Kyosho Dirt Master Review (Ultima SB) and comparison with the G Force Hobby Genova. 

I think everyone is still confused as to why Genova isn't available to outside of Japan. It would make huge sales in Europe and the USA. As you say Kyosho realised this... Great vid as always.

Thanks for being one of the first English reviews of this buggy (unboxing, build and running). Really helps a lot as to what to expect when we get them in the USA. This is a brilliant strategy by Kyosho to get into this market. The RB5 is an older but a very competent platform that they already had tooling for. Makes a decent buggy out of the box and with the many hop-ups that are already out there I'm sure will be much better for those looking to improve upon it. And thank goodness that the retro styling is catching back on. The cab forward buggies of today don't look all that great.

Great video. You did a great job comparing the two and the video quality is excellent. Well Done!

Excellent comparison with great detail, thanks for sharing 👍🏻

Thank you for working to get this out so quickly and the paint job looks awesome.

Another excellent review! Thank you!❤

Really great comparison, thanks a lot.

Thanks for the video David! Awesome effort, love you man!

Wow... So impressed with your review sir. Keep it up and take care always

Wow 🤩 I also like your livery on the dirt master! Super cool comparison 😊

Thanks David for your superb comparison video on both buggy’s I’m not sure I can live up to your great reviews and valid opinions. I’m very much looking forward to getting my DM in the next few weeks I hope. Will be good to build and compare as I’m still a big fan of the Genova as well

Great review. Thanks buddy 😊👍

Helpful video David. Thank you

Excellent review! Subscribed!

Great comparison!

Congratulations David, first to review !, Great job. 👍🏻

I love oldschoolbuggys ❤

I love the look of your dirt master

Fantastic video. Both the content and videography are top notch. I’m in Canada and purchased the Genova from Amazon Japan. It was super easy and shockingly fast delivery. For those in Canada and the USA, don’t hesitate to buy from Amazon Japan. With the Yen being so low right now, the car and it’s shipping are very reasonable. Looking forward to buying a DirtMaster as well in the near future.

David great channel. Wow such memories. I’m 51 years old now and I used to competitively race off-road & 1/12th scale carpet when I was in teens and 20s. I had sponsors and traveled around the country. I truly miss it. I still watch RC channel on RU-vid almost daily. Congrats on your local carpet track opening. Dude I am fascinated with Japan. Never been. I will next year. I travel around the world filming for charities. I’m a videographer. New subscriber from New York.

Great video David! Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I’m glad to know that there’s not too much difference between the 2 cars. Love my Genova and held back on this because I thought they’d be somewhat similar. Also agree with you that RCs should be run of you really want to get to know them well.👍😊🍻

It's always fun to watch. We hope to make a music video for Dirt Master.

Kyosho all day

I really like the body design of the Genova. Big-time retro vibes. Reminds me of my first-gen Bandit.

Thanks for the comparison and now I want both... LOL! I am kind of surprised the Genova has not made its way over here yet. I have come close to ordering one from eBay and having it sent from Japan but have not pulled the trigger yet. I am patiently waiting for the Dirt Master to show up here for pre-order as I will be getting that one. I was hoping it would be the one I was going to take with me for my beach build this year but don't know if it is going to get here in time! Have fun with them and they both look great!

Very nice buggy nice review

Very interesting buggy, it is now availeble on preorder here in Sweden so I will definetely be getting one.

Hey David, thanks for getting your thoughts out there for us all to hear and see. I agree with your comments on driving a model over building and looking at them. I can’t wait to get mine and also can’t wait for Genova to get theirs over here to Europe 😀

Excellent review. Very watchable. I have an RB5, great buggy. I tuned it to turn in better using a B4 as a reference. The Dirt Master could be a good entry point to club racing given what it is based on. Because I’m irresponsible I’d like a Genova as well. Just seems really cool.

I can not avoid a long comment to your (very highly anticipated!) review. So bear with me please ... Kyosho ventured into a price category they did not have a product in before - even their cheapest (to my knowledge) 1/10 buggy - the Scorpion - costs more without any electronics. So this must have been quite a change in phillosophy for the development & management team of this product. It also meant that they had to do parts in a way they are not used to and thus probably found themselves in a 'disadvantage' compared to companies which are making cars on the cheaper / lower end and have their processes in that price range figure out. You comments on the parts and manual clearly reflect that. The potentially only real downside is - since this car is aimed at a beginner - is the less-then-optimal manual not going to become a showstopper and may discourage them from getting more higher end kits from Kyosho later down the road. Here in DE the Dirt Master is going to retail for some 240€ (maybe a bit less once more shops will put it online). Looking around the closest car I see is the Associated RB10 which comes assembled, has higher end parts (so my impression) and probably better handling. It costs 310€ and I would be hard pressed to get the Dirt Master unless I really could not spend those 70€ more. One of the reasons being the looks of the Dirt Master - it kinda looks 'boring' - at least online, neither 'classical', nor really a modern look. A question that probably can't be answered quite yet is - how is this car going to hold up with an inexperienced driver 'bashing' it around somewhere on a MTB track - are those plastic parts going to hold up, or will upgrades to better parts become a necessity to keep it driving. I am also highly anticipating the upcoming Tamiya BBX, but that is probably more comparable to re-relases from Kyosho - also based on the price. I am hoping that you will also give it a try, as it looks very nice indeed and a comparison to 2WD Kyosho buggies would be very much appreciated. Thank you a lot for this excellent review.

I understand now why the Dirt Master is so "friendly" in term of price ( in Europe) for a Kyosho vehicle. Hope they are not digigng the Tamiya way with very basic chassis and a pile of hop ups. Anyway, this Dirt Master looks very attractive, but I have way too much projects already on teh way, before getting a new one. Thanks again for your kind and honest opinion!

At this point i hope for a neo-vintage Losi XX /XXX. Maybe even 4wd versions. That Kyosho leaves me totally cold

The advantage with the Ultima SB is the racing heritage. The RB5 won competitive races with skilled drivers and is already proven. So if you want to upgrade the plastics you can change the shocks and add bearings. You'll also find that the Ultima is a great buggy for jumps. I've personally raced the RB5 and know first the efficiency of the design.

It is a shame if the Genova doesn’t sale worldwide, I’m a Kyosho fan and I was there during those golden RC days. I love what you did with the dirt master, colour scheme and could I just ask what dye you used for the wheels, I’m a fan of black wheels over white. Great video too. 😊

I think in the UK people will be swayed by spare parts and availability as the Genova isn’t available and needs to be imported over.. great vid David 🤩👍🏅

Hi! Amazing video as always! Can you tell me where you got the black dishes? Ben looking everywhere and can't seem to find... Thanks :)

Very interesting review and comparison, I always enjoy your videos, especially these that I know nothing about. I definitely agree with you the Genova is the better looking of the two, but for me the advantage is I could probably get an aftermarket RB5 body for the Kyosho... But most likely I won't be getting any of them anytime soon. I just bought me an old XRAY XB2 2019 version, sadly already built, but will still be looking forward to working on it and of course hammer it on the carpet track, it'll be awesome! Yeah, like you said, definitely run the cars to know how you truly feel about them! Happy you said this! Very nice video, much appreciated you put this together!

Great video, and loads of cool info on the upcoming Dirt Master. Yep, I have been slowly picking up RB5 composite parts for when it's released in the UK. Unfortunately, I found a new RB5 carbon chassis at a reasonable price but something happened to it in shipping, so I never received it. I did get a refund but now I now can't find another one in the UK.

My first Kyosho was a Mad Van VE (after 30 years of being told how awesome Kyoshos are)... The Mad Van VE is also my last Kyosho.! Disappointed doesn't even begin to describe how I felt.!

Great comparison. Would be interesting to also compare it to Yokomo’s RO1.0 (the Rookie Offroad) since it is also priced exactly the same as both kits

Interesting comments about the mid. Do you prefer the turbo optima over it? Thoughts on avante black special? I'm tossing up between the 3. I have a turbo scorpion and love it. Run 3s with kyosho 19.5t le mans 240s motor. This was my first Kyosho build and I'm hooked!

Hello, thank you for your review. I just ordered the dirt master. Regarding the steering bearings, i got the 4x 5x8x2.5 but for the 2x flanged ones the instructions manual on the net says they are flange metal, which they are not apparently. It also gives the size of 3x6mm but what is the height. Not very complete their information. Thanx for clarifying

Is the colour of the Kyosho Dirt Master Tamiya PS6 yellow?

The JEGS stinger is identical to those as well.

Cool video! Being in the States, we MOSTLY run Team Associated and TLR (obviously, there is, the random British and Asian cars). Always fun to see what isnt available in the U.S.! Keep the videos coming! 😊

Great comparison. I think the 2022 Astute beats these two though.

Arigato Gozaimasu

Looks a bit like a rc10 b4, the old RTR one. Still, my only Japanese RCs are Tamiyas, and those are onroad. These things are almost $400 Australian. That's almost enough to buy a YOKOMO YZ-2 CAL3.1. Sure, different use for that one, but you get a bunch of nice parts.

Are there any widely-known Japanese RC retailers with good websites? It would be interesting to see what is available locally in Japan vs the rest of the world.

I wish it came with metal gears.

The original Losi Jrx2 had nylon nuts for the wheels and shocks as they would not vibrate loose due to the natural friction of nylon ( plastic) on metal threads.Surely both the dirt master and the genova are basicly RC10 b2 clones with "not cab forward" bodyshells? Perhaps it's a 1990's revival thing.There seems to be abit of confusion or loss in translation regarding plastics , "high quality" plastic could describe Tamiyas entire range of buggies , quality molded ,accurate fit etc but ABS resin isn't the best choice for every application. Glass fibre reinforced polymers have been the norm for most brands for race buggies since pretty much the begining.

looks like a lrp S10

this is allso pretty similar to the old team asso 1/10

Kyosho have used plastic nuts on the shocks for many, many years..!!

Look up jegs stinger.

Retro mod.

Looks like a B3. There is very little innovation to RC cars these days.