and a straight line winner. It has to be said that the like real 1:1 FWDs, it does understeer but with practice you can make it corner as fast as most well sorted RWD cars. The added bonus is that it won't spin out on you should you get carried away. For added cornering power l might even go as far as to say putting some more weight over the front wheels could help.

Drievability of it modified with the oil shocks and a high-torque steering servo does make for an entertaining car that can out manoeuvre many when they try to cut you up and because of its putting all that power down to the pulling wheels, when someone does knock you off track, its very forgiving and recovers almost immediately.

The spec sheet looks pretty average in that typical Tamiya set up of make it simple and then let you add the good stuff later. The only problem l have with this kit if the suspect reliability of the ball diff. I've never had much luck with these and mine has come loose a few times. Thankfully it you don't have to dismantle the gearbox to get the diff out.

As for strength it really is quite a tough one. It does have the ability to crumple up and spray driveshafts across the track when you hit a curb at high speed but this only limits the amount of snapping plastic.

There really isn't much else to say about this car other than choose the body that suits your tastes and enjoy. As for me, it had to be the Golf mk 5. Even though its details are all stickers it really does look good. Only thing is, what colour to paint it?? It really doesn't matter though as your always ended up with a good looking piece of kit.

To sum this up as a racer l would say its as good as a 4WD, more user friendly than a RWD and rewarding to drive. If only its reliablity record was as good as the badge that it wears!!!! But then if everything was as reliable as a real Volkswagen we would have nothing to moan about.