Who loves the Thundershot?

[Super ally]

I just wanted to ask any members out there that own the Thundershot what they think of it and how they compare it to other tamiya buggies.I have the Thundershot and i think its one of the best buggies tamiya have ever made.I like the looks of it and the steering is very good compared to others i own like the hotshot and bigwig.I got it on sale last year for £109 which was very good as it is usually £199.The tires wear out quicky though if you run on hard surfaces which i do but thats my only issue with this buggy.So if you own the Thundershot what do you think of it and is it one of your favourites from tamiya.

[alvinlwh]

I have the Thunder Dragon (same thing different body) and quite like it. Third car that I own, bashed alot for a year or so. Now it is a little tired and is semi retired but I did put a number of unnecessary metal parts on it. May just take it out for a few runs again. 

I use cheap tyres on it for running on hard surfaces. 

[Super ally]

19 minutes ago, alvinlwh said:

I have the Thunder Dragon (same thing different body) and quite like it. Third car that I own, bashed alot for a year or so. Now it is a little tired and is semi retired but I did put a number of unnecessary metal parts on it. May just take it out for a few runs again. 

I use cheap tyres on it for running on hard surfaces. 

Yes same chassis just a different body,tires wear quickly on hard surfaces unlike oval blocks which last longer.

[Andreas W]

I don't have a Thunder Shot,  but I have a Thunder Dragon and a Terra Scorcher. I am no lover of their bodystyles, so I am gonna put a modified Boomerang body on the Thunder Dragon.

Their driving caracteristics on the other hand is my cup of tea. They slide nicely, behave predictable and are solid in my experience. Since I already have spare suspension arms inventory none of them have broken. They also take an 8,4 NiMh, which brings the performance up on 2S LiPo standard for a few minutes. If my Nikko Dictator drove like this when I was young I would have been very happy. 

They get little runtime though, but that is mainly because I so much enjoy running my rally cars as well and they have brushless motors. But if the kids are with me the Dragons are the first choice and I put in whichever motor I have that are kid friendly. If I put a 2S LiPo in them they are fast enough for both of them even on a normal silvercan and stock gearing.

[Saito2]

The Thundershot was the top Tamiya 4wd buggy in my eyes for a hot minute just before the Avante dropped bitd. In some ways, this mostly plastic buggy, was better than the Avante.

While my love tends to belong to the Hotshot and Avante family of buggies, I still hold the Thundershot and its derivatives in high regard. Its evolutionary rather than revolutionary like the Avante was, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Tamiya did an amazing job, from a product standpoint, of simplifying, lightening and improving the performance (and making it more affordable) of the previous Hotshot series with the Thundershot. Many of the flaws of the earlier cars like the wear-prone suspension points, questionable myriad steering assemblies, and, at times, hefty weight were all done away with in the Thundershot. 

There are shortcomings, like the A5 weakness and the more recent issues with bevel gear molding and softer/weaker suspension arms, but these a worth dealing with for a great all-around 4wd buggy. It still has the high clearance for true off-road adventure and does virtually everything else with practiced ease. I often grab it as a go-to buggy when I'm headed out to parts unknown.

 

[Kowalski86]

I have the Terra Scorcher version of it myself, it's an interesting design that uses some modern features like captured, rubbery suspension arms and a giant bumper that wouldn't be out of place on a short course truck.

It also does the whole forward cab buggy look with some style.

[ThunderDragonCy]

Big fan. They take a bit of wrangling with different wheels and tyres and shock settings to get them really dialed, but as mentioned above it has quite a lot of modern features and once you fix the A5 they are great, durable runners.

A not-much-mentioned great thing about them is they can be geared properly for modern brushless power. With the steel 17t dt03 pinion it will run a 13.5 very nicely and reliably

[ThunderDragonCy]

My much modified Thunder Dragon

[Mo Powah]

2 hours ago, ThunderDragonCy said:

My much modified Thunder Dragon

That thing is wicked, awesome colour. 

[ThunderDragonCy]

54 minutes ago, Mo Powah said:

That thing is wicked, awesome colour. 

Thanks. I like loud. And orange. It's Core RC Neon Carrot backed with tamiya silver. Decals are the standard kit design with colours changed to purple and teal to match nicer with the orange. MCI did them.

[Mo Powah]

32 minutes ago, ThunderDragonCy said:

Thanks. I like loud. And orange. It's Core RC Neon Carrot backed with tamiya silver. Decals are the standard kit design with colours changed to purple and teal to match nicer with the orange. MCI did them.

I have a JConcepts body on my Gorgon in CoreRC tangerine, only I backed it with black, it didn't turn out so well. Yours looks very well painted. 

[ThunderDragonCy]

@Mo Powah Thank you. The shell is fine for a runner. I emptied a whole can of neon orange on it and the paint was still see through. Orange and red never cover great. White or silver to back them seems to work well in my limited experience 

[Mo Powah]

12 minutes ago, ThunderDragonCy said:

@Mo Powah Thank you. The shell is fine for a runner. I emptied a whole can of neon orange on it and the paint was still see through. Orange and red never cover great. White or silver to back them seems to work well in my limited experience 

Credit where its due my man. I used two cans of core rc paint and it still wasn't enough. Nothing works quite like the tamiya paint. 

[alvinlwh]

Looking at older photos, I got reminded thst other than A5, there is another weakness in the TS chassis. The arms can split at the hinge. 

I blew one of mine early on, replaced it, and lately upgraded it to metal arms. 

Another old photo of the TD, not sure what was going on here. 

18 hours ago, ThunderDragonCy said:

I like loud. And orange.

Me too! But also fluorescent too. 

 I cannot find my UV torch so the effect in these pictures are not great. Tamiya PS-24.

[Saito2]

My daughter wasn't sure what playground to hit up, so I grabbed the trusty T-shot. It turned out to be my old elementary school. Despite my current feelings about our school district (a school board bragging about spending the least amount per child in the county does not seem like a good school board to me), the view from my old school is pretty beautiful. Here, the Thundershot pauses to watch the breezes whisper over the soybean fields...

 

This shot shows the rear uprights with new holes drilled closer to the wheel to alter the roll center, an idea from @StueyS. I still have to flip the B8 part to gain some rear toe. While I like the looks of the Terra Scorcher, its the monoshock Thundershot I prefer driving. Its less pointy and more supple when traversing bumpier terrain.

 

[JeffSpicoli]

I remember when it came out, it blew my mind, the way it looked.   Here I had been looking at the Radio Control Book a million times, Original Willy, Grasshopper, Hot Shot, Hornet, and then this car came out.....I wanted one badly as a kid.

I've sorta cooled on it over the years but it might be fun to build and hop up now.

I'd like to see what it would look like with some platinum color shocks, and some 90s paint splatter paint scheme