Hrafn

As far as I can tell, neither that nor any of the other "Torsen" diffs made of Lego are actually proper Torsen diffs. They don't sense torque; instead the diff locks when the the angular position of the two shafts differs by enough. They only unlock if that angular difference is reduced. In other words, there is no torque bias because this is a locking, not a limited-slip, differential; and the locking is based on relative angular position, not angular speed or torque. True mechanical torque-sensing differentials seem to require helical gears, which Lego does not make. There are simple ways of making limited-slip differentials with rubber bands connecting the half-shafts to a common third shaft, and those work reasonably well at low torque.

Beautiful! I'm not normally a big fan of either Lamborghinis or this style of bodywork in Lego, but somehow it just looks right. The yellow and black color scheme and the sleek curves make it look very swift and aggressive.

True centerpoint steering can also be done at larger scales by using thin wheels, custom hubs, and some steering axis inclination (SAI, aka kingpin inclination). My Lancia 037 had near-center-point steering using 62.4x20 wheels, custom hubs, and Short/Long Arm (SLA) suspension (5 studs on the top, 6 on the bottom) to give some SAI. My current project is about ~14 studs wide and has center point steering or close to it (the theoretical scrub radius is about negative 1mm) using a MacPherson setup.

Thanks, that's very helpful!

I'm working on a small (1:14 or so, 14-15 studs wide) car and want to include some caster angle in the front (MacPherson) suspension. Most real cars seem to use angles under 10 degrees, but what works well in motorized Lego vehicles? Should I exaggerate the caster in hopes of improving the steering's return-to-center tendencies? Even the smallest angle that's easy to achieve with Lego (22.5 degrees) seems a bit excessive compared to real cars. Also, I'm hoping to build the front suspension and steering into a subframe that will be tilted relative to the main chassis. Does anyone have any advice on doing so, or examples they could point me to? It seems like the way to go, since it makes it easier to correctly position the steering rack. Previously I built an SLA suspension and just offset the A-arms longitudinally; that was compact but made steering a pain.

At 12 wide you'll want fairly small parts for those curves. Part 11477 is available in yellow, as are some of the other curved slopes

The abundance of black parts in sets does seem like the most likely cause. I prefer to use black only for areas I'm trying to draw the eye away from (like the chassis of a car) or for decorative details on a brightly colored MOC. Very few all black models look good to me, though that might be because the color is so hard to photograph well.

For me, stacked beams look good only if they meet the following criteria: 1) they are representing a flat area (or a faceted area, if bent liftarms are used) 2) the beams are all or mostly the same length The first echoes what bonox said - if the area being modeled isn't flat, it often looks better to suggest it and leave some gaps than to fill it in with the wrong shape. The second may just be a quirk of mine, but it drives me crazy to see a solid wall of liftarms with dents in it where one liftarm ends and the next begins.

The last one in particular seems like it should be useful, but I've yet to find a good place for it. Seconded!

Interesting! I wonder why, since RWD is the normal setup for real-world drift cars (monstrosities like Ken Block's Hoonicorn, and 4-wheel drifts during rallies, notwithstanding).

Interesting. I really like the solution you have found of making the rear wheels spin faster. Have you tried making the car RWD only? While in real life there are some all-wheel-drive drift cars, mostly they're RWD.

When you say deleting the front diff, do you mean making it rear wheel drive only, or powering the front wheels at the same speed as each other?

Interesting! Those both sound useful.

Nice! I hadn't thought of using it in that application.

Those paddle shifters are brilliant!

Excellent work! Thank you for sharing it and putting together a CAD file!

Has anyone found a good use for "Hero Factory Weapon Barrel with 2 Pin Holes and 3 Axle Holes" ? I got a few on BL with the vague thought that they might be useful in orbital transmissions.

In my experience, most non-technical people have trouble with the IKEA instructions. I know a lot of very smart, very educated people who just have no spatial or mechanical skills.

Never had a problem with mine. Even if you did have, say, 2 leaky cylinders, 8455 has so many that it would still leave you with enough for many models. 8455 is also just such a joy to build and play with - it's really ingeniously designed.

If you can get one for a reasonable price, do! It's a great set on its own merits, and definitely serves as an excellent pneumatic parts pack.

I agree, the 62.4x20 tires are the smallest that allow for really complex suspension geometry. They also have the advantage (to my eyes at least) of having more realistic proportions than most Lego tires - the height to width ratio is very close to those of many real-world tires. Most Lego tires are far too wide.

Having owned a MKIV GTI myself, there are probably a lot of MOCs of them - but they're all in the shop for expensive repairs!

It looks like it might be 2 60483 and one 87082

Search the Bricklink catalog for 'towball' and for 'socket' and you'll find most of the parts that it fits with. Also, it fits (with friction) in the new mini ball joints that debuted with the Mixels and Chima Legend Beast sets. And of course it works with the 5L suspension arms found in the 2014 snowmobile set.

Nice! It looks like you have a bush between the u-joint and the CV. You could replace the upper arm with a 5L one (connected to the chassis in the same place, but attaching to the hub further inboard), use a couple of half bushes to move the u-joint inboard half a stud, and get some kingpin inclination that would help with torque steer. The 5L arm would likely rub on the CV and u-joints, though, and the steering geometry would be made somewhat more complicated.