Dark Impact

[Helen]

Hi Helen here, so after days of consideration ive decided that my next buggy will be a dark impact, there are loads of hop ups which is great, what is the best esc to use im only going to run a stock bz but ive heard the standard tamiya esc is not very good, can you help me please oh and is it worth getting a full hop up chassis like the carbon or alloy one or is the standard chassis tough enough Thanks guys xx

[tamiya monkey]

Hi Helen here, so after days of consideration ive decided that my next buggy will be a dark impact, there are loads of hop ups which is great, what is the best esc to use im only going to run a stock bz but ive heard the standard tamiya esc is not very good, can you help me please oh and is it worth getting a full hop up chassis like the carbon or alloy one or is the standard chassis tough enough Thanks guys xx

hi there, i have a keen hawk (df-03) one thing make sure the esc you choose is small as the space inside the df-03 is very tight, im no expert when it comes to esc, i have a mtroniks viper rv max in mine which is water proof and no limit as i run a 13t motor.

[SubaruBrattJunkie]

They also make this chassis in a nitro version with a centered rear exhaust. I have assembled mine and as soon as the body is painted I will post it, but I have run the chassis long enough to break in the engine, pitch it and install a VB O.S. .18 instead. There really is nothing like the smell of burning nitro in the morning. The chassis itself handles very well and it was a good choice for what you are doing. As you said for the time being there are spares and hop-ups, but it has been my experience with Tamiya that now is the time to get them and not later as they seem to not support their cars for very long, try getting a windscreen for the rere Lancia 037. Extra tires and suspension parts would be good things to have and real shocks make them behave less like a pogo stick. Best of luck with the new beast, SBJ

[essexboyracer]

Hi Helen,

Good choice on the Dark impact, I love mine, it's a great car... I've had good experiences with LRP and NOSRAM speed controllers. I've also had an Acoms AT-8 (i think), which was good value, and is fairly small. The first hopup i'd suggest is the Front universals, as I kept bending the front dogbones. Other than that, the slipper clutch is probably a good idea if your planning to go for a low turn motor. Apart from dogbones, i've not broken anything, which is rare for me

- Will.

[monster_beetle]

The DI is a nice buggy.

About the ESC, just put the super stock on it and see what will happen

I have a couple of superstock motors (the BZ and RZ) and both run them on the standard ESC without any problem.... I think it's a waste of money to buy an expensive esc for that motor. This works fine.

[Helen]

The DI is a nice buggy.

About the ESC, just put the super stock on it and see what will happen

I have a couple of superstock motors (the BZ and RZ) and both run them on the standard ESC without any problem.... I think it's a waste of money to buy an expensive esc for that motor. This works fine.

Is a bz sort of wasting the car, would i be better with a lower turn or would the bz make it perform well. It seems im always stuck on something or another, do i have to change gears with say a 17 turn

[monster_beetle]

Is a bz sort of wasting the car, would i be better with a lower turn or would the bz make it perform well. It seems im always stuck on something or another, do i have to change gears with say a 17 turn

No the DI can have it. And absolutely when you're gonna tune it. About changing the pinion... That's actually more about what you want the car to do. I think you can hold a 22T.

[tamiya monkey]

would the 22t pinion mesh with tamiya slipper clutch.

[WillyChang]

would the 22t pinion mesh with tamiya slipper clutch.

why not? slipper doesn't affect/change the spur gear

Got my slipper cranked down real tight... otherwise it slips noticeably - running a 11T motor.

Novak Cyclone sits neatly in the side pod; couldn't fit a Novak brushless ESC inoto that space without butchering.

[maxHiLux]

why not? slipper doesn't affect/change the spur gear

Got my slipper cranked down real tight... otherwise it slips noticeably - running a 11T motor.

Novak Cyclone sits neatly in the side pod; couldn't fit a Novak brushless ESC inoto that space without butchering.

Willy,

I am still wondering what the use of a slipper clutch on a DI/Keen hawk is; On a High lift I can imaging something like a stone get really stuck in the drive train when trialing and somehow you don't notice it in time. But on a Dark Impact I completely miss the point of it; It only wastes the torque or am I missing something. Or to put it so: Why didn't I feel ever the need of a slipper clutch on TA-02/01 car, not even when I had a 11T motor in it? Or is it because of the weak rear diff of the DI (which I completely locked by now otherwise it is a slipper clutch in itself). Can someone help me on this one?

Max

[Z]

Willy,

I am still wondering what the use of a slipper clutch on a DI/Keen hawk is; On a High lift I can imaging something like a stone get really stuck in the drive train when trialing and somehow you don't notice it in time. But on a Dark Impact I completely miss the point of it; It only wastes the torque or am I missing something. Or to put it so: Why didn't I feel ever the need of a slipper clutch on TA-02/01 car, not even when I had a 11T motor in it? Or is it because of the weak rear diff of the DI (which I completely locked by now otherwise it is a slipper clutch in itself). Can someone help me on this one?

Max

The slipper clutch is used to lessen stress on the drivetrain when landing off of jumps and other instances where the drivetrain suddenly encounters a heavy load. Instead of a gear stripping (or the DI's fragile rear diff going to pot) the slipper clutch will slip, lessening wear.

[SubaruBrattJunkie]

Willy,

I am still wondering what the use of a slipper clutch on a DI/Keen hawk is; On a High lift I can imaging something like a stone get really stuck in the drive train when trialing and somehow you don't notice it in time. But on a Dark Impact I completely miss the point of it; It only wastes the torque or am I missing something. Or to put it so: Why didn't I feel ever the need of a slipper clutch on TA-02/01 car, not even when I had a 11T motor in it? Or is it because of the weak rear diff of the DI (which I completely locked by now otherwise it is a slipper clutch in itself). Can someone help me on this one?

Max

One of the reasons of using a slipper is to reduce the load when the car reconnects with the ground after being airborne. Otherwise the drive train itself would take the hit, something has to give, on the other hand, if you are not off roading and not jumping they are not really a necessity as you pointed out. They first appeared on off road buggy's like the RC-10 and it saved a lot of parts but that is a different type of racing than just blasting around a track. Even today, cars and trucks that are built to jump and land 10 pounds of weight have to use them, Tmaxx, Revo all have them. Tamiya tried a pretty complicated type of slipper in the Dyna and it worked but wore out quickly. If your diffs are locked the drive train is already taking a lot of stress, tarmac will force something to give either in a sharp turn or a hard turn, the give in the surface of the track helps take some of the stress off the diffs, but run at speed they will not last as long as they would if they were not locked, how long? How do you drive it? If it is cranked down to the point it will not slip then there is no loss of torque, even if it isn't it only is supposed to slip for the first foot of movement and then stop, otherwise it is set to loose, hope this helps, SBJ

[kontemax]

In my opinion it's false that the slippery clutch give loss of acceleration.

At first I can say that all Manta Ray based cars (included Top Force Evo) destroy the rear gears and the rear diff. The Manta Ray rear diff don't slip (it's a gear diff) so the gears were stripped very easly. Sometime the top gear cover popped up pushed out buy the iddle gear and the spur gear. Sometimes gear teeth were stripped and the iddle gear consuption was always massive.

On the Top Force series and other ball diffed TA01/TA02 cars the rear ball diff made the dirty work of a slippery. If you note they were not setuppables. The gears will not destroy in short times but a diff is not made to slip so it will became rubbish in short time. Slipping balls became squares.

The slippery avoid all this but you must set up it well. The slippery must slip during acceleration only for half a meter (1 and half feet), no more. Only if slips more you will lost acceleration. Maybe without slippery your wheels will spin and in that case you really will loose time during acceleration. Slippery save your drive train but with the right set up will help you during driving with hot motors, expecially with the 2WD. Keep in mind that the slippery work also reverse so when you will brake you will control better the car. Power is nothing without control. Your performances will be better.

Super Astute clutch (TTC Tamiya Traction Control) works great but is very difficoult to seu ut. This is due the cup washers instead the coil spring. A very minimal movement of the nylon nut changed a lot the set up. The cup washers were too much stiff.

Dyna Storm clutch is the best one I ever seen. Basically is a dry motorcycle clutch. My Aprilia RX have the identical multy disk system. I think Dyna Storm clutch is a little bit heavy in front of Dark Impact clutch but works great.

Max

[maxHiLux]

Thanks for all your reactions. Probably a slipper makes sense. Reason I didn't think it was neccesarry is my Toyota Prerunner TA-02 with 15 turns motor and after 2 years of really bashing dtill no wear in either diff nor gearing. And believe me this prerunner has been beaten....

Max

[TA-Mark]

I would love a slipper clutch for my TA01/02 chassis cars. When I was running brushed 15T-11T motors I had no issues with the drivetrain breaking, but since going brushless I'm starting to get a little collection of smooth spurs, smooth pinions and mashed rear ball difs. You need to be so careful applying the power with brushless in a car without a slipper. Too much throttle when the car is not fully planted or when it's changing direction or when it's running from one surface to another and it's bye-bye drivetrain. Steel pinions help, but they don't solve it, a slipper clutch would.

Cheers, Mark

[Helen]

Well it seems like a long time ago I wrote this thread and I had a lot more money then too, Im very pleased with my DI in almost all areas, the slipper clutch didnt take to long to set up,great work from Tamiya, I wonder if there will be a DF04 ??

[monster_beetle]

Well it seems like a long time ago I wrote this thread and I had a lot more money then too, Im very pleased with my DI in all most all areas, the slipper clutch didnt take to long to set up,great work from Tamiya, I wonder if there will be a DF04 ??

Before there's going to be a DF-04 we're at least a couple of years further

This is a very young chassis. so...

[Helen]

Before there's going to be a DF-04 we're at least a couple of years further

This is a very young chassis. so...

I know but one can dream

[Twist.]

Hey, you know whats good about the df03?

...Everything

[TA-Mark]

Hey, you know whats good about the df03?

...Everything

One thing I can say is good about the DF03 is the shocks are mounted inboard of the suspension. I got hit up the rear today by a duratrax evader whilst driving the Rising Storm... I now have a bent rear shock

It doesn't work too good now...

Mark

[Twist.]

That's why you get hop-up ones, silly!

[SubaruBrattJunkie]

I had heard that was painful, now I can see it is!

[TA-Mark]

That's why you get hop-up ones, silly!

If I had upgrade shocks on there I would have a bent alloy shock and would be very ****** off. Alloy doesn't stop it bending, and the bling doesn't scare other drivers away.

Mark

[Helen]

If I had upgrade shocks on there I would have a bent alloy shock and would be very ****** off. Alloy doesn't stop it bending, and the bling doesn't scare other drivers away.

Mark

I have found the more expensive Tamiya hop up shocks better than the 3racing ones, what do you think?

[TA-Mark]

I have found the more expensive Tamiya hop up shocks better than the 3racing ones, what do you think?

Tamiya ones are much better than the 3Racing or GPM ones. I have 4 DF03 rear Tamiya hop up shocks on my Blazing Star and the 4 front ones on my TA02 rally car. They work beautifully.

I was very disappointed at the quality of the 4 GPM alloy shocks I bought for my nitro RS4 Evo3, they would leak everywhere. Few mods to them and a Tamiya rubbers kit improved them heaps.

Still waiting on parts for my hopped up DF03 to arrive... I hate waiting!!