Cavalieri and AE team testing Redworkshop low-CG tranny at EOS finals

0 May 15, 2015, 7:01 p.m.

By Aaron Waldron

LiveRC.com

When Ryan Cavalieri posted an Instagram photo on Monday of his cars ahead of this weekend's EOS finale, he set off a wild stampede of speculation about parts on his car that didn't appear to be stock.

Of course, Team Associated already cleared up one aspect of the photo - announcing new Kashima-coated dampers borrowing technology from motocross equipment produced by Fox Racing Shox.

With the gold-colored shocks explained, attention turned toward the 2WD buggy's midsection - and specifically the whereabouts of the transmission. The photo shows both the B44.3 and B5M-based car from a front 3/4 view, which would typically give a great view of the motor plate and spur gear protruding from either the left (4-gear) or right (3-gear) of the car behind the body's cab. As you can see in the photo, though, there's nothing on either side:

Speculation began immediately as interested viewers guessed what was under the hood. Was it a prototype transmission? Was the car simply unfinished? Curious on-lookers with at least a passing interest in the European racing scene speculated that the car was perhaps fitted with parts from Redworkshop.

The French outfit previously created the B52 by adapting the rear drivetrain of the B443 4WD buggy - with an inline motor mount and shaft-driven rear differential - to help the car's handling on high-grip carpet and astroturf.

Such a concept is not foreign in European and Asian racing circles, with similar kits available from brands such as Team C. The B52 proved successful this winter, notably in the hands of HB team drivers David Ronnefalk and Renaud Savoya, who ran B52's in a handful of indoor races over the colder months as they wait for the HB prototype to surface.

Reno drove his B52 to the win at the Christmas Race at Danmartin and the 2015 GP de Lyon.

And David Ronnefalk finished second at the penultimate EOS round in Wels, Austria.

In late December, Redworkshop began documenting the development of a "low rider" transmission for the B5M on their website. This image, along with other digital renderings of the first design, was posted on December 22

The gearbox bolts into place but stretches out the stacked gear layout of the stock four-gear tranny, moving the motor and everything else further forward. Not only does the front-to-rear weight bias change dramatically, but the car's center of gravity is significantly lower than the stock B5M with either transmission.

You'll note that the motor and ESC in the rendering above were both drawn to resemble Team Orion units, which can be said for all the drawings - after all, the head designer of Redworkshop (which began as a Shapeways partner before churning out parts on its own 3D printer) runs Team Orion gear in his own vehicles.

Of course, neither Cavalieri nor any Team Associated drivers will be allowing photos to be taken of their cars in the pit area, such as they did with the RC8B3. Circus RC posted a story attempting to explain what Cavalieri is running but instead showed photos of Redworkshop's own test car, which also happens to be outfitted with Team Orion electronics, which were shared on Facebook on Februrary 3.

More porns!:)Huge thanks to PhilGraphics.Ok I should have remove dust first :p

Posted by Redworkshop on Tuesday, February 3, 2015

But just because that car didn't turn out to belong to the former world champion doesn't mean the Team Associated crew isn't using Redworkshop parts to prepare for this year's World Championships - and perhaps develop parts of their own. After all, that's what happened with the JConcepts BJ4WE leading to the B44. In fact, Redworkshop shared this photo on their page unofficially acknowledging at least some sort of informal working relationship:

Posted by Redworkshop on Friday, May 15, 2015

So while we're no closer to the end result of where this development is headed, we've at least been able to identify where the process has led so far.

Share: