Yokomo YD-4 Unboxing and Initial Impressions

Yokomo YD-4 Unboxing and Initial Impressions

A look Yokomo's most recent drift chassis, part 1.

I purchased a Yokomo YD-4 chassis kit on Tuesday from my local RC drift shop, Kong RC Drift in Lynnwood, WA. The owner received a shipment of them earlier in the year, but since I've been busy with my DIB275 and FR-D, I've held off on purchasing one. Now that both of those chassis are either running or almost running, I thought I would purchase a YD-4 and take a close look at Yokomo's latest drift chassis.

Pictures:

Box - The "EURO SPEC" sticker refers to the inclusion of the Rear FCD x1.5 axle. The JDM spec model has a Rear FCD x1.3 axle instead.

Bag no. 1 (Front) - Shocks, suspension mounts, and wheel hexes. These parts are injection model fiber(?)-reinforced plastic from what I can tell. I was hoping that they were aluminum at this price point.

Bag no. 1 (Rear) - The damper bodies are also molded in plastic. I probably will swap these out for some BD7 dampers as I prefer aluminum dampers.

Bag No. 5 (Front) - Contains axles, bearings, carbon upper deck, gears, and drive shafts.

Bag No. 5 (Rear) -

Bag No. 10 (Front) - Bearings, servo saver, shock towers, steering knuckles, suspension arms, suspension pins, and tools.

Bag No. 10 (Rear) -

Bag no. 13 - Rear Diffuser.

1.5x Countersteer Rear Axle Bag (Front) -

1.5x Countersteer Rear Axle Bag (Rear) -

Carbon Fiber Chassis Plate (Rear to the Right) - 

Bumper, Antenna, and Shock Oil (350 and 450) - I won'd be using the antenna tube as my Futaba receiver uses an internal antenna.

Thoughts:

My initial opinion is that Yokomo released a product that fits its pricepoint. I would have liked to see aluminum suspension blocks and dampers, but comparing this with a DPR that has those features included increases the price by a couple hundred dollars. The chassis is designed for CS and the front suspension arms have reverted to the H-arm style from the Type-C's Y-arms. This will mean that converting it to RWD will be a bit more difficult than a Type-C due to additional parts being required, but I've seen it done.

What I want to do next is unbag all the parts to examine them so I can determine aftermarket or replacement part compatibility. From what I've seen of the chassis in person, read on Yokomo's product page, and found in the manual, there seems to be several "donor" designs that provided parts and ideas for the YD-4. So stay tuned and I hope to have more about the YD-4 this weekend.

Mini Review - Mini Works Body Lines & Cherry Blossom Livery

Mini Review - Mini Works Body Lines & Cherry Blossom Livery

Details.

I feel that body lines are something that can add considerable depth and realism to a monotone RC drift body. There are several different methods to do this, including ABC Hobby tape, Gundam panel line markers, Copic Multiliners, and Sakura Micron pens. I saw these on an internet forum and because they were fairly local to me, I would give them a shot.

Mini Works Body Lines - $5.49 plus s&h

These come in a 50 pack, with 25 .7x225mm lines and 25 .5x225mm lines. I ended up using the .7mm lines for the door and hatch body lines and the .5mm lines for the hood and headlight body lines. However, the website suggests using the .7mm lines for the gap between hood and fenders and the .5mm lines for the door gaps and I think that the .7mm lines might be a tad thick for what I used them for, the .5mm lines being more realistic.

Applying them was fairly simple and straightforward, and unlike the ABC Hobby tape, you don't have to worry too much about the lines stretching during installation and then contracting and pealing off. I trimmed the lines in place with a pair of 4" Kai needlecraft scissors, which made installation a snap. My only caveat is that you should make sure that your lines are straight and taut before pressing down.

Mini Works Cherry Tree Livery - $9.99

These comes in a pack of two branches and 10 cherry blossoms, with two blossoms of each size that progressively grow larger. The branches, cut out in black vinyl, are mirrored so you can choose which side to put them on or even mount the on your hood. The blossoms, cut in gold foil, are really fragile and I managed to destroy 2 of them (one for each side) removing them from the backing paper as the die cut is a bit deep. However, you get 20 blossoms total so there is room for error.

When I applied my decals, I wanted to give the illusion of the blossoms being blown from the branch and towards the viewer, hence their growing larger towards the rear of the car.

Body Shell Projects

Current Body Shell Projects

Bodies Everywhere

I have a bad habit of picking up a new body almost every time I visit my local course/shop, even though I have nearly a dozen that need to be worked on and complete. While I'm partial to 4-door sedans, my collection is starting to grow to include some of the "iconic" cars along with some more esoteric ones, such as the Vellfire.

• ABC Hobby Nissan Sileighty - To replicate Sato Mako's from Initial D. Debating Wrap-Up S13 3D light decals for the front end and 180SX decals for the rear.
• ABC Hobby Nissan Sileighty - Not sure of the color yet, maybe PS-62 Pure Orange or PS Anodized Green? I plan to install either Addiction's BN Sports Sileighty body kit or a combination of Addiciton S13 and 180SX Rocket Bunny V2 body parts.
• Pandora Toyota Vellfire - Not sure of the color yet, perhaps one of the metallic colors.
• Team Tetsujin Liberty Walk R35 - To be painted PS-23 Gun Metal with the Overdose Voltex GT Wing Type-7.
• Yokomo AE86 Sprinter Trueno - To be painted PS-57 Pearl White with ghosted LB* rising sun graphics on both doors in a modified panda-style.
• Yokomo Blitz Dunlop ER34 - Not sure about the color, perhaps PS-59 Dark Metallic Blue or PS-47 Iridescent Pink/Gold but the latter would make it look a lot like the C35 Laurel.
• Yokomo C35 Laurel - Painted PS-52 Champagne Gold. I've installed some Wrap-Up Next 3D door handles and grill, but need to apply the stock decals, body-lines, and window-trim.
• Yokomo M7 RE-Amemiya (FD3S) - To be painted PS-6 Yellow or PS-54 Cobalt Green. I have a set of Strikers decals to turn this into an itasha if I go the yellow route.