D09 Tidbits
I have recently changed over to the VBC family and would like to thank Dave for the first introduction to this car, and to Victor for the opportunity to represent VBC for this competition year.
Got a chance to build the D09 and thought I'd throw some of my thoughts about the car on here. These are based on the new changes to the car and some are base knowledge from previous vbc cars.
One of the changes that hasn't been mentioned much, is the new rear uprights, they have changed from one hole to two holes, so in combination with these and the new upper bulkhead holders, that now have two holes instead of three a very short link can be had. The only issue you'll run into is that the tie rod is too long at 32mm and should be changed out to 26mm. In my testing I found the original one hole upright gave me the feel I was looking for on the car, so its a nice option to tune with. The car was very responsive to this change as well which surprised me.
Another change on the car, is there is no longer a hole in the chassis for access to the pinion setscrew. The top deck has been changed to allow for access to the setscrew from the top although this is tight for adjustment now. This is probably because of the way the new motor mount is configured.
The rear body posts now mount on the back of the shock tower, so if you want to use your existing bodies from the D08 or previous, you'll have to elongate the rear holes.
The rest of the car is pretty straight forward and the car was a easy build with no issues.
I can't confirm this but the diff gears seem to be a different material and the first build on the diff is very smooth and has no tight feel to it at all.
The countersink on the screw holes of the aluminum chassis are nice and deep so no screw heads stick out, they seem to center the parts better as well.
Some parts weight comparisons;
Stock bumper = 6g
Hard bumper = 17g
Graphite chassis = 65g
Aluminum chassis = 92g
silver arms = 9g
red arms = 10g ***Ive heard that there is more of a weight difference though, but can't confirm this.
My previous car ran the gold plastics which where very durable and gave the car a good planted feel. The D09 I built with the red plastics. I feared that the arms being harder would also be more brittle, but they seem to be as durable as the previous parts, just harder and darker in color.
The new designed suspension insert holders have all but eliminated the previous issues the D08 had blowing the inserts out. Well worth the upgrade on the previous car.
Once I get some more track time on the car I'll post again. My first runs so far so the car carries good corner speed and plants itself nicely on our grey mid/high grip track.
If you have any other questions about the car, feel free to ask.