(Fancy A Fight?) Tamiya Dark Impact DF-03. Can it Stand Up Against Current Budget RTR Buggies?

[@DoRC]

Once you put all the electronics in at the dark impact is going to be close to $300 for a brushed version or $350 to $375 for a brushless version. That puts it squarely in competition with the Arrma Typhon. I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure the typhon would wipe the floor with the Tamiya as far as durability and bashability are concerned. I've never owned a dark impact but I have owned two typhons and they were darn near bulletproof.

[@butchmeister80]

Not sure what that is in £££ but yeah the ftx brushless is 220 retail all Inc with lipo etc taniya will be way over that and the brushed vantage is only 118 for everything so nearly double the price for tamiya and yep the arrma typhoon would be far better all round best you can get other than the 6s version

[@canuckchuck8836]

How about some driving dynamics tests? Cornering, braking, stability at speed, jumping, etc. either on your FIA registered back garden track or preferably in a parking lot/level high-grip surface. I suspect, in that case you may need to keep all the tires the same for comparison sake?

[@TachyonDriver]

Sourcing the same wheels and tyres (same rolling diameter) might not be easy - although I wouldn't know! At least Gavin should begin by having all the buggies running their stock configurations as a compromise IMHO.

[@duncanmcgregor7946]

Tricked up mine with a keen hawk body and sold it on. I’ll send you a pic if I can find it. I put every hop up on it apart from the kmrc or 3Racing carbon chassis kit. Great buggy but I was always afraid of the front end weak points so it never got pushed.

[@devlinbyng9267]

Personally I think a race track and skate park. Best of both worlds.

[@andreasa.2226]

Not very capable but tamiya knows how to make a good looking buggy!

[@philtickle9724]

I’m a build person so for me it’s Tamiya all the way but recently I’ve started shelf queen everything but my dark impact which im turning the power up on its unbeatable if your into messing around until its right, if you want to just open a box and drive a standard car immediately then the vantage has to be the way to go, at least its budget enough when you blow it up

[@AlexOchakovsky]

kzbin.infovideos

[@DeliriumElectric]

Yep, I have a keen hawk. Very different to box art though. It's hopped up but I have many more to do when I get time to rebuild it.

[@barrycheesemore2928]

To be honest I don't think it matters what test you do, to me the Dark Impact is aimed squarely at a different audience to the RTR buggies. As you said, if you like the whole build process then the Dark Impact is a better bet, but if you're on a really tight budget then go for something like the Maverick XB or FTX Vantage. At the end of the day it's about personal choice. I love building RC cars, it's part of the enjoyment for me, but I like the idea of the cheap RTR's.

[@paulus842000]

This looks exciting. What about a cornering test at high speed, how sharp and fast can you go without flipping or sliding.

[@butchmeister80]

Ah thought this was the actual vid look forward to the results need to compare prices from kit including radio gear to the rtrs race them drag style jumps etc and see what comes off best! Tamiya wins on looks I’d say, shame you not got the brushless vantage much better . Brushed dark impact with radio gear is 250 ish vantage brushed 118 all inc no building needed, I paid 230 for brushless ftx with two lipos

[@neiloliver7950]

How about the cost for a small list of spare parts that will break. Say front arms, shock tower, drive shaft, shock shaft. These are the things that any newbie will need to buy. I would also bring them to our track in Oswestry abs get some timed laps in! Good luck and great channel.

[@alanpassmore2275]

Hi Gavin you could test how easy / quick you can get replacement parts. Yes I own a Keenhawk and a Darkipact.

[@paulrobinson9355]

On a track would be best, running all as standard! For me the winner will be without question the Vantage 2.0! Excited for the coming videos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@ramblingimbecile2295]

There's no contest in my opinion. You don't buy Tamiya for performance, you don't by Tamiya for reliability and you don't buy Tamiya for cheap replacement parts. Tamiya is specifically for the kit building experience and the nostalgia. If you just want an RC car to blast about with then get anything else

[@DipeshHinduja]

Small race course, see which one is easier to actually drive well with and set better times. Then jump them till they break something.

[@roadstar499]

I have this car i built it in 2006...only ran it a couple of times...not sure if it could handle a brushless power system,so it just sits in a display case.

[@philipgreensmith1694]

Gotta have some sort of dirt/off road time trial. Everyone wants a speed run too. I crashed head on into plenty of curbs as a kid ...... strength test 💪 Thanks for another great video 👌

[@jamesmurden1780]

If your a member of a local track you could do some timed laps to compare them

[@paulrobinson9355]

One of my favourite of recent buggies, screams Tamiya and comes fully ballrac ed too! Adjustable too, beautiful kit 👍👍

[@reallybigphilly]

I used to have a keen hawk, but the body got damaged so I got the Dark Impact body instead. I think I preferred the Keen Hawk styling...

[@samab3000]

I owned a keen hawk/ dark impact. The rear ball differential is weak. I replaced it twice. The front baulk head is weak also due to the shock tower design also the car doesn't handle to well around the track due to short chassie design. Not much room for electric and lipo battery placement.

[@hfhsantos]

Hi RcKicks, we are waiting for your review of the Tamiya against budget buggy’s. Don’t forget that video, it makes all the sense to do it 😂

[@RCKickschannel]

Yep it's coming soon :)

[@hfhsantos]

@@RCKickschannel awesome news. Very happy with your channel!!! Congratulations

[@FurtiveLoki]

@@RCKickschannel did you make the video? I'm currently looking at all the vehicles that you had stacked up trying to decide whether to go with the Dark Impact or not. 🤣

[@GeneticDrifter]

I think just giving us your overall thoughts on them and why. Rather than trying to chose a bunch of criteria to score. Sometimes we get lost trying to quantify everything and realise the scores don't end up representing what we intended. Putting them through some comparisons like a timed circuit run, jump behaviour is useful though.

[@michaeldorich4485]

A tug of war, jumping for distance, measure jump height, demolition derby ( probably not), drag races, etc. would all be fun. An additional idea would be taking them to a dirt or carpet track and do some runs and compare lap times.

[@skidmerc21]

Try a timed dirt slalom around several cones. See how they are able to manage quick in and out turns.

[@SuperCdp1]

Great idea, you should definitely make sure they are all running the same motor and battery!!

[@RFVCXR200R]

I've got the white edition, cool as heck

[@darrenalmeida1382]

I just got one in the mail too! It bought it because it looks cool, but I canʻt wait to build it and run it! I need to buy a Durga and some Avantes some day.

[@leemollison7508]

I had a Dark Impact running a Hacker C40-6S (6940kV) on a Hacker Monster Pro ESC with a Flightpower 3700mAh 3S LiPo, circa 2007 - top speed was around 140km/h Hilarious to drive at low speeds, donuts, drifts etc. However, getting up to any kind of serious speed in a suburban street was terrifying - it was crazy, and it melted the rear diff a few times no matter how tight I ran it, and then if I accidentally hit reverse at all it would lunch the front diff on the spot.😂 Its a good handling buggy out of the box, but the driveline has been engineered to go as well as possible on 27 turn stock brushed motors - very light duty. I also know it suffered from the front of the chassis breaking in two, although this never happened to me. Front dogbones need to be replaced with cvd's as well as they pop out and chip away at the outdrives.

[@bretzeletouffeur7401]

I would enjoy a final test consisting of throwing the 4 cars in a 747 turbo reactor. Then counting the surviving parts would pick the winner.

[@TachyonDriver]

Would that be a Rolls Royce RB211, Pratt & Whitney PW4000 or General Electric CF6?

[@bretzeletouffeur7401]

​@@TachyonDriver I would choose the one that cost the less, or the one with the better insurance contract.

[@TachyonDriver]

@@bretzeletouffeur7401 Good idea! :)

[@captainchaos3053]

Race them. Time trail and head to head on track. High jump and possibly an endurance type test of some type. But ultimately crash testing is what people want to see. Which is tougher and durable when ragged about.

[@markpace5809]

What if you work out the depreciation value of each model ? Looking forward to seeing all of your results. 👍

[@butchmeister80]

Good point tamiya prob hold more value

[@TheTobyT]

I've got a Keen Hawk Gavin. (Incidentally it is for sale.) All the best, Toby

[@liamsollars250]

Did you do the comparison video in the end??? I cant seem to find it????

[@RCKickschannel]

Kind of as it went to the skate part for a test. Video is out on the channel

[@nickrobertson2450]

Great idea! You could probably simply drive them around & see how long it is before the DF03's ball diff needs maintenance vrs the other cars not needing maintenance.

[@richardfallon792]

How about what they're like to work on like changing different components 👍

[@mitsuman5555]

I really like this idea! My only contribution is use the same battery in each car to take that out as a variable. Also, do a top speed test and rank them all, but that’s pretty obvious. Looking forward to this!

[@funnierbearuk7865]

Can you test speed please. I got one and what motor and what motor rpm, kvm

[@shaunbitz3569]

High speed, Durability (skate park), Manoeuvrability(backyard track) Price point compared,

[@ZombieGamingMetalhead]

Love my dark impact. I have the white version

[@acquaruggine]

I actually own a Keen Hawk, it was one of my favourites growing up. My dad brought me into r.c. in the 2000s and he got it as one of the first ones. Fun to drive but not very reliable, broken three chassis already, 2 front gearbox mounts and lost three front dogbones...Haven't ever gotten around to fixing it the last time. Don't really like the bad plastic...

[@funnierbearuk7865]

Please can you help which tamiya ESC on this df03 dark impact

[@RCKickschannel]

HobbyWing 1060

[@theoagrc]

Depends what you are testing for Gavin. Performance then you need some speed runs and timed laps. Durability then I would amp up the jumps and see how high you can get them to fly! Should be an interesting show down but I am expecting the DF-03 to disintegrate very quickly 😂😁

[@EODMedicLaos1999]

Just get a group of friends and hit the local track race them till they die😉

[@peterjohnson9243]

Did I miss the actual comparison vid Gav?

[@RCKickschannel]

Nope, I still haven’t filmed it yet.

[@theonlyjasonkirk]

Would be great to see how these cars handle a a real track Gav, hopefully prove a few of the racer snobs wrong about their capabilities.

[@rcneanderthal7914]

Would be really cool to go to a real dirt track with jumps and do the 10 / 20 laps test with everyone of them. Compare best lap, lap consistency, jumps capacity and ´flight’ abilities wirh same motor, same servo and same radio set-up. A lot of logistics….

[@vsci79]

Slop test. Wiggle/turn different parts by hand and let us know how each feel compared to the other. Yes, very unscientific but this is KZbin and opion matters lol

[@DivineInt]

Should be an interesting comparison, from what I've read about the df-03 it won't last long bashing it at a skate park lol

[@ReadySetRC]

Would love to see the shootout👍

[@Renegade67868]

Another gem.. 🥰

[@JamesToward]

Top speed, Timed lap /slalom run?

[@alphawlff]

Run it with the electronics from the rtr you are putting it up against.

[@neilstothard]

As much as I love my Dark Impact I fear your going to break it at the skate park as it does have some fragile area's when put in that sort of environment (found out that to my own cost) so as others have suggested some agility comparisons would be good to see.

[@samuelliston3651]

Tamiya is for building/light running/collecting. If you want to push the limits/ break parts/ throw away then buy an RTR.

[@RCKickschannel]

I think a load of people actually enjoy the build process and body painting challenge and the satisfaction of finishing it vs breaking parts and pushing limits. Nothing against RTR cars and I have a load myself. I agree like you say, for bashing going Arrma, or say Traxxas is the way to go. It’s funny as for me, I’m never really get attached to my RTR kits like I do my builds but that’s the point I guess as you don’t care as much about looking after them and scratching them.

[@hendrahendra]

Do a sujective test, which one 'feels' better in your hands. Oh and I have a Dark Impact and its really fragile RC. I don't really bash it, nor drive it hard, but something always goes wrong with that RC.

[@RypienGT]

Try taking them to a track for times would be the most obvious. Don't think that tug-o-war rates highly on people's buy list when purchasing a buggy.

[@Boydo82]

Where are the comparison vids kevin?

[@RCKickschannel]

Currently doing this now with the Durga. The Dark impact ended up being used in a skatepark video (don’t ask) and then I gave it away to a viewer so never got the chance. This is the first video in the series of me putting a Tamiya Durga directly against a modern racer. Two videos so far and a third is due in a few weeks. kzbin.info/www/bejne/d5ivepx6j5WSasksi=7iGnymqslX1Jou_n

[@RCKickschannel]

I’m Gavin, Kevin is that bloke who has a slightly bigger RC channel who shouts louder and now lives on his own island. 🏝️ LOL

[@Boydo82]

@RCKickschannel typo🫣 of course you are Gavin.... I've been watching RC kicks for over a year.... sorry, dude.

[@Boydo82]

@RCKickschannel I really like the look of the Durga, but I didn't fancy the import. So that's a great series your doing in Tamiya racers. I went for the Deep Impact myself recently, hence why I wanted your comparison vids. Amazon were selling them for £84 a few weeks ago an absolute bargain.

[@crnkin2]

Parts availability and cost. Thats why I drive Tamiya.

[@RichB07]

No more tug a war . Seen that to many times . Don't see how that helps with anything that anyone will be doing with a buggy . Race track . 10 laps average out 8 fastest laps . All kinds of fun things . Of course just my opinion .

[@brianbeck7468]

Lap times!

[@DaveyGa]

Bushings - about all I need to say. Tamiyas are now well made toy grade vehicles haha EDIT: I didn't know of the Keen Hawk either, but 20 minutes after your video I watched this.. kzbin.info/www/bejne/h5yUaoxqoslqhqM

[@Lappiedawgie]

Set up a course and do lap times

[@AndyMoulton]

For a running Keen Hawk, check from about 15 minutes into this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/h5yUaoxqoslqhqM

[@butchmeister80]

This video never appeared?

[@RCKickschannel]

Working on it. 45th build is finished and I'm working on the truck currently. As soon as the truck is done I will be making this video.

[@butchmeister80]

@@RCKickschannel cheers keep up the good work I know weather not been ideal

[@MrRebelrob]

racing full on

[@Rob_NABS]

Find a buggy track or make one.. Then find a few people and do a 6 or 12 hour stint with all 3. If they can take some endurance on mixed surfaces, jumps, etc with just battery swaps. You have clear winner. Don't go down the skate park route, there are plenty of big kids out there on YT just trying to see how high things go off a skate ramp. Rather pathetic really.

[@avanterc1339]

I have a DF03 keen hawk, if you would like to see my full collection on my channel it is called Avante RC.

[@aaronmatuszny8856]

To me the DF03 is the spiritual successor to the Top Force....I want one.

[@innovirtua]

This is why kit building is dying. TDLR: No you shouldn't.

[@RCKickschannel]

Yes it's a shame kit building has fallen in popularity but I guess people don't have the time to commit to a build project and just want to have instant driving fun.

[@themustangone6449]

What happened to this comparison...kinda died in the @ss

[@RCKickschannel]

Dark Impact was just too nice to destroy, I didn't have the heart to do it.

[@themustangone6449]

@@RCKickschannel yeah no problem, just bought a dark impact myself so was curious. Regardless how it goes i think tamiya is more about encouraging stock racing. When my friends got into rc cars we would go out and get a 4s kyosho, 6s typhoon, 2s rustler and try to race but none of these are good competition of the other. While Tamiya stock setup is way to go....if speeds too slow the track is not challenging enough!!!

[@davidhumble6892]

Did you just not bother?

[@RCKickschannel]

That sums it up David LOL. The buggy I purchased was in lovely condition and I just couldn't smash it up. When I purchased it, I expected it to be a bit rough as the images didn't look good at all. When it arrived and I opened the box, it was perfect.

[@liamsollars250]

​@@RCKickschannelthat sucks as I'd really like to know how they compare.