Recently I've been playing with this carbon fiber converted Mini-Z buggy. There's so much going on in such a small form factor. I was quite happy with the build, until Sai Lai, the creator of the chassis, contacted me with some new information. He was sending me this updated version of the chassis (thanks!). Let's see what's different about this.
First, the bottom plate doesn't have holes anymore below the differentials and center spur gear! If we look at the bottom of the original design, there are slots made to accommodate the gears. While the slots are useful for checking gear meshes, they also expose the gears to more chances of damages. With the bulkhead covers off, we can see the most significant benefit of the v2 chassis. It allows the use of the stock AWD gear differentials that come with MA-020 and MB-010 kits. Not only are they more accessible and cheaper, gear diffs don't need as much maintenance either. They work well.
Another change is the design of the battery holder. It now has an integrated vertical bars to hold the battery in. The original design relies on an extra plastic piece. While it doesn't look as elegant, it holds the 330mah lipo more snugly. Sai also changed the servo horn link and included a 20T horn. That's good for A06CLS, GL003-DMG, and BlueArrow servos. The original servo horn link is more straightforward and thinner, and I think it works better because it stays farther away from the bearing holder.
Let's swap the v1 chassis with the v2. I noticed another nice update here. Below the steering pivot points, Sai installed a couple of thrust bearings. They allow the pivot points to be tight without binding. This is noticeably nicer than the original design. Since I still remembered all the steps in building the buggy, it didn't take very long to disassemble it. Some parts didn't need to be fully disassembled for the transplant. The new chassis came with red anodized hardware. I personally prefer steel hardware so I changed to black or silver.
While I have the chassis in pieces, I'm going to change the drivetrain. Here I'm replacing the 33T spur with a 35T. I'm gearing down the buggy a little bit because I will be putting in a higher KV motor later. As with the original build, there's a need to shim this spot here to keep the prop shaft free. I'm also going to upgrade the servo, from the okay GL 003-DMG to the AGFRC A06CLS. It's stronger and serviceable.
In the previous video, we saw the stock MB-010VE 2.0 being faster. For the carbon buggy, I'm putting in a 5500KV motor. Even with gearing down, it should have 30% more wheel speed. The new motor can is green. The red on the 3500KV certainly fits the rest of the chassis better.
Here's how the battery retainer works. The previous GL 330mah lipo was too thin, so I'm putting in a GensAce 400mah. I loosened the screws on each end a bit to accommodate the thicker pack. It's held very snugly in the bay.
With that, the revised CFV buggy build is done! This is a Furitek-powered 2S 5500KV little monster. The AGFRC servo is smooth and reassuring. This servo is also in my track cars like GLR-GT and RX28. Furitek ESC still modulates the 5500KV motor well. I later upped the startup power from low to mid. Let's test the drivetrain more with more throttle power. This is smooth enough. MB-010VE is definitely smoother though. Also, 5500KV with 2S lipo power is clearly quite powerful. This might be faster to traction roll the buggy.
(Hi Loki!)
I'm not able to do the outdoor test yet, so I will just run the buggy indoor to sanity check the build. The carbon fiber chassis is well made. The several 3D printed parts look to be durable too. I haven't vacuumed the floor so it's more slippery than usual. Compared to the 3500KV, 5500KV loses a tiny bit of low end throttle control, but overall it's still excellent. Just like the initial indoor test, the rear end is looser compared to the front.
If you order the CFV chassis today, I'm assuming Sai will be sending this updated version, but please confirm with him. The compatibility with the much cheaper stock gear differentials makes the new version of the chassis better, in my opinion. It's great to see work being put into this product. Love to see it!
This is Sammy and thanks for watching!
To buy the carbon chassis, contact Sai Lai by Facebook ( / sai.lai.37625 ) or Whatsapp (+85291911193)
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