Building the 416 for racing part 5

ALUMINIUM SPRING RETAINER

These we use because they should keep the springs better aligned in the center of the damper rod. If the spring is not well aligned it can cause more friction from the damper rod sealings.Damper retainer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FLOURINE BALL CONNECTORS

These minimizes the friction from the connecting points for the damper on the damper mount and on the suspension arm.ball connectors

July 9, 2009

Building the 416 for racing part 4

RACE SUSPENSION

We have pre assembled new suspension components that will be used only for races. We will replace the complete front and rear uprights together with the driveshafts to limit running on these important components. The uprights are built with Square titanium wheel axles, TRF flourine sealed  bearings, aluminium driveshafts front and rear and low friction lubrication for the driveshaft joint. For testing we will use the normal uprights and steel driveshafts but for races we replace them with these complete uprights.

race uprights

July 8, 2009

Testing update

The recent high outdoor temparetures was a good opportunity to do some hot weather testing with track surface temperatures reaching 45 degrees.  Most of the testing was done with the same specification of Sweep tyres that are used in the ETS series. We found that the tyres have a very high wear rate which is worrying as only one set of tyres is allowed for qualifying. But we expect the tyre wear will be less at the Andernach track.  The Sweep tyres have a lot less grip than the normal LRP 27. The car is understeering more with Sweep but the grip level is high at Andernach so the balance might still be quite good there with the same set up.03072009111

  03072009117

July 5, 2009

Building the 416 for racing part 3

SQUARE TITANIUM WHEEL AXLES

These are light only 2,3 g / pc. Less than half the weight of the standard axles. Lowering weight this far out of the corners of the car should improve cornering speed and steering due to less polar moment of inertia. Soon to be tested to see if its effect can be felt on the track.

square

July 5, 2009

Building the 416 for racing part 2

RIEMON TITANIUM TURNBUCKLES

We have been searching for these type of turnbuckles for the upper suspension and steering arms for a long time. The Riemon Speed Works titanium turnbuckels are a lot easier to adjust because they have a hole in the middle instead of the hexagon part that is normally used on turnbuckles.  These have already been on the car for some time and I’m very happy with them. Ask www.racingfactory.fi if you need help finding these parts.

RiemonRiemon 2

June 30, 2009

Building the TRF416 for racing part 1

The Tamiya TRF 416 WE out of the box is already a high level racing racing chassis but we try to improve it. Lots of new parts in preparation for the upcoming races. Follow the building process as we prepare the 416 for competition.

new parts june 09

June 28, 2009

New TRF 416 experimental chassis

CAD pictures of two new experimental upper chassis soon to be tested.

Chassis rear cut out

 

 

Option chassis

June 18, 2009

LIPO battery weights

With the introduction of the 100 g lighter LIPO batteries for this season ballast needs to be added to the car. The ultimate solution was to use LIPO batteries that have a flat bottom and glue heavy tungsten plates to the bottom of the battery.

The tungsten alloy material used is 60% more dense than lead and stonger than steel making it very suitable for gluing the plates to the battery. Formula 1, Le Mans prototypes etc. use this material as ballast because you get a lot of weight in a small space. 

Total weight for 6 plates is 85 g and the complete LIPO battery weight is 370 g with car center of gravity as low as possible.

Gluing lipo

Gluing the weights. Using a chassis plate as template for positioning of the weights.

Robitronic LIPO

Center of gravity as low as possible.

LIPO Weight

Same weight as a 5 cell NIMH battery.

June 13, 2009

STCC Gelleråsen 2009

 

June 6, 2009

TRF 416 Testing may 2009

Outdoor testing started early this year with the first runs at the local track in Vasa already in April. Starting with the TRF team standard outdoor setup as a base together with lessons learned last year, the car has so far been handling a lot better than last year so I’m confident that I will have a really good car for the ETS race in Germany this summer.

early spring testing

Testing in may

Vasa 2 may

Clubrace 2nd may

June 6, 2009

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