What Tamiya next?

[Juls1 1661]

8 hours ago, Juggular said:

Now, that was worth reading twice!  

I haven't tried the Manta Ray, nor the DF03.  My DF01 Hummer has pathetically short arms (unlike Manta Ray).  The shell feels twice heavy as Sand Scorcher shell.  With such a heavy weight pressing down, it flounders at the bottom of my fleet when it comes to performance.  But I heard good things about the Manta Ray.  When I see one come across my fishing radar, I'll have to catch one. (Come to think of it, I never ran the short-armed DF01 without the heavy shell. Maybe I should weaken the suspension and try that first...)  

The best performer of my fleet is DN01 Zahhak (though 2WD).  That was generally recommended by none other than Juls1.  I'm glad I got the DN01 instead of DT02 or DT03.  (though, I got the Sand Rover later--DT02.  I like cute things... and yes that was a very manly statement)  

I would have thought you'd recommend newer things like the TT02B or DF02 (not that new things are better).  But if you think the DF01 with a mildly strong brushless makes a good basher, I'd suspect it's worth a try.  If I get a Manta Ray, I'll compare it with my DF02.  From the looks of it, I can't imagine DF01 performing much better than DF02.  But one thing I know about RC is, "you never know."  The Manta Ray might be prove to be superior to the DF02.  (Don't worry, casual readers. DF02, TT02B, DT02 or DT03 aren't bad, just DN01 is better--in 2WD. Is DN01 going to fly when DT02 are crawling? Nope. As far as the geometry is concerned, they are similar.  It's the little things that make DN01 better like the ball diff, some adjustable geometry, more precise steering, smoother arm swings, the available slipper clutch, etc.) 

My curiosity got peaked about the Manta Ray because it has none of those "better parts."  So it must be in other things like the geometry, the weight distribution, etc, etc.  I like to be techy, so DB01 is on my list too!  (but the Manta Ray is cheap, and I'm a cheap person above anything else, so it would probably come before DB01...)  

 

A few small things with the manta ray, change over to adjustable upper arms, and run a camber gauge over it or drop it on a setup station. The df01/ta01/ta02 where pretty hopeless with everything being square so using the precisely equal fixed arms end up with a less than even driving chassis. That being said, slippery tires on slippery surface you’ll likely not notice. 

I’ve always loved the lush feeling suspension on the df01wide armed buggys. With top force evo towers the options really open up. 

Short armed df01... meh.. never seemed to work properly. 

Juls

 

[Juggular 4964]

4 hours ago, Juls1 said:

 I’ve always loved the lush feeling suspension on the df01wide armed buggys.  

Short armed df01... meh.. never seemed to work properly. 

Juls

 

Well put!  "The Lush feeling suspension" is what I love about off-road cars.  I try to make every single car that way.  Tamiya's instruction setups are almost always too stiff.  

I won't bother running short armed DF01 with softer springs, then.  Unless... I happen to get a body to turn it into a rally car)  I've got enough projects as it is, and I'll probably add Manta Ray to them.  

 

 

[JNSD1 288]

Well, there's no build thread for this baby so why not throw some candy in here regardless?

One day I'll get better at painting figures, I'm getting marginally better but it's still such a long way to the top.