I've spent a fair amount of time at the drag strip, even running my own car in some of the street classes several years ago. However nothing at the drag strip compares to the Top Fuel rail cars. These speed demons can reach speeds of over 300 MPH in mere seconds, making them some of the fastest machines on wheels.

This same class of machine is also the fascination of many in the R/C world as well. With that in mind, Megatech is seeking to enlist those with a thirst for lightning fast acceleration and blazing fast speeds. Megatech claims the Dark Thunder will hit 60MPH in just 2 seconds using its two speed gear set and M16 motor. This is a tall claim but we're talking about a powerful motor stuffed in a very lightweight chassis, just like the big boys at the drag strip use.

So is the Dark Thunder capable of delivering what Megatech promises? It most certainly looks capable of it, but looks can be deceiving at times. So, there's only one way to find out if it delivers what Megatech claims. That is to hit the pavement wide open, and start putting some power to the ground. Prepare yourself, it's time to get "Thunderstruck"!

The Megatech Dark Thunder is equipped with a pre-painted lexan body. This body is mainly black with yellow flames running from front to back. All along the body you'll find realistic looking sponsor stickers that reflect the sponsored look found in drag racing, as the body arrives fully detailed and ready to run.

Along with the Dark Thunder you'll receive a basic manual and instruction sheet. The manual covers basic operation and break-in procedures, with the separate sheet shown beside it covering specific information geared towards the Megatech M16 motor. These two items of documentation give you all the information you'll need to get up and running, and an exploded view to help you with maintenance and repair issues that may arise.

The layout of the Dark Thunder is simple when compared to most other R/C models, as the Dark Thunder's primary purpose is to simply go straight. So the items and parts needed to reside on the chassis are reduced because of this. Couple that with the length of the chassis, and the Dark Thunder seems nearly void of almost anything you may be used to seeing on a pavement based vehicle.

Most of the parts of the Dark Thunder reside at the very back of the chassis. As you look towards the front, you'll find the fuel tank positioned just behind the halfway point on the chassis. In front of the tank are a set of body posts that help support the body in the middle of the long chassis span. An extra long servo cable bridges the gap between the receiver at the rear of the dragster and the servo which controls the direction of the front wheels. All of these components are mounted to a 3.0mm aluminum anodized chassis plate that is allowed to flex to aid traction.

The underside of the Dark Thunder is clean and supports countersunk hardware. I would have preferred to see hex head hardware instead of Phillips head, but the Phillips head screws will certainly work well enough for the Dark Thunder. There's one cutout under the two-speed hub that allows it to sit low on the chassis. Another cutout provides the same for the motor while allowing the possibility of a starter box being used to start the dragster.

The fuel tank for the Dark Thunder holds 100cc of fuel and has a spring loaded lid, which snaps shut easily. The tank is also equipped with a primer which should make starting the Dark Thunder easy. However, I'm not a big fan of tank primers as over time they can be a source for an air leak. Despite this, I cannot deny the fact that when they work properly they work very well.

The front end of the Dark Thunder is extremely basic when compared to what I'm used to working with. The front suspension utilizes an upper and lower suspension arm which houses an axle carrier between them. The steering duties are handled by a Megatech servo, connected to a servo horn. There is a servo saver between the servo horn and the servo, but that's the extent of any complexity regarding the steering setup. After all steering is not a primary function of a dragster, so the model won't be expected to carve any corners. Steering on a car like this is mainly used to turn the dragster around once it passes the finish line.

There are no shocks, although the carrier does ride on a suspension pin which spans the gap between the suspension arms. The carrier sits below a small spring, which is similar to setups used on older touring cars from years ago. The carriers hold the axle stub, and for steering purposes, the carriers are tied to the servo horn by turnbuckles which facilitate any adjustments that may need to be made to the toe angle of the front wheels.

The front wheels of the Dark Thunder are anodized aluminum, and match the chassis plate with their black color. The weight of the aluminum wheels help to keep the front end planted during drag strip runs. The holed rims house dual bearings, which helps avoid any rolling resistance at the front wheels. Around the outside edge is a rubber ring which provides minimal contact surface, once again for reduced rolling resistance. High speed cornering is not a priority, so wider tires are far from being necessary.

The rear tires offer a stark contrast to the front. They use black plastic rims, and do not house the bearings as the front wheels do. That task falls to the bearing carriers in the rear. The wheels are 43mm wide and support the foam tires which are meant to provide as much traction as possible for the hard launches the Dark Thunder will see while being used. The wheels are secured onto the rear axles by 7mm nuts with nylon inserts.

The Dark Thunder's power plant is a Megatech M16 which boasts a claimed horsepower rating of 1.15. The motor has a displacement of .16 cubic inches, and is equipped with a pullstart to start the motor. A slide carburetor and a reusable air filter provide air to the Megatech motor, while an aluminum tuned pipe expels the spent gases. A dual-geared clutch bell houses the three-shoe clutch that transfers the power from the motor to the driveline.

The linkage that controls the motor and braking action is similar to most nitro-powered cars. Another Megatech servo is in charge of controlling these functions, and is positioned just behind the two-speed hub. The servo, and receiver box, is mounted to an aluminum upper chassis plate which provides a rigid mounting location for both of them. A rod with a ball cup connects the servo's horn to the carburetor, while another rod connects the horn to the brake lever. The brake lever pinches the stainless steel calipers and their fiber pads against the stainless steel brake disk to provide stopping power when needed.

The two-speed hub is in charge of gear shifts, and is the point which the two plastic spur gears are mounted. The forward side of the hub is indexed to mate with the brake disk, which helps to provide the braking function when the Dark Thunder needs to stop. Steel output yokes ride on both sides of the two-speed hub, even though only the rearward facing side of the hub turns a driveshaft. The hub is supported by 8x14x4mm bearings on both sides, which ride in braces attached to the main chassis plate.

When looking at the rear of the Dark Thunder you might be surprised to see the lack of typical suspension characteristics, unless you are familiar with drag cars. With this type of car there is no real need for a shock-based suspension, in fact shocks can prove to be more of a hindrance than a help. This is due to the fact they can slow down the power transfer when the car first takes off. Since no shocks are used, Megatech uses a set of turnbuckles instead. After all there still needs to be something to make the suspension arms sit at the proper leveling point, and turnbuckles fit this need well. If the rear ride height of the Dark Thunder needs to be adjusted, a simple twist of the turnbuckles can easily accomplish that task.

To help provide downforce for the rear end of the Dark Thunder, Megatech supplies it with a rear wing that provides some adjustability. As the speed of the dragster increases, the air rushing over the wing helps to keep the rear end planted at the dragster runs down the strip.

The rear suspension arms cradle a bearing carrier which holds the rear axle stub in place. The lower side of the bearing carrier is secured by a 3mm screw pin, while the upper end is secured by a 3mm screw pin in a similar fashion. The upper link has provisions to provide adjustability of the camber setting, although with a dragster you won't likely adjust this unless you are using it in conjunction with a ride height adjustment. To have a successful run down the strip, you'll usually want to provide as flat of a contact patch as possible while the car is headed straight.

The rear axle of the Dark Thunder uses a dogbone-style approach for transferring the power to the rear wheels. The dogbone axles measure 3mm in diameter, while the hardened steel axle stub has a diameter of 5mm when it passes through the 5x10x4mmmm bearings held by the bearing carriers. A plastic 12mm hex sits down over a 2mm pin that passes through the axle stub, which ultimately spins the wheels.

The differential housing is split into front and rear halves, with the front holding the pinion gear in place. A hardened steel output yoke attaches to the outer shaft of the pinion gear, and serves as a connecting point for the driveshaft. The pinion's output shaft is flat on one side, to provide a solid surface for the grub screw to tighten up against. The pinion itself is held in place on the housing by an e-clip. A pair of 5x10x4mm bearings support the pinion gears shaft where it passes through the housing.

The center of the rear drivetrain is very different from most of the R/C cars you'll run across. This is due to one single item that is often incorrectly referred to as a "Posi" by some people. This item is actually a spool, and replaces the differential which would reside in a normal vehicle. The spool rides on a pair of 8x14x4mm bearings, which provide a smooth low resistance alternative to bushings.

A spool completely locks both axles so that they turn exactly the same, which is exactly what you want when it comes to providing optimum traction for going straight. In a situation where cornering is desired, you need the ability for both wheels to turn independently. This is due to the fact that the inside wheel will need to turn less than the outside wheel. A locked differential, or spool, would only result in the back end spinning out at speed in that sort of circumstance. However, since the Dark Thunder won't be subjected to high speed turning, a spool is the ideal application for it.

The receiver box of the Dark Thunder is super roomy, and easily holds the 27MHz AM receiver provided by Megatech. The battery holder resides under the receiver, and can easily be replaced by a hump-style receiver pack if desired. If you should want to add a failsafe you be glad to know that, in most cases, this can easily be facilitated as well. The receiver box's lid snaps onto the top of the receiver box securely via latches on the front and rear sides of the receiver box.

When I first pulled the Dark Thunder's radio out of the box, the first thing that came to mind was "phasers set to stun", as the radio looks more at home being wielded by Captain Kirk than by a RC hobbyist. However, once you get past the unique look, you'll find the radio does come decently equipped for a box stock AM unit.

To start off with, the steering knob is wrapped in a foam pad making it easy to grip, even with sweaty hands. The trigger has a pretty stiff spring pushing against it, proving some feedback to your finger as you squeeze it. As I normally like a fairly stiff trigger setting on my good radios, this suited me well. Above the trigger and steering knob, you'll find a set of analog knobs which control the steering and throttle trims.

The radio also has a dual-rate adjustment wheel as well, although you may miss it if you aren't looking closely. It's located on the radio's handle, just below where you thumb would normally rest. Having a dual-rate adjustment on the radio was a good call on the part of Megatech. Since the only steering needed while making a drag strip run is minimal, a dual-rate adjustment allows you to fine tune this to suit your tastes.

On the back of the radio you'll find an assortment of switches located under a smoke-tinted cover. The upper switches that operate in a vertical fashion control the reversing action for the throttle and steering, while the one under them is the power switch for the radio. To the right of those switches you'll find the removable frequency crystal, mine was for channel 5, and a charging jack. The radio's antenna stores neatly on top of the radio when it's not being used, which prevents it from being broken off while being carried or transported around.

First thing you'll need to do is to give the receiver antenna some attention. The good news is that Megatech has already threaded the antenna through the tube for you. This makes things much easier. All that you'll need to do, is stand the antenna up, and push it into its resting spot on the lid of the receiver box.

If you want to secure the excess antenna wire, you can easily do so with a small piece of fuel tubing. Simply slide it down the antenna tube, with the antenna wire under it. This will prevent the excess wire from flopping around while the dragster is being driven. Alternatively, you could also use a section of heat-shrink tubing as well, heating it so that it tightens up around the antenna wire and tube.

Speaking of the receiver box, you'll need to open it up as well. Then you use your choice of a receiver pack or AA batteries to power the dragster's electronics. A receiver pack would be the best course of action for the long term, but AA batteries will work as well. If you use AA batteries make sure to use some good quality cells. They'll last longer, and provide better reception.

Another tip that might prove handy is to install a ziptie on the fuel tank lid to help make things easier when refueling. Simply pass the ziptie through the hole in the lid, and then tighten it down. Cut off any excess you don't wish to have. When refueling, you can simply pull on the ziptie instead of catching the lid with your finger.

To ready the radio for operation, you'll need to install the antenna. Insert the lower end of the antenna into the hole on the top of the radio and twist it clockwise until it's tightened down. The Megatech radio will also need to have AA batteries installed in it. For the radio, you'll need eight AA batteries. You could also purchase some rechargeable batteries. However if you plan on replacing the radio, you may want to just save your money and buy a rechargeable pack that fits the new radio you plan on buying later.

With the Dark Thunder, I would need a fair amount of pavement for break-in. So I opted to head towards the large parking lot of the local community college on a Sunday afternoon when it was deserted. Once there I familiarized myself with the break-in procedure which consisted of running three tanks through the motor at a rich setting with moderate throttle input.

So I filled the tank up with fuel, and pumped the primer a few times to send some fuel to the carburetor. Then, after attaching my glow igniter, I pulled the cord to start the motor up. The Megatech M16 fired up easily, but idled rough due to the fact it hadn't warmed up and was running very rich. I left the glow igniter attached, and slowly gave it a little throttle to start the dragster moving. However, the motor quickly stalled when the throttle starting opening the carburetor. This was due to the extremely rich setting.

I ended up having to clear the flooded motor before I could get it fired again, only to experience the same stalling condition. After this happened a second time, I leaned the HSN about ½ a turn to lessen some of the fuel from reaching the motor while it was trying to warm up. This helped tremendously, as my third attempt at getting the Dark Thunder underway was a success. After the motor had started to warm up, I richened the needle back down to the stock break-in setting of three turns out from closed. The dragster ran fairly well with this rich setting, once it was warmed up. Although it was obvious it wasn't going to sit and idle very long in this condition.

However idling was not the goal here. Instead, I started driving the dragster in what amounted to a large oval pattern, slowing down considerably before making a turn to head in the opposite direction. After all turning is not this vehicle's strong suit. As each tank approached the empty mark, I brought the dragster in, shut it down, and allowed it to cool some while refueling. Then I fired it back up for its next tank, of which I did three of.

Once past the third tank, I started to lean the Megatech motor out some and the Dark Thunder started showing how tough it can be to hold a straight line at times. Even though I was still in the process of tuning, the dragster was quickly becoming a handful when grabbing a healthy dose of the throttle. The stock tires performed fairly well on the pavement, considering the power the Megatech M16 was putting through to the rear wheels. I did find myself wishing I could dial even more steering out with the dual-rate function though, as the dial on the factory radio didn't provide me with as much control over this as I would have liked to have had.

There were a couple of times that the dragster didn't feel very responsive to the radio, but I just chalked it up to the data rate being a little on the slow side with the stock radio. However, during one of these runs I ran into a big snag with radio glitching which indicated this wasn't the case. At about half throttle the dark Thunder started to completely ignore any command the radio sent it, and the dragster headed for the end of the parking lot. With me chasing it on foot, it ran until it caught itself under a chain link fence shattering the fuel tank and giving itself a stripped spur gear. After closer examination, and operation of the radio system with the dragster off, it was apparent that there was some serious glitching going on with the radio components that wasn't apparent during my initial check of the electronics. This is also a good illustration of why a failsafe is such a good idea.

Megatech responded swiftly to the problems I had encountered and soon had me up and running again with a new radio. The next few weeks were spent putting the dragster back together and spending a little time tuning the motor some more. Once the weather started becoming more reliable, I sought out a more suitable location to open the Dark Thunder up. This location was found in the form of the Highway 311 R/C Drag Strip.

The 311 R/C Drag Strip is one of the sanctioned tracks of the International Model Drag Racing Association, which holds several national events each season. The track is located just outside of Archdale, North Carolina and gained some notoriety when RC Driver covered the Heatwave Nats in their October 2004 issue. This location would certainly be worthy of putting the Dark Thunder through its paces.

A few e-mails put in touch with Tim Cross, who is one of the persons responsible for the operation of the drag strip. He eagerly agreed to provide an opportunity to test the dragster once the weather turned favorable. So with the arrangements made, the Dark Thunder was due for some track time at the first available opportunity.

I arrived at the track on a Saturday afternoon that was fairly pleasant but somewhat windy. Once the introductions were out of the way, we pulled the Megatech out of the box and prepared it for its journey down the track. I should also make mention of the fact, that when it came to R/C drag racing I was in unfamiliar territory. So as the day started to progress, and I learned about the characteristics of the Megatech Dark Thunder, I also learned a great deal about this particular niche of the hobby as well. The guys who showed up to help at the 311 R/C Drag Strip were instrumental in helping me get oriented with exactly how I needed to proceed.

Once the Megatech was warmed up it was time to stage it at the open lane. However, as the lights on the tree came down, the Megatech stalled. It was still running rich, and therefore choked itself as the throttle was applied. With a few adjustments, and a pull of the starter cord, the Dark Thunder roared to life once more, and was staged again. This time the launch was more successful, and as the tree went green the Megatech started its maiden voyage down the strip. It was apparent though, that traction was certainly going to be an issue due to the cooler temperatures. I found that the throttle had to be feathered the majority of the way to the finish line to keep the nose correctly pointed down the track.

The traction problems continued throughout the next few runs, as the dragster was tuned further. Each run was a delicate balance of trying to go as straight as possible without loosing control and winding up in either the boards or the other lane. The stock Dark Thunder was impressive in its power from the line, but it was obvious that it was far from reaching its potential due to traction issues. The problem was that while the Dark Thunder's tires are made of foam, they are best suited for running in a parking lot situation like I had been under during the break-in period. A good set of race-oriented foams would definitely help the situation.

We cleaned the tires and applied some traction compound in an effort to put more of the power to the ground. With my first traction-compound run, I could see a difference from the previous run in regards to traction. However, the Dark Thunder could still overpower the tires even towards the far end of the drag strip due to the cooler track temperatures. We certainly needed some race tires better oriented to the track and weather conditions but, unfortunately, there was nothing available trackside that could be swapped onto the Dark Thunder to improve this situation either. So we continued to work with the stock tires, and traction compound, as best we could to get as much of a feel for the dragster as possible.

It was during one of these runs, with the traction compound applied, that I noticed the right rear wheel appeared to be receiving no power. At first I was worried that perhaps the rear spool had been damaged, but upon further examination the cause was a much simpler than that. The grub screw on the output yoke, which attaches to the spool's output shaft, had worked its way loose. Therefore wasn't transferring any power to the right rear tire. This was easily fixed, and soon the Dark Thunder was in the staging area once again.

After I had made several passes, I handed the radio over to Tim Cross, hoping that a drag strip veteran could get the dragster down the track with better times than I was doing. Experience certainly helped, as Tim seemed to keep the dragster under control better than I. However, with warmer track temperatures he could have improved his times and speed as there was still more potential in the Dark Thunder that the conditions were hindering.

Unfortunately, we never got a perfect run out of the Megatech Dark Thunder due to the conditions, and the need for some race tires. Feathering the throttle, we saw runs in the mid to upper 40 MPH range so I feel that Megatech's claims of the Dark Thunder reaching 60 MPH are valid in a parking lot situation. For it to come close to achieving this on a track, it would most certainly take a set of tires better suited to the task. However, there was a lot of untapped potential from our testing so under better conditions the Dark Thunder would have fared much better.

Again, I'd like to thank the guys at the 311 RC Drag Strip, for helping me with putting the Megatech Dark Thunder to the test. Without their assistance, I would not have been able to see the dragster perform in this sort of environment. If you would like to learn more about drag racing, you can visit their site at www.311rcdragracing.com. You can also check out the International Model Drag Racing Association site at www.imdra.com. Upcoming event schedules and racing information can be found both at the IMDRA site and www.rcdrags.com

Megatech is trying to push themselves into a niche often ignored by many manufacturers with the Dark Thunder. While there are companies that cater to the drag racing crowd, they are more focused on producing high-end version of their products. This makes entry into this niche of the hobby unattractive for someone who is just starting out or maybe not sure if R/C drag racing is the way they want to go. However with the Dark Thunder, Megatech has produced a platform that does have the ability to facilitate some improvements, while still maintaining a price level that is affordable for those just stepping into R/C drag racing. The price is competitive enough that it's even affordable for the parking lot crowd.

By far, the biggest item that needs some improvement would be the tires. While most of the high-end drag racing equipment will not use the hex adapters that the Dark Thunder does, it should be possible to glue a set of soft foams on a set of wheels made for the Dark Thunder. It would be even better if Megatech offered a set of soft foams as an upgraded item, to help out those seeking more traction at a track. A better radio will certainly help as well, as it will provide exponential adjustments that may help you with throttle control, and even more diverse control over the dual-rate function.

Overall, I think that Megatech has performed an excellent job of targeting the beginner crowd in regards to drag racing. If later on you decide to get even more seriously involved in drag racing, you may opt to spend some cash on a more competitive platform. However the Dark Thunder is nothing to scoff at, as it'll easily provide a perfect platform for someone new to the straight line action of R/C drag racing.

Megatech
8300 Tonnelle Avenue
North Bergen, NJ 07047 USA
Phone: (201) 662-2800
Website: www.megatech.com

Dynamite RC Products
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Horizon Hobby, Inc.
4105 Fieldstone Road
Champaign, IL 61822 USA
Phone: (877) 504-0233
Fax: (217) 352-6799
Website: www.horizonhobby.com
Products used: Glow Igniter