DB01 Vs ZX5 RTR
 

hi people as the title says thinkin of gettin a new 4wd buggy they both around the same price bearing inmind i got my own electrics to put in

My vote goes to the durga

A

well done, you got it right lol :woot:

The DB01 is a better chassis in as much as it is more robust and the upgrades are cheap to get, you will need the slipper unit right away, then the alloy suspension mounts from 3racing, then the rest is tuning.

thats the one i been leaning towards can anyone recomend the cheapest place to get one

stellamodels.net or www.rcmart.com.hk are about the same, save on shipping and buy the hopups and spare wheels at the same time.

Ive never seen a durga but ive seen and driven a rtr zx5 and i wasnt to impressed the weehls are like crumberly cheese.

A

having switched from a ZX5 to a TRF501X last year, my vote goes to a hopped up DB01 (slipper, shocks).

To keep it short : I wasn't impressed by the ZX5's reliability.

Why buy an RTR if you've got your own electrics?

I've got a zx5 (not rtr) and I like it, but I've heard nothing bad about the tamiya. Either would be a good car I think.

Look for a non RTR ZX5 ...

Doesn't really need any upgrades out of the box, current plastics are super strong, slipper in kit, shocks are MUCH better than the Tamiya CVAs all round good car.

If you do decided to go racing properly then just add the LAW35 SP suspension upgrade and you have a car competative with anything else out there (didn't see any Durga's in any of the top finals at the Cactus Classic or JC Clash results!!!)

That said the Durga makes a great club car and those I have seen have impressed for the price (you can import for .... not UK prices where they are way too much!!)

As for Ash's comment on the wheels ... ???????? seem fine to me!

a none rtr zx 5 is double the price of a db01 i would prob consider a kit zx 5 if it were the same price and from doin abit o research i found the kyosho parts abit harder to find

but am happy to be proved wrong dont want to start a rant or anything

I have seen BNIB ZX5s going for £155 on Ebay and the Durga is circa £140 in the UK .... not that much different.

As for spares it depends on where you live and teh shops you use. Around my way finding Tamiya bits is like finding gold plated hens teeth!!!

Both good cars, both good choices ... pays ya money ...takes your choice!

if you are talking eBay prices, £69 for the DB01 (Durga) so that is less the half the price, and whist you are buying there, you can afford to get the slipper and CVDs and still have change....

Spares are easy enough to get, but just like the ZX5, spares trackside will be non--existant

I've done a quick tot-up and 2 Durga's (one for spares), slipper, front one-way (non-essential really), CVD's, alloy suspension pin mounts and proper Tamiya alloy dampers will come to ish £220 if sourced via Stella.

I love my Durga, it drives really nicely - albeit slowly with me at the sticks - but so far its been a hell of a lot tougher than the ZX5's I've seen. As others have said though, trackside spares are non-existent although to be fair there are none for the Tamiya TRF501X either. Tamiya prejudice? Definately. Problem? No way. I like to be different. Where's the fun in buying a B44, Losi or Kyosho like everybody else?

Durga + slipper +cvd,s all round approx £105 + £30 postage from HK
I own both buggy,s and the zx5 RTR has upto now been the most reliable on the track.Not had one thing go wrong with it at all..........yet

Not had much luck with my Durga but hopefully my recent upgrades will help.

Still getting better lap times at Cov using my df-03 :o

My vote goes for the almighty Durga. I own one and very happy with the performance, parts availability, tuning options and toughness. What else can i say. Go Durga.

P.S. Parts are dirt cheap from stella and rcmart.

i think the durga is winning me over i'll have to get one on order

cheers guys !

why buy a 4wd??
nothing wrong with a b4, xxxcr, kyosho rb5 even the d2

the kyosho lazer is a challenge you dont want... who races one?? how many in top 10 in 07 nats??? the old one killed gears and broke shock towers and tower supports all the time.

I race one ........ and love it. For me the car is significantly fast each lap and more consistent lap to lap than the BJ4WE I was running before!!!

I can not believe how narrow minded and short sighted that comment is!!! Your obviously not talking about the current car the ZX5-SP! :(

Please remember that Kyosho reacted to the strength issues of the early cars and now they are super strong ..... both in terms of suspension and drivetrain.
I see you run a XX4we from your signiture ..... now that car never breaks shock towers does it!!!

If you've not driven one (an SP that is) then I think you shouldn't realy say things like "the kyosho lazer is a challenge you dont want" ....... how the hell can you make an informed judgement? That is like me saying that an X5 is junk even though I've not driven one ...... (X5 looks good on the track so if people want to run one I say god luck with it)

The latest version, the SP is truely a world class car, becoming hugely popular in the states (to the point where they are going out of stock almost as soon as the shops get them delivered). There were several of them in top 20 (at least 2 in each A I think) of all 4wd classes at the Cactus Classic (not exactly a small local event) and the likes of Ronnie Gardenier and Mark P' where actually lapping quicker than Masami on some qualifiers.

Please remember that the SP has only been available since about October 07 so that means none in the top 10 of 07 nats ..... because the car didn't exist!

You also have to remember that as Kyosho UK don't run a team it is unlikely that the very best drivers in country are going to pay full price to drive a Kyosho when they can get at least some assistence on another car!!!

Please think of these points and put your comments in context ....... it's like saying the Ferrari would never win another F1 world championship as it was 20 years before the Schumy era ........ think Kimi would have paid to drive a Red Bull over being paid well to run a Ferrari???? Of course not.

The Kyosho Lazer ZX5-SP is a great car, drives well and is very robust (trust me .... I've given it plenty of oppertunity to break ..... so far only a head to head crash has broken it!!!) and really good value for money. If you don't like the way the D-J-44-WE cars drive then it is well worth a look.

This could all be true, but the ZX5 is paying the price for it's troublesome first year on the tracks. That car should never have been released as it was. I'm not a heavy crasher, but when I raced it I finished on average one final out of 3. :thumbdown:. Biggest issue back then was the drivetrain that couldn't cope on high grip astro. Some guys were even using AE TC3/4 gears !

It's a reality that once a car gets a bad rep, it's very hard to shake it off. doesn't matter how much they improve it afterwards. Look at the Predator : it still suffers from the poor reliability record it got during the 90'ies.

Roger, you digress in as much as the 'SP' spec is a far more costly car than the original budget ZX5, so it is like comparing potato's and chickens.

With regard to informed decisions, I had OoPlE's ZX5 with the KMRC chassis and bits and bobs, the first thing it did when I ran it was rip out ball joints from the inner camberlink, the car didn't handle exceptionaly well but wasn't bad either, just, I feel, the DB-01, it handles better and is just less work from week to week, is all..... saying that, the ZX5 was less work than the Cat3000 it replaced lol

DCM your right with the potatos and chickens thing, just can't believe that some people will rip into a car they haven't driven ..... ok he was talking about the original first release car but that might not be 100% clear to people just skimming a thread.

What if I went into the X-factory section and said that the X5 is rubbish because it uses Losi parts that break on Losi cars???? There would be an out-cry. Why should Kyosho get stick when they don't deserve it ..... they took peoples comments on board and improved the car .... can't knock that!


Stefke .... your right, once you have a bad rep it's hard to shake. That said I am all for second chances ... and if the second chance comes good then why not wipe the slate clean????

As for prices I always compare UK prices as that is where I live and that is where I shop.

Did you try the car without the KMC chassis? I have tried a KMC and it was aweful .... not as bad as my BJ4WE was admittedly but still fairly unpredictable with little steering!!

Anyway, back on topic ....... both cars (Durga and ZX5-rtr) will do well at club level, I've seen both race against each other and more "competition" biased cars and although the ZX5-rtr won it's final the Durga didn't do a bad job of chasing it down.

I've seen Durga's go very well in the right hands too.

SO the best advice has to be .... buy the one that you can get the best spares support for.

not splitting hairs or trying to cause a riot but you did quote eBay prices..... so I did.

I didn't try the kit layout, the brittleness of the plastic just put me off.

Fairy snuff......

Plastic is different now, at least for the suspension parts and towers / mounts. Very similar to AE plastic now.

that is good to know, as the other stuff was shocking from the BIG K

Tamiya by far,

the lazer is a nice chassis though

ive done it ive ordered a db01 from stella i chose the honkong speedpost does any one know how long they normally take to be delivered.......it would be nice if it was here for the weekend im not at work so i could start the build:thumbsup:

I use EMS and it takes about 3-4 days, speedpost, I am not sure, think you are hoping to get it before the weekend though.

first of all chill winston, and no i have never broken a shock tower...

ok..no i havn't driven the SP car but with that design lay out it cant be much better than before, that shock tower still looks thin and big wow, so they got some kick ass US drivers. tracks in the us and europe are flat and yes the zx5 would be good,
if you race in the uk you need a car that handles bumps........
this is why KM made a new chassis to move the static weight backwards(http://www.oople.com/rc/photos/reviewkmzx5/) tried it?

you dont need to justify your purchase to me

Mine took 4 days. Ordered Sunday, got it on Thursday, but EMS is a bit hit and miss. A Brat I ordered from Stella took 5 days, an F350 High Lift took 10 days. Generally stuff from them takes 7 days on average. I don't bother with EMS anymore unless I am buying something over $50, just select the normal post option as so far all my stuff seems to get here just as quickly but its just not trackable.

Enjoy your DB01, get used to it, feel smug in the knowledge its a damn good car at a fraction of the cost, then stick some decent dampers on it, bung in a silly motor and go and frighten B44s :thumbsup:

I owned that car for a while.... and it wasn't as good as the DB01, it felt skittish the DB-01 feels more planted.

cheers spoolio fingers crossed it will be here sat mornin!