Super Champ

Tamiya came out with the Super Champ several years after the Sand Scorcher. The Super Champ was based on the Sand Scorcher / Rough Rider chassis. The first shock of the Super Champ was the lack of waterproof box for the mechanism. What were they thinking was the first reaction. Off-road vehicle means tough and indestructable with complete water proofing. Evidently, people realize that the servos and receivers were already quite sealed from the element. The waterproof box just add weight to the car. As a token gesture, Tamiya provided black rubber ballons to encase the receiver in. Its function is dubious. With all the exposed mechanisms, it would not be wise to wash the vehicle with a hose anyway like they advertise for the Sand Scorcher.

The other curious thing about the Super Champ was the rear suspension. On first inspection, it appeared to be an improvement over the Sand Scorcher. It was labeled as a Floating Suspension. Both rear suspension arms are connected to a common coil over shock. The shock had a tube coming out of it that goes to a resevoir. It had quite a high tech look. There are some speculation as to how it improves the handling. The Sand Scorcher had a swing arm rear suspension. The suspension arm's pivot is along the length of the chasis. During cornering, there is a tendency for the outside wheel to tuck in rather than being compressed into the wheel well like a normal car. You can see how the wheel tuck in and downward when you lift a Sand Scorcher off the ground. Both rear wheels point downward. In the corner case, the outside wheel point downward which lifts the chasis higher, and makes it more prone to roll over. This type of suspension operates the same way in the full size VW bug before they redesigned the suspension in 68'. Is the same type of suspension that was used in the Corvair that Ralf Nader wrote about, and created quite a stir in the government to enact vehicle safety regulations. In the Super Champ's floating suspension, when the inside wheel unload as in a corner, the spring will be extended and relaxed. Since the other side is connected to the same spring. The spring force on the outside wheel will be reduced as well. Therefore, it will aid in helping the outside wheel to compress into the wheel well reather than to extend and tuck in.

The other curiosity is the oil resevoir with a tube that is connected to the shock.The resevoir probably will replenish any oil that is leaked from the shock. The bigger function is to hold the expelled oil when the shock is fully retracted. The rod in the shock absorber takes up some space. When the rod is fully retracted into the shock, the displaced oil has to go somewhere. In the Sand Scorcer, the manual instructs you to leave an air space for oil to compress. Of course, during operation, air gets mixed with the oil and cause erratic damping and decrease in damping. With the oil resevoir, the damping is very smooth.

It was curious to note that after Super Champ came out, some aftermarket manufactures made similar kit for the Sand Scorcher. Some made floating suspension kits for other cars like the Hornet that used different suspension. The floating suspension is a compensation for the poorly designed swing arm suspension. The floating suspension concept is a poor suspension design, but is just the lesser of two evils.There is nothing to be gained but loss of performance by using it in other suspension. It will cause the car to roll more in a corner. The marketing behind the floating suspension kits was to have the same suspension that was used on the Super Champ. The assumption is if is used on Super Champ, it must be the best.

I bought my Super Champ off ebay just to get the old style Futaba wheel radio. I plan to sell the car again since I never really liked the car. I think the general market also do not really like the Super Champ. Sand Scorchers go for over $1000. Super Champs even NIB can be bought for even less than $600. My speculation is that it probably is due to the disappointment of not having water proofing on the car that made it loose its appeal then and now. It is a pure competition vehicle. Competition vehicles tends to have less appeal on the collectors market than scale vehicles. Part of the romance with R/C cars is the miniturization of the real thing. Is the imagination of the real thing that gives it the appeal.