Fenix Racing have introduced a carbon fibre chassis for the company’s Serpent SF2 Rattlesnake conversion as well as steering blocks for most formula cars. Starting with the chassis, the included parts are cut from 2.5mm carbon fibre and they fits Fenix’ conversion kit for the SF2 car. Offering more flex the chassis conversion will make for improved traction in lower grip conditions.
Serpent have introduced new gear differentials with foam volume compensators. Coming from the mind of Serpent designer Billy Easton, the diff cases offer additional holes that can take foam inserts to compensate the increase in oil volume once the diff fluid becomes warmer during use. As the foam inserts become compressed the internal pressure of the oil remains at a controlled level which results in a more consistent diff action even in hour-long mains and at high ambient temperatures. Included with the diffs, that are available as 44T front or rear as well as 46T centre diff, come slightly curved spring steel main gears and pinions as well as lightened spring steel outdrives.
Coming from Serpent and made for the SRX8 1/8th off-road buggy are new front and rear aluminium chassis braces and titanium-nitride coated shock shafts. Starting with the chassis stiffeners, the parts are machined from 7075-T6 material and they come grey anodised to match the remainder of the car’s option parts. A replacement for the standard composite parts the alloy braces reduce the chassis’ flex which can be beneficial in certain track conditions. Heavy machining keeps the weight gain at a minimum without sacrificing strength. The braces are available separately for the front and rear.
Following first official outings of Serpent’s Project 4-X 1/10th scale electric touring car, the company now released more information on the somewhat revolutionary car. Designed by David Ehrbar the vehicle features an all-new suspension and damper design that allows for a separate adjustments of the roll and heave damping by using compact damper units and specially designed linkages; the shocks are actuated using ball-raced pullrods and rockers that sit very low in the chassis for a much lowered centre of gravity. One-screw ride height adjustments make for fast and easy setup changes despite looking somewhat complicated at the first glance. Inverse steering arms help to have better control over the front wheel’s Ackermann angle. Also part of the package are quick release mounts for the new front spool and rear gear differential. Serpent plans for a kit release in August, in time for the IFMAR Worlds in Beijing, China. We bring you more information and detailed images as soon as they become available.
Serpent have introduced front and rear A-arm carbon fibre inserts for the Cobra SRX8 buggy. Cut from stiff 1.5mm carbon fibre the inserts are usable on the top, bottom or both sides of the wishbones in place for the standard composite inserts, resulting in less flexible arms which in turn leads to a more precise handling especially on high-bite surfaces. With three different configurations per arm the inserts allow for maximum tuneability. The parts use the original mounting hardware and they come in sets of two upper and two lower plates available separately for the front and the rear arms.
Coming from Serpent is a range of new option parts for the Cobra GT 1/8th on-road car. Usable on both the nitro and electric-powered GT are the rear and front diff case spacers. Available separately the spacers mount below the diff cases and optimise the suspension geometry and angle of the driveshafts, resulting in improved traction and more even tyre wear. Made for pre-3.0 nitro kits are the SL8 XLI 2-speed centre blocks and the SL8 XLI 2-speed conversion kit. Standard with the 3.0 the older spec vehicles will profit from the conversion that makes for an overall lighter drivetrain.
McFactory have introduced their all new Type L 1/12th scale conversion kits. The “L” is in honour of National Champion Donny Lia, who was instrumental in the development of this new car. The kits were designed for the new high-bite black CRC carpet and feature inverted sidelink mounts to allow for a narrower chassis that in turn makes for more undisturbed chassis roll on the high-grip carpet without dragging while also moving weight closer to the centre of the car. Also included are raised front carbon bumpers that remove nose weight and solve the dragging issues everyone has on the new carpet. Finally a recessed tape slot in the centre does away with the battery tape getting cut or caught. The Type “L” conversion will be made for the CRC, Team Associated, Serpent, TOP, SpeedMerchant, Roche, and Xray cars with the later will also come with the rear pod moved 2mm towards the diff and a new top plate. Another cool option is the ORCA shock mount with the speedo screwing into the chassis and an upper heatsink carbon fibre brace acting as shock mount. Non Orca kits will utilise the standard shock mounts from whatever chassis is converted.
Serpent have announced the contract termination with German frontrunner, Marc Fischer. The cooperation lasted for about four years with Marc delivering solid national and international results, including a double win at the prestigious Snowbird race. So far the reasons behind the termination remain unclear but this is what Serpent has to say about the move:
The cooperation started about 4 years ago for electric onroad and at times brought good results. We like to thank Marc for his efforts in the past years and wish him well. [As for the] Future Serpent will be expanding its team efforts in electric onroad, as we are about to release the brandnew Project 4-X touringcar and have more plans in the pipeline based on David Ehrbars development work in electric onroad. Some contacts with new team-drivers are in the process already, but interested drivers can drop us an email and we will reply to them in due course.
Source: Serpent [serpent.com]
