Tell me straight - would I spend as much upgrading a DF-03 as I would on a 501X?

[sosidge]

OK RC doctors...

Tell me straight - would I spend as much upgrading a DF-03 to be competitive-club-race-worthy as I would on a 501X?

And would that DF-03 still end up getting beaten convincingly by the 501X on a typical grass track, given the same driver?

[jimmy]

I can only tell you what I know from racing the near-standard car. I did have B4 shocks on it by the end of the day and I also ran it with a slipper later on and centre one way.
Some stuff, especially the chinese stuff is very cheap - though to be competitive you want just the bare essentials like shock towers, shocks, slipper, turnbuckles - maybe a centre one way.
The chassis is a little flexible but you might cure that with the 'yeah racing' alloy battery cover - I've yet to try it.

It will never be as good as the 501X, its just too short, has no casor on the hubs, has no antisquat - etc etc. But it has other appeals the 501X doesn't of course, and I really like the car.

Hang with the 501X - I ran both indoors at batley, the KeenHawk was far from dialled and I think it could have been better than it was (first time out), possibly a lot better with some choice upgrades - but the 501X was 2seconds a lap quicker.

[DCM]

You can buy my DF-03 if you want.

Alloy motor mount
3Racing carbon chassis conversoin
RW layshaft and B4 slipper
DF-03 hop-up shocks, with TRF pistons
3Racing alloy steering
Hard rear diff outdrives
DF-02 Tamiya front CVD's
Centre one-way
Carbon shock towers (hand made as none were available at the time)
Wheels and tyres

Open to offers/deals/cash?

[Funkymojo]

Well you can't really compare the Dark Impact with the 501X, one's designed to be a basher and one's a competition race buggy...i had the DF03 when it was first released, spent quite abit on hop ups. It was a decent basher but nowhere near a race buggy, parts felt and look cheap, installed Novak 5800 on it and the gearbox melted and no i didn't screw up on the ratio. Don't waste your cash upgrading the car, get the 501X...i'm glad i got rid of my Dark Lemon...

[jimmy]

Haha, don't melt my Ultimate Impact review just yet mate! give it chance! :D

[Funkymojo]

Haha, don't melt my Ultimate Impact review just yet mate! give it chance! :D

Oops...I'm sorry Jimmy...would love to see your review...i enjoy every single review you wrote...well when you're reviewing the Dark Impact...be sure to have an ice tall glass of coool Dark Lemonade...LOL ;)

[jimmy]

lol
I had so many good puns lined up for the dark impact review but never did one (did the keen hawk instead) - but maybe I can crack a few out with this hopped up impact review, filth. :D

[Funkymojo]

I saw a guy at my local track had a Keen hawk rammed into his leg..and it's 2 front wheels were resting on his shin..and the driver kept accelerating pushing the Keen hawk toward's the guy's shin..it wasnt a pretty sight...if you know what i mean...LOL..i told my mate..Now that's one Keen Hawk....LOL :D

[jimmy]

hahahaha

[Funkymojo]

hahahaha


Sorry to hog this thread Jimmy..but will you be reviewing more obscure buggies like the MKI-4? Wasnt too thrilled about Ben G's review... :p

[jimmy]

hahaha - to be honest I am way busy and wanna chill out, but for sure I will do some 'different' stuff. I have several things here I could review like a Tamiiya Frog! haha Yeah - got that 18 months ago and only ever opened the box - lazy or what?

[budgio]

I for one am more than happy with my DF-03,its got me back into the swing of things after a long break and i,m gonna hop it up even more to get the best i can out of it before i take the next big plunge into more serious territory in the summer.

Sure, its not a serious competition buggy but it holds it own at club level from what i,ve seen.

Looking forward to the KEEN HAWK/ULTIMATE IMPACT review too Jimmy ;)

[Elliott Hopkins]

Referring to Jimmy's first reply. My DI has the bare essentials Jimmy mentioned and it's only cost me about £140 in total in parts including the car.

Although being an 'OK' racer, I agree it probably won't ever beat a 501x on the track, but it is absolutely bulletproof if you want to take it off the track. I have thrashed and crashed my DI over the last 12 months from box stock spec to the bare essential upgraded spec car I have now and it has has only broken one thing twice. The rear gearbox - once at the wishbone hingepin and recently on the shock tower.

The only problem for me is dust ingression into the rear gearbox. Diff grease between the cracks eliminates this.

I know you weren't asking about bashing, but I wanted to give you an idea of sturdiness.

£140 sturdy entry level clubber or £250 thoroughbred racer.

Elliott.

[BenG]

hahaha - to be honest I am way busy and wanna chill out, but for sure I will do some 'different' stuff. I have several things here I could review like a Tamiiya Frog! haha Yeah - got that 18 months ago and only ever opened the box - lazy or what?

will we see some 8th rallycross? :confused::D

[DCM]

They already do a racing truck (TNX) and it is pretty nifty too.

[jimmy]

At the risk of going a bit off-topic, the new Nitrage truggy looks fantastic - as usual when I emailed Tamiya to ask a question about it I got ignored (japan, uk, usa - my usual haunts)

[DCM]

Jimmy, you are a sucker for punishment, lol.

Who wants my DF03?

[BORMAC]

Tamiya's 501X is the best buggy they have ever built as far as competition goes.When you're up against the likes of BJ4's,XX4',ZX5's etc...you can forget the DF03,you'll need the 501X because this is the cars sole purpose.Save the bashing for the 'FUN' cars and run with the 501 I say.Im still yet to brake or bend anything on the 501 and Im running a 5.5 in mine.Only problem I have encountered is wear on the tyres :D .GO TRF 501X!

[sim]

I agree, if you race to win, get a race buggy (TRF501X) and focus on practice and setup.

If you start with a basher buggy like the DF-03, you'll spend a lot of time finding out all its issues and then finding fixes for them, reading forums on the internet, experimenting with parts from different brands or even different cars, very likely fabricating some of your own parts... and then if and when you're successful, you might get a race performance buggy. This is fun for some people but not for others. Like Jimmy says, the chassis is short, and as far as we know, there are no caster or anti-squat adjustments and nobody has come out with stabilizer bars for it although the front looks to have a place for it when Tamiya finally releases one.