Most of our rather well-informed readers will be more than aware of Tekno RC – a company known for the most part for it’s rather delicious electric conversion kits, turning those dirty, noisy and smelly things into sleek electric wonders, however after the uber-successful release of their full 1/8 electric buggy,the EB48 it seemed only a matter of time before Tekno got their hands dirty. (yeah, an attempt at a pun!)
“We are very excited to introduce the NB48, a completely new 1/8th Nitro Buggy. Built on the hot-selling EB48 and SCT410 platform, it shares many parts already available around the world. But the real fun begins when you start to notice the details and optimizations we put into the vehicle. Like its electric counterpart, the EB48, this is not a conversion – it’s a ground up nitro design.”
Tekno RC focused a great deal of time on chassis balance and distribution, founder Daniel Lewis explained that throughout the process he saw a lack of optimisation – with some cars too heavy on the right (rear diff output is offset too far) whilst others were more balanced but with engine and weight not centralised – rear diff output not offset enough.
We achieved ideal side-to-side weight by creating an all new mid-offset rear bulkhead and ring gear. It moves the engine closer to the center without overloading the right side. It also minimizes drive angles and wear on the center dog bones. The drivetrain is as free as can be without sacrificing chassis layout and weight balance on the very narrow 4mm 7075 CNC hard anodized aluminum chassis.
The next question was, “do we put the weight forward or back?” How about both? The engine can be mounted in two positions, a front position and an 18mm offset rear position. Under most conditions, the motor forward produces the fastest cornering and subsequent lap times. In very bumpy or very loose conditions testing shows the rear engine position can be easier to drive.
The last challenge with weight distribution is how low you can place it. Following a design cue from the EB48, we created the radio tray and the right mudguard as one piece. This allowed the RX battery to essentially sit on the chassis producing the lowest CG possible. The RX sits right behind the battery and the throttle servo is mounted behind the RX. Wiring is clean and easy with almost no exposed wires. Finishing off the radio tray are integrated transponder, switch, and antenna mounts. The entire radio tray/mud guard can be removed with only 6 screws making cleaning your new nitro ride an easy task.
The throttle and brake linkage setups were approached with precision and consistency in mind. The throttle is pulled by a CNC machined assembly riding on ball bearings. Yes, it costs more to produce, but we thought a system so critical to the performance of a nitro vehicle should be perfect.
See www.TeknoRC.com
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A few weeks ago we posted a teaser article about a brand new car in the making, the company behind it – SOAR – is one that we’ve featured a couple of times, originally starting out in the engine market, SOAR have been hard at work designing and developing their 1/8 offroad buggy project – the S44.
