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Hudson

Any love for the Thundershot?

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Hi everyone, just wanted to some opinions on the Thundershot, someone is offering me a really nice original only run a few times with box and instructions all in excellent condition. Looks wise this buggy has never excited me but I do still like the idea of having it in the collection. Does this buggy have any hidden charm that I may be missing? For now the seller wants €150 delivered. Any opinions much appreciated......

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for that price i wouldnt think twice. i have recently bought and built one and it is a great looking rig in the flesh , there are still a few upgrades floating around to make it just that little bit better.

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The Thundershot chassis is excellent! just needs metal a5 brace, steel pinion, ball bearings and a tamiya superstock and it drives lovely

I would recommend leaving the rear shocks without any pre-load and maybe the thinnest spacer on the front one if built with soft oil and manual recommended pistons

Things to look out for are cracked chassis, gearboxes and A5, you can easily epoxy repair them but I'd say it affects the price.

I'd suggest running with a modern ESC as well

Even when my runner tyres are bald and cracked it still drives really well so don't rush to replace them!

without pics or being seen i'd say 100 euros delivered, otherwise doesn't seem a bad price

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I like 'em, the drivetrain is very tough, and the car handles reasonably well, although mine always tend to grip roll very badly on high traction surfaces.

Look to the condition of the front uprights (Check for splits around the step screws), as replacements aren't cheap, and they are unique to the chassis.

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The Thundershot is an interesting piece of Tamiya development history. Tamiya needed a 4wd car that would 1. be competitive until the new Avante line was introduced (which was already in development by the time the T-shot was introduced), 2. Be affordable as this would also be an entry into 4wd buggies for many, 3. reduce the parts count and complexity of the aging Hot Shot series design. The Thundershot succeeded more or less in these design targets.

The car was somewhat competitive for its time. The suspension is very compliant (with good ground clearance) and well suited to some of the rougher tracks of the day. There are actually a surprising amount of adjustments available suspension-wise. Its parts count was kept low. While still using the same basic design language of the Hot Shot series (as opposed to the radical new direction of the Avante), Tamiya was still able to streamline the engineering. This meant a lighter, less complicated buggy that was also easier to assemble. The Thundershot could both carry Tamiya's top-competition torch until the Avante release while quickly switching gears to a more entry-level positioning after the Avante release. I think much of the Thundershot's lack of interest in some circles boils down the the body-design era in which it was introduced. Spaceship-buggies were the "in" thing at the time. Unfortunately, this tends be polarizing in current day. Its body lacks the timeless appeal of the Hot Shot for instance.

Overall, the Thundershot is a bit underrated for the great runner it is. They can handle plenty of power and have a nice metal motor mount as opposed to the DF-01 series that replaced it. While they can keep up on a track fairly well for being so old, they do drive a bit more "on edge" than more modern designs like a DF-03. Still much better than a Hot Shot series buggy when it come down to it.

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I love the Thunder Shot and is a very under rated buggy.

It was a totally new design for Tamiya with a first to use nylon components with the suspension arms. It also had way better shocks. The drive train had less moving parts to the Hot Shot and the steering used bell cranks of a unique design, It had some small short comings like the A5 front brace and the upper nylon camber links were too hard with no flex. So after a few good prangs the gearbox casings started to split at the link mounting point step screws as Saito2 referred to.

To solve this you had to buy the optional adj camber links which gave all the correct spacers & hardware. Standard on the Terror Scorcher.

I have a runner with a 13t Brushless combo and absolutely screams around Boondal. Really squats under power and turns nice.

Oh I almost forgot when first released Tamiya got some goods drivers to pilot the T/S at some big U.S meet and they came 1st,2nd & 3rd and TQ'd too. They had a add in RRCA about it.

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I recently used a good Terra Scorcher on the track and the car was wordelful.

Max

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if your not doing regular jumping id stick with the original upper arms, ts ones bend too easily, sometimes freak accidents happen but I've never had a gearbox crack in 9 years, maybe its down to 1987 old plastics as well, basically its nothing to worry about

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I have a Fire Dragon which is the same chassis except with independent front shocks - love it. Full bearings, A5 brace and off you go!

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It is one of my favourite old school chassis.

Very underrated.

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