Team Associated B64D review

I had a lot of fun running my TLR 22-4 2.0, so when Team Associated announced the long-awaited successor to the B44, I knew I had to get one.  What you get is a car completely different than the 22-4 2.0, and much more like other 4WD buggies on the market.

Overview:
The B44 was Associated's first 4WD buggy, and was basically an offshoot of the BJ4 prototype buggy.  It lasted a long time in the Associated lineup, and there have been rumors of a new platform for literally years, but nothing showed up.  Finally in early 2017, the B64D was released.  It's an all new, thoroughly modern, fully metric, 1/10 scale 4WD electric buggy.

Build: 4
Team Associated has been taking some slack lately for their latest kits.  The B64D was not a hard build, but there were some tricky parts to it that might confuse a new builder.  All of the transmission screws are extremely tight, and I definitely had to use black grease in all of them.  One of the kingpin screws in the camber block impinged on the hinge pin hold, such that it was hard to thread it in all the way.  Finally, the diff shims call for 5 shims on one side and 2 on the other, but 7/0 fit much better for me.

The manual is pretty clear for the most part, but the slight machining error on the caster block and the requirement to cut parts off parts trees was a bit of a bummer.  This is the first Associated kit I built that didn't quite build properly out of the box, so I have to give it a below average score.

Design: 9
Team Associated took a long time to release the B64D, and boy is this a nice design.  The diffs (front/center/rear) are very easy to get to -- they just require 4 screws.  The layout is very elegant and clean, with plenty of room for the electronics.  This is one of the easiest cars I own to work on, it's even easier than the B6 in my opinion.  The sliding motor mount is nice, and there are lots of carbon fiber and aluminum parts sprinkled about.

There are tons of adjustments to the car -- axle heights, 3 diffs, front mounted rear arms, slipper option, Ackermann plates, in addition to the usual shock locations and hub spacing.  They use the pill system in the front and rear arms to adjust kickup, track width, anti-squat and toe.

About the only complaints I have are that the front bumper is practically non-existent, and the rear bumper is completely non-existent.  The chassis seems to take a lot of abuse as a result, moreso than most buggies.  The kit also uses a funky C-clip in the diffs, which is a bit annoying, but not a major issue.

Overall, the design is awesome and a joy to work on and look at.  Even if it is an X-ray clone...

Performance: 5
It's a little bit difficult to judge performance, and I'll explain why.  I think the kit setup isn't that good, and definitely needs some work.  Out of the box, I would give it a below average score.  The B6/B6D have amazing setups, as do most modern day kits in the U.S.  I run on high-traction indoor clay, which is similar to the tracks the U.S. manufacturers run on (TLR, Team Associated), so I kind of expect the kit setup to be close.

It's not terrible, but it is quite edgy.  With some tuning, it can get a lot better, and so that's why it's hard to rate the performance.  I ended up going to 200k center diff oil, stiffer rear springs, a higher ride height and different axle heights just to get the car in the ballpark.  And I still have many more hours of tuning to do.

I'm pretty confident that eventually setup will be really, really good, but it will take time and testing to get there.  There are enough adjustments to be able to get the car to drive any way you like, but for the purposes of this review I'm going to give it an average performance rating because the kit setup isn't really there, but has the potential to be there.

Pros:  the steering on this buggy is amazing out of the box.  Team Associated said they wanted to make this drive more like the B6D, and I would agree that the steering and the way it gets into and through the corner is very good.

Cons:  it doesn't jump or land very well, partly due to the cheap shock internals, and also due to the low ride height.  Rear traction is a little suspect until you increase the center diff fluid and go to stiffer rear springs.

Durability: 3
The B44 had notoriously weak front arms, to the point where most people replaced them with RPM super rubbery arms.  You would think this would be the one area they would make sure they got right, but in my experience, the arms are once again the car's weakness.  I've broken 3 front arms in the first 6 weeks of running.

The B64 also uses the same rear hub design as the B6D, including the much-maligned little plastic inserts for the camber link.  I've broken that piece 3 times in my B6D, and I also broke it in my B64D.

Some people have broken the diff cases, but this has not happened to me.

Finally, the wing is super flimsy and will only last a few crashes before it needs to be replaced.

Value: 6
The B64D sells for $429, which is on the low side for a 4WD buggy.  It comes with a lot of nice factory aluminum parts -- caster blocks, caster inserts, all 4 hinge pin braces, front axles and rear hexes, center brace, and a spiffy motor mount.  It also has thick carbon fiber shock towers front and rear.  All of the driveshafts are CVA's.

So a lot of value in the box for a fairly low price.  My main complaints are the molded shock internals and a fair amount of the parts still come on parts trees and need to be cut out.  The polycarbonate pieces (wing especially) are a little thin.  And there are no wheels or tires in the box.

It's still one of the better deals on the market though.

Support: 10
Team Associated parts are the easiest to find in the U.S., and there are lots of sponsored drivers out there providing setup sheets and tuning tips.  There is no better supported platform in the U.S.

Dislikes:
The flimsy front arms are a major issue for this buggy.  I've gone to the hard arms to see if they last longer.  Other than that, it's a fun buggy and I look forward to getting it working as well as possible.

Conclusion:
Team Associated took a long time to come out with the B64D, and they've released a very good buggy.  If they can fix the durability issues with the front arms, this may be the buggy to be beat.  The design is elegant and has a plethora of tuning options.  While I don't think the performance/setup is as good as some of the other buggies on the market (i.e. the TLR 22-4 2.0), it's still early days for setup with this buggy.  Give it a few more months, and I think the performance will be right there if not better.