Gertman's F-1 thread

[gertman]

Hey, hey

My Formula Digi-Q finally arrived yesterday!! Before I give my thoughts on it, I want to describe some things about it that have been abscent in other threads.

First of all, I know someone is going to ask this question:

What is the difference in size between the Formula Digi Q and an Epoch?

Well, here is the answer:

[gertman]

A dead-on side view:

[gertman]

Here is one with some height:

[gertman]

From the front:

[gertman]

As everyone who has one found out, the car steers with the REAR wheels like a regular Digi Q. BUT the difference is, the front wheels are hooked together with a tie-rod and will turn left and right. This does assest in helping the car turn tighter than if they didn't turn at all.

An important note to add here is the front tires are plastic and the rear are rubber EXACTLY like a regular Digi Q.

Getting back to the front end................the front "suspension" is a rigid swing axile. It rotates about the center of the car. The red arrows indicate the direction of possible motion. A red dot in the appoximate center about which the whole assembly is able to rotate. The red line is the approximate center of the axile.

See the picture below:

[gertman]

The front assembly is complete with knuckles and a tie-rod. The motion described in the previous post is ALL the "suspension" or movement the car has in the front or rear. So there is NO WAY the car could bottom out!!

Here is a close-up of a knuckle and tie-rod:

[gertman]

Here is another picture of the whole front swing arm suspension:

[gertman]

For those of you who can't tell, still confused, or having the pictures come out dark, I have color keyed the picture:

The lower suspension arm. Remember it is ONE straight piece.

This is the upper suspension arm. It too is ONE straight piece.

Neither side of the suspension can move independently from one another.

this is the tie-rod that connects each front knuckle (hub)

This tie-rod only connects one knuckle to the other, it is not driven nor does it drive anything else!!

[gertman]

Now, as far as how all this stuff works........................

I think it works better than the regular Digi Q BUT certianly NOT better than servo controlled front steering aka an Epoch.

As far as speed, it is about 1/3 slower than a regular Digi Q.

I have primarily been driving it on a rather slick wooden floor. I think it drifts rather well and is not as squairlly compared to a regular Digi Q because of the longer wheel-base (The F-1 is over twice as long as a regular Digi Q and 1/8" wider)

Since everyone else had already said the F-1's didn't steer with the front wheels, I wasn't dissappointed about that. What I was dissapointed about was the speed. I really was expecting for something almost as fast as the regular Digi Q's.

I think this car rates somewhere between a Digi Q an a Bit Char-G. I am glad to have one but I see how others may be very disappointed.

[irc]

Nice review Gert

[gertman]

The remote that comes with the car appears to be a regular ol' Digi Q Special only black. BUT, as many have found out it ONLY works with a Digi Q Formula.

The car is attached to the back of the remote for charging BUT it is not recessed as in the regular Digi Q's. Also there is a button that when depressed raises the battery charging contacts.

[gertman]

Now, when I just manually rotate the left rear wheel, the front wheels turn right, as they should. BUT, when I turn the right rear wheel, the front wheels only turn slightly left. I have been trying to figure out exactly why with not much luck. It seems the pins on which the tie-rods rotate were heated and flowered (mushroomed) to hold the tie-rod on. This basically means it's permanently on there

As far as how this effects handling:

The car makes MUCH sharper right turns BUT it also spins out more when turning in that direction. I think the car will need a little work with the front end to improve the handling.

[GTR]

looks flimsy...

[henry]

is it faster then epoch?

[gertman]

Ummm sorry to burst your bubble here Henry, BUT I did say that the F-1's are slower than regular Digi Q's. And since Epoch's are faster than Digi Q's it would be reasonable to assume that F-1's are slower still than an Epoch.