Tamiya DB-01R

The Tamiya DB-01 chassis has been around for a few years and is a very good competitive off-road buggy platform from Tamiya.  I do not race competitively, but I enjoy building Tamiya off-road kits, so with the imminent release of the DB-02 chassis in a few weeks the end of the DB-01 chassis production will come sooner or later.  I decided to get a DB-01 chassis kit before they were discontinued and the price goes up.  There are many kits based on the DB-01 platform, but I decided to stay in the middle of the price spectrum and get the DB-01R (84100) limited edition kit.  I bought this kit for a really great price which was another deciding factor on which kit to buy. 

The kit box is a bit smaller than the standard Tamiya kits

Yes, that is a carrying handle!

The DB-01R is designed for competitive racing and includes many of the hop-up parts racers would end up buying in order to get better performance if they bought a lower-end kit like the Baldre or Durga.  

Some of the chassis and suspension components are made out of a carbon fiber reinforced plastic instead of plain non-reinforced plastic or glass-filled plastic in order to make them stiffer.  Upgraded shocks are included, as well as other anodized aluminum parts including suspension mounts and motor heat sink, plus front and rear universal shafts and a slipper clutch.  The list of included hop-up parts is enough to tilt the scales and say that the DB-01R has the best bang for the buck overall when compared with the other DB-01 kits like the Baldre, Durga and limited edition TRF511.  The Baldre and Durga are designed for sport-level racing and bashing around, while the TRF511 is for high-end competition, so the DB-01R sits right in the middle.

 

The DB-01 chassis is a mid-motor design with two equal-length belts driving the front and rear wheels.  The slipper clutch with front and rear ball differentials work to transmit power to the ground.  The gears are 48P to keep in line with the standard used by other manufacturers.

When you open the box, you are greeted by... not a whole lot, actually.  There are no fancy blister packs here, and in fact there are no cardboard dividers or mini cardboard boxes of parts, either. There is one large plastic bag that contains many smaller plastic bags full of parts, plus the molded plastic trees, the belts, and the main chassis.

The box isn't really that full

The first thing that jumps out at you is the lack of a body, wing, wheels, tires, motor and pinion.   That's right, all of those parts are not included in the DB-01R kit.  Being for the racer, these components were left out on purpose since each person wants to use slightly different components.

Reviewing what is included in the box, here is the slipper clutch, some shock tops, bottoms and pistons, the main slipper spur gear, reinforced drive belts and hi-torque servo saver parts tree (same as 51000).

Looking further into the large plastic bag of bags, we see some more miscellaneous parts in bag B, including some blue anodized suspension mounts and more.  Parts bag C includes the anodized aluminum TRF damper shock bodies and other parts.  A couple more small plastic parts trees are also shown here and round out the contents of the large plastic bag.

Looking at the rest of the kit contents, there are some more plastic parts trees individually wrapped in plastic bags.

The main chassis and suspension arms. 

And finally, the manual and DB-01R-specific decals.

That's it for the main DB-01R kit.  It may seem kind of cheap to not include basic things like the body, wheels, tires and motor, but you have to remember this is a true competition kit, designed for the racer that already knows what they want to use for their particular track situation and driving style.

Now for the additional parts and extras (hop-ups!).

Since a buggy is useless without wheels and tires, I bought some Tamiya branded ones (51320, 51321, 54185, 54186).

Reading the various forums on the net, it was pretty clear that the most-recommended body kit is the Baldre (51338).  The body kit comes with the main body, wing and decals.

Then, because I am never one to leave good enough alone, I got a bunch of spare parts and hop-ups.  I bought a couple gear differential sets (54329) in case I want to swap the included ball diffs to see how it handles.  I'll be using a Tamiya Super Stock TZ 23 turn motor (53696) plus Tamiya steel 48P pinion gears (54062, 53964, 53966).  I'm not sure what size pinion to use, so I got a few sizes to try out.  Then I got the aluminum steering components (54149, 53972), the anodized motor mount (54079), and the TRF501 stabilizer set (53963) for fun.  Spare parts include a slipper pad set (54027), reinforced drive belt (54140), and an extra set of front and rear suspension arms (54140, 54141) not pictured.

I still have a few more hop-ups arriving, including a couple sets of Tamiya TRF501X differential joints (51286) and a package of Tamiya Ball Differential Protective Seals (53970).  These were recommended because the stock diff joints are assembled metal and plastic two piece units that are prone to failure and the seals help keep dirt out of the ball diffs so they stay nice and smooth.  

This will be a really fun build!