Bublehead

I am sure @efferman can whip up a W16 with custom elements to fit the Chiron so people can stop talking about it and all the friction, and three cranks and 3 24z gears meshing in tight ways. That the Bugatti people were blown away by the proper order of the pistons waving at us through the back window was why development on an actual single crank version was probably abandoned. Along with the cost of the molds and their development for the custom, possible one time use parts. I am sure that probably all the decisions made about this design were made at higher levels than the designers. TLG- “They like the Motor, fix the tranny and wing it on the spoiler, we will do an errata page on the suspension because we moved the premier date up a month, oh and they said if you can do the doors with a sticker to make the C, they could live with that.”

If the past is any reflection on the future, it doesn’t matter what system you go after for your power function needs. You can ALWAYS bet that just when you think it is never going to change, they introduce a whole new system and the battery sticks, crappy wires, hard to build with studded housing motors, light bars, sound bricks, and electric plates are nothing but dust collectors in the deepest, darkest corners of your collection. If there is one element of Lego that changes constantly compared to the exacting uniformity and stability of the Standard Lego 2x4x1 8 studded brick, it has to be motorized power devices in Lego sets. I have been through like 5 different motorized power function paradigms in close to 50 years of playing with Lego. We now have another new one on the horizon to join the bludgeoning of my wallet. As if it wasn’t bad enough trying to determine which way they were headed, we get 3 at once. So now with EV3, Boost, We-Do 2.0, Powered Up, PF, NXT, SBricks, Buwizz, plus other startups and crowd sourced 3rd party solutions, it is a interesting time to be getting into the hobby.

@sm1995, I put adjustable suspension in my 8880 MOD, along with a bunch of other stuff like electric proportional power steering, working doors with latches, power electric drop top convertible roof, working brake lights, working fiber optic ignition with real timing, electric powered spoiler adjustment and all I did to fit all that into it was expand the wheel base 4 studs. Now since it was a fictional car to begin with, I wasn’t violating the look of a real vehicle so I had quite the freedom that TLG designers doing real vehicles do not. I also had a micro motor to work with, a very compact 9v battery box, and 2 very cumbersome to use studded motors of the day, older pneumatics, and very few studless elements to help out. After working with studless now for so long and while building my amusement ride, when I unearthed my 8880 from my east coast collection, I was actually amazed at how much room seemed unused inside it. It was practically cavernous compared to the density of my MOC. The Chiron is just as dense and I think at these density levels, adding functions like I did to the 8880 are a way bigger challenge for the designers today than the 8880 was back then. But the extra 20 years of development of the Technic system really shows between the two sets. I would love to see how much someone would have to inflate the Chiron scale to get the same functionality shoe horned into it with today’s PF elements and pneumatics. The only function lost on my 8880 was HOG steering, but the electric power steering made that a moot point with the convertible top down

@zux, tablet/smart phone app integration. Smart motor interface, configurable controller (which is just a mechanical solution to polarity switch so that they could remove the polarity switch altogether) Auto pairing removed the channel selection switch but we don’t know how two bricks and two controllers work at the same time yet. So yeah, we gained some things, lost some others (with marginal compensation) but all of this goes towards merging Mindstorms, we-do, PF, Boost, and PU into one common platform that services all 4 needs, institutional education, home schooling education, robotic competition, and generic power functionality for all themes including Technic, trains (which we have seen), creator, or specialty themes Like DC Heroes and the Batmobile which we have seen already. In truth, I have wondered why it has taken this long to consolidate with the exception of pricing. Educational pricing (over pricing some would say) and consumer pricing have always been at odds. Some things were cheaper in educational because of buying in bulk and were duplicated in the consumer sales space while other things were astronomically priced because there was no consumer equivalent available to help drive down costs. But exclusivity helped keep the prices higher in education and since public money is used to fund education, there was some price gouging going on because of this. With the competition in the educational market space getting tighter, TLG has had to cut costs to remain competitive. By combining their offerings into a single platform based on the we-do 2.0 architecture, they get to reduce their educational pricing making them more competitive in that market, they provide all necessities for general power functionality for All themes, plus they have a new offering in home education, a cheaper alternative to Mindstorms in the Boost line. So for TLG, Power Up is a win/win/win/win and if we are lucky, in Technic, there is a still to be released PU module that is a 4 port hub/BB combo, or a 4 port hub and rechargeable BB, but for all things holy, I hope to God they don’t just stick us with a Boost module with 2 built in motors and only 2 externally available motor/sensor ports. That would be a total fail in my book.

@nicoga3000, looks like you took my suggestions to heart. You will not be displeased with what you have available to work with. I highly recommend building all 4 sets and their B models unless you have a burning idea you need to get out of your head right away. All 4 of those sets were very satisfying A model builds and you will have a hard time deciding which ones you want to tear down to build the B model next. Either way, you have a nice collection of parts that will get you through most any design challenge for now, your BL orders will be smaller and usually based on getting parts in desired colors instead of desired functions so there is no delay in development, only a delay in final model presentation. Enjoy!

I think a cable will be available to turn a PF motor into a working PU motor, just no position feedback via the extra 2 lines. This cable will have a big thick PF connector on one end that holds the discreet electronics that identify the motor as a DC, no position feedback motor so the PU Firmware identifies it correctly and controls it probably exactly like the Boost motor was acting. Or it may be identified like the train motor and act like it, who knows. But the reverse engineering on Boost and We-do 2.0 already tells us how the interface to motors works, it’s how they bring PF motors into the mix that is still yet to be seen. We know there will be a we-do 1.0 to we-do 2.0 motor adapter because TLG would not make education market buy all new motors to upgrade to we-do 2.0. Teachers would curse their name if they didn’t provide a way to mix and match between the two.

Loving it more and more... a man after my own amusement ride heart. I’m with you on cut base plates. If my scale went off the scale like this, I would not hesitate cutting base plate to save money. I belong to that club and have been a proud member for 18 years when I first made a rollback flatbed tow truck to fit my 8880 on and needed a huge expanse of plates to build a bed, I cut down baseplate and used it upside down with studded beams stuck on it to mount it to the rest of the slide that the roll back bed rode on. The dimpled grey surface was easier to winch the car onto than the studded side. P.s. now you all know a great cheap way of making large beds for MOCs and it gives you a use for all those studded Technic beams you have laying around.

@Aventador2004, I usually get to the party... late of course, but I do get there...

A Lamborghini Countach in 8880 color scheme as retro throwback to both. or... How about Classic Detroit Muscle? Pick one... or... Pick any supercar hard top convertible roadster WITH PF WORKING ROOF!!!

@Aventador2004, you are a stud in a (mostly) studless world my friend. I think this was what he was referring to... https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/forum/92-special-lego-themes/ At least creator is listed in its description. @Aventador2004, Here is a way to stay the naysayers. Slap about 15 or 20 technic pieces together and then create a MOC thread entitled “[MOC] Stand for micro fighters” and post it here... then just keep changing the planes and keep the stand the same... I mean there is a way around everything if you think about it. My apologies in advance to the moderators

People are posting they don’t like it, not going to buy it, hate the price, hate too many panels, hate too much system bricks, hate the stickers, hate the terrible front suspension, hate the ridiculous 3 crank W16, hate the 16 geared transmission to get 8 gears forward, hate the colors, hate the Rims, hate the spoiler control key, hate this, hate that, hate, hate, hate... Now, I may be in a few of those “hate” groups, but as I am on Team TLG when it comes to the continued health of the company, I opened my wallet, I pulled out $377 dollars, I slapped it on the barrel head and I took it home, I opened the box, I have the instructions laying in front of me with Box one next to it. I will sit here happily building for the next few hours ( at least 6 to 7 or more) I will play with the functions for a few minutes once it is finished, I will park it on a shelf next to the 911 and then go back to my current MOC. I will have enjoyed the build, maybe learned a few new tricks, got a lot of inspiration for my own use of the new parts, and will have had an overall fun time doing it. Not every set is going to be an 8880 type of experience or be anything like the 42070 disaster (although I enjoyed the build, I really hate the model). Was the experience worth $377 dollars hmmm.... it depends. It depends on what else I could have spent my money on. Three “happy ending” massages at the local parlor? One heck of a night at the Pub. Two Arocs sets used off Brick Link? I will say it is a tad bit pricey for an object whose sole purpose in life it to look good on a shelf and collect dust, which kind of makes all the arguments about saggy suspension, friction monster W16, Bad turning radius, etcetera, etcetera moot.

Has anyone done a crash test for the Chiron yet? I loved the video of the scale offset barrier “fail”

+1 on a @Sheepo MODed Bugatti

If so I want to know where? There is no room at the inn I am afraid.

Ok, after opening up the box and drooling over the packaging, I have been scanning the instructions and my first thought is, this build is as dense a build that I think I have ever seen in a Technic model. It is no wonder the suspension has trouble, this thing is close to 30 studs wide if not wider and the beams just keep going and going... definitely not got a lot of playability but I think the real car is function with form, the Technic version is form with (some) functions. You can argue wether the form is good or bad, but my bet is this is meant as a display piece, not a play set. The new rotary catch is interesting... but the paddle shifter design went backwards in my mind. I didn’t really like the 911 paddles, but they were there, they mostly worked if you messed with it, but the Chiron solution is, shall we say, the same but different, and not in a good way. At least the space were the drivers feet should go was mostly there in the 911. So paddle shifter location and initial impression is, yeah it’s there, but wouldn’t you have like to see a brake pedal that deployed the speed brake instead?

@Claes, no, it looks like one port per one motor, and no backwards compatibility that I see.

17R8 is on my seals

Okay, I can’t wait any longer... I’m about to watch $177 dollars in value disappear in the blink of 4 Lego seals... I’m wondering where final boxing was done on my set here in USA... does it smell like Billund or someplace in Mexico? Not sure...

@JLiu15, T&H is short for Twirl and Hurl, my amusement ride all contained on a big rig... check my Flickr link in my signature.

@Jim, Chirons, Chirons, everywhere, but not a set to build... I say, take @Sariel‘s from the live build and toss it off the top of Lego House, that would re-kit it pretty quickly.

And on another drunken thought, albeit I am sober right now so this may be a sobering thought- In a dingy factory somewhere in China right now, dark blue and dark azure panels and beams are pouring out of poorly maintained molding machines even as we speak, or type actually. And somebody is frantically modeling a rotary catch and a 20z clutch gear... or if their spies are any good, they have been molding for days now and the knock-offs are shipping already. That is why we should respect not leaking stuff, not that we are spoiling anybody’s fun. My $0.02

My impressions after seeing it at TLS while buying mine this morning... massive and wide, maybe too wide for its length. But maybe that is just the Veyron proportions influencing my judgement? Heavy as all get out too, especially if you leave it in the box and then the box in it’s shipping box and put it in a standard yellow Lego Store shopping bag. It nearly tears through the handles while you carry it back to the car. Sadly here in Phoenix, I was the only one showing up at opening time to buy it. I was hoping for a line of some kind, at least to talk to fellow Technic AFOLs like myself. Nope.

Well, I just got up, got the tile and tried it. It takes any name plus the code and presents a certificate with that name and posters to d/l. That the 911, I figure Bugatti is the same.

On and off topic at the same time... If TLG has given us all our own special tile with laser etched code (for sake of argument, let’s call this a “tile-tle” to the car) has anyone gone in with a code from the 911 they purchased used and seen the exclusive content? Does the Chiron site act the same way? Does it remember the original owner only and not let 2nd hand owners see the content? Just asking cause I never used my Porsche code that I bought used.

Oh and also to keep drunk ramblings in their right place, others are asking if the leakers feel bad about ruining the reveal of the Chiron. I myself support EB and TLG and report the posts with leaked content. That doesn’t mean I don’t look at leaks when they happen. I actually think the leaks pushed this from a maybe to a first day purchase for me. I might wait and pick up a second one at discount or used, but I supported Lego with my wallet today, shelling out $377 for the privilege.