Project: Ultimate E-Maxx - Spyder
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Phase III: The Brushless Plunge
Evolution is an undeniable natural occurrence. All things in life go through phases, and I suppose this is how things should be. Sometimes, though, to people like me, evolution becomes a bore to watch as it slowly takes its course. Sometimes you just have to get off your rear and stir up a revolution.
7/2/2001: Over a month has gone by since my last Spyder news and I thought I'd bring some of you up to date. At June 16th's offroad event at Delta R/C, the Spyder brought home its first 1st place plaque, though it barely made it across the finish line with the help of a boost from the top of a hill as its batteries went flat. It's my fault -- I started recharging my batteries for the mains too late in the day! Nonetheless, she was proud of her win over the nitro T-Maxxes.
Immediately after that event, I committed to entering the upcoming two-day "Duel Under Diablo" regional championship to be hosted at the Delta facility. The monster truck "A" main event would be 30 minutes long, and I knew that switching batteries after each 6 or 7 minute charge fizzled out would destroy my chances of placing well. Enter the Modeltech brushless motor system! I knew from customer testimonials that these motors were significantly more power-efficient than conventional brushed motors and I knew from my experiences with the Valkyrie that I stood to gain a lot of torque as well as top speed. On June 24th, six days before Duel Under Diablo qualifying was to begin, the Spyder took the plunge.
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In a hurried test at the Delta track late that afternoon (just before track closing time), speed was amazing, acceleration outstanding and a very comforting 19 minutes of runtime, with no noticeable decrease in power for the first 16.
On qualifying day, I had a great deal of trouble handling the newfound power, running 8 cells in series for the heats, and I found myself frequently underestimating my rate of acceleration and landing the jumps too deep, flipping end over end and losing precious seconds (which sometimes seemed like minutes) as I waited to be righted by the corner marshals. I comfortably made the "A" main out of a field of 18 trucks, of which mine was the only electric.
In the main event, itself, I tried to run easy and consistent, with some success, staying towards the head of the pack, aided by my ability to go 15 minutes without taking a pit stop. At the midpoint, I came in for a battery change, which the race announcer timed at an impressive 42 seconds; in rehersals earlier, it had taken no less than a full minute. Roughly 18 minutes into the race, a right front shock came loose and about three minutes later, the left front lower pillow ball pulled out of its a-arm, leaving the Spyder limping around on three wheels. Undaunted, I continued around the track, encouraged by an ever increasing number of spectators as well as the announcer himself: "Leave that car on the track -- Jang will finish this race." Finish I did, bringing home the 3rd place trophy. Yes, it did run for 9 minutes in the condition you see here:
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As it turns out, I put in the fastest lap time of the event, beating out the quickest T-Maxx by a half-second. After all official races were complete, I entered an impromptu fence-jumping contest and flew a good 9' into the air off the high-banked turn at the back of the track! What fun!
I think my next mini-project with the Spyder will be to install 1/8th scale buggy wheels and tires on it, stiffen up the suspension and race it in the 1/8th scale sportsman buggy class!
10/10/2001: Ah, it feels so good to be back. The poor Spyder has been sitting in a box since my last update almost 3 months ago, still not unpacked from the Duel Under Diablo championship. Last week I got it back into shape after settling into my new home (complete with full garage to use partially as a workshop!). Saturday I went out to Delta for my big comeback and had a ball while tearing up the track! With a stiffer spring rate and lower stance than ever, the Spyder demonstrated a level of handling that finally began to approach my ambitious target. Encouraged, I decided to take another huge step forward, and this is what happened:
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This takes me just that much closer to the Ultimate E-Maxx Chassis, on which prototype I will now be working again. The lowered battery trays are the same trays I've been using all along, simply cut-out trays from a spare chassis tub, but instead of mounting them under the stock trays, I've bolted them directly to the chassis braces. Surely, this does increase the risk of high-centering, but the Spyder is not a rock climber -- it is a pure maximum-performance racer.
I'll be further refining this modification over the next couple of weeks, removing the stock chassis tub structures that I no longer meed in order to save weight and further simplify the design of the vehicle.
11/21/2001: My revolt against the big-tired 1/8th scale buggies masquerading as monster trucks is complete. I have turned the Spyder into a small-tired monster truck masquerading as an 1/8th scale buggy!
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Gearing up to 20/68 with the single Modeltech brushless motor, it has become the fastest electric vehicle at our track and one of the fastest off-road vehicles around the course, period! It is pulling 28-second lap times, and our fastest racers are the top expert 1/8th scale buggy drivers, who run regular 27-second times. I'll play around with this configuration for a little while, hopefully participating in a couple of races, before switching back to monster mode. Be sure to check out the new adrenalin-filled video of one of its test runs below:
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12/31/2001: Not much of an update today, but I've sold four of my Ultimate E-Maxx Racing Motor Mounts, including the original production prototype, so to replace it, I've just made a new one that only holds one motor (hey, who needs room for two when you're brushless?).
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