Those that are familiar with building hobby-grade radio controlled cars should get to the point of a running car in four to five hours, and another hour or two to finish off and paint. If this is the first car that you have built expect to spend a little longer. The Tamiya instructions were thorough and easy to follow, and the pieces are well labelled and fitted together perfectly - they continue to prove they are the IKEA of the R/C world. I would also question the usefulness of a ball diff. I find them fiddly to set, and once you have it at the desired setting, it tends to wonder by itself. These days I run a gear diff filled with a suitable amount of grease, which maintains its settings and requires minimal fiddling. The following describes how I took this entry level car to a competent club racer. There are a range of tips and guides that you can follow to modify your car. You will need another long shaft, To fit this you will need to take of the rear gearbox section from the chassis. Remove the screw pin and then replace it with the suspension shaft. Again this shaft doesn't need any shimming. This is a nice easy job, just make sure you use a nice set of long nose pliers to ensure you can fit the E-Clip easily and it doesn't ping across the room when you try to fit it.

Now its time to replace the other screw pins with the shafts you have in the TL01 Stainless Steel Suspension Shaft Set.I have to strongly disagree with Percy (sorry mate). The DT-02 chassis is one of the toughest, most adaptable and fun chassis on the market right now, especially considering the cost. I own a Traxxas Slash and Rustler, a Hornet, and an Associated RC10 gold pan and B2. I've also, in the past, owned a DF02 and DF03, and out of them ALL, I enjoy my DT02 chassis the most for bashing and fun running. While the DT-02 is a much better performer than the Hornet, both chassis are my favorites because they have a certain character that can't be explained. I can't say the same for the Traxxas stuff or even the Associated buggies. Whilst over-steer is a characteristic of all RWD cars I was convinced that it could be improved upon. Flat underside allows great skidding performance, while highly responsive suspension ensures excellent road holding on even the toughest surfaces. But so far we've not found a way to streamline our review output - there's basically too much of it. So, rather than dilute things for newcomers we have decided to live with the hubbub while helping new readers find the columnists they will enjoy. Universals are another questionable one. I am sure that they are are a distinct benefit at the front of a four-wheel drive, but on the rear of a 2-wheel drive, I find their benefit to be minimal, at least in my experience. I see your chassis has plastic dog bones, axles and outdrives, so you might want to simply go for the all-metal dog bone arrangement that comes with the Sand Viper kit instead.

The DT02 is a very strong car, however there are some things you can do to ensure you can hit the jumps hard without any worries Lipo alarms can be bought cheaper, as can lipos, and the bearings are metal shielded only, so suited for on road use. The TEU-101BK forwards and reverse Electronic Speed Control should be suitable for those who want to move to a brushless motor set-up, something that will squeeze a bit more power from the car as well as reduce maintenance. Time and difficulty to build Introducing Tamiya's newest release on the DT-02 chassis, the Sand-Viper. This 1/10 scale 2WD assembly off-road buggy continues in the vein of our successful Desert Gator buggy, but will feature an all-new body and wing shape, together with dish type wheels. Versatile and reliable DT-02 chassis features transverse mounted Type RS540 motor and 4-wheel double wishbone suspension. Full ball bearings ensure maximum efficiency and a long-life of dirt tearing action! LiPo cut off: http://www.modelsport.co.uk/skyrc-power-switch-w-lipo-cut-off/rc-car-products/384811 (looks like a good one with auto cut off)These components have been intelligently put together to ensure a low centre of gravity - centre mounted R/C unit and NiMH battery in the lightweight bathtub frame features. Full ball racing complement grooved front tyres and high performance off-road rear tyres for enhanced cornering and grip. Options and expansion

I guess I wanted the LiPo to get the most speed and power out of the thing , but again it's one of those things that I can upgrade down the line I suppose? So when the Farnborough based buggy club SHRCCC decided to host 'The Tamiya DT02 challenge' it sparked a lot of interest on the Tamiya fan based forums. I fancied experiencing racing in a class where everyone had the same chassis, and where personal tuning and modifications were allowed so I entered the Mod class. There is no obvious way to do this with the base kit, so I initially thought I was wasting my time, then I had a little bit of lateral thinking and thought about swapping the front lower arms. Differential gear gearbox is fully sealed from dirt and stones, ensuring a long life of smooth handling. Grooved front tires provide accurate steering while the spiked rear tires ensure excellent traction on any surface,

What type of R/C car is this?

EDIT: Now that I recall, I didn't know about the butter-soft alloy Tamiya pinions and how fast they wear out and destroy spur gears, and it was my first ever Tamiya buggy (Sand Viper) that suddenly went "Whirrrrrrrr" and stopped moving. When I took it apart the pinion gear was totally destroyed, along with the rest of the gears, so I had to buy an entire gear set because of that wretched pinion gear. The gearbox was full of grey paste (read grinding compound) that used to be an alloy pinion gear and a pile of white plastic shavings that used to be the nylon gears. That was the very last time I ever used a Tamiya kit pinion gear, and that has never happened again. This set will allow you to replace the remaining screw pins but you will need some shims for the best results

Not a fan of the Holiday Buggy (purely from an aesthetics point of view), but the Tamiya Sand Viper looks awesome! With a longitudinally-mounted battery and centrally-positioned R/C mechanisms, the DT-02 bathtub frame chassis offers optimum balance.Is there one that is similarly priced or maybe a little higher that is a lot better quality tamiya? I am only looking for a tamiya kit. as for lipo, 5000mah and minimum of 30c constant will be perfect and give well over 30 mins of running, if your buying from modelsport, phone them, for a couple of quid they will solder on a chosen connector so no worries about which one matches the battery, (also need the same for the charger.... Just buy a set of bearings, they are cheap and are the most essential thing you can add to any car that has bushings. Your car will be faster, smoother and the drive train will have much less rolling resistance. The DT02 requires the following amount of bearings We want to ensure a smooth delivery experience for you, and here are some key details to keep in mind about our service.