Monday, February 18, 2013

Street Racer

A small, extremely fast RC car. It doesn't have any off-road capabilities, so it's not quite a buggy, but it's not quite slick enough to be a race car either,  and so I've called it a "street racer"

(Update: i've improved the styling a little bit by making the entire hood red, and adding a few more bricks around the receiver  So the model doesn't look quite the same in the video.)

Datasheet:

Propulsion: 1x RC motor
Steering: 1x PF M motor
Suspension: rear independent
Drivetrain: direct drive
Dimensions: 41 studs long, 31 wide, and 16 high
Weight: 2 lb (.9 kg)

I love making fast RC cars, and now and then i try to make a faster one. I usually end up just building a simple chassis like the one below, which has some basic functions, and almost no bodywork. 

 After driving my most recent RC chassis (which i built with direct drive and return-to-center steering) around for a while, i decided to build it more interestingly, i gave it a custom independent rear suspension, which has the added benefit of raising the ground clearance while still keeping the direct drive. 

I then covered the chassis with a combination studfull and studless (system and technic) pieces, and added some other details like the mudguards, spoiler, lights, and exhaust pipes. I wanted to cover up the battery box too, but i couldn't find a simple way to do this.
I also put covers on the wheels because they are not all the same color.
The added weight of the bodywork decreases the acceleration and speed some, but not much.


The steering system is a pretty basic rack-and-pinion with a return-to-center system.
The steering motor drives the pinion directly then goes straight to the RTCS which is a simple design by Sheepo. The rack is made from three liftarms, allowing center one to move side to side, without also moving inward.
(As the steering arms turn to the side, they also move slightly inwards, with the sides of the rack able to pivot, they can absorb the turning and the center section can stay in place.

 The the small steering lock and lack of differential degrade the steering, but make it easy to maneuver when driving fast, and direct drive helps it achieve almost maximum efficiency. 
All in all, i think the model turned out well, and i learned a lot about make videos  while making the one for this model.




Photos:












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