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lifeofbrian2007

Lack of Bigwig and other buggy upgrades?

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Why so little upgrades for these buggies? I really need a Bigwig, but also need to make it better. The most obvious part I can see is the drive shaft, is there an ally one? I know M.I.P. do the diffs, but what else is there if anything? And what about the other buggies like the Boomerang, any real performance or cosmetic upgrades specifically made for these? Why does Traxxas get all the aftermarket goodies but not Tamiya?

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There has been countless upgrade parts for the hotshot series buggies, the main problem is they are mainly vintage upgrades and the Hotshot was re released 12 years ago, combine that with the rise of ebay and you will understand why not much is still around

CRP front arm stabilizer

Uni joint axles

RC channel metal arms and small bumper

Many different aftermarket chassis

Ball diffs just to name a few more common upgrades

The Hotshot steering mod is a mod that creates major handling improvements

The Bigwig came with a alot of the factory hop ups to start with

 

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Well, unlike Traxxas TRX4, which came out couple years ago, Bigwig came out 33 years ago.  It is more capable chassis among the Hotshot family.  But still, when Tamiya re-issued it, they probably didn't expect people to drive it as hard as they would with DT03 or DF03.   

I don't mind the wire center shaft.  There should be some differential action between front axle and rear axle.  5-10 degrees of twist can help in corners. (of course, pent up force could make it worse down the road. But that would be after making the corner, where it's less likely to lose control on a straight line)  Theoretically, hard aluminum shaft can be less stable when cornering. (The same way 4WD spins out on ice when cornering, where AWD does fine---thanks to center differential. When cornering on ice, it might be better to go with 2WD, rather than 4WD.)  

Re-issues parts have become abundant.  Many parts are interchangeable too.  So I'd say, put in a 10.5t motor, install shims in the bevel gears, tighten up the servo saver with a zip tie, put biggest holed pistons in the shocks and push it to its limits.  In 1986, it was Tamiya's flagship buggy.  It got the full-page honor.  

sGUjPND.jpg

I take it back, Porsche 959 got the 2-page honor. That was the flagship.  

BjHGUPE.jpg

Anyway, Bigwig is good stuff.  

 

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It's already got a Technigold (sorry, "GT Tuned") and full bearings, what more do you want? ;)

Seriously, though, back when this car was first introduced, the idea of "upgrades" was a little different. We modified things on the car to (attempt to) overcome some shortcoming, correct some design flaw, or just plain keep it driveable. Available power was much lower, run times were much shorter, and what was asked of the cars was far less as a result. Most modifications back in the 80s were to improve the often-dismal handling or bring durability up to an acceptable level, not to equip it for ballistic-missle levels of power.

The Bigwig was probably stronger than most, and the included motor was pretty hot stuff for the time. They had already improved the Hotshot's largest failures (steering and suspension) and taken the basic design just about as far as they could. Tamiya would probably have not seen the Bigwig as needing any hop-ups. Besides, the Thundershot was already in development (I'm sure) by the time the Bigwig came out, so Tamiya (and probably the aftermarket companies as well) would have been focusing their efforts on the new platform.

And now? The re-releases, especially Tamiya, aren't really meant to compete with new designs. The idea is to have a time capsule, a look back at how things used to be. It's not like a TT-01 or a Slash or something, that is meant to be a starting point for endless replacement of plastic parts with aluminum and carbon fiber. The huge 32-pitch gear teeth may handle brushless power, but the gear ratios were intended for a 540 or a Technigold. Yes, the plastic parts flex, and the thin steel driveshaft wobbles, and the steering and suspension parts have slop. Just like they did in the '80s.

I guess the point is that if you want a Bigwig, get a Bigwig, and enjoy it on its own terms. If you want something with a zillion aftermarket parts available to "improve" it, you're probably better off with something else.

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On the Bigwig I would like to see steering that has a bit more lock,  and some rear toe in uprights for the Hotshot series cars. 

 

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I usually recommend Sport Tuned as the first choice of easy upgrades.  But GT tuned is supposed to be tiny bit faster than Sport Tuned. 

I shaved the receptacles of the center shaft tiny bit, so it doesn't bind.  Far less wobble that way.  

It's probably the most stable runner out of Hotshot family.  But it probably cannot complete with Traxxas.  

Rear toe-in sounds good.  I wonder if Shapeways has uprights with a toe-in.  If somebody makes it, rear toe-in wouldn't hurt have.  

 

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On 11/12/2019 at 5:44 AM, Juggular said:

Well, unlike Traxxas TRX4, which came out couple years ago, Bigwig came out 33 years ago.  It is more capable chassis among the Hotshot family.  But still, when Tamiya re-issued it, they probably didn't expect people to drive it as hard as they would with DT03 or DF03.   

I don't mind the wire center shaft.  There should be some differential action between front axle and rear axle.  5-10 degrees of twist can help in corners. (of course, pent up force could make it worse down the road. But that would be after making the corner, where it's less likely to lose control on a straight line)  Theoretically, hard aluminum shaft can be less stable when cornering. (The same way 4WD spins out on ice when cornering, where AWD does fine---thanks to center differential. When cornering on ice, it might be better to go with 2WD, rather than 4WD.)  

Re-issues parts have become abundant.  Many parts are interchangeable too.  So I'd say, put in a 10.5t motor, install shims in the bevel gears, tighten up the servo saver with a zip tie, put biggest holed pistons in the shocks and push it to its limits.  In 1986, it was Tamiya's flagship buggy.  It got the full-page honor.  

sGUjPND.jpg

I take it back, Porsche 959 got the 2-page honor. That was the flagship.  

BjHGUPE.jpg

Anyway, Bigwig is good stuff.  

 

Jugular, 

apologies for bringing this old post back to life. What book is this in? 

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Oh, that's from a Tamiya catalogue.  Every year, they put one out for $10 -12.  

If you want an old one, ebay would have one for sale.  I think those pages are from 1987 catalogue. 

 

 

 

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IIRC, despite being RC focused in the guidebooks (obviously) it was the catalogs that featured the full page spreads of the flagship kits for a particular year, sometimes with cutaways, like the Clod Buster. I found the Avante and Egress ones to be particularly beautiful. 

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