chassis flex?

[racingdwarf]

Hi all

one of the many things that has made me scratch my head over the years is chassis flex

some cars like the losi22,vega etc have very little if any flex, but others,the b4,the centro seem to have some, in the case of the centro it would appear to be one of the main handeling features

So what are the pro's and cons? one of my cars at the min is a madmonkey with some heavy modification, but it has tons of flex,is this going to work agenst me on high grip indoor tracks???

dave

[sosidge]

Flex gives a feeling of grip and can cover up inconsistencies in the setup.

It can also make the car feel inconsistent in high-grip conditions, and may also make it feel like it doesn't respond well to your setup changes.

On a high-grip track, if the car feels inconsistent at the limit, you might want to try increasing the chassis stiffness. Rather like you might consider a stiffer spring.

[Legacy555]

I saw the amount of flex in the Centro and decided to introduce some flex into my DEX210 to see what the results were.

I removed the two screws from the topdeck that screw in on either side of the servo and removed the top and bottom screws where the side pod and servo mounting plates meet.

The result was that the front end seemed to "hang-on" under power exiting tight corners and it also changed direction through the corners more easily. I would compare it to reducing the droop on the front end without comprimising landind stability after jumps.

[Chrislong]

There are different types of flex. Here is my opinion - may be wrong, its from my experience.

Alloy flex's differently to CF/Composite type materials. For example CF flex's and springs back like a tight spring, and with an too flexible CF chassis this will make the car grip roll violently! I experienced this with the Academy SB-Sport.

Alloy flex's more lazy and this flex can translate into a more forgiving and high grip feeling (but only if not excessive).

And then plastics are different again, a bit more like alloy than CF, but you can't have too much flex as then it risks becoming fragile. Going to a carbon composite like factory team B4 chassis just reduces flex whilst becoming lighter over plastic.

Personally, if plastic or alloy flex is good to a point - not excessive. If CF or a woven material like Schumacher S1, then id aim for stiffer than flex, to avoid the unpredictable grip roll on high grip tracks.