I'm excited to announce a new feature of this blog that will provide more insight into our Club Members, and their R/C Vehicles. As with real cars, you can tell a lot about a person by looking at their RC car. What kind of style do they have? Are they laid back, aggressive, fuctional, maticulous, etc. From time to time, we'll take a closer look at some of our Member's rides, and get all the details from: specs of the car, how long that Member has owned it, what it has meant to it's owner, how much damage it's taken, races it's participated in, etc.
In our first ever "Member's Rides - Featured Car", we'll be taking a look at Club Member Armand Utan's (aka: FabolousRC) Tamiya Durga.
When asked to give us a summary of his experience with his Durga, Armand had this to say:"I decided to get back to my off-road roots after unsuccessfully trying to live up to my own expectations in touring. I had looked at several cars before I decided to purchase a Tamiya Durga. Prior to purchasing, I had narrowed my choices down to either Tamiya or Kyosho but the Lazer ZX-5 was too cost prohibitive at the time and the Dark Impact was hampered by the knightmares of a short wheelbase chassis and limited (stock build) gear adjustment - Not to mention the standard gearbox wouldn't withstand brushless motor use (which was new to me at the time) . After reading a lot of positive reviews regarding the Durga, I purchased one from TowerHobbies. It was pricey, but I felt it showed a lot of promise. After I received my new vehicle, I brought the body to Lex Tyler and had it painted."
"While the body was being painted, I began work on building my new ride. It took me three weekends to complete the car, which included replacing some of the kit screws with stainless steel screws I had leftover from my touring car (which would make the car much easier to work on)."
Parts that have been broken on the car:
- Rear shock tower; twice. Handling related.
- Rear gearbox cover. "When I broke the shock tower the first time, I had to replace my shock tower with the carbon reinforced one. Well, the carbon reinforced one was so strong, it tore the shock tower mount on the soft plastic on the gear cover
So now, the gear cover is once again carbon reinforced and it was so strong, the shock tower broke again. This time from the bottom up instead of from the top."
"Generally, the Durga is a pretty durable car. If you tuen the car right, it is pretty nimble and fast. If you tune it wrong like my car, it is a NIGHTMARE! (no pun intended)."
Future Durga Projects:
"I am planning to build a Durga with all the carbon parts I have. I am currently saving up for the carbon chassis and the TRF501X original shocks. Why TRF501X original shocks instead of the DB01 optional shocks or the Aeration Shocks? The plastic shocks shaft on the Durga is shorter than all of them. It was actually perfect for the car because it kept the car level when the shocks sagged when fully equipped with the battery."
"DB01 Optional shocks and Aeration Shocks are much longer which puts the car higher off the ground, effectively raising the center of gravity. The original 501X shocks are similar to the plastic shocks in shaft length which mimicked the handling of the Durga. This car is intended to be a TCS only car, which gives me a lot of freedom in experimenting with the current car that I drive."
Now for the details and specs:
"Currently, I have the following Tamiya Options on this car":
- 54015 Tamiya Assembly Universal Shaft Front DB01
- 54016 Tamiya Assembly Universal Shaft Rear DB01
- 54018 Tamiya Slipper Clutch Set DB01
- 54035 Tamiya Carbon Reinforced L Parts Steering Arm DB01 (Center Cover Only)
- 54037 Tamiya DB01 Aluminum Suspension Mount Front
- 54038 Tamiya DB01 Aluminum Suspension Mount Rear
- TRF501X Steel Outdrives
"I'm in the process of installing these after-market parts":
- 3Racing DB01-01/LB Aluminium Front and Rear Damper Set For DB-01
- Avid RC Rubber Shielded Revolutions bearings
Electronics:
- Futaba S9402 HS HT MG Servo (non-Digital). "It is about as fast and as powerful non digital servo you can get and I have been using it since my touring days. It never disappoints me. It is a single most effective investment I ever made".
- LRP Sphere TC Brushed/Brushless Lipo ready ESC. "The hobby shop 'made me' by this. I still have not quite tinkered with it yet to the point that the setting is exactly how I want to run. I kinda screwed up while setting it up from the default setting."
- Novak 10.5 R Sensored Brushless motor (sintered rotor). "Awesome motor and highly recommended".
- Spektrum 3000 2.4Ghz Receiver with KO EX-1/EX-10 module. "I originally ran the car with a DX3.0 and it was a tad slow in reaction time. Then I was able to acquire a module for my EX-1 Mars which makes my car 10x faster in reaction. I had to readjust (still readjusting) on how I drive the car because the car is so much more sensitive to slight changes now."
Future Electronics equipment:
- Ko Propo 2123FET. "Fastest Digital Brushed Servo in the world. The part that worries me is that, the car is already super twitchy with the S9402 and how much XXXX times does the 2123FET is going to make it worse or is it going to be actually better (because I might be able to countersteer better)".
- Fantom Racing 10.5R motor. "Fantom was famous for churning modified Trinity stock and modified brushed motor in the past so their brushless effort remained to be seen. Honestly, I like it because the motor can is green which matches with the car".
- Venom Brushless ESC - " - See the reason of Fantom Racing 10.5R motor. Yes, it is green".
Battery: Team Orion Rocket Pack 5000mah Nimh Stick pack; Radio Shack GP3300 Stick Packs.
Shoes: Tamiya DB01 Fr/Rr Black Wheels or JConcepts Rulux B44 Fr/Rr with Team Losi Taper Pins Fr/BK Bars Rr or Panther Racing Bobcat 4WD Fr/Switch 2.0 Rr
Charger: Team Integy 16x7Pro; Duratrax ICE
Power Supply: Rivergate 15A
Great stuff, Armand! Thanks for sharing so many details about your ride!
To check out other Member's Rides, check out our Message Boards.
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