The Dark Impact

[ideal2k]

Who would be interested in some better diff outdrives?

 

I'm in []

[mp3ranger]

In August issue of Rc Car Action did a 6 page right up . It did very well in their review .

[Wrc action]

Im lookin for a potential donor chassis for a project. I presently have a baja king but thats needs some hotups which will probably make it cheaper to buy a dark impact. however i need to know a few things first.

whats the exact wheelbase from front axles to rear? as it needs to fit a dakar body i have.

whats the highest gear ratio as i need low down power i.e 10:1

how strong is it? only lookin for bout a 23turn motor in it

whats it like on soft surfaces? and whats the ground clearance?

does it need lots of maintenance/can i make it secure from the elements so my electric etc remain nice and clean?

regards Ryck

[Kowalski]

I'm a new DI owner and one of the first things I noticed was how stiff the servo saver was. Does anyone have a looser alternative. I hear the 415MS servo saver is good or kimbrough do one. Could someone give me the part numbers for these parts or any alternatives?

Thankyou.

Also is the DF03 drivetrain geared particularly low? The 48dp pinion and spur combo I was quoted a few posts back would be too high for some motors in an Associated TC3

Elliott.

[DCM71]

on a 19t, 78 on a 25 was good for a short track.

[mrbiccies]

YAY....just ordered myself a Dark Impact.......can't wait for this to arrive.....[]

[jerrywasaracecardriver]

Does anybody know where the genuine Tamiya slipper clutch can be bought from? I still have my DI, and am considering throwing more money at it. I would rather stick with Tamiya parts in the drive train.

[Kowalski]

It is released in Japan on the 1st. I'm hoping the eBay community will have it available earlier.

[Kowalski]

Last night I swapped in the standard silver can for my Peak Dynasty 19t Spec Dalek Head V2 without any modification to gearing.

I was worried I'd over work the motor but thought I'd stop it if it was labouring.

Did it labour? Nope. Was there any drop in acceleration? Nope. Did it burn out? Nope.

My DI is now the fastest car in my garage. It was SO MUCH FUN to drive. It was blasting about the lawn in front of the house. With the current set up it was prone to grip rolling on the grass. When it was on the tarmac you could see the car move on it's suspension like a rallycross car, the nose lifting under acceleration and dipping when I applied the brakes.

After my 6 minutes or so of grinning like a fool and chasing after an upturned buggy, the endbell was too hot to touch and I haven't noticed this on any of the other cars but the motor wires were getting warm. This may be an Orion V2 quirk or it could be an airflow/cooling problem, I thought the heatsink endbell would help. The motor plate was as hot as the endbell.

I'm glad I picked one up now. I'm glad I own a 4wd buggy, I new it would be more fun than a 2wd buggy.

Elliott.

 

 

[DJTheo]

That the motor got too hot is mainly due to the gearing, better gear it down and your car won't be much slower but motor and batteries will last longer.

Cheers

[Kowalski]

I'm planning on fiddling with the gearing. I always run gentle gearing on all the motors in my cars. This will do for the time being. I'd only get worried if the car didn't accelerate.

Elliott.

 

[DJTheo]

They always accelerate, question is how fast and to what speed, anyway, don't say later we didn't warn you []

Cheers

[Kowalski]

You're getting me worried about charred and blackened comms now.

Elliott.

[DCM71]

The reason the motors get so hot is that the motor don't get any airflow over it.  I am experimenting with mounting a fan above the motor to blow air down over the motor, can't REALY see the Tamiya heatsink being that 'effective' to be honest.

[Kowalski]

I was thinking about getting them. I have three long screws in the holes at the minute which are doing nothing.

You can't squeeze any kind of clip on heatsink onto the motor either.

Are you going to be cutting out one of the bars that are over the motor, before you mount the fan over the motor?

Elliott.

 

 

[DCM71]

Firstly, check the room for a fan in there, and if there is room for a 40mm fan, find a way of shrouding the draught from the fan so it goes over the motor.

[shenlonco]

A fan ubove the motor will be exposed to to much dust and dirt i don't think it would last long.

Also i been riding my DI maybe 3 times since new after i put the B4 slipper on it..All is great no problems but I feel this car is very unbalenced on any surface even when jumping off a curb a stright drop off the rear of the buggy always has a bronco effect always when driving you see and get a funny feel back from the DI like the rear of its always bouncing up and down in a funny jolting matter?

I feel it's because the front of the car is so heavy and this is what always causes it to nose dive all the time... Any fixes to combat this problem?

THANKS

[Kowalski]

I reckon a lot of the handling problems will go once the TRF adjustable shockers are released. Although personally I'm not having any problems with the plastic shocks. I thought they'd be murder, but they're doing fine AND not leaking. The only problem is the lack of sag or droop in the suspension when it's off the ground.

I reckon the DF03 drivetrain won't end with the DI and a DI with a new body. I anticipate a bit more development of the chassis around the drivetrain. Hopefully we'll get adjustable front and rear 'kick up' (which isn't essential for the basher) and more space for the motor.

Elliott.

 

[shenlonco]

One thing i noticed about the DI is how big the diff gears are and they are up so hight in the chassis that when you set the A arms level the dog bones are on a lot of angle....NOT GOOD!

It's a basher just to play around with because of the high outdrives i don't think it will ever be a good racer.

[DCM71]

On a race track it handles reasonably well to be honest.  The rear end, if set in accordance with the manual, is junk, use the intermediate piston at least or the same as the front.  How far I take my DI, I don't know.

The fan up there, it would be the best place to mount it.  Fans are cheap enough, I have run them before and they last well, there is just no other place to fit it either, and from there, at least it is drawing air in and over the motor, which can only be a good thing.

[mrbiccies]

I ordered a DI with a view to racing it....I have not received it yet, however, after reading these comments I am beginning to regret buying it now....[]  did I order the wrong buggy?

[Kowalski]

I ordered the buggy as a cheap budget racer. I sadly don't have any off-road tracks here, but if I was near one, it's nice to know I can just pick the car up and go race.

I don't think anyone has raced the car in anger, yet. It's a new design, it will need proving on the track.

Elliott.

[Mad Ax]

Just out of interest, what ESCs are people using and where have they

been mounted?  I'm using a no limits ESC that's about as big as a

standard Tamiya item, however mounted in the suggested position the

shell won't fit.

Are people mounting the ESCs elsewhere, or using a smaller ESC? 

What's a good small ESC to go for (pref. with a low turn limit, as I'll

be upgrading the motor later)

[DCM71]

I have raced it in anger, a couple of times now, last time with the slipper unit, it handles well, needs a one-way bearing to give more mid corner steering but otherwise good, only issue is the ESC and motor get warm as they are well away from any airflow.

[Kowalski]

I have an LRP IPC V7.1 mounted as per the manual.

I 'm looking for a small receiver to mount by the servo.

Elliott.