RC Car - What is the Best Chassis Material?

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Chassis Materials?

Comments: Hey Pro, what are the differences (pros & cons) between an electric chassis made of either plastic, aluminum, graphite, carbon, fiberglass, and which is best?

Thanks

Response: I will not cover every material that you mentioned because it is not necessary. The ones I will discuss are plastic, Graphite, and Fibre Resin.

Plastic. Only the cheapest of cars come with a plastic chassis (don't mistake plastic for Fibre Resin). I don't know of any competition cars that are equipped with a plastic chassis. It is the worst material to use. I'm not going to go any further here because I don't think it is relevant.

Graphite. A very good, light, and strong material. Graphite used to be a very popular material used in chassis'. The only major draw back was the high price tag but to some, this didn't seem to matter. It seems now that Graphite is only used on cars that use a double deck chassis setup (Consists of a main chassis and a mini chassis upper deck, joined with aluminum posts. A very effective setup). A single Graphite chassis still offered some flex, a characteristic that most drivers don't like.

This is where Fibre Resin comes in. A material that most confuse with plastic, Fibre Resin is far from plastic. Fibre Resin is a high performance composite that comes from a mixture of high grade nylon and carbon material. When these materials are mixed, a very strong, light nylon type composite is created called Fibre Resin. This what the large manufacturers are using (for example Team Losi and Team Associated). It seems as though this is the best material to use as it is cheap, light, and strong. Another major advantage is that it can be molded into any shape. This allows the manufacturers to put vertical sides onto the chassis which greatly stiffens the overall design without adding too much weight. It looks as though Fibre Resin is the material of choice for now, at least until someone finds something stronger and lighter that can be molded into any shape in a cost effective manner.

I can't really answer your question as to which material is better. It all depends on the application. Just a quick note, you would never want a Graphite or Fibre Resin chassis on a nitro car as it would not offer nearly as much cooling as an aluminum chassis would. This reinforces my statement that, the best chassis material depends on the application. My advice to you, let the big manufacturers decide what your chassis is made of. They usually have a method to their madness. They pay a lot of money to their team drivers each year to determine which is best. I choose to trust them and I think everyone else should too.

I hope this helps,

"PRO"
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