Didumos69

@Timewhatistime, that looks very interesting. I might just try this to feel how it works. It would also be nice to see a short video showing its operation. I would like to see how far you need to move the levers/paddles for a single shift. Also, reasoning from your images I assume the levers with balls need to be pushed and not pulled or is that not correct? I also rather avoid using silicon bands, but when you look at real mechanical applications there are so many that rely on rubber or silicon parts for smooth functioning. For example: an engine is mounted to a car using rubber rings and bands to avoid the engine from shaking the car apart. From that perspective I actually think that using shock absorbers for this kind of mechanisms is more odd than using silicon bands. But that's my personal opinion and does not take anything away from your solution being a very interesting one.

Thanks! I'm actually more into building my own 'fantasy' designs, and in this case the inspiration - at least for the looks - also comes from a fantasy car. To get expectations right I will no longer make a secret out of it: It were in fact 2 cars from the Zootopia movie that caught my attention and they are both on my wishlist . Designed by John Mays as far as I know, known from the 1997 New Beetle, the Audi TT, the 2015 Ford Mustang, the Aston Martin DB9, and more. But I guess you need to have kids to know about these two models : It's the red one that is on my mind for this project. But like I said, it just might turn out completely different . I added a link to the bottom of the OP, but to make it easy for you here it is again. The lower wishbones come close to real A-arms and span 5 studs where they are mounted to the chassis. The upper wishbone is 3 studs wide. The tricky part is how the 'third' middle suspension arm is mounted. There was not much space to make that sturdy.

Very cool! I'm impressed how fast you can come up with such excellent bodywork! Looking forward to the video.

Thanks! I hope I can live up to the expectations . At least I'm excited to work on this for the next few weeks or months.

Thanks! I'm actually looking forward to working in those ideas myself. I hope to come up with a clean build alltogether. I didn't plan to make it RC, but you'll never know. I'm quite sure though that this front module would be firm enough for a motorized build. The route is the goal, I second that. It sure is solid. I always try to work some lengthwise and widthwise long beams through this kind of setups, preferably at 2 levels. And of course connect them with some vertical 3x5 frames - my favourite part - to make a structure that is solid in all dimensions. About me working for TLG, I regard that as a big compliment. However if I would, I'm afraid I would have vetoed the Porsche . It doesn't need to be ultimate this time. It should first of all be clean and solid. If an 1:8 scale body will turn out infeasible I will stick to the chassis only, but I will certainly give It a go.

Rugged supercar - Hammerhead (1:9 scale) This project was not something I started very consciously. Also for me it evolved into something special. I was especially happy with the interference (in a positive way) of other builders. A big thank you to this community, for pushing me in the right direction on several occasions! The most special part - to me - of this build, is the chassis. It combines a simple 4-speed AWD transmission, a flawless sequential shifting mechanism and advanced suspension setups with Ackermann steering, anti-roll bars, torsion bars, 2 studs ground clearance and 2 studs suspension travel. All wrapped together in a very flat yet rigid and coherent structure with a mid-console width of only 5 studs. I did not want the bodywork to make any compromises to these features. I wanted the body to continue the line of durability set in by the chassis. Flex-axles do not fit that image, hence no wheel arcs. They would also sit 2 studs above the hood - not very elegant. The result is a car that does not only look fool-proof; it is fool-proof. After a rough treatment, you don't need to tighten connections or fine-tune gears to avoid friction. You can carry the car by the sides, by the trunk door (rear wing), by the nose and by the bumpers without displacing any parts. You can even grab the 2Kg build by the roof and turn it upside down to see the bottom side without a problem. So I did not intend to level with great bodywork builders. To me the biggest compliment is that some have referred to this model as the successor of 8865 and 8880. Drive train AWD with 3 differentials Sequential 4-speed gearbox One-finger shifter V8 fake engine Suspension Double wishbone suspension Anti-roll bars (front & rear) 2 studs suspension travel 2 studs ground clearance Steering Ackermann steering Gear-rack sliders Working steering wheel HoG steering Chassis Sturdy and durable Integrated bumpers Adjustable seats Narrow mid-console (5L) Bodywork Sturdy and durable Integrated roll-cage Lockable doors Openable trunk Liftable By the roof By the sides By the nose By the trunk door Instructions are available on Rebrickable. There is a full-featured version called 'Rugged supercar' and a chassis-only version called 'Flat AWD chassis'. The chassis-only version confines itself to part 1 of the instructions of the full-featured version. Special thanks to @Blakbird and @BusterHaus - with Blakbird being the driving force - for taking on the task of making these beautiful instructions! Making instructions for a build like this is a tremendous amount of work. Even more so, given the fact that I have been very demanding in sticking to my original design. - 32005a (Link 1 x 6 without Stoppers) - used for the anti-roll bars and steering tie rods - is preferred over 32005b (Link 1 x 6 with Stoppers), because each link has tow-balls inserted from both sides. 32005b can be used too, but in that case each link will have one tow-ball that needs quite some force to insert. - 32056 (Liftarm 3 x 3 L-Shape Thin) - used for the door locks - is preferred over 32249 (Liftarm 3 x 3 L-Shape with Quarter Ellipse Thin). 32249 can be used too, but makes it more likely to accidentally lock the door while it's open, which is not a big deal of course. - 76138 (Shock Absorber 6.5L with Soft Spring) - used for the door locks - should be soft springs. They are quite rare in red, but you could also use two LBG soft springs. - 85543 (Rubber Belt Small (Round Cross Section) - used for the 90 degree limiter and the return-to-center of the gear shifter - should be relatively new, say max 2 years. Not that they wear out quickly, but the older ones are slightly less tight. Images of the full-featured version can be found here. Images of the chassis-only version can be found here. See the entry on The LEGO Car Blog! P.S. Where real cars start with a sketch, evolve into a professional design and finally have their technical details filled-in, this project started with some technical details, evolved into a complete design and ended up in a sketch ;-). By @HorcikDesigns (http://horcikdesigns.deviantart.com/gallery/).

I agree and inserted the link.

This car was my dream car when I was a kid. Nice to see someone building it and I'm looking forward to seeing the end result. Good luck!

Lovely little creatures! This type of small, instantly recognizable builds also shows how versatile Technic is. And I see some interesting layouts that could be useful in larger builds too. Thanks for sharing!

Now that I have a photo sequence I thought I might as well share it on Rebrickable too. If you have the parts you should give it a go. You can feel a sense of rightness to it .

I updated the LXF-file to include the improved paddle shifter unit and the removable body changes. For the removable body I followed the Hispabrick video. I also replaced the two near the dashboard with two . In the video the two are left dangling and I didn't like that. And I used 5.5L axles with end stop to mount the seats to the chassis so they can be unmounted more easily. Finally I had to change the way the body is mounted to the paddle shifter unit because of my paddle shifter mod. The following image shows all changes I made to make the body removable. In the foreground you see the mod, in the background the original. And here you can see all differences (click to enlarge); P.S. Here's a video showing ultimate paddle shifting, dash shifting and rear window shifting .

I got some questions for instructions, so I made building instructions in terms of a photo sequence for the compact stepper. I picked the version in which the shift lever and 90° limiter are separated. That version very nicely shows the two individual concepts that have been combined: 1) How the movement of a shift lever can be amplified with knob gears and 2) How a shift axle can be limited to 90° orientations. This video shows the result of the instructions: LXF-file of the result can be found here.

Oops! I found quite a few issues with the instructions available on Rebrickable. Be sure to take the errata below into account. Also make sure you use the parts list as presented by Rebrickable, not the parts list in the instructions. Sorry for the inconvenience. Hopefully Thorsten Spelz is willing to update the instructions. Errata (p=page, s=step, ss=substep): - p10/s6: Mount the 2 4x2-liftarms to the 9L liftarm from s5 with 2 additional 2L pins with friction - p12/s5-6: Replace the 4 horizontally oriented 2L thin liftarms - 2 from s5 and 2 from s6 - by 2 2L (+0)-liftarms - p13/s29: Flip all 6 3L pins - p14/s31: This step should be postponed and merged with p108/s36 - p22/s10: Replace thin 12t bevel gear with half bush - p22/s12: Replace half bush with thin 12t bevel gear - p27/s26: Swap half bush and thin 12t bevel gear - p38/s4: Slide 2 extra bushes along the front ends of the 8L axles upto the 4x2 liftarms - p38: Insert p46/s1-4 and p48/s1-4 between s6 and s7, see also p47/s24 and p49/s26 - p40/s3: Insert 4L axle with middle stop into U-joint by 80%, not by 50% (see inset below) - p40/s10: Slide an extra half bush to the center of the 4L axle - p43/s3: Insert 4L axle with middle stop into U-joint by 80%, not by 50% (see inset below) - p43/s10: Slide an extra half bush to the center of the 4L axle - p47/s24: Skip, p46/s1-4 should have been inserted at p38 - p49/s26: Skip, p48/s1-4 should have been inserted at p38 - p52/s4: Use 5L liftarm instead of 7L liftarm - p54/s34, p54/s35, p58/s2: Do these steps only after p59/s39 - p54/s36, p56/s37, p56/s2: Do these steps only after p57/s38 - p60: Between s40 and s41 insert this step - p62: Between s44 and s45 insert this step - p68/s62: Use additional 2L pin to make sure second sub-sequence mirrors first sub-sequence - p74/s5: Replace 6 backwards facing 3/4 pins with backwards facing 1/2 pins - p85/s6: Drop the 2 bushes - p88/s7: Replace 3/4 pins with 1/2 pins - p89/s11: Insert 4L axle with middle stop into U-joint by 80%, not by 50% (see inset below) - p95/s7: Replace 3/4 pins with 1/2 pins - p96/s11: Insert 4L axle with middle stop into U-joint by 80%, not by 50% (see inset below) - p103/s7: Leave out 2L pins - p105/s15/ss5: Swap half bush and thin 12t bevel gear - p107/s59: Swap 12t and 20t bevel gears - p112/s19: Add additional half bush adjacent to 12t bevel gear - p113/s38: Use 2 long pins with stop bush (32054) to mount rear side of engine al

Thanks! To show how reliable this small stepper is, I wanted to attach it to a real gearbox. Now some say the Porsche 911 GT3 RS (42056) is actually a gearbox with an orange cover, so I thought I might as well attach it to the complete Porsche.

Yes, that's correct. It makes the suspension more stiff. If this mod makes the suspension too stiff, you could also try with a softer spring. In the stock build - with the body attached - the front suspension is compressed almost half a stud under the vehicle's own weight, leaving less than one stud ground clearance. If you would increase the ground clearance even further, the upper wishbones will be so steep that they will collide with the rims. That's why I used the full length of the suspension arms in my ultimate build. However that made the shocks in between the upper and lower suspension arms less effective, so in the ultimate version I did need the hard springs as additional springs. Btw, another way to improve the ground clearance around the front bumper would be to stiffen the body around the luggage compartment, see this mod for details. For the sake of clarity: The red Porsche shocks have hard springs, just like the more commonly used yellow shocks.

I simply copy the image location (url) of a specific part from the corresponding bricklink page into the text of my post and it is automatically transformed into an embedded image. Then I double-click the image and paste the corresponding bricklink-page as link and I adjust the width to 40.

You're welcome! 1.) The parts that together make the 4th-to-1st gear lock are the placed in step 61a and the placed in 61b of the errata. 2.) As far as I know Jetro mod = Hispabrick mod. I followed the Hispabrick video for my ultimate version and none of the changes collides with the errata mods. The video shows the additional parts needed. I did however replace the two near the dashboard with two . In the video the two are left dangling and I didn't like that. I hope this answers your questions.

I've been working on this a little more. I'wasn't completely satisfied about the return of the shift lever. It requires a lot of silicon power and I couldn't get it working with a new set of red silicon bands. Apparently the old ones (+/- 8 years old) are stronger. So I decided to skip the auto-return completely. The return is not needed for a full shift and a completely manual operation of the shift lever gives a nice feel. Returning the lever can actually be postponed until the next shift. This also allowed me to make the whole thing even more compact, a different 90 degree limiter now operates directly on the lower knob gear. The limiter allows for some free movement of the orange paddles, but my guess is that this won't give any trouble when they operate the clutches of the gearbox. Comments and (suggestions for) improvements are welcome! LXF-file here.

I think it's perfectly valid to have a discussion on this subject here on EB. Apparantly it's a growing concern of the community. I think the guidelines mean to say that we should not discuss individual products, because it will only advertise them, but this is about the phenomenon of illegal copying etc. itself, and not about individual products.

You're welcome! Good to know that this mod made a difference, also in your case. I appreciate you taking the time to make your own exploration - or should I say investigation - and to share your experiences. I'm affraid most people building this set don't really bother how the model behaves. This way it becomes a great learning experience, just like it was for me when I built this set back in June. And it's good to get some confirmation that at least some of my conclusions on this set actually make sense. About the plastic dust; that's quite common, I even have it in my build without ever having used a motor. I don't worry much about it. I even tend to believe it gives the effect of dry lubrication, but maybe that's wishful thinking.

After applying Boratko's fix I also experienced the biggest issues in 2nd gear and also others reported on the same issue. There's a known issue with the red clutch gears that are not actually involved in one of the two clutches - the ones lined up between the normal 16t gears just in front of the actual gearbox. There is always one of them involved in transferring drive, which gives problems when its axle is forced into a very different rotation speed. Reasoning from the gear ratios in the gearbox I arrived at the following conclusions with respect to the RPM ratios between the mentioned red clutch gears and their axles for the situation with Boratko's fix: 1st gear, right clutch gear involved, gear / axle RPM ratio is 1:1 2nd gear, left clutch gear involved, gear / axle RPM ratio is 1:3 3rd gear, right clutch gear involved, gear / axle RPM ratio is 25:9 4th gear, left clutch gear involved, gear / axle RPM ratio is 1:1 So in 2nd and 3rd gear the axle of the involved red clutch gear rotates almost 300% faster or slower than the gear itself, Taking into account that the clutch gear will be pushed against its axle as it transfers drive, it's not strange that this causes severe friction. Especially in 2nd gear when the engine needs to rotate faster than in 3rd gear. Now let's see what the ratios are when we don't apply Boratko's fix: 1st gear, right clutch gear involved, gear / axle RPM ratio is 1:1 3rd gear, left clutch gear involved, gear / axle RPM ratio is 5:9 2nd gear, right clutch gear involved, gear / axle RPM ratio is 5:3 4th gear, left clutch gear involved, gear / axle RPM ratio is 1:1 These ratios are much better compared to the situation with Boratko's sequence fix. Especially 2nd gear, which has to work harder than 3rd gear, has a much better ratio. I think this explains the difference you're experiencing. Actually, this would make the explanation given by TLG for having the 1-3-2-4 sequence partly correct. They said: "Too many gears are engaged at the same time and smooth running with all those tolerances is just not possible." Indeed, the 1-3-2-4 sequence allows for a more smooth running of the whole drive train. However the first part of the statement remains to be untrue, because in each gear all axles rotate and in each gear the same number of gears is involved in transferring drive from input to output. Btw, as you probably already know, a way to avoid red gears from transferring drive on axles rotating at different speed has been described here and is also part of the unofficial errata.

The rims are placed with the inside pointing outward. You should be able to copy these rims with covers into your LXF to replace the mal-placed ones . Your LXF-file also removes some parts when opened in LDD, because of the head lights colliding with a half bush. I'm sure this will fit in real life but in LDD this can be fixed by turning the 3L axle with knob around and attach the half bush at the back side. I also added this fix in the LXF-file with fixed rims.

You're welcome! About the shifter not completing a 90° rotation. My experience with shifters is that it's best to have a shifter that does complete a 90° rotation. I would only use the limiter to avoid backlash or for cases where the driver doesn't finish a complete paddle shift. The problem is that when the limiter needs to help finishing the rotation, it probably needs more than one silicon band, which will also make the first half of the shift less smooth. Just my experience, could very well that you will get this to work properly.

Haha! He won't allow me helping him. He only builds from instructions. He even reads instructions as bed-time stories . But with the LXF, I'm sure we can work our way around that, thanks! Btw, there are some pins sticking out fo the wheel covers in your renders. There appears to be something wrong with the placement of the rims and wheel hubs in the LXF-file. One more note on the MOD, I personally prefer Paul Boratko's (I believe he was the first, but I'm not sure) studless style of mounting the engine.

Awesome! Your standards remaîn rediculously high!