Originally posted by Big Bird:
I haven't seen the UC Berkeley car, but like the idea of a "quick build" design.
I've always had this desire to build an "Anti-Technology Special":
- Steel spaceframe
- Swing axles F&R
- Direct acting shocks
- Pitman arm steering
- Spool
- 10" aluminium wheels
- air-cooled single cyl engine
- carbureted
- balsa bodywork (with a nice baltic pine stain)
- No aero
- No carbon
- Something made of dried kelp
Objective - build the simplest, lowest parts count, lowest process count car possible within the rules.
Swing axles? Why not? We were so close to it with our early geometry, why not go a little further and remove two chassis node points per corner. Simplifies upright articulation too.
Balsa bodywork? Make the thing look like a flying fruit box. Maybe allow on compound curved panel for the nose cone and a bit of a "bonnet" - polished aluminium?
Carbureted? Just coz I'm lazy, and I have seen Tokyo Denki whipping nearly all with a carbed 450 in 2002
Kelp? Damn cool material. Light, tough, formable, and at the end of the day you can shred it and serve it with Japanese noodles.
Pitman arm steering - light, almost friction free, no outboard bearings to bind a rack up.
Motor - Honda XR400 with electric start?? Single gear?? JAP speedway motor with electric start? Maybe kick or pull start from the cockpit (hey, it is a fantasy, OK?).
I reckon it would be a good challenge, cheap, easy to build, and I'd love to see how close you could get to the front with it...