Thunder Tiger TS-4N Nitro Tourer
After months of speculations and delays, Thunder Tiger has finally
released their next instalment in their range of affordable competition
class cars, the TS4N Nitro Tourer, designed by the renowned Franco
Sabatini. We were honoured with one of the first kits to hit our shores,
a 4WD Volvo S40 powered by the Thunder Tiger Bx12Pro engine.

First Look
The TS4N is available in 3 different bodyshells, the Volvo S40, Alfa 164
and the Mercedes CLK-GTR. The main picture on the box is of the real
thing in action, and the side panels show the actual chassis. Lifting the lid
reveals a chassis that is 80% assembled with engine premounted. A clear
200mm bodyshell with window masks ,precut decals and an instruction
manual with set-up tips complete the package. Some people may argue
that they would prefer to see the car come completely disassembled ( in
bits) but the general feel from our own market research indicates that
most people want to get their new car out on the road in the quickest
possible time, and the partial-built kit is the preferred compromise with
most current manufacturers. In this area, Thunder Tiger scores a winner.

The Specs.
The goodies built into this kit seemed endless. Starting with the
attention-to-detail items such as the precut decals to save you hours of
painstaking cutting with a hobby knife; the transponder mount for the
AMB type transponder, and the fuel and back pressure lines that are cut
to the correct length. We honestly haven’t seen this much care-to-detail
given to a car in the sub $600 category before.

The alloy chassis is countersunk to minimise body scrape and the drive
train fully ball-raced to minimise drag. Power is provided by the BX12Pro
pull-start engine coupled to a tuned pipe. The power is transferred to the
front and rear differentials by a series of belts and pulleys. A nifty belt
tensioner is even provided to maintain the power transfer in the middle
drive. Finally, the front and rear geared differentials distributes the
power to the wheels.

Suspension system is probably the most critical part of any serious racing
car, and in the TS4N, we found the equivalent of all the essential
adjustments found in 1/8 scale racers. Front and rear toe-in, front and
rear camber, front caster and front track width and front and rear ride
height are all adjustable. To smooth out the ride, Thunder Tiger have
equipped the TS4N with a set of alloy shocks and colour coded springs.
The instructions show how these can be set-up to achieve the any desired
handling outcome.

Putting the TS4N together.
We wont go into too much detail on the assembly, as the instructions are
extensive and yet very straight-forward. There is even a page on how to
set up the suspension system, choosing the right shock oil and springs,
camber and caster angles as well as ride height.

Our choice of radio equipment were a JR511 servo for steering, a JR507
for throttle and brakes and a 3 channel Futaba PCM FM mini receiver
powered by a 5 cell 1000mAH NiMH pack. We chose the JR511 over the
standard servo because of the higher accuracy of the 5 pole servo and
the slightly higher torque and speed performance. The 1000 mAH NiMH
pack provides heaps of run time and the 6 volts coupled with the current
draw capability of the pack allow us to get the best result from the
servos. Best of all, no memory effects of normal NiCd packs.

Running in the engine is relatively easy. We used Coolpower competition
10% which contains a mix of 18% caster/synthetic lube. Power Master
will work equally well with this exercise. After running a tank on a rich
setting at idle, we ran another 5 tanks also at a rich setting, with the car
running between idle and half throttle around the carpark. It is
imperative that the airfilter element is well oiled before the engine is
started. On the sixth tank, we leaned off the engine slowly, checking the
head temperature repeatedly while we ran the car at varying speeds
between idle and full speed ( no more than 5 seconds at max speed). A
combination of; listening-out for the engine, spit-test, and temperature
reading of the temperature gun kept us constantly informed on the
engine’s state of tune.

While all this was happening, we whisked off the bodyshell to our dear
friend Zok and asked him to air brush the Volvo S40 shell for us. Our
preference is for light colours, as the light colours will reflect the
summer heat better and maximize visability of the car when we run it at
night. The precut decals made finishing a lot easier. We estimate the
precut decals saved us at least 2 hours of careful cutting with a hobby
knife.

Running the TS4N
We took the TS4N down to the Monash Model Car Club track at
Dandenong and entered the car into the Stock Nitro Touring car class
with Steven Wilde as the driver. This was Steven’s first time racing at
the Monash track, having held the crucial post of mower man at our off-
road race meetings for the past two years. After the usual gas bagging
around the track with the rest of the racers, we settled down to work
out the race settings. Suspension adjustments suggested in the set-up
book were initially duplicated on our car. The rubber tyres were replaced
with GTO Express 96887 soft foam tyres. We also switched over to the
15% Coolpower competition fuel as the slightly higher nitro fuel would
give us more oomph without having to start shimming up the head. The
result after Round 1..... FIRST!

In the next round, we changed the front tyres back to the treaded
rubber type as we noticed that the car was over-steering in the corners.
We also increased the caster angle by one clip. This time the car went
around the track a more neutral with neither the front or rear breaking
traction first. The result after Round 2........FIRST!

More fiddling of the suspension settings was made before the third heat
as well as before the final. We were yet to find a set up that ideally
matched Steve’s driving style. This is the beauty of a full-on competition
car such as the TS4N. The car suspension can be dialled-in to suit the
driver’s particular style of driving. In Round 3, Steven again finished
ahead of the rest of the field. Wow! What more can we expect eh? With
only the final left to run, victory belonged to us. The final started with
our TS4N in 4th position after the first lap. By the 8th lap, the TS4N
had weaved through the traffic and led the race for the next 10 laps.
Unfortunately in the last pit-stop, yours truly managed to splash some
fuel onto the receiver (a horrible thought flashed across my mind; Steven
had asked me only the day before if he should enclose the receiver in a
balloon and I replied “nah! ,near enough is good enough”).. Oh No! The car
stopped and there was no response from either the steering or the
throttle servo. We had a dead duck in the middle of the track. There was
no way that we could replace the receiver and get back onto the track
before the end of the race. The disappointed Steven walked off the
drivers’ stand, robbed of victory by my error of judgement. From now on,
we will use a receiver cover.

Conclusion
The TS4N is definitely the car to place number one on your shopping list
if you are looking for performance and value and have a budget below 600
bucks. The car is easy to drive and can be set-up to suit every driving
style. We believe the list of options coming out soon will include; a 2
speed gearbox, graphite top plate, graphite shock tower, ball-raced belt-
tensioner , quick release wheels and other goodies to make the car look
good and run fast. The Thunder Tiger TS4N is distributed by Ace Hobby
Distributors.

Likes
Adjustabiliy
Ball raced transmission
Precut decals
Powerful engine
Price

Dislikes
Fuel tank placement
Difficult to fit starter wheel below flywheel
Back pressure line too short causing over-pressurise in the fuel tank.