TT-02B vs DF-03

[skom25 1908]

Hi,

In LHS I found that DF-03 Dark Impact is available again.

TT-02B costs around 132 Euros.

DF-03 costs around 165 Euros.

TT-02 straight from the box has... nothing. Cheap plastic, a lot of slope, no adjustments, anything.

DF-03 which is only 33 Euros more expensive has:

- Two ball diffs

- Ball bearings

- Steering on bearings

- Adjustable suspension

- Steel axles

Talking shortly, totally different level for bit more money. How it is possible?

[alvinlwh 7063]

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[skom25 1908]

I think DT-03 is quite nice and with only few Hop Ups, it is really nice basic Buggy. I really liked it a lot.

TT-02B is different story. To be honest, straight from the box it is awful.

[Pylon80 3438]

12 minutes ago, alvinlwh said:

Quite simple, Tamiya base kits like TT, DT or even some of the M (not the R/S/Pro versions) are well over priced. Up a bit, they are more realistically priced but still high compared to what you can get elsewhere.

Yep. If you look at the current TLR 2WD buggy (for example), for roughly 300$ you get everything you would expect in a modern day (imaginary) TRF buggy. You would struggle to build a 20 years old DT-02, add a few hop-ups like aluminum dampers, universals, turnbuckles etc and remain under that budget! 

[toyolien 5602]

33 minutes ago, skom25 said:

Hi,

In LHS I found that DF-03 Dark Impact is available again.

TT-02B costs around 132 Euros.

DF-03 costs around 165 Euros.

TT-02 straight from the box has... nothing. Cheap plastic, a lot of slope, no adjustments, anything.

DF-03 which is only 33 Euros more expensive has:

- Two ball diffs

- Ball bearings

- Steering on bearings

- Adjustable suspension

- Steel axles

Talking shortly, totally different level for bit more money. How it is possible?

I'm not falling for this one again 

[Superluminal 3845]

I love the Dark Impact but the biggest problem with the DF03 series is spares and hop up support which is practically non existant now, which is a shame as its been in pretty much continuous production since release. Aftermarket stock of the hop up parts has dried up or is super expensive when it does become available. 

[Kowalski86 4076]

51 minutes ago, skom25 said:

Talking shortly, totally different level for bit more money. How it is possible?

Some of it is about ease of assembly for newcomers.

Ball diffs are more complicated to assemble and require maintenance occasionally. Steel axles look nicer, but they aren't as durable as Tamiyas fat plastic axles.

Steel can bend, plastic bends back, plastic doesn't rust or require grease either. Extra adjustability can lead to more "why doesn't my car track straight?" posts.

At the same time, things like oil filled shocks, bearings aren't that expensive to throw into kits...it'd be nice to see those more often.

[Wooders28 4873]

DF03 is a car from 2006.

I love mine, but spares are becoming hard to find, and upgrades fairly none existent, even 'just' the rear diff upgrade, of fitting front outdrives, is getting hard.

Mines now just for speed runs, it's bashing days are over.

 

[SlideWRX 900]

1 hour ago, skom25 said:

Talking shortly, totally different level for bit more money. How it is possible?

Those upgrades don't cost that much more to make.  They are expensive individually because they are marked up, but for Tamiya they are cheap in bulk.  Also, the DF-03 needs an ESC which is included in the TT_02B.

[BuggyGuy 1139]

Which is better will depend on what your using it for - the TT02B will be tougher than the DF03 (which is a bit fragile), but the DF03 will handle better. Both can be money pits for hopups. The DF03 has greater potential for good performance - but many parts can be hard to find.

The TD4 Avante is a better car for off road racing in every way - but you need to add the alloy diff nut hopup. 

Putting very high powered brushless in any of these cars is difficult without upgrades, the DF03 diff will melt without the slipper, and even then a very high power setup put too much strain on the gearbox. The TT02B has no option for a slipper, but upgraded diffs are available - the problem is bumps, the on road variant can take a lot of power, as bumps are minimal - but off road there's too many shock to the gears for them to have a long life. 

The TD4 can run very high power - but really it's needs the slipper clutch, gear diffs from the TA06 (or alloy diff nuts), and metal bevel gears for the prop, and front universal shafts. I've raced mine with a 4.5T motor and it survived without incident. 

 

P.S I think Tony Tamiya parts posted on Facebook recently that the DF03 slipper will be available again soon. 

 

[Superluminal 3845]

1 hour ago, Wooders28 said:

DF03 is a car from 2006.

Not far off 20 years old!!! Old enough now to be due a re-release.

Dark Black Special Impact

[Saito2 7329]

The DF03 is twice the performer the TT02B is, but all the issues mentioned, particularly about parts supply are valid. I looked hard at getting one recently, but wound up with a discounted TD4 instead which is loaded with superior reinforced plastics. 

[Pylon80 3438]

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[Kowalski86 4076]

 

On 4/1/2024 at 1:40 PM, skom25 said:

I think DT-03 is quite nice and with only few Hop Ups, it is really nice basic Buggy. I really liked it a lot.

TT-02B is different story. To be honest, straight from the box it is awful.

I think one of the bigger issues with the TT-02B is that it's more of an on-road/carpet buggy, yet it comes with spikey tires that only work in light grass, then there's the nonsense step-screw steering.

The DT03 is just a regular buggy, with simple direct to servo steering and more of its weight in the middle, it just "works". It might be one of Tamiyas better entry level kits.

[alvinlwh 7063]

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[alvinlwh 7063]

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[skom25 1908]

10 hours ago, toyolien said:

I'm not falling for this one again 

Sorry if it was discussed already. I was just really surprised, how different they are and at the same time, how similar price is.

 

9 hours ago, SlideWRX said:

Those upgrades don't cost that much more to make.  They are expensive individually because they are marked up, but for Tamiya they are cheap in bulk.  Also, the DF-03 needs an ESC which is included in the TT_02B.

Problem is, that you cannot buy TT-02B with all that updates. Well, you can: TT-02BR which is two times more expensive, has no ESC or Body. At the same time, for almost the same money, you can buy TD4 with body ( even already painted!) which is far better than TT-02BR.

I think answer for my questions is: 20 years old.

I expected that it is not the newest kit, but have not thought that it was released 20 years ago. 18 to be precise.

[gkatz 58]

BTW, you can hopup the tt02b very easaly and cheaply from aliexpress. full bearings and all the aluminum you want and a fraction of the price of the official hopups.

[alvinlwh 7063]

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[A2591 351]

8 hours ago, skom25 said:

Sorry if it was discussed already. I was just really surprised, how different they are and at the same time, how similar price is.

 

Problem is, that you cannot buy TT-02B with all that updates. Well, you can: TT-02BR which is two times more expensive, has no ESC or Body. At the same time, for almost the same money, you can buy TD4 with body ( even already painted!) which is far better than TT-02BR.

I think answer for my questions is: 20 years old.

I expected that it is not the newest kit, but have not thought that it was released 20 years ago. 18 to be precise.

When built my TT-02BR it came with the Neo Scorcher body and the TRF201 rear wing set.  The regular TT-02B was not substantially cheaper at least for me locally compared to the BR given what was included with the kit.

[Wooders28 4873]

20 hours ago, alvinlwh said:

If they rereing the Avante Mk.II, I will be interested. I eyed the Dark Impact a few times but it just don't really appeal to me.

Might be bias, but, they're a great looking buggy...🫣

 

 

[matisse 1607]

11 hours ago, Wooders28 said:

Might be bias, but, they're a great looking buggy...🫣

 

 

But Keen Hawk shell FTW

[Elbowloh 1235]

I love my Avante MkII. Loads of hop ups, rear diff mod, ceramic diff balls etc, but I cant find a slipper anywhere.

[skom25 1908]

On 4/2/2024 at 9:33 AM, alvinlwh said:

Problem is OP does not touch AliExpress but only uses Tamiya from the LHS.

Because I can. It is not a problem. I prefer to buy once, even more expensive part, than ten which are poor quality or does not fit properly. I bought few cycling items in the past. Most of them were rather poor or random quality. These which were good quality, were not cheaper than locally.

My "LHS" is probably one of the largest RC shops in country. They have almost everything Tamiya related and few other brands. They are 10 minutes from my home. I know, that some of the users bought parts there. Why I should not buy there? 

If I buy there, they can grow, I will have access to parts I need and they will have money to pay people. If I break something, I can have replacement part on my desk in 40 minutes. If you do not support local shops, you will end up with everything available only online. Is this what you want?

I am not fan of Ali and if I do not have to, I will not buy there. It is not related only to RC.

Sorry, but it is not first time, when you for some reason mention this. I do not understand why.

To be clear: I do not want to buy DF-03. I am not even sure, if I want to rebuild my TT-02B. That was just question, because price difference is small and quality gap is HUGE.

[alvinlwh 7063]

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