Last summer Yokomo released their brand new purpose build drift chassis, the DRB. Tamiya had just released their new driftspec chassis based on the TA05, the TA05VDF. Tamiya disappointed me quite a bit with that one, so I got really excited when I first saw the pictures of Yokomo’s new chassis.

Some weeks ago I got a huge customs bill. I didn’t have to think twice what was in the package; It was my brand new, limited edition (pre-order only) Red/Silver Yokomo DRB chassis. A chassis that in my opinion is the most complete purpose build drift chassis you can buy these days. The OTA-R31 from Streetjam comes close, but it has a lot of plastic whereas the DRB is all alloy and carbonfibre.

I had the feeling I was at the max of what I could get out of my Tamiya TRF415MSX and I needed a decent replacement for it for the upcoming 2011 D1:10 season and the D1RC World Championship in August. This is where the DRB came in, the perfect replacement. Low enough for me to still be able to fit cockpit sets, purpose build with good parts availability, beltdrive, rare and it looked good. I really wanted a red one, but I didn’t pre-order it. Luckily I was able to find what might be the last red DRB available in the world. It cost me quite a bit but hey.. I got one!

I couldn’t help myself so I finished building it the same day I got it. This chassis is really easy to work on. All parts fit very well and it has some clever new setup features on it.

I had the bèta kit, which meant I got some extra bits in the kit. The alpha version had bearingholders for the diffs that missed some dimples so they didn’t fit. In the bèta kit you get a seperate package with new bearingholders that do fit. Great support from Yokomo!

The DRB comes with a balldiff for in the front, and a spool for the rear. You also get 2 types of damperoil and springs which are quite hard. This doesn’t really fit my driving and setup style, so I think I’m going with a balldiff in the rear and a oneway in the front and I will fit some softer springs to get more grip and speed. Also I want to test the 1.3 ratio overdrive set Yokomo sells for the DRB to see if that might give me the extra push I need to get it up to speed with an even softer setup and still be able to kick the tail out like I used to do with the TRF415MSX.

At the moment the DRB still isn’t finished. I am saving for some decent electronics. I want to build this one properly, not with used and secondhand electronics. The setup I want on it is a Speedpassion V3.0 10.5turns motor (for the D1RC motorlimit), a Hobbywing Xtremestock ESC and a Bluebird low profile servo. I already have the motor in and its a very nice motor! You can set the timing over 10 degrees on the motor itself which is great if you have an ESC with stockspec timing. It also has build in 3.5mm bullet plugs in the back of the can which comes in very handy as the normal way of mounting plugs on the motor doesn’t work in the DRB because the silver alloy brace on the motormount is in the way.

I also fitted 64dp gears as all my cars have 64dp as I think its a lot nicer to work with. Its more silent and you have more setup options to choose from. I have replaced the red alloy spurgear holder for a carbon one of a Tamiya TRF414M2 as I think it looks better and it is lighter.

So this is where I am now with the DRB. Waiting for an ESC and servo, and maybe some hopups. In the meantime I’m working on a bodyshell for it and working on ideas for our new team bodyshell for next D1:10 season.

Stay tuned for more! On the 12th of February its time for the first round of the 2011 D1:10 season and offcourse we will be there!