Tamiya 58391 Remote Control Car Hotshot

Product Information

Fast-forward to April 2023, and it's time to get started on the chassis build again, as it's race time at the end of July and this needs to be finished, testing, working and at least partly set up by then. Hotshot and Boomerang come with only 4x 1150 and 2 thrust bearings if I remember correctly. You need another 13x 1150 and 5x 850 bearings to fully ball race them. You can get an official Tamiya Hotshot bearing kit that has the remainder of the needed bearings, or you can just get a third party set. It features an overhauled color scheme of brilliant blue (body and wing are pre-painted in this color, and pre-cut), with a prominent white stripe.

And naturally, when these vehicles first began to appear there was initially some confusion among organized hobby R/C clubs about what to do with them, with many allowing 2WD and 4WD cars to race together. Until it became apparent that cars like the Hotshot were capable of blowing the pants off just about any 2WD and really belonged in their own racing category. And thus, a whole new R/C racing experience had been born. However, it’s just not the pure 1980s Hotshot experience unless you burn your fingertips once in a while, or see one of those resistors literally explode from heat once they’ve become old and worn out :) Running repairs are half the fun of vintage R/C toys! With its aggressive-looking body design and low center of gravity, the Hotshot, Tamiya's first shaft-driven 4WD R/C buggy, made waves when it was introduced in 1985. The Hotshot was Tamiya's first R/C 4WD buggy, and it is now available as a modern TamTech-Gear machine.As always, this blog won’t delve into the later re-released Hotshot kit with it’s numerous changes, omissions and upgrades – instead I’m just focusing on the original 1980s model in all it’s pure, unmodified 1980s glory!) Required To Complete 2-channel radio, steering servo, ESC, 7.2volt battery & battery charger, and Tamiya PS paint. It’s a fun and reasonably challenging exercise to assemble an original Hotshot. But the greater the challenge, the more satisfying the end result. And while the car is complex, you can take heart from the fact that the body is relatively simple to finish – being a small, two piece polycarbonate shell, in a single colour.

This lovely plastic cage does more than just look good; it helps to strengthen the center of the body where the cutout for the battery is. The model includes nets in place of side windows and a nice formed sheet metal part for a roof which attaches with cable ties. A couple of hooks on the cage serve as the pivot axis for the rear sway bar. It looks like I tried to weigh the chassis. I'm not sure why - I don't think weight is the best reason for making a custom chassis. Still, I can see how much I gain or lose once the job's done. Front and rear gearboxes feature pinion-type differentials for greater efficiency and reduced weight.From there, I could get a more accurate location for one of the holes, and draw around it with a sharpie. Now, the Hotshot II makes a re-appearance with various tweaks added by the famous Japanese designer Mr. Jun Watanabe. this time that you wish to cancel. You are required to take good care of the goods and return them to us at your own Suitably bright red and perfectly named, the typically supreme Tamiya box-art depicts an aggressive vehicle bursting with complexity… These pictures show the motor installation before and after the upgrade. The visual difference is subtle but you can certainly discern the higher quality motor on the right.

It’s for these types of reasons that, today, it is one of the most beloved Tamiya R/C designs ever. It has even been credited with inspiring one man to collect what is, probably, the world’s most massive private collection of R/C models (word has it that the German collector profiled on that article began his collection after first witnessing one Hotshot, then buying multiple vintage Hotshot kits, and later, buying up thousands of cars of all kinds). As you can see in this photo, I had to space the chassis sides out a little to go around the floor plate. The width of the floor is fixed by the width of the front bumper mounts, but this is wider than the chassis mounting lug width. This was only temporary until I could measure everything to be cut. Finally got a bit more work done on this one last week. This 2mm FR4 sheet arrived from China about a week earlier than planned, so I was able to get right into the build. If you want a truly original used example for restoration, just be aware that some people are supplementing their old cars with the cheaper, commonly available re-release parts. Some of these new parts are quite different, thus affecting the originality. Length: 390mm　●Width: 235mm　●Height: 150mm　●Weight: 1270g　●Tread: (Front/Rear) 194mm　●Tire Width/Diameter: (Front) 28/82mm, (Rear) 34/82mmThe new roll bar is positioned higher to ensure a raised pilot position for greater realism. To achieve this, the upper frame is also updated. As I grew up and my personal finances improved, it was no accident that the Hotshot was one of the first hobby-grade R/C models I sought out.

The new roll-bar is positioned higher to ensure a raised pilot position for greater realism. To achieve this, the upper frame is also updated. Length: 390 mm, width: 235 mm, height: 150 mm ★Weight: 1,285 g ★Tread: 205 mm (front), 200 mm (rear) ★Tire width/diameter: 31/88 mm (front), 38/88 mm (rear) The R/C mechanisms are logically laid out on the chassis to provide optimum balance and low center of gravity as well. Well, relative to toy-grade R/C cars, performance of a hobby kit vehicle like the Hotshot is of course – outstanding. Powered by a 540 motor, the buggy will blast around at speed, just as seen in that classic Tamiya promo video. ABS monocoque ★Shaft-driven 4WD ★3-bevel differential gears ★2-piece steering tie-rod ★4-wheel double wishbone suspension ★Gear ratio = 8.70:1The completed front gearbox and suspension module is shown at left. Note the unconnected ball ends for a sway bar which has not yet been attached. The next thing to build and paint is the main chassis tub. This is unusual for several reasons. Firstly, the tub is inverted. In most cases a bathtub chassis is concave and the opening faces up. In this case the tub is convex and faces down. The driver figure is integral to the chassis tub. In the original model, this part had a solid top and no access to the electronics beneath without a significant disassembly. This design persisted through the Supershot, but the Hotshot II added an access cutout (shown at right) which is used for this re-release. This cutout is nice for access but greatly reduces the torsional and bending strength of the middle of the chassis. Let’s have a look inside the original kit too, at all those dozens of blisters filled with little parts…