A review of Team Associated's Qualifier APEX Touring Car. More available from http://www.competitionx.com.

1. co m pe t it io nx.co m http://www.co mpetitio nx.co m/review-rc-cars/review-team-asso ciated-qualifier-apex-to uring-car/
Review: Team Associated Qualifier APEX Touring Car
T he Touring Car
segment is like
the F1 of our
hobby. T hese
machines are
designed to take
f ull advantage
of components
like carbon f iber,
titanium and
aluminum.
T hey’re sleek,
lightweight,
extremely f ast
and can pull
quite a f ew G’s
Re vie w: Te am As s o c iate d Q ualifie r APEX To uring Car
in the corners. If
you want to get
into this segment, you’ll need to shell out quite a f ew sheckles in order to do so. AE sees this as a problem and
has introduced a very cost ef f ective alternative to this problem in the f orm of the Qualif ier APEX V-Type
Touring Car. T his car allows an entry-level user to get their f eet wet without the exorbitant costs involved with
Touring Cars.
AT A GLANCE
WHO MAKES IT: Team Associated
WHO IT ’S FOR: Everyone
HOW MUCH: $289.98
BUILD T YPE: RT R
PROS & CONS
+ T he Qualif ier APEX V-Type is a complete RT R (Ready-To-Run) touring car, including a Reedy 3000mah NiMh
Wolf pack battery.
+ T he Reedy/XP brushless system has great power and is even water-resistant.
+ T he Qualif ier includes AE’s XP DS-1903MG metal geared servo and XP2G 2.4Ghz radio system.
+ Reminiscent of the T C3/T C4, this new chassis is modular and easy to work on.
+ Comes equipped with a f ull set of bearings, CVA drive axles and f luid-f illed, metal-gear dif f erentials.
+ Screw on wheel adapter is dif f erent, but works well.
+ Nice set of medium compound tires have good traction.
- Tires wear pretty f ast.
- Not many af termarket support parts listed as of yet.

2. Authors Opinion: A f un RT R right out of the box. Good looks, easy-to-work on chassis and a peppy
brushless system all put positive points in its column. It’s also a pretty good runner on the track! If you’re in the
market f or a T C, the APEX V-Type is def initely a good car to start of f with!
Star rating (1-5) = 4.5
FACT S
- At f irst glance, the Qualif ier T C appears much like AE’s older T C3 or T C4 touring car. While the layout is
similar, it’s actually a completely new design. T he chassis now comes as a 3-piece, modular unit, and has been
molded with the battery and electronics swapping sides.
- AE has occupied the electronics area with their XP DS-1903MG servo, a SC500-BL brushless ESC and Reedy
3300kV 540 brushless motor. T his little car boogies on the included 3000mAh NiMh Reedy Wolf Pack battery,
but I can’t wait to try it on a 2S or 3S LiPo! Major mojo on the way!
- T he high-grip racing tires are actually pretty good, as tested on a dusty parking lot. My nephew, who’s only
driven an RC car a f ew times, was able to really rocket the V-Type around without doing constant donuts. On
the downside, however, the tires are pretty sof t; you’re giving up some longevity f or maximum traction.
- An odd f eature that I’ve never seen bef ore in a 1/10th scale car is the screw-on wheel hex adapters. Basically,
the threaded axle and locknut has been replaced with a f emale threaded axle and 5mm socket head screw. I
didn’t notice any pros or cons to this setup so my guess is that it’s just a ‘new and dif f erent’ f eature.
- For those of you that might be f eeling the need to hit the track, AE has incorporated some of the most
usef ul tuning options into the APEX V-Type. Ride height, roll centers, droop and shock locations are just a f ew
of the more popular adjustments. If you want to adjust camber you’ll need to purchase af termarket turnbuckles
as the Qualif ier comes with molded links.
- T he body is a rehash of the T C4 RT R lid but in a new, Lucas Oil Products livery. AE has also dumped the
carbon-Lexan wing in f avor of a new, stronger molded wing. T he new look certainly looks great.
IT EMS USED
- Reedy 3000mAh NiMh Wolf Pack
ON T HE T RACK
Initially I was going to take the APEX V-Type out to a local parking lot and give it a go, but that changed when
my nephew, Matthew, asked if he could go along to help. You see, he’s f rom East Texas, and there’s not much
RC anything going on out there. I f igured this might be a good chance to see if he has any RC skills…maybe
prep him to be the next World Champion!
We headed over to a local park where there just happened to be a nice, f reshly paved asphalt parking lot as
well as a couple handicap ramps up onto the sidewalk. A small, 6’ wide concrete path weaved its way through
the park, so there was plenty of room f or Matt to navigate and, hopef ully, not send the Qualif ier of f and into
the grass or dirt. We unloaded the car and prepped the T C f or its maiden drive. Since Matt was going to drive it
(and this car was geared towards beginners just like him), I ‘let’ him do all the work; remove the body, drop the
battery in, plug it in and replace the body. He was able to get all that done quite easily, so we moved on to the
more dif f icult step…driving! He f lipped the switch on the transmitter and then the car (yes, the proper
sequence), and proceeded to slowly drive the car around the parking lot. Af ter a f ew minutes I let him loose and
in no time he was f lying around the parking lot! T he 3000mAh NiMh Wolf Pack is a great starter battery and f ed
plenty of f uel to the brushless system, but not so much to actually overpower the stock tires. T he tires low
prof ile, medium-compound design worked great on both the asphalt and concrete, but af ter an entire run the
rears did seem overly worn. I’m pretty sure this was due to Matt’s heavy trigger f inger once he f igured out how
to go f ast!

3. Matt seemed comf ortable controlling the Qualif ier around our makeshif t track. He was able to go up and down
the access ramps, f ollow the path a ways and backtrack back to the parking lot. He mentioned the transmitter
having a good f eel to it and that the car was very easy to drive (both of which I conf irmed during my test drive
of the car). He did have a f ew of f road excursions, but most of his ‘issues’ happened at a pretty slow speed
so there wasn’t much chance of damage to occur. He did have one pretty substantial crash; an encounter with
the curb as he tried hitting the access ramp at a pretty decent speed. T he Qualif ier went popping up in the air,
sliding up onto the concrete and tumbling of f onto the grass. T he f unniest part of the whole situation was the
look on Matt’s f ace; I’m pretty sure he thought he just killed my brand new AE car. We picked it up and gave it a
quick look but didn’t see anything wrong other than a slight crease in the f ront of the body.
T HE LAST WORD
T he Qualif ier APEX V-Type is a great car f or anyone looking at getting into the Touring Car market. Its
complete redesign (f rom the T C4 standpoint) is now much simpler and def initely a lot less costly to produce,
meaning more inexpensive car f or you. T he f act that it comes f ully assembled with a brushless system, 2.4GHz
radio and a quality NiMh battery pack is an absolute bonus, especially since it drops in at under $300. While I
haven’t seen any upgrades yet, I would certainly suggest picking up a good 2S or 3S LiPo pack. T hat should put
some serious speed in your Qualif ier. Matt won’t stop bugging me to drop one in ‘his’ car now!
LINKS
Team Associated, www.rc10.com, (949) 544-7500
Reedy, www.rc10.com, (949) 544-7500
T OOLS &
ACCESSORIES
INCLUDED
+ Wheel wrench
+ L wrenches
IT EMS NEEDED
T O RUN T HIS
CAR
- 4 AA’s f or the
transmitter
IT EMS USED
- Reedy
3000mAh NiMh
Wolf Pack
SPECS &
T UNING Re vie w: Te am As s o c iate d Q ualifie r APEX To uring Car Chas s is Sho t
OPT IONS
Team Associated Qualif ier APEX V-Type Touring Car
DIMENSIONS
Length: 16.7” (425mm)
Width: 7.5” (190mm)
Wheelbase: 10.2” (259mm)
Weight: 3.9lbs (1760g)
Body, wheels and tires
Body: Trimmed and painted Team Lucas Oil Racing

4. Wheels: Plastic 10-spoke
Wheel adapter type: 12mm hex
Tires: High-grip racing tires
Suspension
Type: 4-wheel independent
Shock positions: Tower – 3, Arm – 2
Camber: Fixed links
Roll: Adjustable link heights
Wheelbase: Fixed
Ride height: Preload spacers
Misc: n/a
Steering
Type: Dual bellcrank
Toe: Fixed
Chassis
Type: Tub design
Material: Molded plastic
T hickness: n/a
Misc: n/a
Drivetrain
Type: 4WD
Transmission: n/a
Dif f erential: 2 gear dif f
Clutch Type: None
Gear ratio: Optional pinion gears
Bearings: Full set of shielded
Misc- n/a
MAINT ENANCE AND T UNING T IPS
- T here’s very little that can go wrong with this T C since the entire drivetrain is sealed. Even the spur gear is
pretty well hidden, but it’s not a bad idea to check out this area of the car af ter every run. Any debris getting
lodged near the spur gear could cause problems if lef t unchecked.
Check out the May 2013 issue of RC Driver Magazine f or additional reviews.