Summer tests

The last new-for-2024 touring car to report on for me is the Axon TC10/3.

This was actually the first car I got for the 2024 season, and when I ordered it late December 2023 I did not know for sure about a new TRF (although there were indications), or when the Mi9 would be released and what that would look like. In the end it took until early February before I received the TC10/3, but since no outdoor running would be possible until May, there was no big hurry. February was a good time to build the car.

The TC10/3 is of course Axon’s first full car kit, but during build I was truly impressed by the quality (except that one issue of the excessive play in the inner suspension ball bushings) and engineering behind it.  Having then later spent time with the other two cars, I would say the Axon has the best quality. The quality of all three kits is good, and all have parts where they are better than the others, but overall I would give that to Axon.

Sure, during one season it developed a slight amount of play in normal areas like driveshafts and steering, but nothing to complain over. Over time, running the car and working on it at the track, you also appreciate the good engineering that has gone into it. It really feels well made.

The dampers on the TC10/3 I feel are perhaps the best I have ever experienced, and this is an area where Axon has already exceled for a long time. Now that they are about to release new even shorter dampers, it will be very interesting to see if they are still as good.

I have already mentioned previously how good the drivetrain feels on this car, but it’s worth mentioning again how well made and smooth it is.

The TC10/3 was always a very quiet car, and it felt and sounded very vibration-free. Out of all previous cars this reminded me most of the Mugen MTC1 and MTC2, which were both like this as well, and just like the Axon they were made with super high quality.

I will admit that out of the three cars, I run the TC10/3 the least, and I don’t feel as confident in describing it as the other two.

There were many things I should have and wanted to do – simple things like trying the o-rings which Axon released during summer to hold the arm ball bushings in place of the standard clips, and/or working out some permanent fix to the excessive play in that area, but I simply run out of time running three different cars.

On track the TC10/3 is an interesting car, as it has a special feel compared to any other car. It feels like it goes through corners with almost no resistance, and everytime I had been running the other cars and switched to the Axon, this was the first impression that hit me.

It would be interesting to understand where this different feeling comes from – is it the unique suspension geometry, rollbar design, drivetrain, flex, or something else like the super smooth ball joints?

As a reminder, this is what Axon said themselves “The ball joints around the suspension and steering are key parts that greatly affect the performance of the machine. In order to achieve stress-free operation even under heavy loads, we paid close attention to the materials and clearances of each product.�

And these are not just empty words – the ball joints (balls+cups) are surely the best I have ever experienced.

This no resistance driving feeling should mean that it has, or can have, super high corner speed, and it certainly feels like it has up to a point. The problem was getting the car to keep this going throughout the corner and being able to feel confident on throttle out of corners as well.

The car would often lose rear grip just after the apex of a corner, i.e very close to but just after the middle of the corner. Even though I did many tests with different springs, droop, angles, flex and so on, and got the car better with those changes, this issue always somehow remained.

In results on track this was reflected by that it was most often difficult to be as consistent with the car, and therefore you were a bit slower over 5 minutes.

With the standard carbon chassis and top deck, especially the front felt too weak and soft (flex-wise) to me. Axon released a front roll post as well as a different rear roll post as option parts during summer, which let you alter the flex and add some support towards the front as well.

I never bought these parts, but made my own by using a special TRF step screw in place of a normal screw in the rear post, and using a suitable post and modified set screw as a front post to mimic the Axon ones. Axon also later released a T-brace, but again I had a part which I could use for this. These mods were an improvement to the car, and especially the T-brace I felt was perhaps the biggest one.

Around this time Axon also released their aluminium chassis for the TC10/3 (as well as alu car kit), and looking at photos and setups it seems this has been used by the team everywhere since. Based on what I have seen with the car I do believe this is kind of logical, and it would have been interesting to try this to see what effect it has on this particular car.

The TC10/3 was tested on these two tracks, which are described in the TRF421 2024 summary.

Most testing of the car was done on the track above, and because of the layout and surface, this track has a tendency to overheat the rear tyres. If we go back many years this made it very difficult to enjoy 4wd TC’s on this track, but as cars and bodies have improved, this problem is not there as much anymore.

Nowadays with a good setup, for example the 421 and Mi9 would have front tyres 1-2 deg warmer than the rears after a run also on this track. However, on the TC10/3 they were (almost) always the same front and rear, further illustrating why it was difficult to trust the rear end of the car. Throughout testing, trying many different changes and setups, this F/R split would basically always be similar.

But then the track is also somewhat extreme in causing this, so it could be said that me driving mostly on this track accentuated the issue. And the TC10/3 always performed better at the track below which has a more normal surface and spread of corners.

Axon already had great results at the last IFMAR ISTC World Championships, and it will be very interesting to see what they can acheive this year.

It’s fair to say results overall have not been as impressive this year as they were back in 2022/23, but the Axon team have participated in both the invitational race hosted by Finishline RC Raceway in May, and more recently won the (sparsely attended) Worlds warmup + testing at the track around both races. So there doesn’t seem to be any lack of preparation for the big race. I will follow their results with interest and I hope we get to see the exact specification of the car they run.

New shorter dampers have already been mentioned in this article, as well as teased and shown by Axon themselves for some time. In addition further updates to how the dampers are mounted were tested at the warmup. Perhaps some new developments will also be on the cars in a few weeks?

Overall I think Axon have done a good job with their first ever car, and some aspects of it are truly impressive. Axon also went about it in a very structured and logical way, first making option parts, followed by conversion kits, before making the final step of producing a complete car. Perhaps the car still needed some work to really perform though, but Axon have continously developed it throughout this first year, and it has been good to see their step-by-step development.

What has been disappointing though is how they handle communication with current and potential customers. This all the way from when the kit release was delayed but it continues still. Their products surely deserves much better promotion and communication, also internationally, and I hope Axon realise this and do something about it.

My TC10/3 kit has a new owner now, but I will still be keeping a keen eye on developments from here.

I would have been happy to keep the car and upgrade it with all developments, but this being a hobby it was never really planned nor sustainable to keep going with so many cars. I’m happy to have experienced the car first hand though.