YRD prototype car
 

What da you think of this car? Let me know;)

nice but id cut some extra cell slots so you mess about with weight distribution good luck with dude:)

have you managed to get a prototype together yet?
Any photos of the real car?

No, its gonna be my winter project, it should be finished for decmember-ish:D

So basically your putting inboard suspension and and different steering geometry on a BJ4?

I'd stay away from the touring car steering, from my experience with the TC3'O it isn't strong enough :(

That, and I have planeed to re-mould most of the plastic parts. Thanks for that tip, I think I will re-design the steering layout, like you say, the TC3'0' isnt exactly he best 4wd buggy ever;)

No but the BJ4 is so why change it :confused: :D

Oh really, is that right Tom? :o :D

G

Human nature, some of us can't be arsed then some of us think, why not, lol.

Certainly is ;)

Why Imprrove this car you ask?
1.Because I am bored
2. I am setting up an RC company,and want to sell it.
3. Because I can:D

This car is now known as the YRD phantom X

question is.. do you know how to improve the car? and why the changes you will make give the car an advantage..

you also wish to sell the car, so how will parts avaliability be? can i expect upgrades? have you decided on a new shell + wing? i could keep going.. the list is that long. have you planned it all out?

If you need any help or need ideas bouncing, pm me for my MSN account

Parts availbability is going to be top notch I assure you, and if the car needs upgrades, they will developed from there. I also have a shell and wing moulder, who is awaiting my design, which I am going to make as soon as I finish the car, so I can make it the snuggest and lowest fit possible.;) I plan to mould the parts myself, with a special nylon moulding material I have. I am using a carbon fibre copy material, which has the same properties as carbon fibre, but is easier to cut. This makes it ideal for me, until I can find a Carbon Fibre machinist.

I am only going to make 1 car at first, and test it through the winter indorrs, and out if it is warm and dry enough. I should then have a reasonable set-up to start on, for the spring and summer. I can then peice together a manual, and if it is really that good enough, design and order the packaging. I will keep you lot updated as I go.

Long term, I do need a few people who are interested in using this car, for testing purposes. But I do need to get a prototype together first:D

How good are you at marketing? As I really think that you need to think this through long and hard. Asking yourself mainly, how much this will cost to do (tooling, time, admin, advertising etc) and how much you can sell the kit for + how many you think you can sell + how many you will need to sell in what time to cover costs.

Don't forget, you are trying to redesign a car that won the world championships and is really popular in its standard form. So although you are dealing with many potential customers (i.e. guys who already have a BJ4), they are also guys who will beleive that the current design can;t be improved and any non J-Concepts changes will be pointless.

My advice to you. Rather than choose a current winner and redesign it as a winner, choose a car that is a failure, and make it a winner.... such as the Academy SB Sport.... the concept of this chassis is close to the BJ4, but corners have been cut to sell the car at a low price.

Dude, you have come up with a cool idea there, I think there may be a re-design on my hands. I want to sell it, the Phantom x is going to cosr £172 to make. However, its not all about profits, as I want to make a sweet car for racers. I am going to re-design it now, how good are Acedewmy spares?

HAs anyone got a link to the acedmy RC website, and their Uk distributors:confused:

What Chris has said is on the money, you really need to think long and hard what you are going to do, it can cost a lot of money to produce a car even if some of the work is done in house i know ;)

With the Slim4 i have already invested well into four figures and i am over a year into the project, and i have three cars to show for it.

I think you need to decide what chassis / base car / you are going to start with first :)

Let me just say 'you can't turn a turd into GOLD, alchemy don't work'. As much as I understand what Chris says, the issue with the Academy isn't just its chassis. I am not sure if they have improved the quality of platics, but they weren't the best, and the metal parts were worse, and I know thay haven't improved much.

So it might be worth looking at a drivtrain first, and basing a car around it.

Great to see you doing this. Id love to do something like what you're intending. Sounds like a good project to do and can't wait to see the outcome, good luck. For parts, Associated parts are cheap so why use any other make.

Well I hope our info is helping you here. As for the quality of the Academy, Steve (DCM) can give the best first hand advice as he was the most patient for longest.

If you was to go for this kit as a base. Start by fixing the faults:

1, Quality of plastic, very flexible
2, Quality of metals - the diff outdrives and driveshafts wear fast
3, Quality of gears - They seemed to flex and slip
4, Iinternal Ratio very high, which meant it span like crazy to go a normal speed

If you could remould parts, and adjust the chassis to fit AE/Pred transmission throughout.

To go for the BJ4 would give you an instantly relaible car to start on, but I fear that you wouldn't tempt any already satisfied BJ4 owners. We'd all like to see you succeed!

Or how about a complete new car? How about something new? (from top of my head) a tranverse motored shaft drive car? (i.e. motor 90degree turned compared to current shaft drives)

I am sure the new Tamiya 4wd is like that Chris.

Hmm, maybe for the futrue, I just want to make something that is simple, but goes like the wind. I have a good budget avaialble.

I have a few questions about the acedmemy

1. How good is the chassis/ top deck material?

I think that will be a ll I am using from that car, with a TC3 tranny;)

Academy chassis, erm, take a peice of quilted toilet paper (sounds good so far) then wet it, you get the idea. As for the transmission, I never, funnily, had an issue and thought it worked pretty good, but like any other shaft drive, it took correct shimming. Shit loads of work to stop metal bits from devouring each other though.

The only thing I would say, if you ARE going to make a shaft drive, ensure you tie the prop shaft in to the motor mount in some way, then you are garaunteed an accurate mesh (no telling me off now Northy).

Personaly, the way I see it, decide on your transmission first, then go from there.

Dude you got my msn, I got a bloody good idea for you, and as long as you can get alloy machined, you da'man.

So, perhaps not the best base car then? I do need to find a car that is shaft drive, and is less than compettiive that needs a tyrc upgrade:D

V2 aint so bad! Goes pretty well actually, I've just not had time to play and get it set up and that!

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By choosing a car which is seen as a failure are you not going to invest money on a car which ultimately with all the best of intentions end up being at best as good as the current best in market? If the academy had so much problems would it not be best focusing on a car that didnt have so many issues to start with. Look at the X5, started with a car which was good already and improved where the manafacturer didnt. Other cases are Xenon and shooters with the associated RC12L3.

To begin with would it be best to start making upgrades for an exisiting successful car to refine any weak parts it has or improve it further where the manafacturer may of wanted to but couldnt for what ever reason. I am just thinking that the initial set up costs would be much lower while allow you to build a reputation for your company. Once established you can do what you intend currently and use the name you have built as a part of your marketing.

why shaft though?

:D :D :D :D :D

Nowt wrong with the Pred if you mesh it right and tightern up the motor mount screw until you think it's gonna strip and then a little bit more! :o :D

G

So what does everyone think is a good starter or base car? All suggestions are welcome;)

Ok, I have anew idea. A belt driven car, based on a corally rdx. IT will have re-machined transmission housing though, with some a e bits, a few jconcepts prats, just need to make a slipper clutch for it

If you wanted to make something a bit different how about a B4 back end with the transmission reversed, with a belt from the layshaft to the front end?

That sounds pretty similar to my 4wd at the moment, except it is a shaft not a belt, but basicaly a 2wd gearbox back there.

Now then you said any ideas, How about a shaft and belt driven 4wd two shafts ala losi jrxs conected in the middle with a belt. You can use the slipper from the B4 batteries and motor down the middle servo st side of motor speedo and reciever other side. You will have to use diffs like on the jrxs with longer outdrive on one side. In theory should have good weight distribution (I am no engineer) with all the heavy stuff in the middle. Could be best of both worlds no torque steer on hard acceleration like on a shaft car but with the eficiency of a shaft car. Did a little doodle of this last night and it looks like it could work (it was quiet at work).:cool:

got any pics matey, thid idea sounds ery well thought out;)

With the cells / motor down the middle, like the Tamiya Impact, you have very centred weight side to side. But front to back the weight is very spread out.
The Xfactory X5 however has the most compact mass of any car I can think of with cells and motor in the centre of the car side to side AND front to back.

I would have thought that was an optimal layout:confused:

I am going to try pull a failry innovative design, with a RDX style super thin chassis keeping all parts as close to the centre line as possible, using a heavily modifed AE TC4/3 transmission. It's going to include aerodynamically shaped diff cases, reduced wieght, and UBER low c.g. and profile;)

okay, I have my pics I drew, manufacturing is gonna start uber soon;)

http://www.teamyrd.co.uk/car , check em out, tell me what you think, and if you know anyone who sells carbon fibre and alimnium uber cheap let me know:D

These Designs are outstanding in my opinion!

http://www.teamyrd.co.uk/car/chassis...iew%20copy.jpg

From looking at the pic above the shocks look very cool,and should work very well!

The only worry I have is if it’s going to be belt driven, how strong will the belt be and will it be able to cope with today’s cells and motors?

Keep up the good work, and keep us updated!

Kev