I’ve accidentally become a Tamiya fanboy in the past few years. There is something so appealing and lovable about their kits. The performance is always enjoyable…right up until you compare it to any other hobby grade car. Hard to argue that the Traxxas doesn’t win this comparison but it wouldn’t be my pick.
if u spend some money on them they can esily be compare to the same price cars from other factory, again i gor mine xsa for 75 circa eros, i spend 80 between hop up and brushless chep combo and now it is absolutely great.. only thing i do not like is the weight distribution on the back
The performance is always enjoyable…right up until you compare it to any other hobby grade car. Nothing compares to a tamiya kit but thx for your negativity.
Right now I'm at the beach, having a ton of fun with my DT03 equipped with sand paddle tires and a cheap 3500KV Brushless system. This thing is a blast! Very robust and easy to handle, even at high speeds. :D And due to the fact that the DT03 was so cheap when it got released I just bought a second one for about 60€ just for the spare parts. So everything on this truck can break once until I have to buy the more expensive spare parts. ^^
My dt03 is brushless to and with the bearings, shocks and diff the buggy is tough as nails. If you can handle waiting on parts the dt03 is my go to buggy for bashing. I really havent broke much
With the durability and upgrade potential of traxxas stuff there really isn't much of a comparison. But I do think tamiya almost always has better asthetics.
I’ve had loads of fun with both! Put a cheap 4300kv, 60a brushless combo in the DT-03, 2s power is a blast! I enjoy the build, but both are great! Nice one Phil!👍😊
Too true I got a cheap combo of banggood 3650 4370kv n 60amp esc and bought the turnbuckle set and bearings so for an xtra £60 on top of £115 for the kit she’s fast 💨 I got 37mph outta mine. I like the traxxas aswell but the Tamiya just looks nice with the black and orange 😎
I have both , you need to get a tamiya bz motor to get the dt03 competitive with the bandit speed wise . The quality of the Traxxas Bandit is far superior to the Tamiya straight out of the box . But building the Tamiya and doing hop ups to the buggy is where the fun is with Tamiya. The Traxxas is just kind of boring to me as far as looks go but right out of the box you can’t beat it for the money. Great comparison Phil .
That was an awesome video! The clarity is stunning. Two great buggys from two great companies - can't go wrong! I'd love to see how the Tamiya would perform with the same motor/esc that comes in the Bandit. Terrific comparison and well done! 👍🏻👍🏻
Buy whichever one you like and have fun with it! If you go with the Tamiya, you're selling yourself short if you don't build the kit though. The Bandit is no doubt superior in performance, but if you just buy it and drive it, how can you truly appreciate it?
Hello Mr. Tomley. I just viewed this video (as well as many of your previous videos) and I have to say, I like your YT channel the best. Your video production quality is on another level. Plus you do not blab on and on about useless information. Clear, concise, and to the point, with awesome montages at the end of your videos. Your channel is a winner! Fred
Love both buggies, great choice of cars for a video. We have a DT03 Tamiya with a 13.5 brushless Reedy motor and a few more hop ups. It's a blast to drive! If you like to wrench on your cars the Tamiya is great.
I’ve done a racing fighter and did her brushless with the full turnbuckle set and big bore shocks she did 37mph on a 5200mah 100c 2s lipo and is now a shelf queen 👑. For looks the Tamiya’s orange and black just works and looks a bit posher than the traxxas 🤩 great comparison video and I think the traxxas is more bashable. The dt-03 cars are easy to build and great fun for an entry car? If you don’t want to build it buy the traxxas? But both nice buggies, top video 😎👍
Hi tomley, so i just got the the racing fighter dt03 now, Feb 2023. The best price i could find in germany was between 179 and 199 euro for the bandit and between 74 (i gor it) and 105 euro for the tamiya. I already got electronics and servo but at my local shop i would have paid around 30 euro for both (so total of 100 euro for me, since i got the 74 euro price). So for me personaly i got a price difference of almost 100 euro between the two buggy and if u have some experience in the hobby and some spare electronics and part a good percentage of people who got the tamiya xsa would have paid also 74 euro like me. I also had already the torque tuned motor, the metal bushings and a lot of spare parts from a dt02 (blow up cause of a battery). I can't say nothing for the bandit, i love traxxas , i own a slash, and i think it that bandit can be an absolute incredible first car brushed and brushless at a decent difference price. Said that, if u already are in the hobby and u need a brushed buggy for some carpet/ offroad race , u have spare parts and electronics, get absolutely a xsa racing fighter. The xsa looks far better, is fare easier to control and u can play with it anywhere, u can upgrade it too and at a cheaper cost than the bandit (in comparison with branded official upgrade for the bandit ) and overall it is a very basic fun car to have and play around at the right moment. It is also all about the place, the avaibility and the race u take part to.
Yeah in EU the X-SA Racing Fighter is around 85 Euro now which is excellent value if you have radio/receiver/battery already and are ready to mod it a bit with bearings, steel 19t pinion and a banggood 3300kv brushless system for 35 Euros. 45 km/h and runs really nice if you toe out the front tires a few degrees.
@@Tamichtube i also modded the same way i have a goolrc 3650 kv brushless, metal bearing, i also got all the hop ups tamiya pffers for dt03 ( from ball diff to stabilizer, metal driveshaft etc) i got the metal 19t but i highly prefer the 17t cause pf the grat acceleration and response since i mostly do little races with it and also the 19 overheat like craxy brushed and non brushed motor. the alu pinion doesn‘t wear off as much as it said so i use the stock one and i have a spare too. on thing, the battery last a LOT, my 2s 5000 mAh lipo lasts mor than an hour before going into safe mode . it is also a great basher with jumps and absolutely catastrofic landing held its own.. one thing was the cheap esc that has to be reprogrammed since the xogging is very bad stock settings.
@@Tamichtube and also,have u noticed the crazy weight distribution on the bavk and reght side of the car… what were they thinking. even the battery slide all the way the back
@@enricomiceli5517 It's quite back heavy which is needed for a 2wd to give the rear tires grip, and I thought it was hampering steering. But after I gave front tires some toe out, it drives a lot better and don't understeer as bad as it did before. I never noticed any big weight difference left and right though.
If you're going for durability go with the Bandit. I personally would get the Tamiya just because I'm an old fart but if you're buy a RC for a kid or just want something to bash around take the Traxxas. Easily upgradable as you learn, that Bandit can be turned into so may things with all the different parts you can put on it.
I love them all but when it comes to Tamiya or XXXXX its always Tamiya. They have earned my loyalty for who they are, their history and what they do. In a bake off, Tamiya every time.
@@RadiCalRaCer 😂 in a way you are right about that. But, Tamiya has a little edge and there are many upgrade parts available made by other manufacturers.
Having owned both Traxxas and Tamiya, I can honestly say that Traxxas far outperforms Tamiya in every way. However, I still love Tamiya for their simplicity and awesome looks.
I'd definitely go for Tamiya... But only for the kit version. I love the building part. And then the upgrades. And the painting. Here you go. Oh, I've got soft place for Traxxas too. Rustler is my big favourite from them. But nothing beats the Tamiya aura. And you can always replace the motor for some more juice so it competes with the Bandit. After all, where I live, Bandit is about 20% more expensive than the Tamiya buggy (and that's with the cost of remote and servo for the Tamiya) so why not use this money to level the chances? Nice work with the video, thx.
Speed and jumps are one thing, but how about turning radius? Which would handle better at a track, or just tight corners? I'd like to see what they do with the same motor and gear setup. I had a bandit, but wasn't impressed with the pushing through corners, under steering etc.
If you wanted to choose between these two go with bandit. Metal gears and ball bearings inside transmission. Comes with servo. All it needs is a battery. Tamiya needs servo and radio system. Tamiya ESC is not lipo compatible. Bandit comes with more powerful 550 12t motor . Both need bearings in the wheels.
The Bandit has my vote. I definitely think it's tougher, faster and the shocks are a LOT better, but the Fighter looks cool... like the roots of RC racing ... the RC10.
I'm a fan of both makes. and I have cars/trucks from both... I prefer the Tamiya's for the on road and loose sufaces. Traxxas I prefer for extreme bashing.
Got both, both brushless and great fun. Traxxas wins for me only because you can get a wheelie bar - the fighter is impossible to keep the nose down brushless.
I have been using Hobby Comps for a while, so far I have won a Blackzon Slayer MT, Hobao Hyper 7 VSE, FTX Moray Boat, and I won that Traxxas Maxx that was on the website. Roll on the x maxx draw tomorrow evening.
Love them both. As a child in the 80’s I had Tamiya. The Monster Beetle and the Lunchbox, they were great. Most of my adult life I’ve had traxxas and have always had very good luck with their nitro cars as well as some very recent electric cars. Right now, I guess I’m a traxxas fanboy 😂 But, I also have a few Team Losi, and have had one associated Rc10 GT with a dynamite .12 engine. All were great, reliable, and durable. But, I’m not a basher. I’m a normal driver who knows if I break it, that’s more money outta my pocket 😂 Great video, Phil. 🙌🏼
I definitely prefer the look of the Tamiya, but having owned a couple of original release kits back in the day, I might be biased?!! I would be putting bearings in either car, and, as you said, a nice brushless system for it. It looks like a good stater car to get into the hobby, especially if you're younger. 😀👍🏻
I've got a Racing Fighter, but I converted mine to a DT-02 Sand Viper, at least for the most part. Even with a Torque Tuned motor it goes pretty well, and handles really well. It would be interesting to see how the Racing Fighter goes with the same (or equivalent) motor as the Bandit though......
Hi Phil, is the traxxas motor an actual 12 turn, though there are both 540 ? Motors, is the Tamiya motor a 25 turn, i think you should have fitted the equivalent motor in the Tamiya ,then done your review, just to keep things on an even keel, that was like running a standard motor in the open class and expect to win, lol 😝 Niiiiiiiiiiice video. 😎👍👍👍🇬🇧
Big fan of both these brands. Tamiya got me into the hobby and i've got a bandit exactly the same. If you had the titan 12t motor in the tamiya it would be a good combo.
I can't stand the looks of Traxxas, but you can't deny that they are one tough RC car, hardly ever break, cheap and easy to work on, and at a pretty good price point RTR...
Fair review. Those XB built kits From Tamiya are really about the paint job to me. I am big on Tamiya but never use their ESC.or silver can.....unless it is in a Grasshopper. Looks wise, it has to be the Tamiya. Good video and fair comparison. 👍🏼
That was a very good review! I think you mentioned everything we need to know 👍 I have the exact same tamiya and put in etronix 21t and metal ball raced and it’s pretty cool with Carson all terrain wheels tyres! I’ve wanted the bandit and will probably get one, but maybe the vxl?? Or juice up the brushed ?? Great review thanks for your upload 👍🙏
The Tamiya looks to have a wider steering column than the Traxxas blue buggy. The Tamiya reminds me of the first generation of the Tyco Turbo Hopper I use to own. The Tamiya has a more narrow rigid body as opposed to the wider Traxxas body style. I favor the Tamiya for looks, but the Traxxas for speed.
The Tamiya is nice, fun......but will break down when driven in same way as Traxxas. Bought DT-03 for my wife, which she drove 2 times, at most 2minutes, when first run shock tower broke after small impact....and the next time after hitting curb the chassis broke. Traxxas platform is same as rustler, which I molested for last 4 yr, without any big problems besides broken steering knuckle.
straight answer traxxas but for collection purposes will suggest to take also the tamiya... tamiya is known having plastic and brittle materials... money wise and parts wise traxxas if used for plaing not displaying... nice video Phil.
I know you went with the X-SA Tamiya so the comparison is fair, but a crucial factor when talking about Tamiya and "nostalgia" is building them from a kit. The Bandit afaik only comes RTR.. most Tamiya buyers will be buying the full kit. Irrespective of upgrades, the value difference is at least partly in the build and the warm, snuggly feelings it gives you when you see your little chick leave the nest. I just ordered a Racing Fighter with 4600Kv brushless and some upgrades on a bundle deal.. hardly more expensive than the Bandit, and I'm sure it will dust it for top end, plus I'll enjoy every moment of putting it together.
Over here in the u.s. its hard to find XB tamiyas, so it would be $189.99 for the bandit, and $111.99 for a dt03 kit. That leaves $78 for a $35 radio/rx, $22 for a hobbywing 1060, a light $10 servo and a $15 550 motor off of Amazon to put you within a few dollars. Either way, it really comes down to preference with these two. Both tamiya and traxxas have a different character to their products. For me, its the dt03 because I grew up with tamiya
I'm always late to the party! I agree with your assessment, nostalgia...maybe Tamiya, however, the Traxxas is like 30 y/o! I do like the look of the Tamiya body but the wing looks out of place. US dollars here the Tamiya X-SA Racing Fighter DT03 is $191.99 and the Traxxas Bandit is $199.95. The Tamiya needs a steering servo, battery w/charger, transmitter w/receiver. The Bandit is ready to run. The tire size is also noticeable in your video. I haven't owned the Tamiya, fyi. I have owned several Bandits (as well as other RCs) and will say you will not find a better starter, hobbygrade-RC than the Traxxas. Cheap enough, replaceable parts, upgradeable, fairly durable and gets the beginner tuning and twisting some screws. Thanks for the comparison but this is a no-contest. Cheers!
My tamiya experience is limited to my superhornet. So from Experance the bandit. But I already have a bandit and kinda wanna put together a proper tamiya kit
Nice review. I guess the Bandit is more durable, but you will need the alu shock caps - they will pop off. I have a Bandit and a Tamiya DT-03 Neo Fighter - I guess that is similar to the Racing Fighter. But I haven’t assembled it yet 🙄. But the Bandit handles pretty good, on my channel there are a couple of videos where my Bandit beats much faster cars on grass, it does have grass racing tires though 🏎🏎🏎
@@fromfin90 Do you jump it? That’s when you get issues. I have 3 cars with Traxxas Ultrashocks and they all popped the cap and now has the alu cap. Never tried that an alu cap popped
@@LyhneRC curious, no not many places to jump here, mostly gravel driving about,and lots and lots of wheelies. thanks for reminding me, need to upgrade the bearing holder thingymabobs at the end of the axles, haha, to the ones in bandit VXL, takes bigger bearings
I used to race my hornet against my mates frog, a few years apart, the frog was over engineered but awesome, my hornet was simpler and faster. So many hours swapping batteries to make it equal but my hornet was genuinely faster. Anyway tamiya got me into the the hobby. But, big but, I wish they'd move forward and not rely on the beautiful nostalgia.
I want to say I prefer the bandit as I still have my 1995 bandit but I’m choosing the Tamiya just because I already have a bandit and the new bandit is pretty much exactly the same so I don’t need two of the same car. Also in my opinion the tamiya looks better than the new bandit body.
Great video ive been waiting for someone to put up a video comparing entry level Traxxas with a comparable Tamiya . Your pick of buggies to showcase couldnt be better.
That was a nice comparison Phil, but you need to put bearings in the Tamiya because the Bandit already has full bearings in it. Then you might get the Tamiya car up to 20mg house! Ha! Ha!
I like both but I find the Traxxas is just a little bit more capable all round. I like my DT-03 but it's not as good at bashing imho. Maybe because it's more optimised for entry level racing. As an example, I find when doing improvised jumps on random terrain, if it doesn't land nice and flat, it's quite prone to rolling over whereas the Traxxas seems to have better damping and more travel and it seems to be able to land awkwardly and recover better. Thicker damper oil can help a fair bit on the Tamiya, though. They give you 400CST but 800-1000 works well. Firmer springs at the back don't go amiss, either. Both good fun though. I like driving my DT-03 at the beach with paddles on.
Either one is perfect for a beginner to visit a race club, or for some mild bashing like you just did. Personally I prefer the looks of the Tamiya. Motor upgrades for either aren't too expensive, even a brushless combo can be had for under £40. Would I buy one, well no, as I already have Schumacher Cougar that I'm not using!!😅 Actually, that Bandit's shape looks very much like the early Schumacher Cat to me.
I've got a Racing fighter that I build last Xmas that came with a Torque tuned motor and I built it with bearings and its good fun. I bought a 4000kv brushless combo for an upcoming Df03 build that I thought I'd try in the DT tonight. On 3s in the small area I was in it was hilarious. Much more drivable on 2s with the brushless though. I'll have to try and get some decent speed measurements with it.
Tamiya hands down. When you start having real cars doing what these new cars are doing then we can have a talk. Plus!!! There is nothing better than building your own car. I don't want RTR!!!
I bought the xsa racing fighter for my 3 year old son this past summer. He recently said its too slow dad lol after playing with some brushless stadium trucks.
Yes tamiya are nostalgic but omg why so expensive for pure plastic? When there is other rc options out there that are built to last. Like tamiya offer metal upgrades for every part. Instead of buying a tamiya new buy all the metal upgrades and build your own just out of hop ups.
Like the looks of the Tamiya but know the Traxxas would be a tougher choice...Tamiya's plastic feels very...Walmart, since the 80's... you'd think they'd update their materials.
