RC Car Gets Fan-Assisted Downforce To Slay Tesla’s 0-60 Times

Tesla have claimed that their upcoming new Roadster will post a sub-2 second 0-60mph time. While it’s backed up by little more than a shiny website at this stage, [Engineering After Hours] took the number as a target to beat with his RC fan car build. (Video, embedded below.)

We’ve seen an earlier prototype of this build before, with the first version generating enough downforce to successfully drive upside down. The new build has several modifications to maximise its lateral acceleration capabilities. The new build drives all four wheels, which are fitted with sticky tyres coated in traction compound for maximum grip. The main drive motor, along with the fan and skirt assemblies, are all mounted in the center of the car now to properly balance the aero loads across the axles and provide a stable weight distribution for fast launches.

The results are impressive, with the car posting a 0-60mph time of just 1.825 seconds. There’s likely still time left on the table, too, once the car can be tuned to launch harder off the line. We’d love to see a racing series of fan-equipped RC cars hit the track, too, given the amount of grip available with such hardware.

26 thoughts on “RC Car Gets Fan-Assisted Downforce To Slay Tesla’s 0-60 Times

      1. So wait you’re telling me that the fastest launch Rollercoaster which Google says is “Top Thrill Dragster” in Ohio at 1.2s is still slower than grandma at the light? 🤣 this is going to hurt so many egos on youtube

    1. Too bad he got it wrong in a several spots.
      But holy cow, the contortions he’s got to do, working in archaic units like that. No wonder he screwed up a few times.
      But it worked in the end… eventually.

  1. I realise I’m totally unskilled in the whole RC car thing, but it looks like the front spoiler is flapping about at launch. Isn’t that a source of the stuttering? Seems like adding rigidity would help.

  2. I have been expecting one of these days to see something like an F1 car with thrusters like attitude control thrusters pointed vertically at each wheel. Or race boats with the same thing, to get grip as needed and prevent escape to “flight” mode.

    There are lots of possibilities with the project. I wonder if stutter is related to the surface? Although friction force does not depend on the area in contact – if the tires are made of ideal material that does not stretch far or fail – here at the launch the more contact the better. A much smoother surface should be better. Fresh asphalt would be nice or smooth concrete with some rubber laid down. Wait, that is a drag strip. No drag strip nearby? How about a basketball court? The way sneakers squeak on a wood court implies really nice uF.

    Anyway, looks like great fun. How about a fan force profile that lessens as speed increases?

  3. I have 2 questions: How comparing an RC car vs an actual car makes any sense? Is it the same to accelerate such mass difference?
    Why not comparing Bugatti vs RC car?

  4. A quick Google search turned up: The dragster, which set the Australian record on this run, hit 176 km/h in just 1.178 seconds. Doing the math for those of us here in the states, that 0-109 MPH in just a tick over one second.

    1. I had to do the google search with the words you’ve quoted to know what this means :-/
      For future comment readers: it’s an example of a faster radio controlled battery powered model car that uses a drag racer style rather than a fan. It is very fast, but I assume it couldn’t turn a corner.

      1. Your correct, and the article does not mention that is his goal. A 10th scale touring car would smoke his fan car on a road course circuit, and a pan car would smoke the sedan. Have a look at worlds A main races on YT, you will see what I am talking about. I have multiple National championship wins and a 2nd place at the world’s (I raced for 2+ decades).

  5. You need to go to a sensored motor setup. The stuttering is called “cogging” as you probably already know, but it is common with high geared brushless motor setups.

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