DSPPC EXP3 MID kit Cougar

[Djerk]

Update:

It has been a little quite here, so short update.

As some of you know, i am recovering from a hard Corona virus impact. As for that, i am now getting up my feet again, and can meet people again (doin fine now, only not enough oxygen in my blood)
Also, some of you here, have seeing me busy with finishing some other projects, as i could lock myself up in the garage! Haha.

So... last weekend, Marijn and me had a good session to get through all the last details before we can fully test the final (hope so) parts.
What we will change:
- new front shocktower
- totally new designed front bulkhead (we have to step away fron the “vintage” designs to make it much stronger).
- new front shock support brace
- sidepods to have easy access to rear suspension mounts, and additional mounting holes for a cradle lipo holder
- rear bumper reviewed
And... some other little details, which will be fixed when the kits will be produced.

We are going to test these parts in a new printed material from 3D systems, “Duraform EX Black”.
I have received some parts recently from them, and it’s looking really promising!

This all will going to take some time, and we hope within 3/4 weeks to go to the track again (this is not a daytime job...).

One thing has been arranged currently, a friend of us has made a slick logo !!
Lolo Des deserves some credits, so here is the new logo (decals have been ordered, and will be included in the kit!)

[Djerk]

Today.... was a BIG day!!!
Testing the new designed parts for the DSPPC EXP3 MID project!! !

(This is a looong story!!)

The last couple of weeks, we where busy with redesigning the whole concept.
Since the last trials, we discovered some challenges.
The front suspension plate was broken, by a frontal impact with a 8th scale car. And with building the kit, we have seen some points, which could be optimized.

So, we started working on the final prints.
Marijn did some amazing engineering again, and we ended up, to redesign every 3D printed part!

So, now we have build the car again, from scratch.
And, today we went out for the first shake-down!!

I invited Jordy van de Ven, to have the car tested.
Jordy is a 2WD specialist, and runs Asso B6.2 with 7.5T motors.
His setpoint was 42sec average per lap on our local track.

Now it was up to me (as a mechanic), and the Prototype DSPPC car....
With the first rough setup.

First, some specs:
Hobbywing XR10 Pro Gen2 ESC
Hobbywing V10 8.5T motor
Spur gear 92
Pinion 23
Rear tires, Mezzo yellow
Front tires, cut stagger

Here we go.....!!

After the first few rounds, we changed the shock positions, and some little mods.
The laptime was about 48seconds.

Now, with a slightly improved setup, we did a few rounds again. The car felt better, was more in balance.
Laptimes did not went down, and Jordy explained the car was less responsive.

At this time, i worked on the turnbuckle positions, and made some improvements on the steering. We also noticed one front shock was bad, and after investigating we saw one E-Clip came loose from the piston rod.
So... Again, we did 5 laps.
This time, again 1second off per lap!! We where at 46 sec average!

Jordy told me again his feeling, and what handling was more or less off.
Changed the rear oil to 300CST.
Set the ridehight to 20 rear, and 17 front.
Changed the shock position back to the first point.
Did a total check of the car, and off he went again....

Now, after several laps, Jordy was hitting the 45sec mark, and one round was a 44sec lap!!!

So, we where VERY happy with this all.
We tried to go further, but... rain started coming in, and because i was so busy, forgot the charge some extra batteries.... .

So, after a looong day running the prototype, the car stayed in one piece!!
The potential is there to make it a wee bit faster.
And considering Jordy was not pushing the car to 100% (respecting this is only the first prototype).

Jordy’s feedback: it’s fast, it’s different and feels a lot like an oldscool car, and modern dirtcars compared to the modern carpet Asso’s he is driving.
The jumping, and landing jumps can be improved (will work on that).
And since we only did one day of practice, he found that we have gained a lot of speed.

As for now, i will keep on working with the car, and i will invite some other fast guys to do some test runs.
After these trials, i will go start working on the kit pricings.

So, i will have to keep you guys waiting.... and it’s worth waiting!!!

Enjoy the photos!

[KidAgain]

Man that looks great...................... nice write up bud..

[Djerk]

Been a while to write some words again..
Well, we have been quite busy! Haha!

Since the last time, lotta things happend, and one of those topics, was to sell a batch of the DSPPC EXP3 MID kits..
We have had 10 people to be interested in the first batch!

It was A LOT of work, to get things sorted…
- ordering parts
- production of the 3D printed Duraform EX Black parts.
- CarbonFibre milling production
- collecting all bits, and doin QC’s
- preparing a build flow, as also a manual
- wrap, bag and tag.

This hard work payed off, and the first 10 (hand-signed) kits are with the new owners!!

So.. just some pictures to let you see/feel how these projects are evolving!

[Djerk]

For the ones who are interested in a nice build thread, have a look here:
This gives you a perfect idea how these kits are put together….

https://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?t=46892