New body styling-

[Coelacanth]

You don't have to be a collector to know that something is ugly.

I'm curious how these are appealing to the hard core racer? Do they have better downforce than "normal" style bodies? What is the advantage?

Indeed. Why bother even putting in a squash-top cockpit and just have a simple curved plane? Wouldn't that be more aerodynamic?

[JHarris]

The body isn't supposed to cut through the air like a knife.

The cab forward design moves where the down force is applied. The B4.1 Punisher is a little more stable than the hi flow body. I didn't test against the kit body since I never use them anyway.

I will agree that it isn't the most pleasing thing to look at, but they work. In a choice of fashion and function I will take function every time and then make it look the best I can.

[treehugger]

I will agree that it isn't the most pleasing thing to look at, but they work. In a choice of fashion and function I will take function every time and then make it look the best I can.

well by the response of this thread it shows who takes there craft seriously and those who just bash, i take my hat of to you Jeff,Reg just making passing comments on something is very easy but i understand the hours involved to shave off certain drag .
what sort of wind tunnel program was used ? or was is just old school trial and error ?

Paul

[scr8p]

if i was a pro offroad racer, and needed to run either of those bodies to gain back the .1-.2 i'm losing per lap to guys using them, i would be looking for another class to run. for me, i have to like the looks of the car i'm watching go around the track for 4-5 minutes.

[MelvinsArmy]

I find it difficult to believe that that shape is any aerodynamic advantage, seeing as there is no real life vehicles that look anything remotely close to either of those designs. I'm pretty confident 1:1 designers put a lot more thought into their designs than 1:10 scalers do when it comes to getting an edge in the aerodynamics dept.

I predict in 5 years this will be a funny footnote in the history of r/c, like the S&K Airs bodies of the 90s.

[Coelacanth]

I agree..any miniscule downforce advantage would likely be negated by the tall front shock towers obstructing the airflow.

[JHarris]

Let me first say that I can no longer race on a pro level. Now, with that out of the way.....

There is no wind tunnel testing or anything like that. My own testing was simply what felt best. It's no different than trying different shock oil, springs, shock location, toe, anti squat, camber, caster and so on. Every adjustment on the car is to make it more comfortable for the driver. What I found in trying the Punisher is that the car has a more balanced feel. I'm not saying that the car was out of control and that the Punisher made it perfect, but that I noticed a difference. Could I continue to run the hi flow body and race competitively? Yep. Will I run the Punisher because I liked the way the car felt? Yep.

Just to give perspective to how different people feel their cars, here's a story-

One top level driver (I will not name) was testing the Relux wheels. He swears that his car pushed more with the Relux wheel in the front because the dish of the solid wheel was creating down force on the wheel causing the car to turn. I have run both dish and Relux wheels. Do I notice a difference? No. Different people notice different characteristics. For me, the body makes a difference.

On a side note; the Proline buggy pictured is absolutely hideous. I may not like the look of the Punisher buggy body, but it's nowhere near as bad as the Proline version.

[Charlie don't surf]

DSC_4554_800x531.jpg

I don't think that this is too far out side the box, the PL one really struck me and.........I have a Punisher T4 shell coming, because yeah---faster above all else. If it don't go fast, chrome it.

[losiXXXman]

I'm with the majority... These don't look anything like a real racing buggy. That being said 20 years ago there was a big debaet over whether 2.2 wheels/tires should be allowed, because they basically take "scale" out of racing. In the end we went with the wheels because the performance is just so much better ....so to speak. Couldn't tire manufacturers bitd have created all these patterns in all these compounds in 2.0/2.1 and or 1.9/2.0? Yes, they could have.

As for the additional downforce of the cab forward bodies... I'd just run a clear front spoiler/wing like all the European guys do. Minimal detraction from appearance, excellent benefit in performance.

[acerpower1]

These new bodies look to be of some alien design.
It's a bit to futuristic for me, but maybe the kid's like them.

I wonder how fast the car has to be moving for these bodies to create a noticeable amount of down-force over more traditional designs.

[GJW]

guess it's easier to produce a body to get the desired effect's then other part's (eg flying wing arm's etc) super fuggly body indeed!!!!!!

[purpletimbo]

We call these pre-marshalled, looks like they already got stamped on by a large boot

[AscotConversion]

The JConcepts body is not that bad. The Proline stuff is a heinous eye crime which should never be allowed. If you look at short course trucks, the most explosive growth area in electric off road, the fairly scale but parachute like bodies are not stopping people from racing them. Ever since ROAR stopped approving off road bodies like 20 years ago, they have become generic "buggy" bodies. Not really based on anything, but at least conforming to what we think a "buggy" should look like. This is the overrun from truggies, which is another abomination. They started the "smashed garbage truck" look.

People always argue that they "just want to go fast". That's fine, but if you're going to run this crap on your car, why not just get down to brass tacks and run a flat piece of lexan with some wickers on it for air control? Why bother to make it look like anything at all?

[vwjuice]

If it don't go fast, chrome it.

I love that line. That's funny

[m_vice]

If it don't go fast, chrome it.

I love that line. That's funny

X2 on this line...

I kind of like the new look of the bodies. I really like the Punisher and to me it gives the car a bit of a different look, most buggies now days look the same to me.