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Sand Rover - driving the modified Tamiya model car
Driving performance both with a standard 540 and an Orion 15t Havok motor
At last, time to drive this model car after the many hours of work.
First test drive took place in a smooth empty parking lot on a Sunday. Worn out Madave Cobra rear tyres were fitted to the back of the Sand Rover and a 540 motor used. Power was supplied from a 7.2 volt 1700mah nicad pack.
Great, it works! This is always a good start. The car moves off with a decent amount of acceleration up to a fairly reasonable top speed for 540 electric car. Turns are positive with a gentle tendency to oversteer which can be controlled with the throttle stick, so much for expecting bags of understeer due to no differential.
With the 540 motor this car handles sweet.
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Into full reverse and snap the front around, no prob. Full forward, lock the back up swinging it around into full reverse, then snapping the front around in a full 360 degree, yeah man!
The only snag so far encountered is a tendency for the left front wheel to tuck under sometimes. Everything else working just fine.
Enough of the low power already, time for a bigger motor.
I fitted the Orion 15t Havok motor together with a larger pinion. Everything else remained the same. First test was on an empty wet sand surfaced bridle way and grass, oh dear, wheel spin and nothing much moving. Yeah I still had the worn out tyres fitted. So, off to a piece of tarmac instead. The 15 turn motor has probably aproaching twice the power of the 540 motor. The Sand Rover really moves under this amount of power. The gentle over-steer now becomes serious problem over-steer if driven with any speed.
I softened the rear suspension and stiffened up the front end. This improved matters, but the car still is tail happy. I like em this way though :-))
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All in all a successful project. The car is great fun to drive and (so far) reliable in operation. It adds satisfaction to the driving experience knowing how much of what you're driving about is your own hard graft.
For my next trick I will simultaneously wheely a Reliant Robin while singing Rule Britania in Swedish and balancing a short pencil out the window with my big toe. This is if I can get my head through the door.
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Sand Rover model car page 1
Sand Rover model car page 2
Sand Rover model car page 3
Sand Rover model car page 4
Sand Rover model car page 5
Driving the Sand Rover car
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