25 replies to this topic

[Azkuma]

Hey guys,

Not sure if this has been discussed but I'm curious to know what you all think would be the better performer between those above in their 'stock setup'. If you used an 8.4v in the Bigwig then i guess that would win as that is usable without any modification but the Super Shot requires the extended battery holders.

Any other duels we could throw out there?

Frog vs Fox vs Falcon (Oh look at that.... )

Were there any 2WD cars that had 'hot motors' as standard when they were released, or was it only the 4WD that had the Technigolds as standard?

My money is on the Super Shot and the Fox

[Gruntfuggly]

Dyna Storm had the Pink Acto...

[Azkuma]

Dyna Storm had the Pink Acto...

Ah ok cool, so which do you root for in shoot out, Dyna Storm?

[Singapore_959]

Avante & DynaStorm

That's a pretty easy contest.



WO vs FAV
Can Am Lola vs Datsun
Striker vs Sonic Fighter
RW vs F102
M01 vs M03 vs M05
Mazda vs C11 vs Daytona Thunder vs Silk Cut Jag
Rayhal lola vs F103 F1
Brat vs Frog
.
.
.
?

B-)

[simondo]

Boomerang V Thundershot would be interesting

[Azkuma]

Avante & DynaStorm

That's a pretty easy contest.
WO vs FAV
Can Am Lola vs Datsun
Striker vs Sonic Fighter
RW vs F102
M01 vs M03 vs M05
Mazda vs C11 vs Daytona Thunder vs Silk Cut Jag
Rayhal lola vs F103 F1
Brat vs Frog
.
.
.
?

B-)

Wasn't the Avante the heaviest of all the 4WD buggies of the day? Super Shot - 1720g, Bigwig - 1750g, Avante - ??

According to what I've read that was one of the reasons it performed so poorly, due to its weight compared to other cars of the time. Maybe it's superior geometry would be enough for it to overcome a race between SS and BW, but it would be cool to see one take place.

[skinned]

Boomerang V Thundershot would be interesting

thundershot had a technigold...4wd though
i'd say supershot and frog

[Boothy]

thundershot had a technigold...4wd though
i'd say supershot and frog

My thundershot never had a technigold fitted, pretty sure it was just a stock 540 from memory.

Boothy

[skinned]

My thundershot never had a technigold fitted, pretty sure it was just a stock 540 from memory.

Boothy

my bad...your right

[Power Surge]

My opinion on the best performing vintage 4wd is the Terra Scorcher.

[Hibernaculum]

I like the idea of these duels, and to me it's best if all cars are factory-standard (which I assume is what you guys are talking about too). Once you start modifying, where do you stop. So I think factory standard is the 'purest' way to compare, as you can say it's the closest we have to "what Tamiya intended" as default settings.

It would be interesting to see the performance difference then under those circumstances, with each car's natural advantages and disadvantages. Actually this is one of the goals of my collection, when I get around to building a track one day. Everything will be run stock standard, mint-new, original, built-to-manual, and then I'll work out some average lap times. I've been planning this assessment for the past 20 years

H.

[HunterZero]

Bigwig had the Technigold fitted as standard. Super Shot had the Technipower. The bump steer and understeer tendencies of the Hot Shot series cars lets them down. You have to brake to induce a slide to get them around the corners, which wipes off speed.

Thundershot/Fire Dragon/Terra Scorcher chassis cars are actually quite capable on rougher tracks, I'd root for them. On a smoother track, the Manta Ray/Terra Conqueror/Top Force are all good cars too.

- James

[SKIPP]

I put my money on the fox,even with stock motor was quick.
whoever designed that car new what he was doing.I wonder who it was
and how many cars he designed after that.They definately should have let him continue.
excellent looking and competative.Still one of my favorite 2wd buggies.
I don't think any serious collectors would be to upset if they rereleased it.
I know I wouldn't.who cares if they only made 1 car off that chassis
you can always add more or make a new car off that chassis.
maybe coyote or better yet the timberwolfe!
skip

[94eg!]

The Avante series of cars had the best hop-ups of all of them. Therefore I feel they are the most versatile. The top force cars made quick work of them though...

When comparing stock for stock kit setups, it will probably depends on the conditions. One car may perform better than another on a given track. This is why I say tuning and option parts come into play...

The real Dyna Storm didn't include the Acto 2WD. And the re-release came with a pretty lame facsimile. While it was a 14x2, it wasn't rebuildable, didn't even have bearings, and didn't have adjustable timing. I've owned and ran both pink motors, and the DS pink motor was pretty cruddy in comparison.

Those cheap Tamiya pink motors on eBay are actually the real deal Acto power 2WD. They are only missing the label, wires and the noise filtering capacitors. I got one for only $22 and it is the older style with bearings and adjustable timing. It completely kills the re-release pink motor...

[kontemax]

Boomerang V Thundershot would be interesting

Thunder Shot is faster. I did understand this in the far 1989.
I had the Boomerang

Max

[HunterZero]

I put my money on the fox,even with stock motor was quick.
whoever designed that car new what he was doing.I wonder who it was
and how many cars he designed after that.They definately should have let him continue.
excellent looking and competative.Still one of my favorite 2wd buggies.

The Fox suffered from erratic steering without the front stabilizer. That option really should have been in the kit.

As with all early 2WD cars, the Fox is a handful on loose surface tracks. It tends to snap oversteer and swap ends if you're not careful. But it's quick in a straight line.

The off-road track near me has a very slippery dusty clay surface, and the Fox was quicker than the Frog, but it was too hard to be consistent with either car. The Super Shot cruised over the surface like a Cadillac in long graceful slides.

I get the impression that the Fox was designed by the same person who designed the Hot Shot. There are similarities in the suspension, and annoying sealed radio box. It's like the Fox evolved from ideas that originated in the Hot Shot.

- James

[SKIPP]

It would be interesting to see the performance difference then under those circumstances, with each car's natural advantages and disadvantages. Actually this is one of the goals of my collection, when I get around to building a track one day. Everything will be run stock standard, mint-new, original, built-to-manual, and then I'll work out some average lap times. I've been planning this assessment for the past 20 years

I like what your saying,unfornately for some reason where i am its
hard to get anybody together to do anything,where as back
in the 80's it was every wed and sat night without fail.
if it does happen somewhere i hope they video tape
and post.(that would be cool).

[WillyChang]

the average punter didn't have youtube, facebook, smartphones and complex videogames back then... = a lot more 'free' time

[simondo]

My opinion on the best performing vintage 4wd is the Terra Scorcher.

I do like and rate the Terra Scorcher, pretty handy piece of vintage kit

[Rosey]

I'd say the Supershot would beat the Bigwig (standard without the 8.4V) as the Technipower was a more powerful motor than the Technigold. The fundamental layout was pretty much the same between the two although perhaps the Bigwig was ever so slightly lighter which would perhaps go some way in making up the deficit in power? It would be very close though i think. The Avante though i think would beat them both. I say this only because i remember an article in an RC magazine back in the day, when the Avante had just come out and they raced it around a track. It was standard i believe (Technigold) except for slick or sponge tyres(?) and it averaged an impressive 42mph! That is quick bearing in mind this was 1988 and an off-raod buggy! They raced something else which averaged 49mph but i cannot for the life of me remember what it was, it was a touring car though i know that much which is what made the Avante's result so imposing.

What was the advetisement for the Fox, 80 feet in x number of seconds!? Was it 3 seconds? I cannot recall exactly but they must have printed that for a reason, seems pretty quick to me!

[*Topcat*]

for me back in the day the super sabre was the better of the tamiya 4wd cars. it came better equiped as standard than most of its tamiya competitors at the time. Have to admit though that my favourite is still and has always been the boomerang as thats what i used to race all those years ago
p.s I still have my original boomerang as well

[MAD RACER]

I'd say the Supershot would beat the Bigwig (standard without the 8.4V) as the Technipower was a more powerful motor than the Technigold. The fundamental layout was pretty much the same between the two although perhaps the Bigwig was ever so slightly lighter which would perhaps go some way in making up the deficit in power? It would be very close though i think. The Avante though i think would beat them both. I say this only because i remember an article in an RC magazine back in the day, when the Avante had just come out and they raced it around a track. It was standard i believe (Technigold) except for slick or sponge tyres(?) and it averaged an impressive 42mph! That is quick bearing in mind this was 1988 and an off-raod buggy! They raced something else which averaged 49mph but i cannot for the life of me remember what it was, it was a touring car though i know that much which is what made the Avante's result so imposing.

What was the advetisement for the Fox, 80 feet in x number of seconds!? Was it 3 seconds? I cannot recall exactly but they must have printed that for a reason, seems pretty quick to me!

The Technigold was far better and more powerfull than the the Technipower. It has a lower turn and vented grooved brushes. On top of this it was and still is one of the best brushed motors in efficiency at 88%.

[highflyer]

SuperShot vs Avante vs Bigwig = No Contest!

I raced in the late 1980's and nothing from Tamiya came close to the AVANTE in performance during that time period seriously.. At our track back then, the Avantes competition was Yokomo Dogfighters and Kyosho Optimas etc, not Supershots with all due respect ..

Are we talking track performance or running up and down the street??

[Power Surge]

SuperShot vs Avante vs Bigwig = No Contest!

I raced in the late 1980's and nothing from Tamiya came close to the AVANTE in performance during that time period seriously.. At our track back then, the Avantes competition was Yokomo Dogfighters and Kyosho Optimas etc, not Supershots with all due respect ..

Are we talking track performance or running up and down the street??

I also raced in the late 80s, in the 4WD Open class (unlimited modifications). I raced a chain drive Kyosho Rocky, modded to the max with custom alloy chassis, and a 10 turn wet magnet Twister Hurricane motor (ah, those were the days!). My car whooped the Optimas up until about the time the Mid came out. Oh, and good thing the heats were 5 minutes, because you barely got that out of the state of thr art 1500 mah packs!

Seriously though, Tamiya wasn't even a serious brand on the track where I was from. We did have a few Avantes there, and everyone DID ooh and ahh them, but they always seemed to break. If I remember correctly, it was usually suspension ends or mounts or something. They did perform well when not broken though, no doubt on that.

[HunterZero]

On the Super Shot vs Bigwig... I don't think there's a lot of difference, if you use the same motor. They have the same drivetrain and are very similar weights, the Super Shot being a smidge lighter.

The Bigwig's rack and pinion steering was a bit of a disaster, but the Super Shot's wasn't much better. Motor not withstanding, I'd say the Super Shot was slightly better.

The Bigwig was a huge disappointment back in the day, people who bothered to run Tamiyas ran modified Boomerangs, before the Schumachers, Associateds and Kyoshos took over.

- James