Hotshot 2/Super Sabre durability VS Thundershot

[cobalt]

Durability wise which one is better?(drivetrain, suspension components)

The buggy will be run on 6-7 cell nimh pack nothing more and maybe a torque tuned motor.

Right now i am torn between the HS 2 and the thundershot.

Really like the looks of the HS2, but the high ground clearance and closed diffs of the thundershot is also a very appealing features.

thank you for your help!

[Super ally]

I have the super sabre and thunder shot and both are good runners and i have had no problems with any of them so far.If i had to choose between the two i would go with the thunder shot but both are great.

[Saito2]

Both are pretty tough, especially at the power levels you're talking. The HS2 is particularly durable with its boxed chassis overlaid with a nylon roll cage structure. Leaving the body pins out of the wing attachment lets the wing come off in roll overs, saving it from damage. The drive train is strong but not as efficient as the newer Thundershot. The suspension mounting points are beefier than the T-shot as well. The arms themselves are hard plastic and not as resilient as the original T-shot's blue nylon ones but they are not weak by any means. The balljointed frontend might be a bit more wear-prone over the long haul. Persoanlly, I find the HS2, in particular, to be the most durable of the early 4wds. The rear shock tower is tucked into the roll cage and the front monoshock means there's no front tower vulnerable in crashes either.

The T-shot has had casting flaws show up in the bevels gears that leads to binding and clicking. Once those are trimmed out with a good knife, the overall drive train is more efficient than the HS2. Its equally as strong overall drive train-wise. The nylon arms which I mentioned as being more resilient originally than the HS2 now have had issues with the inner pivot pins pulling out on impacts on the recent re-releases for some folks (me included). The steering is much better with none of the HS2's bumpsteer. I find the T-shot to be more prone to grip roll and oversteer while the HS2 will understeer, if anything, and seems more planted.

[cobalt]

Thanks to you both for your input seems 50/50 for running preference between the two.

I like to climb up dirt  hills with my buggies, so you think the open diffs on the HS2 could be a problem?

I noticed that heavier grease in the front diff of my Dirt Trasher seems to add a pulling effect, but i am not 100% sure..

[ThunderDragonCy]

9 hours ago, cobalt said:

Thanks to you both for your input seems 50/50 for running preference between the two.

I like to climb up dirt  hills with my buggies, so you think the open diffs on the HS2 could be a problem?

I noticed that heavier grease in the front diff of my Dirt Trasher seems to add a pulling effect, but i am not 100% sure..

I am a big fan of the thundershot series, and have recently built a hotshot2(ish). I would echo the comments above, but for what you want I think a Thundershot series buggy would be better. I have found that I have to run the Hotshot quite low to the ground to stop it grip rolling, and this is amplified by the narrower track of the Hotshot series.

By comparison the thundershot series is much happier to run higher ground clearance, and the grip rolling and oversteer tendencies can be tamed by using different wheels and tyres. The same width spikes all round that comes in the thundershot series kits aren't great for handling balance because the fronts ideally need to be narrower or have less grip than the rears, like the Hotshot series buggies. They are also a weird size/width (wide 1.9", whereas Hotshot is slightly more common staggered 2" and anything modern is 2.2"). That said, the kit spikes all round for climbing dirt hills might well be really good. I am talking about handling on grass and astro which are relatively high grip.

The open design diffs on the Hotshot will mean no grease tuning. The thundershot diffs are like a bigger version of the diffs in your dirt thrasher, so you could pack with putty to lock then up a bit for traction on loose surface.

If you do go thundershot series, you need to get a reinforcing brace or part for the A5 front arm mounts.

And also if getting a thundershot 2022 rere with the front monoshock but modern cva2 dampers, don't build it like the manual. Build it using the 1 hole piston (x8) and ideally slightly heavier oil than the 400 that comes in the kit if you have it. Build the rears with the 2 hole (x9) piston, the long eyelets, and mount the shocks to the top of the shock mount, not the lower point as shown in the manual. Heavier damping on the front really calms the steering down and the longer, taller shock position gives best rear end performance in my experience.

 

[cobalt]

So from all the feedback,the HS2 seems a little more durable BUT thundershot handles rough terrain better.

Is there a way to slow down front diff action in the HS2? I tried AW grease in my luchbox and it did absolutelty nothing for slowing down the diff!

[BuggyDad]

11 hours ago, cobalt said:

Is there a way to slow down front diff action in the HS2? I tried AW grease in my luchbox and it did absolutelty nothing for slowing down the diff!

If there is I'd be interested to hear it. As @ThunderDragonCy says there's nothing around the diff to contain any grease you put in it. I understand that back in the day there were aftermarket ball diffs, and MIP did make one a few years ago for the reres but it was a very limited run, and expensive. It's tight in there - the diffs are narrow, which i guess is a reason for a lack of aftermarket and no obvious way to modify to fit a different diff.

Even if the MIP diffs were available now, I don't think I'd spend the kit price again on diffs for my Boomerang. Mine's just not that kind of car, it's a sort of "cut price ultimate Boomerang" so heavily modified for resilience and stiffness but not expensibely "hopped up". But a cheaper solution I'd be very interested in.