TD2 vs DT-03

[skom25 2622]

Hi,

I am fan of RWD buggies, mainly because of simple construction and low maintenance effort.

Currently I have DT-03 with almost all Hop Ups, except of ball diff. It is fun to drive but at the same time, handling is bit annoying. Super heavy rear makes it bit hard to drive. It can understeer or oversteer, it is hard to find right balance. I run it on asphalt and concrete.

Is TD 2 much better buggy? How it handles in comparison to DT-03?

How good it is straight from box? To be honest, I am bit tired with cheap cars ( DT-03 and TT-02B) with maaany Hop Ups which are in total super expensive. This time I want to build it almost straight from box.

[Misterp180 342]

Can’t say about the handling on the tarmac but I love my TD2. Performed really well on my YouTube Garden Track Series last year and is due to run in a few weeks for this season.

I find it is way more predictable than the DT-03 and sounds brilliant under power. You will need the hop up for the ball diff though as the plastic nut is made out of cheese!

The DT-03 is a great entry level car but once you start moving beyond that you see it for what it is. I found the DT-02 to be a better drive to be honest.

If you are running on tarmac consider swapping the tyres out for something more suitable.

Good luck with your research dude 🙌🏻

[Nick-W 2048]

The TD2 is much better than the DT-03. I brought both at the same time and have almost been hopping them up in tandem. It was good out of the box but… well, you know, one gets carried away. 

[BuggyGuy 1144]

I find the TD2 to be a great drive and well balanced, a definite step up in build quality and handling compared to the DT02/03.

I went full option on mine and it's a great car (though I did swap the rear hubs/arms to get common racing wheels to fit): 

 

[BuggyGuy 1144]

Regarding the comment about running straight from the box without getting all the hopups! It's very good out of the box - but get the aluminium diff nut, or use a TA06 gear diff (£3.50 for the case, £6.50 for the internal bevel gears in plastic, £9 for the outdrives, £2 for the gasket - or get the complete unit with steel gears for about £30)

[ChrisRx718 4730]

Consider also the Kyosho Dirtmaster if you want something 2WD but better performance.

Whilst I've no doubt that a TD2 would be as good, you'd need to spend a fair bit of money to get it to be as good as the Dirtmaster would be "out of the box".

Just better value for money and a very good (tried & tested) chassis with good parts availability.

I say that begrudgingly as somebody who has just bought a TD2 as well!

[BuggyGuy 1144]

9 hours ago, ChrisRx718 said:

Consider also the Kyosho Dirtmaster if you want something 2WD but better performance.

Whilst I've no doubt that a TD2 would be as good, you'd need to spend a fair bit of money to get it to be as good as the Dirtmaster would be "out of the box".

Just better value for money and a very good (tried & tested) chassis with good parts availability.

I say that begrudgingly as somebody who has just bought a TD2 as well!

I also have a DirtMaster and TD2 - I found the stock shocks on the DirtMaster to leak more than the TD2 CVA's, and I didn't like the fact it came with self tapping screws rather than machine thread like the TD2. The bearings in the DirtMaster are also really cheap items - I blew quite a few rear hub bearings in the first meeting I went to. The Kyoshos main advantage is that it comes with a slipper.

It terms of handling the Kyosho is better in slippery conditions (like wet astro), and it's better on old style bumpy grass tracks, but the TD2 was better on carpet, dry astro, or any other high traction surface.

[Juls1 1730]

I’m racing the TD2, I know for a fact I’d be struggling to get any of my dt03’s around the track fast enough to not just come last. The TD2 is well layed out and runs well on low grip off road tracks(assuming you set it up properly), it has roll centre adjustments front and back, option rear mount for toe and anti squat, alternate front caster blocks to alter front caster. The level of adjustability is huge. 
 

I don’t know why people compare the TD2 to the DT03, they are worlds apart performance wise. There is no comparison really. I’m not sure what tamiya did wrong marketing wise for people to think the DT03 is comparable, because it just isn’t. The TD2 is a viable entry level race chassis (if you ignore the price). The DT03 is not.  
 

You will need the alloy diff nut, the stock ball diff is an excellent diff overall once you’ve got the alloy diff nut. I’ve done 8 race weekends and never had to look at it once. It’s the same quality as what comes with a trf201. For slippery dry clay tracks it’s really the best option. If you run high grip you may get better results from the oil filled gear diff although making the gear diff oil too heavy will make the steering horrible. If I was to critique the car I’d say it is a fraction too heavy out back which is why it isn’t as good on high grip race tracks. 

[Sogogi 3363]

I had dt-03… but it is one of chassis that i am not so happy about. (In terms of how it looks, how it handles etc)

[hamtaro 107]

On 8/22/2023 at 8:03 AM, BuggyGuy said:

I went full option on mine and it's a great car (though I did swap the rear hubs/arms to get common racing wheels to fit): 

 

Why can't common racing wheels fit the td2 out of the box?

[BuggyGuy 1144]

10 hours ago, hamtaro said:

Why can't common racing wheels fit the td2 out of the box?

The offset would be wrong if you put a Schumacher/Associated/Xray type wheel onto a standard TD2 or TD4.

To run a standard racing wheel you need XV01 rear hubs, and alternative rear driveshafts.

[CptMookie 63]

On 8/27/2023 at 10:50 AM, BuggyGuy said:

The offset would be wrong if you put a Schumacher/Associated/Xray type wheel onto a standard TD2 or TD4.

To run a standard racing wheel you need XV01 rear hubs, and alternative rear driveshafts.

If you don't mind, could you elaborate on what alternative rear driveshaft would work in this case? I bought the TD2 universals that Tamiya makes, and was hoping those would work alongside the XV01 rear hubs.

[Wheel_Nut 419]

Problem for me is the association with the TD4.  So much has been said about the design issues with steering linkage, battery access, and front suspension.  I really dislike the delicate appearance of the front wishbones and uprights, so that in itself is the first deal breaker.
 

I’m actually angry that Tamiya choose to design both TD2 and TD4 on the same chassis.  By default this means that both of them are compromised designs.  To me it seems obvious that one design approach will not be optimum for two instances.  ( /rant)

[BloodClod 389]

9 hours ago, CptMookie said:

If you don't mind, could you elaborate on what alternative rear driveshaft would work in this case? I bought the TD2 universals that Tamiya makes, and was hoping those would work alongside the XV01 rear hubs.

I'm sure the experts will know best but I'll share my experience having just put together a setup with TRF201 hubs which I believe offset wise are identical to the XV01 ones.

The xv01 hubs move the outdrive inwards so some things to note:

- the driveshaft will need to be shorter. The 64mm shafts from the TRF buggy rear is what I'm using.

- I needed 3x 0.5mm shims (or 1x 1.5mm spacer) with inner diameter 5mm to space the outdrive inwards so the bone has enough engagement with the gearbox side outdrive.

- I'm using universals from a DB01 (spec-wise should be identical with those from TRF series), and to convert to hex drive I needed the optional conversion hex from Tamiya.

- on the plus side, the offset can now use standard race wheels and achieve the 250mm width.

 

Hope that helps.

[BuggyDad 6588]

10 hours ago, CptMookie said:

If you don't mind, could you elaborate on what alternative rear driveshaft would work in this case? I bought the TD2 universals that Tamiya makes, and was hoping those would work alongside the XV01 rear hubs.

See also here:

Bit more there on arm, hub and CVD options. I've got the DB-01 arms and CVDs in stock to convert mine although I haven't done it yet. 

It's interesting the change takes shaft length all the way down from 73mm to 64mm, a huge change, but I guess some of that is also to compensate for a longer wheel axle. 

On CVDs, the 54016 DB-01 rears look a bit thin on the ground now. 

[CptMookie 63]

On 4/9/2024 at 10:17 PM, BloodClod said:

I'm sure the experts will know best but I'll share my experience having just put together a setup with TRF201 hubs which I believe offset wise are identical to the XV01 ones.

The xv01 hubs move the outdrive inwards so some things to note:

- the driveshaft will need to be shorter. The 64mm shafts from the TRF buggy rear is what I'm using.

- I needed 3x 0.5mm shims (or 1x 1.5mm spacer) with inner diameter 5mm to space the outdrive inwards so the bone has enough engagement with the gearbox side outdrive.

- I'm using universals from a DB01 (spec-wise should be identical with those from TRF series), and to convert to hex drive I needed the optional conversion hex from Tamiya.

- on the plus side, the offset can now use standard race wheels and achieve the 250mm width.

 

Hope that helps.

This helped a ton. I actually bought the listed parts, and I am hoping to see them sometime next week. 

Thanks a million.