Analysis of individual cars

The Terra Scorcher (58075)


The Terra Scorcher was kit number 75 from Tamiya. Based on the Thundershot chassis, the car included some much needed improvements.

Specifications

  • 1/10 scale off-road vehicle
  • 4 wheel drive (shaft driven)
  • Plastic tub-chassis design
  • Independent front and rear suspension
  • four fully independent coil spring over oil filled dampers
  • RS-540 Mabuchi motor
  • Pin spike tires front and rear
  • Detailed polycarbonate body

Description

The Terra Scorcher chassis can be best described by saying that it is virtually identical to the Thunder Shot chassis. Following Tamiya's tradition of making improvements to existing chassis and rolling it out as a new model, the Terra Scorcher was born.

Tamiya made improvements to the Terra Scorcher which would appeal to the racer. First off, the monoshock system in the Thunder Shot was replaced with dual shocks giving better off-road composure. The upper arms were replaced with adjustable length tie-rods allowing racers to make camber adjustments. A rear anti-sway bar was added to increase stability around turns.

As Tamiya cars go, the Terra Scorcher handled very well. Although it wouldn't seem like it on paper, the car was much more nimble than the HotShot it replaced. A far lighter front end gave it really nice turn-in without the heavy understeer so familiar to Hotshot owners.

But as one can imagine, most of the improvements were lost on the average buyer who neither cared or understood the improvements. Terra Scorchers were never raced on a national level. Having said that, I've always believed that this chassis could have been successful with the right sponsorship and driver. It was an extremely nice chassis design for its time.

Historical Significance

It was a nice car. But one that will not be tremendously memorable. To many collectors the Terra Scorcher (like the Thunder Dragon before) was nothing more than name engineering on the identical chassis. Not tremendously ground breaking.

Handling merits aside, this car won't spark a lot of demand in the future other than to complete a "run". Difficult to peg a price on this one because they rarely come up for sale.

Additional Notes

This chassis and all of the parts for this chassis have long been discontinued. Parts are tough to find now. Especially difficult to find are correct wheels and tires. Front suspension arms and body mounting posts are especially fragile on these units and all used cars should be checked for these failures.

ESC were very popular already and the mechanical three-step were tossed in the garbage quite often. For completeness, you should try to find a mechanical controller.

Rating

  • Collectibility - 5 out of 10
  • Fun to drive - 7 out of 10
  • Parts availability - 6 out of 10

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