Df03 Ra Subaru Imprezza

[lucasan]

While I am patiently awaiting my DF03 RA kit to be shipped from Omni (back ordered until the end of this month) I am trying to put together my supplies and/or hop-ups for this kit. I am thinking about ordering the rc screwz set for this car. I wonder though, if it will fit my kit properly since it is for the Df03 Dark Impact kit. I also wonder what hop-ups you guys suggest. I probably won't be racing this car, but want a good runner that is fun to drive and performs well. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[TAZ-NZ]

I'm no expert on the DF-03 chassis, but I been looking at a DF-03RA chassis as the base of my next project and thus have done a bit of research on it. Most of the differences relate to the suspension, longer shocks, suspension arms, tie rods, drive shafts and wider shock towers, all other parts are interchangeable.

On top of the Hop-Ups available from Tamiya for the Dark Impart, like the Slipper Clutch, Front One-Way Diff and Heat Sink Bars, there are a number of companies that make hop-up parts for the DF-03 and DF-03RA:

3Racing hop-ups for DF-03RA and DF-03.

Yeah Racing hop-ups for DF-03RA and DF-03.

GPM hop-ups for DF-03.

As usual with after market hop-ups there is a mix of useful and pure bling parts to choose from.

[Origineelreclamebord]

While I am patiently awaiting my DF03 RA kit to be shipped from Omni (back ordered until the end of this month) I am trying to put together my supplies and/or hop-ups for this kit. I am thinking about ordering the rc screwz set for this car. I wonder though, if it will fit my kit properly since it is for the Df03 Dark Impact kit. I also wonder what hop-ups you guys suggest. I probably won't be racing this car, but want a good runner that is fun to drive and performs well. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

The screw set should fit the car for 90% I think. As Taz pointed out, the only differences are on the suspension part of the car. And from the suspension parts the shock towers bolt onto the chassis with the same screws. And the parts that are different than the DF03's screw sets are included in your kit, so you don't have to worry about the small amount of different screws either (unless you want 'hopup' ball connectors and screws to screw in some of the ball connectors).

As for the hopups, If your area is very dusty, the terrain really loose or you plan to run it in wet/damp conditions, I would suggest buy a Dark Impact body. It might not sounds like a hopup, but you could use it very well as a dust cover (like on the TB01) as it fits nicely around the tub. For fitting it you could buy some velcro or get some regular DF03 body mounts. The car could do with Universal shafts or CVDs, especially on the front. If you jump a lot with the car, get a slipper clutch. And last but not least, get a steel pinion. The stock pinions are usually aluminum (although the DF03 one looks like it's a 'hard-coated' one) and are just simply not as tough as the steel ones, something which it has to be if you are going offroad with it.

[calicool]

Nice choice...But Man you should have ordered from stella models for $210 shipped with 3 day shipping from china i think there is still one in stock

For hop ups front cvd's,motor heat sink bars,slipper,I'll second a good steel pinion and also add F&R suspension braces if you run hard and that should do it but there are a lot of cool blue goodies

I am going to slap my sidewinder or ezrun brushless in mine once my slipper get's here to up the fun factor...What a great chassis

[lucasan]

Nice choice...But Man you should have ordered from stella models for $210 shipped with 3 day shipping from china i think there is still one in stock

For hop ups front cvd's,motor heat sink bars,slipper,I'll second a good steel pinion and also add F&R suspension braces if you run hard and that should do it but there are a lot of cool blue goodies

I am going to slap my sidewinder or ezrun brushless in mine once my slipper get's here to up the fun factor...What a great chassis

Yeah, you're right. I ended up paying roughly the same for the kit through Omni. I can still cancel the order. It would actually be a little more with 3 day shipping to the States for me. I think it was $175 for the kit and $55 for the 2day shipping. Sounds like you already built it. How was the process? I don't think anything will beat building my Hotshot.

[Origineelreclamebord]

Yeah, you're right. I ended up paying roughly the same for the kit through Omni. I can still cancel the order. It would actually be a little more with 3 day shipping to the States for me. I think it was $175 for the kit and $55 for the 2day shipping. Sounds like you already built it. How was the process? I don't think anything will beat building my Hotshot.

RCMart sells it for just under $170 and shipping wasn't too bad the last time I ordered - but they raised the price of the car (it was $130-140 before I think?), so I wonder about the shipping...

[calicool]

Yeah i got it last week It is a great build nothing odd came up straight forward and smooth you should enjoy it.I love the kit because the body matches my '07 WRX at least the front end as mine is the wagon.

When i purchased i also got 3 racing blue motor plate,F&R suspension braces ,tamiya motor heatsink bars,blue propeller shaft,and tamiya blue steering linkage Mostly bling but i have a slipper and front cvd's on the way and i want to pick up some led's for some night rallies....I am also contemplating getting a Tony's screw kit like i did with my durga but i don't particularly mind the phillips screws.

Omni is a good place to order from i just hate waiting tower is out also and at about $240 shipped...The kit is $160 at stella with $50 3 day for some reason stella's posting on ebay is for $175 plus $43 7-14day shipping so it's $8 dollars cheaper on their site but with 3-5day must be the ebay fees they factor in.

I hope the hotshot is a good build i want to pick one up also.

[Sal Barley]

Yeah i got it last week It is a great build nothing odd came up straight forward and smooth you should enjoy it.I love the kit because the body matches my '07 WRX at least the front end as mine is the wagon.

When i purchased i also got 3 racing blue motor plate,F&R suspension braces ,tamiya motor heatsink bars,blue propeller shaft,and tamiya blue steering linkage Mostly bling but i have a slipper and front cvd's on the way and i want to pick up some led's for some night rallies....I am also contemplating getting a Tony's screw kit like i did with my durga but i don't particularly mind the phillips screws.

Omni is a good place to order from i just hate waiting tower is out also and at about $240 shipped...The kit is $160 at stella with $50 3 day for some reason stella's posting on ebay is for $175 plus $43 7-14day shipping so it's $8 dollars cheaper on their site but with 3-5day must be the ebay fees they factor in.

I hope the hotshot is a good build i want to pick one up also.

I put my DF03RA together about a month ago. It is a pretty smooth build w/ plenty of hop ups to keep you happy. Things not to get for the df03ra from RC mart. The topcad gearbox plate and gearbox cover won't fit. no aluminum aftermarket cover will because the rear upper suspension arm's angle doesn't clear it. Hopefully 3Racing will be coming out with something. They have a lot of DF03RA "coming soon" parts

Also, get some aluminum or titanium turnbuckles. 18mm x4 for the upper arms and 2x 10mm for the steering. Slipper clutch a must but if you get center one way kit you can't use the tamiya aluminum propeller kit for the rear propeller joint. you should be able to get away with using a 3racing or Yeah Racing propeller cup. also the bevel gear you need for a center one way comes with the car kit so don't toss the extra white bevel gear with the big opening in the back. It's for the one way bearing. It is helpful and worth the money spent on slipper clutch and one ways for the front and rear as

it eases the strain on the drive line and gives more response in turns. Also invest the 40$ on 2 sets of 39mm drive axle kits. They are a must as they seem to bend/wear and or break. Have fun. I opted to get about 260$ worth of extras for my df03ra and it was worth it as I have all of the original plastic pieces as spares. Also something I am eying is the 3racing carbon fiber body conversion kit. Helps with rigidity but some say is unneeded as for a off road car as it too brittle and might break but since the DF03ra is on and light off road I am going to get it just to see how it performs.

I picked up my kit from Stella and was there in a week with mid-level shipping. RC mart has the biggest selection but takes forever for shipping and a few stories of rip offs (obviously unintentional)

Enjoy, How do you like your TT-01 kit? That's what I was looking for for a fairly simple easily upgraded street car.

[lucasan]

So I just got back from vacation and started on the imprezza. I decided to go about things a bit differently and finish the body first. I masked everything off and then went about punching my holes in. One thing that has me confused, and I might have been a little overanxious, or a little jet lagged, is that there are two sets of hole spots on the hood for body posts. I immediately did the ones closest to the windshield and now I'm wondering if I made a mistake. Is this an optional thing? I hope so, otherwise I'm dealing with an eye sore, or a new body.

[lucasan]

Well, I figured out that I'm fine with the body posts. What I need to know now is if the light control unit would actually fit into the chassis. Doesn't seem like there is any room left over after the esc and servo are in. Anyone have any experience with this? thanks guys

[lucasan]

Well my problems never seem to end with the kits lately. Been trying to get my Futaba esc and Spektrum receiver to play nice and I think unless I hear anything from you guys about it, I'll have to send it in to have Futaba check it for me. Now another issue:

The front drive shafts are popping out of the cups and I'm only running on carpet. I don't see any universal assembly shafts available for the DF03. I have the standard wheelbase arms in. Is there possibly a build snafu I've encountered? I'm about done with this rubbish. Any help would be much apprciated.

[WillyChang]

i'm told TA04 unis will fit... that'll be the 39mm i think

[lucasan]

I think the shafts on the DF03 are 38mm, but I could be wrong. I did find some universals on ebay for around $13 shipped from HK. I'll probably go with those. Surprised Tamiya doesn't make their own. They make them for the DB01, which I got, but haven't yet put to the test. Out of my 4 current cars I have 2 runners, and 2 that have not even touched a speck of dirt yet.

[TA-Mark]

Tamiya #53792 are the CVDs that are listed in the DF-03RA's hopup list on the back page of the manual. They also fit TT-01 and TA-04 as Willy said.

[lucasan]

Sweet, thanks. I think I'd rather pay a little extra and get the Tamiya ones. Maybe I'm being a bit finicky though.

[TA-Mark]

Sweet, thanks. I think I'd rather pay a little extra and get the Tamiya ones. Maybe I'm being a bit finicky though.

Nothing wrong with that, I'm pedantic about Tamiya parts too. Tamiya parts are good quality and made from decent metals to tight tolerances. I go for a Tamiya part first and only look to other brands if Tamiya don't make the part I need. The 3Racing and Yeah racing CVDs I've encountered have been a very poor fit and eventually broke.

On the DF-03 buggy the 'other' brand CVDs are even too short being only 68mm and the Tamiya ones are 70mm. The 68mm ones fall out of the outdrives if you put the dampers in the holes that give high ground clearance.