The Dark Impact

[DCM71]

Thanks for the comments guys, I do the painting as a little sideline, pays for my seeming increasing Tamiya collection.

[kontemax]

I think people just want to use readily available spur gears and

pinions rather than having to buy yet another set of spurs and pinions

for one car.

I think some pinion gear is not so expensive that is impossible to buy.

Dark Impact pinion gears isn't a problem because Tamiya made the pinions for its cars. 0.5 module is very very good for off road (any Super Astute with TTC owner know it) because is smaller and smoother than 48p module but bigger than 64p, too fragile for off road abuse.

Anyway there are all Super Astute steel pinion gears usables for the Dark Impact and they go from 18T to 23T. You can add 25T, 27T and29T just released from Tamiya. I think there's a good choice.

Also been release the clutch, without go crazy adapting another one.

Max

[DCM71]

After an evening of fun, I can say that the stock pinion just ain't up

to much, it is showing signs of wear already (so is a little

noisey).  Think I would rather have the option of 48dp and use

some of my pro-pinions which don't wear and are super quiet.

[felixjo]

After an evening of fun, I can say that the stock pinion just ain't up

to much, it is showing signs of wear already (so is a little

noisey).  Think I would rather have the option of 48dp and use

some of my pro-pinions which don't wear and are super quiet.

What do you think about the car handling and durability wise after further driving?

[DCM71]

It needs setting up for racing, need to find some turnbuckles that fit

it to make it easier, and I think the rear shock tower needs to be a

little taller and the front needs more droop (longer shocks maybe)

otherwise it feels good.

[bender]

DCM -

Why do you say the rear tower needs to be taller and the front suspension needs more droop?

Just curious as my car has more than enough droop in the front and rear suspension.

My setup is as follows:

Front-

DF02 alloy shocks mounted in middle hole on tower and 2nd inside hole on a-arm. I am using the longest tamiya ball-end that comes with the shocks (it's longer than the one they show you to use in the instructions). 2hole piston with 30w oil.

Rear-

DF02 alloy shocks mounted in middle hole on tower and outr hole on a-arm. Using recommended ball-end. 3hole piston with 30w oil.

With the front the way i have set it, I can move the shocks to the inner hole on the a-arm and the front end will then have the maximum droop possible - and I can tell you it's plenty []

My plan is to move the front shocks to the inner a-arm hole but use a slightly shorter ball-end (a kyosho long ball-end with traxxas flanged ball to eliminate all slop in that area).

The reason I use the outer a-arm hole in the rear is because:

a) It reduces droop (probably why you want a taller tower?)

the suspension is too soft when using the inner hole. Whenever I have run a car that is different to the majority of others, I find that duplicating their suspension setups can help make the car feel pretty good straight away.

One way I do this is by copying the "leverage rate" of the suspension of a known good handing car, like a XX4.

You measure the arm length (from hinge pin hole centres) and then measure the distance from the shock mounting holes to the outer hinge pin hole. You can then formulate what percentage of the arm lies outside the shock mounting point and what percentage of the arm lies inside the shock mounting point.

This gives you a "leverage rate" (the larger the percentage of arm outside the shock location = more leverage = softer suspension) that you can compare with any other car. You can go one step further and measure from the centre-line of the car instead of the inner hinge pin as the centre-line is the theoretical roll axis.

[DCM71]

It felt the car had far more suspension travel on the rear to the

front, but will try what you say though, re-front shocks.  Do

Tamiya do one with a captive ball, that copper sleeve is already

getting on my nerves, lol.

Still going to make some towers for it though, the kit ones got more flex than a set jelly.

[bender]

It felt the car had far more suspension travel on the rear to the front, but will try what you say though, re-front shocks.  Do Tamiya do one with a captive ball, that copper sleeve is already getting on my nerves, lol.

Still going to make some towers for it though, the kit ones got more flex than a set jelly.

I know what you mean about the towers, though I think only the rear one flexes too much, the front seems ok. As spares are going to be rare for a while, I'll be relying on that flex to stop me from breaking anything []

Regarding the captive ball - They do make one, but I've no idea what the part number is. I am not even sure if it will fit their current 6mm shock ends.

I have found if you put an o-ring on the copper sleeve you can at least remove the front-to-back slop.

[Tamiya King]

WOW! got to get mine out running several times today with the new radio gear in it. I am running a 13T with Novak GTS ESC, and it screams! I also just noticed when I went into the models listing to write a review that they put the picture of mine for the example! How cool is that! []

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/car.asp?id=722

[GSM Storm]

Hi all

Better late than never, it's finished, only has a stock motor in it untill my GT7 esc gets here and I will stick a mod in it.

Still have to make my carbon shock towers and I will be making a carbon chassis when the carbon  arrives.

Will be running it tomorrow, will let you all know how it goes.

 

Regards

Gary

[supergreg]

That's one beautiful looking DI!

[mp3ranger]

That looks sweet. I can't wait to paint mine.

[rajicon]

Tamiya will be releasing DF03 aluminium shocks at the Shizuoka Show.

But thats all for the look of it. Then again, they seem to trickle

things out slowly.

I found that Tobee Craft CV shafts were alot better than the Tamiya ones on the DF02. Got mine from JR-RC.

[GSM Storm]

Hi All

Well it's not new anymore, went to a track I have not been to in over 10 years, it is a bit bigger, rougher and has a lot more jumps that I remember.

The DI ran great, even with the PK2K stock motor in it, it jumped well and steered well.

The DF02 uni shafts worked fine, did not pop out at all, the B4 shocks worked well, need to go heaver in the rear oil, had the spring tension a bit hard.

[sylvain]

 Hi,

DF-03 manual is on line http://tamiya.com/japan/rc/rcmanual/58370impact.pdf

Bye

[James4ihl]

Hi All,

New to the forum, just getting back into Tamiya RC (used to race them when I was a teenager) and just mail ordered one of these babies.

It all sounds good, except I hate the original black wheels, what are my options for replacement wheels on this model?

Any replacement shocks/ hopups, etc. available yet?

TIA,

James

[James4ihl]

Uhm... can you paint these wheels successfully? Like silver, to give an 'alloy wheel' look? Or will it just flake off the first time you drive it offroad?

James

[bender]

Yep, as you said, the paint is likely to come off at some point.

Tamiya do make white wheels, and IMO they look a lot better[]

As for hop-ups..

DF-02 CVD's and shocks fit, though Tamiya will be releasing a new set of shocks specifically for the DI soon, along with slipper, possible one-way etc

[terry.sc]

The wheels use a standard hex drive so you can use wheels from Academy, HPI, Yokomo and Kyosho on the Dark Impact as well.

[James4ihl]

Thanks guys!

Do you have a part no. for the white wheels, or any idea where I can find them? I've looked and found some that look like them on the, which are part nos: 53880 and 53881...

Will the other branded wheels fit without 'dremel-ing', in terms of clearing the A-arms, etc.

Are there any other shocks that fit? Preferably metal ones (that look metal, rather than the blue coated aluminium ones)?

Cheers,

James

[James4ihl]

Terry,

Sorry, a little OT, but just checked out your gallery: very nice to see a Hotshot in there! I had one of those in the 80s and greatly regret selling it now. It was a great little RC car. I still have an original Frog that I'm going to give a little TLC when the new spares come out.

James

[DCM71]

I think you will find Yokomo uses a smaller hex....

Kyosho wheels WILL fit but WILL make the car wider (illegal for racing)

Academy wheels will fit, just got to check the off-set.

The stock black wheels are ace, just difficult to judge when racing.

[James4ihl]

Thanks for the wheels/shocks info. I looked at some Kyosho wheels today, but they look rather large. I'm going to wait until the dark impact arrives, then I can see how big these are relative to the car itself!

Is there a good RC retailer in London these days? I'm going up on Tuesday, all the ones I knew when I was younger (Beatties, etc.) all seem to be gone as far as I can tell... I could look at some wheels, and maybe also get some good decals (I'm going for a Mclaren Mercedes F1 style paint job, and need some matching decals...).

Cheers,

James

[bender]

Finally! After what seems like ages, I've at last painted my DI.

I hate painting, just glad it's over []

http://web.aanet.com.au/fir/bender/Dark%20Impact%20001.jpg

http://web.aanet.com.au/fir/bender/Dark%20Impact%20002.jpg

 

 

[DCM71]

Nice job Bender, it is a difficult shell to spray as it is sooooooooooooo narrow, lol