| Lay-down Servos |
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| Posted on Wed 26 Oct 2005 by nitromonkey (1193 reads) |
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I hope this article will clear up the "laydown versus standup" servo debate. While a laydown servo may have a minute advantage in an on road car, the advantage is nil in off road. Let's see why: The Theory. The closer you can get a car's total weight to the centerline of the axles or on a flat plane at the same height as the axle centerline, the better it will handle because, simply, things close to the ground going around corners lean less than things higher up. The Facts. Let's deal with a typical 1/8 scale buggy as an example. The average weight of a buggy is about 128 oz. or about 8 lbs. The average weight of a servo is about 1.5 oz. The average servo is about 1.5" tall. The average servo is about .75" thick. Lets Lay Down. Ok, now we are going to take a 1.5" tall x .75" thick servo weighing 1.5 oz. and lay it over instead of standing it up. So, we are going to move about 1/2 of the servo's total weight (.75 oz) and move it .75" closer to the ground. Keep in mind you need to double this because of a steering and throttle servo. The Math. The car weighs 128 oz. and you've moved a total of 3 oz .75" closer to the ground by laying down the servos. Keep in mind you added about 2 oz. in additional linkage for the laydown setup. So you've moved about 1 oz .75" closer to the ground. You've taken LESS than 1% of the car's total weight and only moved it .75" lower, do you REALLY think this will help much? Keep in mind you also just overly complicated your linkage and made it more prone to damage from a collision to the side of the car. The Verdict. The laydown servo thing is purely a marketing ploy in the off road segment, especially since the typical off road buggy or truck is actually in contact with the track only about 3/4 of the time and the rest of the time sliding through turns or jumping jumps. Laydown servos may offer a slight advantage in an on road car since the total car weight is less, traction much greater and car-to-track contact almost 100%, but this feature offers practically no useful advantage in off road. Nitromonkey.com |
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