Wild Dagger
Model Number: 58231
Released
TBA
Drive
4WD
Suspension
Wishbone & upperlink
Chassis Description
ABS monocoque
Body Type
Lexan polycarbonate
Motor
RS-540S X2
A wildcard by Tamiya, featuring twin motors, most of the drivetrain & hardware borrowed from various parts bins all held together by a new ABS chassis.
Reviews
silly_little_toys_1975
Wow I so enjoy my Wild Dagger. My 2 y.o. daughter and I have fun with it each and every weekend. We build the highest jumps just to see if we can break it. And well, we can't! This series of truck is very tough. I've jumped it off 4' jumps into tree trunks and driven flat out into 8' verandah posts. After doing this for about 10 hours over a semester, I've managed to pop a ball stud from the front lower suspension arm and that's about it. Everything loosens up after such mis-respect and is to be expected.
A stock Dagger is no fun. Slow and bounces around. I fitted mine with TXT-1 shocks and GPM 4' aluminium towers, twin BZ motors, 20T pinions, an Mtroniks RV Max ESC and glued the tires to the rims. The truck changed from Jekkyl to Hyde (or vice versa - sorry can't remember which dude was which).
The truck handles bumps well, doesn't brake or roll oversteer (like my DT-02 MS) and momentum is pretty high given its weight. The 4WD is good to reduce power on understeer.
It's no Losi XXXT, but it is very tough. I can't think of a stronger electric basher.
My only suggestions to Tamiya would be to make the gearing taller (to reduce weight and improve gearbox efficiency) and to provide for 4' shocks.
Mike
kontemax
Wild Dagger is one of Tamiya's most sold car. It's a great car with positives and negatives things.
Positives: Unbreakable undestroyable. Fast if you use 20T pinin gears, 8.4 Volts pack and minimum 17 turns modified motors. It's beautifull and climbs a lot.
Negatives: too much heavy, cannot use bigger pinion gear than 20T, incredibles ridicolouses touring coil spring shock absorbers, too much free diffs that go to traction loss to much easy, jurassic steering linkage that changes toe in angle during shock absorbers travel. If you resolve these problems the car is great!
Oblivion
This truck, despite some minor flaws, will not fail to impress! Believe me. It has oodles of torque, and although it is not as fast as other stadium trucks, it is still no slug. That's the thing though - This truck is a sort of a cross between a stadium truck and a monster truck; it has the size and agility of a stadium truck, but has the sheer power (thanks to twin-motor four wheel drive) of a monster truck. It is truly unique! Plus, the kit is just £120!
However, there are some upgrades which I recommend you get. Firstly, get some sealed bearings to replace the plastic bushings. These will increase speed and acceleration, and decrease wear. Secondly, replace the pants mechanical speed controller with an electronic one. Something like the Novak Super Rooster. Then get some decent oil shocks to smooth the ride.
Aside from that, this truck is excellent!
tbone
I've heard this model being trashed talked across the internet but I assure any wouldbe-buyer that this offroader is a great investment. This is not some stadium racer so if you are expecting this then don't bother with it. I can say that it is of a solid design and lots of fun to play with but certainly not a spped deamon.
I am never concerned about this as a runner as it is a great climber.
I never gave this one one a ride with its stock shocks and I would immediately recommend that you give it a couple of hop ups.
First ... ditch the 3 step controller and get an ESC that will support two motors. Personally I used a Futaba mc330cr with mine...it required some soldering to connect the wires from my 3 step to the ESC but it works great.
Next as I mentioned the stock shocks before spend the little extra and get some low friction dampers for this beast ..... of course this depends what type of terrain you are running it in.
And also.... Pay the little bit extra for full ball bearings...it is worth it. Just smooths out the ride and gives you more punch for your torque. Less wear on the inards too.
I personally think this is a great buy compared to other rides available. It takes very little to set up and is of solid construction. Although I would appreciate a little improvement on the overall handling I am sure that anyone who does a little research (or has RC knowhow) can figure it out.
It was a rescent purchase but a good one A+++ ride.
huasze
This has got to be Tamiya's best twin motor truck available in terms of durability, speed and price. Don't get me wrong, the TXT-1 and Clod Buster are great trucks as well, but I find the Wild Dagger the best performer of the lot.
I also had a TXT-1 before but sold it after a month because it wasn't very good for anything other than rock crawling, sheer realism and size!
This truck never overturns, and it takes crashes very well with minimal damage. Its also a great jumper.Moreover, the price is way less than what you'd pay for comparable twin motor trucks like the TXT-1 or Clod Buster.
Out of the box, the Dagger outruns any other twin motored Tamiya truck easily. It also has wonderful runtime. With twin 3000 cells, I get over half an hour of wide open throttle running. I simply place my twin 7 cells atop the chassis and strap it on, shifting the ESC to the front. No modifications needed at all.
For performance enthusiasts, this is the Tamiya twin motor truck to get!
miramar
Why didn't Tamiya do this before? Simple and sturdy overall design, two motor 4WD and because of the (almost) stadium truck size, a lot cheaper than "real" monster trucks. I've built 7 of this model, one for myself and the others for showrooms and customers. It's fun to build with no real flaws related to the fit or assembly process. When it comes to performance I'm not that convinced. The included 3-step mechanical speed control is basically the same as used on most cars since it first appeared on the Wild Willy, and properly maintained it's not as bad as some people think. Two motors is however too much for it, and in my time working with Tamiya I saw many Wild Daggers with melted chassises due to overheated resistors and speed controls, even when properly built with the stock motors. Any Wild Dagger should have the "3-step" replaced by an ESC as soon as possible. Other problems? Well.....the silver coloured (not plated, but moulded) wheels are brittle, like most "metallic" plastic wheels. Otherwise it's a great beginner's model. For the more experienced modeler, the suspension travel is too short (also with proper dampers), the servo mount a little wobbly, and it's best suited as a fun model for off-road use rather than as a racer for the track. So don't I like the "Dagger"? Oh yes, I do! A simple sturdy model that easy to build and requires very little maintenance, thus a great first model or a fun model for the experienced modeler. For those of you who believe two motors deplete the battery twice as fast as one, and don't think the "Dagger" is suited for the beginner who owns just one or few batteries, I have good news. Two motors share the work which make them work less hard than one single motor (unless the surface is really swampy!), so the discharge current is kept at a modest level. Conclusion? All factors considered (complexity, reliability, cost etc.), still the best 4WD two motor stadium / monster truck available!