Track Report – Kyosho Scorpion
Every weekend, tens of thousands of us head out to tracks around the country and throw down but few of us have ever wondered where it all began. Most vintage fanatics can follow the roots of their cars llck to about early 90s or even the mid 80s in a few cases but few can really say, “That’s where it all started”. Kyosho’s Scorpion wasn’t the very first buggy to hit the track; it was the first true racing buggy. Designed by Akira Kogawa in 1982, the Scorpion was a revolution in a time when offroad was dominated by Tamiya’s SRB buggies. With its aluminum ladder frame, the Scorpion was much lighter than its competition and was the first RC kit to come with a differential (gear diff), both of which helped drive it to win the 1985 ROAR National. A few years later it would be replaced by the Ultima but its place in RC history would be forever solidified. In 2014 Kyosho rocked the world by announcing the rerelease of the Scorpion 2WD buggy and with just a few modernizations, the new buggy would be put out with the goal of offering a kit that visually and spiritually captured the essence of that original buggy. From the outside, the buggy looks exactly like the original but has been beefed up internally to enable it to handle modern power and make things a little more user friendly. Let’s take a closer look and get behind the wheel of a legend.
Quick Look
Manufacturer: Kyosho
Vehicle: Scorpion 2014
Class: 1/10 2WD Buggy
Price: $220
Additional items needed: 2-channel radio system, servo, electronic speed control, motor, thread lock, glue and paint
• The Scorpion 2014’s transmission has been beefed up to better suit brushless power. It includes all metal gears with a gear differential. If you want to upgrade, Kyosho’s RB6 ball diff is a direct drop in. Kyosho includes two sets of final drive gears for high and low speed ratios.
• The rear tires have been updated with a new tread pattern, foam inserts and medium compound rubber to step up the performance of the 2014 but keep the authentic 80s style.
• While the buggy comes equipped with splined drive washers that press against the wheels to motivate them but their offset is the same as a standard hex which means you can run race wheels too if you choose.
• Nearly all of buggy’s aluminum parts are made of 6061 T6 aluminum for a precise fit, strength and lightweight performance. Kyosho also offers hardened aluminum chassis rails and CNC machines bits to upgrade your Scorpion.
• The radio box and wing come standard in yellow although Kyosho offers them in red and black as an option too so you can customize the look of your buggy to set it apart from the rest.
Performance
To set the Scorpion up to run in a Classic type class, I equipped it with a Tekin FX-R speed control, Hitec HS-7985MG servo and Tamiya Sport Tuned brushed motor and controlled the buggy with a Hitec Lynx 4s radio. With the tires glued up I hit the beach for the first run. On the loose sand the Scorpion’s medium rear tires grab plenty of traction and throw a roost into the air. While I was initially apprehensive of them being paired with the kit’s hard compound fronts but the buggy steered well through the loose sand and the car was well balanced overall. What was most surprising was how fast the Scorpion was considering its closed-endbell powerplant.
On a track in non-Classic form, the Scorpion will need a little extra work but you have plenty of options. The medium compound rear handle well considering their knobby tread pattern but the fronts fight to get the car turned on harder packed racing surfaces. Kyosho offers fronts in medium compound and you can also adjust the caster up front to tune your buggy’s steering. It jumps well considering how narrow the car is and how short its suspension travel is too. Like many old cars, jumping the Scorpion requires a little more finesse to keep it level and you must approach jumps differently depending on their angle. The 2014 is designed so that the rear drive washers can be swapped out for hexes and racing wheels without altering the offset. Kyosho also offers a myriad of carbon fiber parts, ball diff, CNC machined suspension parts and even upgrade shocks if you plan to take your Scorpion to the limit. Also thanks to its metal gear drivetrain, the Scorpion can handle brushless power so if you want to blast around the neighborhood, the buggy is up for a boost in power too.
Specs
Chassis
Material: Aluminum ladder with molded plastic tub
Length: 15.7 in. (398mm)
Width: 9.3 in. (236mm)
Wheelbase: 10.4 in. (263mm)
Weight (without electronics): 2lbs. 2oz. (985g)
– By today’s standards, the Scorpion is very small its track and wheelbase are fixed but for its style and era, the dimensions give it a perfect scale buggy look. The chassis itself is an aluminum ladder design that a plastic tub radio box mounts to in order to house all of your gear and give the buggy its shape.
Suspension
Material: Cast T6 Aluminum
Type: Trailing arm front and rear
Shocks: Aluminum, Oil-filled
Wheels: Plastic with satin chrome finish
Tires: Hard compound rib fronts, medium compound block rears
– The Scorpion’s suspension is nothing short of a work of casting art. The aluminum trailing arms, caster blocks and shocks are finished to a sheen and fit is meticulous. The oil filled shocks are good but if you’re going to race, consider pickup up Kyosho’s HG Shock Set (part no: KYOSCW013)
Drivetrain
Type: Rear-wheel-drive 2WD
Drive Ratio: 6.9:1 or 8.3:1 (two gear combinations included)
Differential: Gear differential
Bushings/Bearings: Shielded bearings
Driveshafts: Rear steel dogbones
– The gear box is a cast aluminum design with a quick removable side to remove the diff with out taking the car apart. Inside, a full set of sintered alloy gears are included and Kyosho even throws in a set of high speed and low speed gears. When assembling the rear end, be sure to move the trailing arms up so the dogbones are level before tighten the screws that hold the arms in place down. This will avoid the bones binding as the suspension travels through its throw.
Power Package (not included)
Motor: Tamiya Sport Tuned 540, part no: 53068, price: $28
Speed control: Tekin FX-R, part no: TT1091, price: $100
Steering servo: Hitec HS-7985MG, part no: 37985S, price: $85
Battery: TrakPower 2S 5600mah LiPo, part no: TKPC0270, price: $100
– While Kyosho put a lot of thought into upgrading the Scorpion 2014 to handle brushless power, I opted to equip it for Classic class racing which requires a Tamiya Sport Tuned handout motor but allows for LiPo batteries. This combination is less expensive and provides lots of bang for the buck and gets your buggy running for about $300.
Final Word
For the money, just north of $200, you’ll be hard pressed to find a more authentic vintage drive. The Kyosho Scorpion was one of the first true race inspired buggies in offroad history and as such its primitive style suspension can be a little complex for beginners. At the same time when you consider that we’re truly looking at a design from 1982 its quite impressive and you find forgiving the Scorpion for its small hang ups very easy to do. Kyosho’s goal was to reissue this classic buggy and keep it true to its original while fitting it with small, practically unnoticeable differences and upgrades to better fit it to today’s running gear. The best part of this buggy is simply how awesome it looks when driving. Building a Scorpion 2014 as a shelf queen is a no brainer but to truly appreciate its scaled appeal you need to run it, even just one time.
Pros +
– Legendary buggy returns to RC
– Design kept very true to original
– Improvements made in just the right places and amount
Cons –
– Include soft compound tires all around
– Fix dogbone binding geometry so kits assembles smoother