wtcc5's M-Chassis Development

[wtcc5 5496]

M-chassis and me are a kind of hate-love. Scale and size are wonderful and effectively what I feel is the perfect size for an Indoor R/C car. The available bodies are beautiful and a nice contrast to the 1/10 bodies. What never caught me are the chassis underneath. Everything coming from Tamiya is bulky plastic with a lot of strange geometry and restricted suspension. Other manufacturers like Carten have nice chassis, but don't seem to take it serious regarding racing. Still except for my heavily modified Carten I could not convince me to run any M-chassis so far. Xpress is very very close to the ultimate racing machine I imagine, especially with the Arrow AM1 (I love the drivetrain ).

Having seen the new Opel Kadett GTE body from Tamiya, I thought now would be a good time (also other projects are on hold until parts arrive). Idea and concept are simple to write down: Based on my proven KRv5 platform a new carbon M-chassis will be designed using the TT-02/XV-02 drivetrain.

Today I took some first measurements, rearranged, proved the package and intended parts. It seems to work fine so far:

 

Of course, this is just the beginning and problems galore will occur soon, but I want to try to make it happen.

[Pylon80 3317]

What a nice surprise and what an interesting timing as well, with an upcoming AWD m chassis from Tamiya

Following this with a great deal of interest!

[wtcc5 5496]

@Pylon80 Yeah… I first wanted to use the XM-01 as basis for this project, but again there would be no possibility to integrate a proper suspension or have a middle motor position. That’s why I chose the Carbon chassis way.

[Honza 1088]

Looking forward to this What drivetrain cases/bulkheads are you going to use, custom? MB-01? Or AM-1? I like it's drivetrain as well, and it seems, that they can drop into whatever belt-driven chassis bulkheads one wants.

 

[wtcc5 5496]

@Honza: I want to make simple design 3d print parts as bulkheads to have the freedom for a tight package, especially around the differentials.

[Butler 338]

I think a few cars in Tamiyas fleet would benefit from being designed around a shorty lipo. So a good project. 👍🏻