Dark Impact

JANG's Impressions

After the era of the Avante & Egress, Tamiya completely backed away from high-performance 4WD buggies to focus on lower-end models that catered to casual hobbyists, not racers. It wasn't until 2006 that a little bit of "race" was injected back into this niche with the trials of a top-of-the-line TRF501x prototype racer and the full release of their latest 4WD basher, the Dark Impact.

The all-new DF-03 chassis featured a performance-minded design with long arms, practically no front or rear overhang, and centerline mounting for both the motor and battery. The chassis & shock towers are typical Tamiya ABS, but arms, uprights & knuckles are high-fiber composites for extra durability. A bottom-loading battery tray allowed the stout aluminum center shaft to run only mildly offset from the middle. Both steering & camber links are steel (though threaded in one direction and thus not proper turnbuckles) and there are multiple mounting positions for tuning. Shocks are oil-filled plastic CVA units, again with multiple mounting options both top & bottom. Wheels are, at last, full 2.2" size, bringing a break to the tradition of completely proprietary dimensions here, and the rubber tires, while harder than many racers would like, are softer than Tamiya's earlier fare and with a much more useful tread pattern.

The body & wing package on the Dark Impact is another strong point. It's clean & mostly purpseful, fitting the chassis well and leaving a good aerodynamic profile. There are even openings in the shock towers to help the airflow. Most important to many hobyists is that the fully-built buggy just plain looks good, an especially important trait for vehicles not targeting hardcore racers.

Speaking of racing, the Dark Impact is definitely a raceable vehicle, though it was not at all intended to go head-to-head with top-of-the-line purpose-built racing buggies. Softer-compound tires were made available, and thinner shock oil & springs would make it handle actually quite nicely. The centralized weight gives it poise and agility at speed, and it also has excellent flight characteristics. The biggest problem is the very battery box that supports many of the car's strengths. It is molded specifically to accept shotgun-style sport stick packs, meaning fitting matched side-by-side cells or lipos would require chassis customization or a graphite conversion kit.

One more racing component I wish Tamiya had included with the Dark Impact is a slipper clutch. One is available, but you have to purchase it separately (part #53925). Tamiya uses its metric pitch for the gears and the proprietary spur is at a lot of risk as the first (and most likely) point of failure in the drivetrain.

Video

Tips

• Step 4: The head of the "MB4" 2.6 x 10mm pin was somehow malformed for me and no metric nor Imperial allen wrench I could find would fit it. I ended up having to force one barely in and use tremendous downward pressure to get enough traction to actually screw it in. Check yours before you begin the assembly and make sure you have a wrench that will fit. If not, it may be worth very lightly greasing the threads or even considering slotting the head to use a small flathead driver.
• Steps 4 & 15: Take care to notice the difference between the 5x10mm and 5x11mm bearings. Pre-fit bearings in their intended installation points when in doubt.
• Step 6: The 78T spur is the smaller of the two, and best to use with the stock motor as it gives you more speed. If you ordered a slipper clutch (highly recommended), this is the point to install it instead.
• Steps 23 & 27: Most parts on the X & V parts trees look identical at first glance, but they're ever so slightly different. Check & re-check to make sure you're using the right ones.
• If you run factory spec shocks, use the innermost shock mounting positions on the a-arms to increase mechanical advantage and thus reduce the stiffness of both the shocks and springs.

Photo gallery samples

Visit the full Dark Impact gallery for more photos. To see full parts spreads, check out my original DF-03 gallery featuring the Keen Hawk build.

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