RC Maker BD12 SlimFlex chassis & topdecks
RC Maker has released a number of carbon parts for Yokomo’s recently released BD12 electric touring car. The range includes SlimFlex 2.2mm Regular & HARD Carbon Chassis and SlimFlex 2.0mm & 1.6mm Topdeck Sets. The third in their SlimFlex range of Enhanced Carbon Chassis’, the Yokomo BD12 chassis and ‘Hard’ chassis’ feature a narrower chassis all round to provide less scrubbing in corners, leading to increased corner speed. This increases flex, so to counteract this, we have recessed the diff and spool cutouts instead of cutting them all the way through. Not only does this bring the chassis back up to our desired amount of flex, it also improves aerodynamic performance by not preventing air from under the chassis being forced up into the car, detrimental to downforce. Overall, the chassis is slightly stiffer than the kit chassis, and provides improved response. The hard version chassis features a significantly stiffer weave of carbon, which reduces the flex greatly. The flex of this carbon chassis fills a large void between a standard carbon chassis and an aluminium chassis, making it the optimum choice for med-high traction asphalt, and low-med traction carpet. Often track conditions can cause the need for an “in between” option, where an aluminium chassis is too stiff and makes the car too easy to drive and slower, and a carbon chassis is too aggressive or difficult to drive to be consistent. The stiff carbon chassis is the perfect middle ground.
Developed together with World Class Yokomo Factory drivers, the SlimFlex Carbon Topdeck Sets (2.0mm and 1.6mm options) significantly improves the handling of your BD12! It substantially improves the flex characteristics and improves balance and corner speed, as proven in the lap-times! The design of the topdeck is unique. Due to the shortened flex points, it was important for us to extend the topdeck material as long as possible, especially in the front, to get the desired flex characteristics. This shape shifts the flex point forward to improve balance. In the rear, we tested the same design as the front, however due to the A.T.F in the rear, we opted to go with a more conventional shape to ensure the ATF could work consistently. At the same time this gave us the optimal flex at the rear which needed to be a lot stiffer than the front due to the ATF. The topdeck features 2 pivot screw positions in each for adding or removing flex (1 screw soft, 2 screws hard), which is a great way to tune the overall amount of flex in the front or rear of the car. The topdecks also feature “cuttable” tabs, which can shift the flex point forwards or backwards. Cutting the tabs will increase the flex of the car where cut.
Asphalt or low grip carpet, cutting one or both front tabs depending on the desired amount of steering (more cuts = more steering). However too much flex here could make the car hard to drive, so cut the tabs one at a time. On Med/High traction carpet tracks or very high traction asphalt, it could be desirable to leave all tabs in place to stiffen the car and make it easier to drive on the high grip. SlimFlex topdecks are precision CNC Machined in house in Australia from high quality 3K Carbon Fibre. They come with 2x Precision Machined Topdeck Screws which can be used to mount the front and rear topdeck (1 each). The 1.6mm Option is for Low Grip Asphalt & Carpet when paired with an Alu Chassis.
Source: RC Maker [rcmaker.com.au]
