Tamiya Durga DB01 EP Buggy (A cheaper 501X?)

[A.J. Gee]

Ok you guy's win. Green slime is specifically designed for the shock O rings. I thought Jimmy was using it in his reviews because he realized it worked well as an alternative to to a different type of lube he may have used in the past. All is good though as i was able to squeeze just enough ball diff grease from my last tube. Im looking into getting silicone based grease for my diffs and possibly purchasing upgraded bearings and Diff balls.

[5POINTSTAR]

Originally Posted by peetbee

So, if it's less expensive, that makes it cheaper right

Not exactly, depends on ones definition of "CHEAP"- not confusing is it? Look at it from a different perspective..

[jimmy]

I always use Tamiya silicone diff grease in my cars - you can buy big tubes of it. The green slime is defintely very different not for diffs. It's important to degrease your diff before assembling (from new), to get rid of any rogue lubes that might make things slip.

[A.J. Gee]

What components do you guys use the Tamiya ceramic grease and the AW grease on? Wow I'm actually starting to feel like one of the boobs from RC universe with these basic questions. The only difference is that i don't own a Traxxas like the thousands of teenie boppers on there and i dont ask things like "how fast does this go" or "What is better" Sorry for my venting, but im starting to hate that site more and more each day. I also pray that this site doesn't end up slowly morphing into RCU one of these days.

[outspaced]

I'm of "The Hornet" generation, but I missed the hobby and so after a bit of research I decided to buy the Durga.

I bought a Durga today and started building about 2pm. I am calling it a day at 1 am as I have work tomorrow and I'm knackered! I haven't build a car since the Sonic Fighter but it went quite well (I have age on my side now ). The only setback was that I made the diffs back to front so when it came to fitting the driveshafts, there was too much space one side and not enough on the other, but it wasn't too hard to back track and correct my mistake. I had simply missed a small "turn it over" arrow in the manual!

Any way all that's left to do is cut and paint the shell, fix the on/off switch properly and adjust the steering. here's a pic of my work today

Good fun, I think I really needed to build something.

[A.J. Gee]

Dont feel bad about the Diff mistake. I cant tell you the number of people that did what you did including myself. You will enjoy the buggy out of the box, but with some choice hop ups you can turn it into a competitive racer or a very nice basher which is what i use mine as since i dont live close to any tracks. If you have any questions along your build, you are in the right place. Good luck with the rest of it. Do you plan on going brushless and Lipo? I highly recommend that you do since both are top notch technology as far as Rc is concerned.

[outspaced]

Thanks for the comments, A.J.

I'm sure I will be upgrading this car extensively- I bought it to tinker with as much as drive, and I've already began reading up on the tech that you have mentioned. I will probably order the slipper clutch asap so that when I upgrade the motor I'll be ready to go.

One or two questions, I opted for the Viper Eco20 ESc. That means that it can take any motor of 20 turns or above, right? Would I ever want/need a motor of fewer turns if I'm not going to be competing?

[A.J. Gee]

Originally Posted by outspaced

Thanks for the comments, A.J.

I'm sure I will be upgrading this car extensively- I bought it to tinker with as much as drive, and I've already began reading up on the tech that you have mentioned. I will probably order the slipper clutch asap so that when I upgrade the motor I'll be ready to go.

One or two questions, I opted for the Viper Eco20 ESc. That means that it can take any motor of 20 turns or above, right? Would I ever want/need a motor of fewer turns if I'm not going to be competing?

The Viper Esc i don't recall ever hearing about, but that really doesn't mean much since there are many different brands of ESC's on the market. Im sure it will suit you quite well, although it's capabilities of of handling motors below 20 turns won't happen. Considering you are just getting back into the hobby it wasn't the worst choice you could have made. Everyone in the R/C world is different. I personally prefer a balls to the wall setup, and it also helps to run a motor with a lower motor turn than you would have in a 2wd vehicle. Are you from the states? If so i have 2 Futaba ESC's, one which is brand new and the other slightly used. I have no use for these anymore since i now run brushless so if you would like to look into buying one of them i can throw it your way for short money. One thing to keep in mind about RC is that in this hobby you pay for what you get. It always pays off to spend the extra money for any piece of equipment, whether it's electronics, motors, and even hop up parts.

[DCM]

if you are going to buy an Eco20..... opt for no more than a 27t motor or the silver can that comes with most tamiya kits, otherwise it will be going back home smelling real bad.

[outspaced]

Thanks for the offer AJ, but I'm over in the uk!

I guess if my ESC blows up when running a motor it's rated for, then I'll buy a newer/better one. As ever thanks for both of your replies.

[outspaced]

So I took the Durga out for a couple of spins for the first time today at my local parks. No jumps or even any real slopes but lots of dusty dirt paths and loose stuff to burn through and do donuts in
I was really impressed by how well behaved this car was. Without hardly even trying I was sliding it this way and that and it always did as I asked.

I'm glad I've ordered a better motor than the ol' silver can that came in the kit- the car handles beautifully but was lacking in power. I can see myself upgrading the heck out of it this summer

Lots of debris got swept up into the car through the gaps in the front under the shell. I suppose they are there for cooling purposes but it showed that the belts are sealed for a good reason.

Sorry if all this sounds obvious but I'm effectively a total newcomer to RC cars (it's been about 15 years since my last tamiya)

[A.J. Gee]

Im glad to hear that you enjoyed your first run with her. We can all agree that it's a well mannered car and very capable of keeping up with the best provided you have the right equipment and skill. And yes i would recomend upgrading from the silver can. I cant stand when my kits come with that motor. I have no use for them at all. i recomend that if your gonna upgrade this summer that you go for a brushless setup and possibly Lipo.

[outspaced]

I expect I probably will already thinking about alternative shell colours too.

[CAClark]

Originally Posted by outspaced

I'm glad I've ordered a better motor than the ol' silver can that came in the kit- the car handles beautifully but was lacking in power.

What motor did you get? I got an LRP GT3 12x2 for mine, and it keeps unsoldering the wires on the motor, even with decent solder, and it seems quite sluggish. My mate Ninj has lent me his Yokomo 17T stock motor, so will see how that behaves this weekend.

Cheers!

[outspaced]

I ordered a Tamiya super stock BZ in the end from ebay. I'm sure i'll be told i shouldn't have gone for that one but i didn't want to go too nuts on the brushed motors yet in case i feel like getting brushless gear in a few months. I'll let you know how it performs in a couple of weeks

[A.J. Gee]

The super stock BZ wasn't a bad choice, as it will allow you to get a good feel for the car until your ready to go brushless. The only problem you may experience is a lack of torque considering the motor needs to deliver power to all 4 wheels instead of 2. If i were you i would make that my last brushed motor and just go BL(brushless) It is a no brainer considering the performance you get from BL and the maintenance is almost non existant. The price difference between both types of motors really isn't a huge margin. I have on order at the moment the new Team Orion 2008 Vortex Brushless Race motor 5.5 T. The price for the motor is about $90.00 and i have a feeling that once they come out in the next week or so that they will be the best quality and performing BL motor on the market. Just my thoughts. Team Orion never dissapoints and always brings their best to the table.

[mog ruith]

guys im getting a new buggy an am considerinr the db01
so how do you like urs? anything i should look out for?
any pros and cons?

[jimmy]

I'm just building a new DB01 at the moment to take to Italy for the Euros. I think if you keep it fairly simple then it's a great car. Of course, you have the option to stick tons of hopups on it, some like the CVD's are a good idea, others like Alloy Hubs and alloy steering are more looks than anything as I've never broken a plastic item and the alloy make the car feel different (worse) I think.
My new car has the rc Champ screw set, which I've used because I had it kicking around for ages - but if I was buying a set now I'd get the ones from Tonys screws.

My new car has:

front one way diff
slipper
501X shocks
alloy/titanium screws
501X (worlds?) ball studs
501X rear diff (all metal)
Kanzen ceramic diff balls

On the way:
TA05 carbon battery strap (to stiffen the car a little)
carbon front rear middle top covers (to stiffen the car a little)


pros and cons?

Pros: with minimal hopups (TRF shocks) the car is awesome.
Strong, somewhat sealed from the environment, reliable
easy to drive

cons: motor and diff access is a little poor - you have to undo 10000 screws.
kit screws are rubbish and almost impossible to build the car with!
the chassis and other parts are best to be pre-tapped to make it easier to build - I used a screw on a drill to do this.
The car is easier to drive on slippery tracks - when it gets high grip the slightly flexible chassis probably makes it a little less consistent and predictable than my 501X.

[CAClark]

Mine is still proving a pain in the arse, if some of you kind folks could take a look at my last post in this thread:

http://www.oople.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10698

I bought the thing so I could get in to actually racing it, and I've no chance as it stands, and I can't see what the problem is :-/

Cheers!

[CAClark]

Originally Posted by A.J. Gee

The super stock BZ wasn't a bad choice, as it will allow you to get a good feel for the car until your ready to go brushless. The only problem you may experience is a lack of torque considering the motor needs to deliver power to all 4 wheels instead of 2. If i were you i would make that my last brushed motor and just go BL(brushless) It is a no brainer considering the performance you get from BL and the maintenance is almost non existant. The price difference between both types of motors really isn't a huge margin. I have on order at the moment the new Team Orion 2008 Vortex Brushless Race motor 5.5 T. The price for the motor is about $90.00 and i have a feeling that once they come out in the next week or so that they will be the best quality and performing BL motor on the market. Just my thoughts. Team Orion never dissapoints and always brings their best to the table.

Brushless is fine if money is no object, but the cost of a brushless setup is still pretty excessive IMO. Hopefully they'll creep down in price.