steven,

both brands are well known in Malaysia; and both have pretty good support locally although you will find Tamiya Underground @ 1Utama stocks up a whole lot more than yokomo dealer (hobbyhaven @ sunway). Mind you that tamiya isn't just about remote controlled stuffs...that explains why their dealer stocks up many other things too

if you choose tamiya...i'd first say...welcome to the brood many of us have been toying with tamiya even before it has an official dealer in malaysia.

2nd, being diverse in the models it offers....your choice is really bound by your pocket. TT01 is a classic chassis and even has a race category by itself under Tamiya Asia Championship (TAC). Targetted mainly to beginners...TT01 is a good chassis to start up with but later on you'll find that TT01 is pretty limited in what it can be upgraded into. Good choice if you do no plan to spend a fortune buying/maintaining one.

Then there are TB, TA05 and TRF...whole different ballparks to play around with...correspondingly, the amount of $$$ you've to dunk in to buy/maintain one.

I'm going to regress back to Yokomo. It comes about with tonnes of drift packages as this category is pretty hot in japan...as well as locally. I think..tamiya is playing catchup with yokomo when it comes to drift packages.

Having said all those...you can literally put in drift tyres onto any chassis...and start drifting away!

steven,

i've never played drift car (at least on purpose...except when my on-road behaves erratically )

why don't you ring up Elwyn @ HobbyHaven....check out their thread HERE

similarly, you can either drop by Tamiya UnderGround @ 1Utama new wing or visit their thread HERE

as for RTR (ready to race ) packages vs chassis only; do visit the tracks and ask those drivers a bit...most of the time, they are friendly...and you can get drift/race buddies right away.

unless you're planning to drift alone somewhere...the radio (transmitter, as it's properly named), is in fact going to be your primary concern; simply because over the time...you might want to change chassis and what not...but hardly ppl change their transmitter set; if bought properly the 1st time. If budget is of major constraint, do look for a FM radio set (transmitter [tx], receiver [rx], servo) as it is less prone to frequency glitches.

mind you most radio set except those on 2.4GHz/spektrum run on crystal (interchangeable); so before you even switch on your radio set at the track....check out the frequency board as there might be others on the same frequency as yours. This is the basic of playing r/c at any track.

as for powering the chassis, lipo battery and brushless motor are the way to go. Both require minimal maintenance compared to NiMH battery packs and brushed motor. As usual...check around; meaning..read up and ask some more! You might get off to drifting cheaper (in a short run using nimh and brushed) as lots of drivers are dumping off their inventory.

if you have anymore Qs....shoot them away...i'll try to help whenever i can

lol dude...that's practically the limitation of infrared transmitter and receiver.

if ya serious about controlling the kit irrespective of your orientation, consider stuffs made by dedicated R/C companies like tamiya etc etc

baaad poison.....bbaaaaaadddd!!! helis are nice man...but that things...ouchhh....

say kyoshooo....ya fly ya birds there?