Quote:
Originally Posted by Toonz
just a thought.....
the DF03 Dark Impact is like "prequel" to the 501X
maybe this DT02MS is going to be the same case (marketing exercise) before they finally put out the actual TRF2WD
i have a DT02 too and its a great buggy to bash around with, even in stock form.
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DF03 was not a prequel to the 501x. It was an evolution to the TA01 based buggies development that was abruptly put into hiatus after Top Force Evolution failed to bring Tamiya at least in the A Main of the 1990s World Championship.
In its place was the now cancelled Neo Shot twin belt drive car which would have been a contender have they continued its development.
Tamiya has always been associated with shaft driven since its first 4wd car was introduced in early 1980s (aka Hotshot) and was afraid that by going onto belt drive, it would drove away most loyal customers who fell in love with the shaft driven in the first place. This was partially true because when they launched DF03, I believe a lot of people jumped on the bandwagon (excluding me...but I will joining that bandwagon soon) and bought Dark Impact because it was different that what everyone was offering not to mention...it was pretty darn good for small money albeit for a few fixable flaws.
I think Tamiya got it backwards in a way with the 501x by how DB01/Durga was announced about more than six months after the introduction of 501x. This is more in line to how Tamiya releases its touring cars where the fully clad TRF comes out first followed by its "Vanilla" version for it which was how 414M to TA04 and 415 to TA05.