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Jonesy76

Recommend me a 4 wheel drive buggy?

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As the topic says!

Basically I have 3 rally cars (an un-run M-05Ra, a DF-03Ra Lancia Delta (now running a scooby shell and wheels), and a TB-01 german champ with a 2001 Scooby sheel on it with the original shell painted but in the box un-used) and my wife and I play with the two 4 wheel drives, but they really need to be run on loose gravel to get the best out of them.......playing on our local field with them on grass is not really much good. My wife enjoys running my Max Climber alongside my TXT-1, but would like something to run with my Avante.

The Avante on the field is an absolute hoot, and we can just walk out of our house and be there in 1 minutes walk so it doesn't involve getting the car out and driving anywhere, so the rally cars sit in the office on their shelf awaiting a day out down the coast.

I'm going to sell the 3 rally cars (need to sell the M-05Ra to make a bit of cash for the Avante purchase back!) and want to use the funds to buy another 4 wheel drive buggy akin to the Avante for her to run with it. I've had a Keen Hawk before, but the body is a bit ugly even though the DF-03 chassis is good.

Anything else out there to consider other than the DF-03...................

............and not another Avante.............

........I'm not THAT minted! :lol:

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Plenty of options within the Tamiya fold, but as always a lot depends on your budget..

DF-02 (Rising Storm, Gravel Hound, Plasma Edge) - all available UK sourced for around £130. Oil filled shocks but limited ground clearance and propshaft is a plastic formed jobbie.

DF-03 (Dark Impact / Keen Hawk) - £165 in the UK as a kit, but you need to add a few bits to get a runner (ESc from recollection). Far more capable than the Df-02, and looks the part

Hotshot - very interesting build, monoshock design front and rear not the best for racers but more than adequate for a football pitch/park area - should be able to get new kit around £165

Boomerang - similar to above, monoshock front, twin cva shocks rear - supposedly a bit better handling, but not that different to the Hotshot - you might be able to pick a new kit up for around £130

Wild card !!

Twin Detonator - twin motor, 4wd truggy style buggy, big tyres. wont handle as well as a low slung buggy but would be sufficiently different as a runner, and with more ground clearance its a little more versatile when it comes to where it can run.

Having experience of the DF-02 (my son) and a Hotshot restoration, i'd say the Boomerang/Hotshot is a lot more satisfying build and an altogether better car in terms of engineering, complexity and ability. The older models might be somewhat heavier, and a little clunky in places, but the added complexity of the build and general feeling of robustness make them a lot better in my eyes.

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What about going up to about £200 and the Durga?

Overkill?

Great choice and I don't see how you wouldn't be happy with that!

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What about going up to about £200 and the Durga?

Overkill?

For a Tamiya I'd go with a DB01.

Since I already have a Durga and Baldre I'm waiting on the new Associated SC10 4x4 to come out.

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+1 DB01. Great car, and parts are readily available. Best value car Tamiya have released for ages.

- James

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well , just having restored two boomerangs , see thread else were , i will be only useing them for gentle running around on flat ground with nothing to run in to .. they are a plastic hand grenade !

the amount of parts i had to replace on both was staggering , as they were the same parts on both and the 3rd one ihave needs the same parts . front and rear suspension arms are a very weak point , the over stiff , out of the box , front shock takes care of the link arms with great regularity if you go over jumps and the front bumper mount point in the gear box takes care that bit of plastic . and those triangle drives ? dont even think about over tightening the nuts , the thought transfer will break them every time . no doubt people will jump up to defend the boomer and its cousins , the hotshots , bigwig and the like but its the plastic tamiya use to make the parts thats the problem , its too brittle and the cars them are over complex ..just my opinon :rolleyes:

get a TL01 of some sorts , there ar heaps of hop-ups for them .. and they are near imposible to kill

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How about one of the Thundershot series? You can pick one up for not alot of cash these days.

I'd go for the Terra Scorcher as it has the adjustable upper arms, but other than that, they are all easy to run cars that are virtually bulletproof, just replace the A5 part with an alloy or steel brace and away you go.

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Another vote for DB-01. The only negative I can see with this is your wife with a DB-01 will run rings around your Avanti.

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+1 for DB01. This model ticks every box for me as an economical runner and I am more impressed with mine now than ever. They are still popular and selling after 4 years in production which is a good indicator.

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Looks like it'll be a Durga then once I've shifted the Rally cars :rolleyes:

I know it'll run rings around the Avante, but I love my Avante, and I'll be doing the building of the Durga so it may well not get a motor upgrade for a while ;):P Let her get used to it with a silver can, and give my Avante with its Super Stock TZ a bit of a chance.

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One Durga ordered!

Question though.......

Is it fully ball-raced, or do I need to order some in?

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You will probably want hex screws too.. See this thread:

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?...c=56274&hl=

In all honesty, if you have a ratcheting screw driver you can get away with building this car with the kit screws without too much arm cramping. If you want to do it with style though, get these: http://www.tony1034.com/prod04.htm. The website is cheesy, but the product is great.

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To be fair I'm an orthodontic technician by trade, and therefore work with my hands every day and have developed a grip strength that positively scared the Occupation Health person who gave me my annual fitness report!

Yet to encounter a screw that my good old trusty screwdriver and serious elbow grease could not drive in, even if the Avante did test me out a couple of times.

If it gets used for more than bashing then maybe it'll get an upgrade, but to be honest it's going to be my toy, and my wides when she fancies joining me for some fun running.

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To be fair I'm an orthodontic technician by trade, and therefore work with my hands every day and have developed a grip strength that positively scared the Occupation Health person who gave me my annual fitness report!

Yet to encounter a screw that my good old trusty screwdriver and serious elbow grease could not drive in, even if the Avante did test me out a couple of times.

If it gets used for more than bashing then maybe it'll get an upgrade, but to be honest it's going to be my toy, and my wides when she fancies joining me for some fun running.

When building my first DB01 I found that it was not just the hard plastic, but the quality of the screws themselves that caused some problems. I managed to strip a few of the screw heads and even snapped one while using the correct screw driver, they are not made of hardened steel. I ended up using a spare set of hex heads I had for a different car on the thing except for the ones that screw into metal pieces, Associated uses a different pitch than Tamiya.

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The problem is that the screw heads in the kit screws are not up to the forces required to screw them in and the heads tend to strip out easily. You can build with the kit screws, just get a hex head screw or M3x0.5 tap and pre-tap all the holes before screwing the kit screw in. Using a tiny dab of grease makes it easier, and there's no chance that the screws will back out.

- James

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Can I just jump in here and ask if the DB01R is a worthy purchase? They come up on ebay from time to time at semi-reasonable prices. Just wondered if the extra bits were worthwhile?

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Can I just jump in here and ask if the DB01R is a worthy purchase? They come up on ebay from time to time at semi-reasonable prices. Just wondered if the extra bits were worthwhile?

Yeah DB01R is very nice if you can find one, the aeration dampers and slipper clutch are great upgrades, and you get carbon reinforced towers, alu lower arm mounts too. But they don't come with a body, nor tires/wheels, so the savings are decent but not great.

- James

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Can I just jump in here and ask if the DB01R is a worthy purchase? They come up on ebay from time to time at semi-reasonable prices. Just wondered if the extra bits were worthwhile?

For someone who intends on racing definitely. IMHO, for the OP's wife to use as a basher it would be overkill and not worth the extra cost.

Running a silver can he really doesn't need a slipper clutch yet. The stock plastic dampers are a weak point but they're not racing, just make sure you use the heaviest oil you can find. When it comes to the carbon parts I've found them to be lighter and stiffer but no where near as tough as the plastic parts.

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The stock plastic oil dampers work surprisingly well on the DB01. The aerated dampers are better of course, but you'd only notice any difference if you were racing on a track.

- James

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