TPHALEN: My comments were in reference to the assembled car, but can be seen either assembled or not. Hopefully, this wont ruffle any feathers... The right side of the chassis does flex more than the left. You can pick your car up and test it for yourself and see. If you take your thumb and place it on the side of the chassis, right in the middle of the servo area, and press towards the centerline of the car, that entire area flexes a great bit more than the same area on the left. The area that is moved out for placement of the servo reduces the stiffness of that side of the car. As a matter of fact, you can press that same area in AND out a great deal more than you can on the left. Yes there is less bracing in that area, between the bottom of the tub and the wall (side) of the chassis when compared to the battery side, but that is almost irrelevant when compared to the amount of material removed for battery placement. Idealistically, a solid piece of material, symmetrical in shape is the best, but design parameters dont allow that. For instance. The chassis bracing (wings) mounting points on the TC3/4 is wider in the back than the front. (the front being closer together, and deeper to the centerline) The FTTC4 is similar front to rear. I cant say they are identical, i do not have an actual car in front of me to mic out, but when compared to the 3 and the 4, the FT rear bracing is similar to the front bracing, both in length and depth, in relation to the centerline of the chassis. This one simple design difference would net a car with more rear traction, if everything else were possibly equal. Im sure the FTTC4 rear bracing is similar to the front bracing, not by design to add rear traction to the car, but to aid in motor removal and installation. The byproduct will be a car, with all things being equal, that will transfer lateral chassis twist across the front as it would across the rear.
I was not bashing on the TC4 design, i have been die hard AE from day one. (since the early 90's) All i was doing was pointing out one of its weaknesses, and that i am glad it has been fixed.
- DaveW
P.S. On a side note, IF the original TC4 tub had no sides, and was a flat plate design with the same overall shape, the effect of the servo area being different in size would be less noticeable. The fact the sides are linked to the lower portion of the chassis AND are mounting points for the "wings" (braces), this will make chassis flex more noticeable.