Which Is More Durable

[nakedsv]

Just curious which would make the more durable basher.

[Pavster]

I have both and i assume it would be the DF-03 because it is made of the newer plastics...love them both though

[TA-Mark]

The Firedragon gearbox will wearout first as the alloy pinion of the FD turns 3 times as much as the alloy maingear of the DF03. It's not hard to find a steel 32dp pinion to remove the alloy gears from the FD. The DF03 is made of flexible plastics where it needs to be flexible making them very durable. The DF03 is just that bit easier to control having very good suspension and steering geometry so it may be easier to crash the FD.

Tough call. It would come down to whether you wanted modern dynamics or a vintage feel to your drive. I'm not into 'spaceships' on wheels so I would take the DI which looks more like a buggy when you leave the windows clear.

[Power Surge]

Well, I have no experience with the Dark Impact, but I do with the Thunder Shot.

The plastic is the standard crappy plastic Tamiya has used for years. The A5 part up front is the biggest failure. It takes all the load of the lower control arms. A few good hits to the wheels and it's broke. You often see "new" A-trees for sale, and they are always missing the A5 part. However, if you put an A5 brace on, that solves that issue. There is a guy on ebay that makes them, but I just made my own. No problems since. Another area is the upper front of the chassis where the gearbox bolts to. If you take a hard frontal hit, you'll crack the ears at the chassis. Then again, a good hard frontal hit on any car is bound to damage something.

Aside from that, it's pretty durable, and there are plenty of upgrades still out there for it.

Take a stock car, put in full bearings, a hotter motor and ESC, and the A5 brace, and you'll be beating the heck out of it for a long time.

[irenL]

stock to stock, you'll pop out the DI front dog bone(s) in frontal curbing, and possibly chipped the diff and/or wheel axle drive cup(s). I suppose the black diff cups in DI is hardened?

[Mad Ax]

The standard DF03 doesn't come with hardened diff outdrives, and I shredded mine with a Super Stock BZ and no slipper. Hardened diff cups are highly recommended.

Other than that, the DF03 is fairly durable - the front shock towers can crack in a rollover, but that's the same with any buggy with tall shock towers.

I have a Fire Dragon but I've never ran it. It feels heavier and more chunky than the DI, and I think that makes it more likely to break in an impact. It doesn't feel as strong or as well-made. The DI is a very solid build - if I had to guess, I'd say the DI is the more durable - but it would be a guess.

[qatmix]

I run a 5.5t brushless in my Dark impact and the original plastic rear outdrives are still fine.

I do have a set of the metal ones ready to go in, but so far its holding out fine.