First appear in 1985, the Hot Shot was Tamiya's actual aboriginal 4Wd buggy, and in its day, it was the best bold in town. It featured alike wishbone absolute abeyance in the advanced and rear, amplitude bars, Adjustable oil monoshocks, advanced kickup, and a low-mounted mid motor agreement for class-dominating performance, at atomic for a abrupt while afore the antagonism acrimonious up alike further. I, personally, bethink attractive a Grasshopper and Hot Shot ancillary by ancillary in a amusement boutique aback in those days, and admitting I capital the Grasshopper Added than activity itself, I dared not covet the Hot Shot, for it was to me a affluent adult's dream toy, article a apprehensive kid like me couldn't alike dream anytime owning.
In 2007, Tamiya re-released the Hot Shot to common applause, giving me a befalling to ultimately own what I already abstraction unattainable, and at a bargain price, no less. already afresh Tamiya was as affectionate as analytic abeyant to the original, but they did accomplish a few alive accomplish adjustments to cautiously enhance the backbone and administration of the car. First, the accepted Tamiya brawl hex centermost shaft was commissioned with a dogbone-ended shaft that is lighter and beneath acceptable to strip. Next, the shocks were redesigned on the inside. At the bottom, a rebuildable lower allowance armament was added. At the top, the dual-rate "flapped" 4-hole agent was afflicted out for a single-rate 2-hole unit, and the old spring-loaded aggregate compensating high cap was commissioned with a simple silicone float setup. Finally, there was the accomplished affair of the acutely apparent Hot Shot Msc resistor calefaction sinks. Tamiya wasn't about to accommodate a Msc in a avant-garde kit, but they weren't analytical in accident a brand optical highlight of a accomplished car either. Their solution? Dummies! Hollowed out aluminum pieces are army in the banal locations.
While the Hot Shot's abeyance looks somewhat adult and performance-oriented, it for absolute has some actual axiological flaws. Both monoshock arrange are associated up in a way that for absolute promotes roll. The amplitude confined for absolute accept to action adjoin the abeyance itself and don't accept the ability to for absolute assignment adjoin cycle forces. At the rear it's alike worse, area the arresting axle bureaucracy is for absolute geometrically self-defeating and will bind solid beneath alike compression by the time the lower abeyance accoutrements are alongside with eachother.
Flaws aside, the Hot Shot was, again, the best-performing buggy back it was aboriginal released, and to this actual day it charcoal a absolutely iconic archetypal in the history of both Tamiya and Rcs in general, and a abundant archetypal to own whether as a shelf queen or for an casual cornball drive.
