410 DARC - DEX410 conversion

[jimmy]

Sometimes you just have to see things in the flesh to really appreciate them - and the 410 DARC conversion is certainly one of them.

I met up with Scott Dickinson, the creator of the chassis conversion for the DEX410 from Team Durango, at this past weekend's national at EPR. You can see some photos and read some words about that in the race report here:
http://www.oople.com/rc/photos/2013national-epr/

The 410Darc is a new exciting competition race chassis conversion for the Team durango Dex410

Features :
Convert your existing dex410 easily to the 410darc.
Comprising of an ultra slim 6061-T6 air-craft grade aluminium chassis.
Using Centrally mounted Motor and Radio equipment for optimised and improved weight distribution.
Unique Forward and rear mounted saddles makes for a very well centrally balanced car ( forward to back, left to right).
A true lipo chassis, designed with only todays modern lipo's in mind ( not heavy Ni-cad cells )
The +11 spec longer chassis increases stability and makes for more consistent easier faster driving.
Set up your car from a level playing field. Near 50/50 weight disribution (un weighted)
Larger usable radio gear space.
Chassis flex points can be adjusted by using different combinations of screws in carbon side rails.
TD's weight kit can still be used
Only the highest quality materials used through out.

The chassis driving characteristics:
Better performance in all conditions and situations
has a very noticeable locked in rear end for increased cornering stability and speed.( no wagging )
Staggering confident faster corner entry speed.
Amazing control in the air.
Huge amounts of forward drive.( Leaps out of corners ).
Ton of steering still available.
We have also found the chassis still very nimble on the tight slower corners due to the amount of brushless power availiable nowadays and how our longer chassis tames that power.
Very easy to setup and work on.

Kit contents :
Every component required to convert included.
6061 t6 aluminium chassis ( anodised Military Grey and the magic measurement +11mm longer).
Precision cnc machined side mounting blocks ( 7075 aluminium anodised black).
Cnc machined clutch adapter that fits all Dex410s not just the V3 ( note 2way slipper will not fit ).
Carbon fibre sides ( pure carbon twill , no glass ).
Carbon fibre battery straps ( our carbon fibre weave is the same as the TD's so as to match your other parts).
Brass battery posts that compliment the gold durango shock shafts you already have on your dex410
Agressive yet smooth aerodynamic Body shell ( inspired by the original 2005 hand built durango's).
Black, All M3 hardware needed to convert a 410 ( nothing else required).
Chrome, Black and White pre cut high quality decal sheet.
Instructions sheet ( English only).

Available now
By Pm to D.A.R.C 1 on oople
Price £160 + p&p ( we use Royal Mail only )
Spares price list coming soon
Email darcdevelopments@gmail.com

http://www.darcdevelopments.com

[Lowie]

that's all the info we could fine on the DARC-site, which is great offcourse ..
but isn't there anybody with some extra info or feedback, driver-reports, driving-experience of this chassis? ...

[spud31]

Hi i drove the prototype and as a durango hater its improved the car so i can actually drive it and like it.
No more tail wagging trying to put power down, car feels less agressive and much more stable and balanced.

[jimmy]

I will write an article soon with a GOOD uk driver using the chassis. Not me obviously

[jo90]

If it helps i have raced against Scott running his car at Maritime. Trying to pick through the inside of a corner or power out around the outside isn't easy, if not possible. The car is glued and seems to go where it is put. I have also been up close and persnoal with the production car. The machine work on the parts, and the quality, all resemble a large manufacturer rather than a smaller one. The car once together looks 'kit' with noly the colour of the chassis really giving it away, and the shape of the shell.

Don't get me wrong, I love the 410, it's a simply awesome 4wd, but im very drawn to this kit and it's conversion. I like also that thought has gone into it, and that already tips are appearing on the facebook page and im sure will be duplicated to the website.

The chassis itself also lends to a tad more room for the electrics which only goes to help those with larger ESC and RX equipment.

I know that as soon as I have the money available im buying this upgrade to the 410. For what you get, the quality you get, I think it is worth it.

[MHeadling]

Scott was kind enough to build me a proto DARC410 that was raced the the Off Road wars meeting and at other events at Maritime.

I have raced a 410 for over 4 seasons now and made the switch the DARC, I noticed the following improvments:

Better rear end grip when on power (on high grip and low grip)

Better balance in flight

High corner speed

Just made the 410 a joy to driven and had my best 4wd results using this conversion.

The conversion is very easy to build and the quality is amazing and all British engineering!

A good investment for all you 410 owners out there, get one ordered today!

[sime46]

Any pics of one with electrics installed?

[jimmy]

I really hope Scott can get these going in numbers as despite being banned from oOple years ago he's a stellar guy and has produced something I'm personally super impressed with. The whole look of the car is one of the sexiest things I've ever seen

[contrast]

Just ordered mine and can't wait try it..

[Garry Spice]

Scotty, you southern dancing maiden. ...jimmys dropped enough hints....give him a bloody car so he can stop banging on please!

[andys]

Looks great - and hats off to Scott for pulling this off.

Aside form any claimed improvements over the 410 - I simply like the narrow look of the shell - makes the car look like the very original Durango.

Which does beg a question. As the 410 was a design masterpiece, designed without compromise, I can't help but think they tried this layout - but didnt go with it?

Dont get me wrong - love the look of this thing - but I'd bet Gerd had reasons for not adopting this layout - anyone in the know.

That said - if I find £160 notes anytime soon, ill order one

Jimmy - if you get one I'll 'review' it for you

[jimmy]

The layout gerd had was not feasable for mass production. Michael Vollmer worked with Gerd to put the ideas into a more practical package where you could do things like actually fit stuff in the car

The reason this chassis is possible is because it is 11mm longer. It doesn't destroy what Gerd or Michael did - it keeps the same principals alive and in a fresher package. I think it complements their design, not conflicts with it.

I raced the original production car with NiMh cells - things have changed and much like other trends, people are going loooooonger on the cars to aid stability due to the increased power available.

I don't want a Free car - I'm doing an article with a well known racer who's getting one. I want to pay for my car because Scott deserves it and I know this is by no means a big earner for him. If I'm over enthusiastic it's because having talked to Scott a lot lately and then met up at the weekend and chatted about the car and saw just how nicely finished it was - I want to help him out by expressing my actual feelings on it.
If this were a major manufacturer then I wouldn't be so gushing - but I really appreciate the stuff Scott has shown on this forum over the years and if he's made something this good off his own back with little money and a growing family - then I want people to know about it and see that Scott can keep doing this sort of thing.

Could I afford to create something like this? No way - and I'm sure Scott is hurting from the investment also. I think it's a great looking chassis and package - the TD parts are all proven tough and the chassis follows the ideals laid down by Gerd and Michael - so I say get em while you can!

[paulj]

I have no real interest in 4wd these days as I much prefer to 'try' to drive my 2wd but I have to say that the 410 DARC just looks right. Very impressive for a small scale production job. Even if it's not a K car I could be tempted by one of these, mind you it's in the queue behind the idea of getting a gen III Vega kit for my RB6

[MHeadling]

Well said Jimmy on your post above, great product, great design, and flying off the shelves!

Just had a txt from the man himself saying he can't keep up with demand!

Really pleased for you Scott, glad all the hard work is paying off and the car is getting out there for other racers to experiance!

You won't be disappointed guys!

[siebenelch]

Hello guys!

After years my first post on a forum here.

Gerd never has tested Scott´s chassis layout at that time. Jimmy is right, things has changed alot over the past years.

The DEX410 was originally designed for Sub-C cells and it´s weight distribution. We was in worry, when the the Lipo batteries came out, because the lighter batteries has moved the weight distribution more to the front. So we added the extra brass weights to the car to equalize the weight distribution.

I remember, Gerd has tested cars with longer wheelbase many years ago. But at the end, he made the wheelbase we know from the DEX410.

Many things has changed and are worth to think about:

-lighter Lipo batteries
-gear diffs
-more power
-tracks also has changed. Today we have much more carpet/astro tracks. And the tracks are larger and have more jumps than years ago.

Today we try to get a better handling on this tracks with added weights and play alot with weight distribution to adjust the car on different tracks.

If you told somebody to add weight on your car to improve the handling some years ago, they had some good loughs. If you had told them, you need to remove the spurgear to change the battery, they would lough much harder.

Scott´s car looks definitely excellent from the the design and from the weight distribution.

Congratulations! I really like it!

Michael

[OneKiwi]

Originally Posted by sime46

Any pics of one with electrics installed?

http://www.oople.com/forums/showthre...=127036&page=3

[porschesse]

Wow great to see innovation like this done to such a professional level.
The work that goes into such designs must be mega and all done for really little profit if any at all depending in the outcome.
It makes me glad to be part of RC racing that this kind of thing happens without the big corps input or need to make money.
I wish DARC success with this and more in the future !

[Lowie]

I have build my DARC last week and raced it in a local club-competition this weekend. (Belgian Power Team @ Merchtem, Belgium)
I had been a long time without RC-driving but the car immediatly felt easy to drive.
AS for building: the kit comes in pre-assembled and with a good written litle tips-manual. First you have to disassemble the kit and rebuild it with locktight on the screws.
Then, step 2 of the proces: mounting the rear and front of the DEX410 to the DARC-kit. This did take me some time because, as mentioned in Scott's manual, it really is a very tight fit. At one point I was tired of fighting with the parts and used a file to adjust a few holes. I only removed hardly noticable material on the 3 rear holes in the chassi-plate but this was immediatly enough to fit everything easely in.
I also thought to just switch the electronics: motor-esc, .. direct from the DEX to the DARC, but ended up with re-soldering everything which gave me a cleaner and better layout then before.
There is indeed a bit more space to fit the elctronics then with the DEX but it is not dramatic.
The fact that the motor and ESC now are positioned next and under the longest part of the slipper also makes a difference when you have to fit everything in.

The track was astro but VERY bumpy and slippery as there was sand in the astro. This meant that leaving the good line equalled slidin'
Anyway, the car was very easy and certainly less critical. I still was able to push harder and harder when getting confidence again in my driving and this process was very quick.
The car ALWAYS stayed dialled, even when trying different settings in the shock-setup. I was even surprised at moments when I pushed really (really) hard but never felt the car getting out of control.

We only had two small series of 4WD-drivers but the level was certainly not low.
I Q'd 2'nd in B-final, which was Ok for me .. but it did surprise me as I usually need more time to get dialed in again after about months without any off-roadracing or even training.
The car has plenty of grip and steering, never had problems with griprolls. I started on used worn tires, but the track had mucho grip so no problem there.
I still could go on and on even when the tires got REALLY worn .. When I did put on some brand new tires on, I feared never-ending gripprolling .. but the car went even harder without losing the balance and NO griprolling.

In the jumps the car was easy. Other drivers commeted seeing it very stable in flight. Honestly, it was as stable as I was used to with my regular DEX410: I felt no improvement there .. but AS excelent as before.
However, and this is the ONLY thing negative I noticed: i didn't feel it as easy to correct the flight after jumps when the jump went wrong .. maybe because of the increased length?

It is also easely noticable that there is MUCHO more flex in the chassis. After one severe crash I popped the rear propshaft out of the slipper-outdrive, which has never happened to me before .. but I must admit I still drive with an up-up-updated DEX410R so with the old slipper with short rear slipper-outdrive.
I might consider switching the rear U-brace from plastic to carbon.

I will note down my actual setup but am certain that there is room for improvement, so that's a very good excuse for testing in the days to follow ..
I also intend to race the car at the upcomming Kampenhout GP

If I find the time I will also publish a build-report (took plenty of pictures).

edit:
oh .. and I finished my finals as 1st, 2nd and 1st so B-Q WIN