SpeedDemon 1:10 EP 2wd
 

Hi
This is a thread on my SpeedDemon project, which is a 1:10 2wd Electric buggy meant for competition.

Just as a bunch of people before me, Ive made a midmounted 2wd buggy, difference is that this concept includes a motor mounted along the length of the chassie and not across(Atomic Carbon S2 and Xfactory X6)

Ive had a few Ideas on laydown shocks and other fancy stuff, but as I thought it through, I realized I first and foremost wanted to race the concept to see if there was anything worth working on.. So I put together a car with conventional upright shocks instead.

I bought a used Kyosho ZX-5 Lazer, and used its complete rearend.
And then I had an old Associated B2 laying around, and the frontend of that car is perfect for this kind of build as it just bolts onto the main chassie(5 screws).

It only took about two afternoons to put the car together.
I have raced two indoor races here in Sweden with it so far.
I won the first race and came forth in the second(mostly due to poor driving).
Havent got the setup perfect yet though, but Im getting there..
As of now Im just getting started making 3D CAD drawings of the concept.

//Morgan
aka moleman

racing in sweden
 

Hi there,

where in sweden do you race?

Matt

Hi Matt
I live in a town called Åmål(in the midwest of Sweden), but there are no places to race near here..
So far Ive been to races included in the "Mellansvenska-elbilscupen", or in english: The Electrical car cup of middle Sweden :)

Got any connections to Sweden?

official homepage:
http://mellansvenska-elbilscupen.se/

more pics!!! get some detailed pics of the back without electrics :thumbsup:

pictures of rearend
 

closeup of slipper and batterytray arrangement:

I'm really liking that. Great job. :thumbsup:

I think I've seen a film about where you live moleman :lol:

Nice work on the car so far!

Thanks guys!
:D

I havent tested the car outdoors yet, I think I'll have to have some kind of undertray first, otherwise say hello stripped gears and electrical meltdown.
The outdoor tracks we got here are usually made from gravel/dirt and isnt the bluegroove type you see in the USA. Dirt gets in everywhere!

But Im really looking forward to seeing how it handles on a loose track with low traction. Indoors on carpet with Taperpin rear tyres it drove through corners like a rocket compared to conventional 2wd's!

Laydown suspension
 

Some pics of things to come..

Are the shocks in the same plane of movement as the wishbones?

Dan, Im not sure I understand what you are asking about..
But this is just a mock-up of parts I had laying around, just to see that there was any chance the shocks would fit laying down like this.

The pivot point of the linkage connected to the shocks is going to be tilted, and have similar angle as the rod thats connected to the lower A-arm, this will insure that the shocks wont get in the way of the rod, if that was what you were asking about..?

Im just about to start drawing this up i 3d cad, so be patient..

Trollers
 

I am down here in Trollhattan.

It can't be any worse than racing in the hot dust bowl's of Australia.

Matt

Bodywork
 

Last few days Ive been carving a core in balsawood for a selfdesigned body for the car,
in order to seal as good as possible against dirt and stuff when racing on an outdoor track.

Ive used a 2L Fanta bottle as material. (Thats the biggest PET-bottles we got here in Sweden as far as I know)

Still have some issues with shrink at the ends, but if I just can secure
them, its not far from done. And I think the result is pretty good actually.

Ive painted the body just to see the shape of it easier .
(PINK was the only color I had laying around, bought it in the 90's)

http://rsb.se/arena/attachment.php?a...8&d=1205995358

I really like the look of this car. What does it drive like ? are you still making the one with inboard shocks

Also where do you race :)

It drives really well!
Especially through corners it can carry alot more speed than conventional 2wd's.
Both spectators and compeditors have commented on this at races.

As soon as the body gets finished Ill test drive it outdoors "in the dirt",
really interesting to see how it handles on loose surface.

Yeah, Im still working pn the lay down shock configuration,
a very slow progress so far though :( ..but in the not so far future perhaps ;)

Next indoor race is this weekend(29/3), thats the final of the indoor season,
after that we start racing outdoors.. yeah!

I live in Åmål, Sweden
(we have just started an RC-club, and are currently building an offroad racetrack!)

Body v2
 

Just finished the second body.
It turned out OK, Ill use it on the upcoming race this saturday.

Ill put some more effort into painting next time around,
when I have some more time on my hands..

http://rsb.se/arena/attachment.php?a...3&d=1206574196

http://rsb.se/arena/attachment.php?a...5&d=1206574196

Looks great!

yeh, looks really good.

not too sure on the front wheels though LOL

Whats wrong with the front wheels!?!
..They're vintage "hopups" from back in the day.. (95' or something)
Personally I think they look awesome! :D

These are not my racing tyres btw

I thought those were the standard in Europe. I hardly see dished wheels in the gallery.

Here in Sweden most drive with Dishwheels, only a few with spoked
..for example Jconcept rims, or outdated ones form the 90's :rolleyes:

http://rsb.se/gallery/files/2/20070811_elbuggy_2.jpg

The speeddemon was ace today and took the win in all 3 A-main legs at the finale of Middle Swedish Electric car Cup. :thumbsup:

Well done. You ought to be proud - it's nice to see something different.

Great news! Congratulations! Did you race mod?

yeah he did.. its the only class over here :)

Yeah, I somehow managed to win this one!
Never really got the car setup perfectly, had some trouble with tractionroll in some corners when pushing it too hard,
and also Im pretty sure I had the slowest car down the straight(ran a 12*1 Peak Racing David Spashett motor with 5cells).. other from that the car worked great!

The new body and my Ko-propo 2413 servo made the car almost too light (with 5cell battery),
had to put an 10g weight on it! =1480g tot, It was about 50g lighter than a B4.

Erkan had the quickest laptime of the day though, bout 0.3sec faster than my best lap.
If you only had ran a little more consistent yould be the one to take top honors!!

The SpeedDemon
 

A better picture of the car with its new body:
http://rsb.se/gallery/files/3/2/4/4/...eddemon002.jpg

It looks amazing, just the front tower looks so...untrendy.

:D Yeah isnt it cool!?! hehe
(I dont follow no trends, I do what I feel like..)

Ive thought about making a new chassis with an RB5 front end, but I dont know..
It feels good to pay tribute to the B2, as it was the first car I had that I felt
I could be as quick as Anybody at the tracks.. and maybe its part of what makes this car fast as well..?

if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Great work, looks great!!:thumbsup:

Thanks Tom,
Yeah, I think Ill save that money and put it on new motor and batteries.
Ill put some more effort into making progress on the laydown shock concept as well.. going nowhere recently :(

But in my head the design is almost finished!
Its "just" a matter of getting it all into place and finding/manufacturing parts that fit!

i like the "just" :lol:

Exactly! :bored:

Yesterday I did some CAD-drawing in Pro-E.
Its really tricky to get it all to fit, BUT It'll look so damn sweet if it works!!

If I have some more time this afternoon, Ill post a sneakpeak of the progress here soon..

How the heck did you make such a nice body using a fanta bottle?
Can you tell me the process?:)
top work nice to see radical designs beating everything~!

G

Gaz,

Its just about making a mould from balsa or a special clay, depends how much you want to spend, and getting a heat gun to soften the plastic then mould it over the mould, northy has done it too, but he uses Oasis, i think its slightly more refreshing:thumbsup:

http://www.oople.com/rc/photos/kidde.../NO5E1508.html

Gaza; If you look earlier in the thread, youll see that I have posted
a picture of the balsa"core" inside a 2L Fanta bottle.

The bottle has been cut open in the bottom to make it possible to slide the core inside.
I use a heatgun to warm the material, the PET bottle then tries to get back to its original shape
(which is a really small tube) and thereby gets a snugg fit to the core!

But it makes a "tent" over any concave shapes, as the material gets as "short" as possible..

Qualifying in Falun (29/3-08)
 

A photo from the race in Falun.
The cars are lined up for a qualifying heat.

Its pretty slim compared to the Associated, Losi and Kyosho cars..

http://rsb.se/gallery/files/2/5/6/2/dsc00164.jpg

First outdoor race of the season..
 

Hi
The progress of the laydown suspension isnt coming along as I would've wanted..
I may have to put it on hold for a while.
Im thinking of making a new chassis including a RB5 front end instead,
not as innovative as lay downs, but would be pretty sweet anyhow.

Tomorrow is the first outdoor race for the season, in Örebro, Sweden.
There has litterally been an explotion of entries for this race, as over 70 people have signed up!!
(compared to last year; about 20-30people/race)

I have done some testing with the car on the local OR-track here i Åmål, and the conclution is: SLIPPERY.
When accelerating you have to be super gentle on the gas, otherwise it gets uncontrollable..
Although, it goes very smooth over bumps(the local track is VERY bumpy) and it jumps very good!

Well, there are about 40people racing 2wd on tomorrows race,
Ill be lucky if I reach the B-finals!

Race summary:
Couldnt get any traction on the rear wheels!

I attached a 140g weight behind the rear shocktower,
I found the car almost undrivable without it.

My best laptime was low 24 sec, compared to the fastest drivers that drove high 22's.
I was driving at the edge to uncontrollable just to keep up..
and because of that many mistakes were made.

Qualified at 19th place, 9th in the B-Finals.

Due to bad luck in both B-finals I ended up at 10th place.
20th place overall out of 38 racers.

I guess its not all that bad, but my conclution is that the car doesnt seem
to have enough traction on slippery tracks to be competative.

As sad as it sounds midmotor cars go fantastically when you have lots of grip, carry a lot of speed round corners and jump very nicely and and and...

Once it gets slippy though they turn pretty much undriveable. I have seen this at a couple of races now with homebuilt and X-Factory cars. They go really well on carpet or bluegroove but as soon as it gets dusty they really struggle to get the power down out of corners.

Your car does look really nice though :) Just put it away for the next winter indoors season...