[PRESS RELEASE] 42109 - Top Gear Rally Car

[Zerobricks]

So the new is 3x stronger and can be used parallel or in perpendicular manner AND it can be locked. The only question remainds is, can it be taken apart once mated together?

1 hour ago, Meatman said:

What keeps the rear axles from pulling out? Just friction? Probably bushings on them between liftarms.

5,5L axle

Edited December 17, 2019 by Zerobricks

[Meatman]

4 minutes ago, mahjqa said:

Called it; 5 12z gears inside the diff. 

 

 

Sadly, Lego's own Control+ app doesn't seem to be available for this model just yet. 

I posted about the 5 tan bevel gears inside the housing in this very thread a week ago.

8 minutes ago, Zerobricks said:

So the new is 3x stronger and can be used parallel or in perpendicular manner AND it can be locked. The only question remainds is, can it be taken apart once mated together?

5,5L axle

On one side, but the other side looks like it's just a regular axle with a bushing helping hold it in place.

So the front wheels do not return to center? They must be manually controlled to return?

[Ngoc Nguyen]

I would love to buy this thing without the electronics.

[Thirdwigg]

Just now, Ngoc Nguyen said:

I would love to buy this thing without the electronics.

Agreed.

[mahjqa]

23 minutes ago, Meatman said:

So the front wheels do not return to center? They must be manually controlled to return?

We haven't seen Lego's official app yet, and I'm sure it has a return-to-center function. The new motors have rotation sensors, and the Liebherr already uses them to be aware of where the digging arm is. It needs to be calibrated every once in a while, but it works very well.

[allanp]

36 minutes ago, Zerobricks said:

So the new is 3x stronger and can be used parallel or in perpendicular manner AND it can be locked. The only question remainds is, can it be taken apart once mated together?

5,5L axle

It's great that it can be used with a spur or a bevel gear and that it can be locked, but I'm not sure that it is 3 times stronger. Maybe someone can do a test to see how much torque this new diff can apply to the half shafts before anything slips compared to the current diff, but they put a brace thingy in the middle of it, so you can't press an axle any deeper into the 12t bevel gear than you can with the current one, which isn't quite enough due to the rounded ends of axles and the recessed rear of the bevel gear, leaving very little engagement between the axle and the gear. This means that even if you prevent the axle from sliding out the bevel gear is still prone to "camming out", like a rounded out Phillips screw head. Maybe it is stronger than I think it is, and it's certainly much better than the current diff and I am still excited to get my hands on it. But sadly, due to the very little engagement between axle and bevel gear, it doesn't appear quite strong enough to reliably move a motorised flagship sized model without further gearing after the diff. Hopefully I'm wrong.

Edited December 17, 2019 by allanp

[Didumos69]

Nice strong diff for RC with likely the possibility to add a driving ring for a diff lock, but not practical for gearboxes. I like it.

[Thirdwigg]

27 minutes ago, allanp said:

but they put a brace thingy in the middle of it, so you can't press an axle any deeper into the 12t bevel gear than you can with the current one, which isn't quite enough due to the rounded ends of axles and the recessed rear of the bevel gear, leaving very little engagement between the axle and the gear. 

This is my issue with it. It's a nice improvement, but it would be nice to have a deeper engagement. I get why they design it as such, but this little change would be nice.

[1gor]

1 hour ago, Thirdwigg said:

Agreed.

I suppose you are mostly talking about new differential and frames...if I could help someone (with a bit off topic) there is this set with 5 white frames if Liebherr is to expensive

https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemInv.asp?S=75255-1

(U have just ordered 2 black frames for my Fastrac hoping to solve stiffness and simplicity issue that I had for some time with h chassis; they should arrive next week)

[Ngoc Nguyen]

I've decided that I'm gonna bricklink the parts (panels and stickers), and then build one without the electronics. I don't even need the 7x11 frames since I can just join two 5x7 ones.

[kbalage]

2 hours ago, Meatman said:

So the front wheels do not return to center? They must be manually controlled to return?

The PU L motor for steering should work the same way as in 42099 with proper return to center steering (when used with the appropriate application)

[1gor]

13 minutes ago, Ngoc Nguyen said:

I've decided that I'm gonna bricklink the parts (panels and stickers), and then build one without the electronics. I don't even need the 7x11 frames since I can just join two 5x7 ones.

It depends on project you are working on; generally bigger Moc could be lighter and stiffer with less parts using this frames, but everyone for him or herself...or vice versa, but on this small set we saw that smaller models can use big frame...

What I did not notice is the way of battery change (probably when car is upside down)

Edited December 17, 2019 by I_Igor

[jorgeopesi]

Will can we use axles with stop with this differential?, if it is right it will be a nice feature. One of my headaches with small MOCs is how to fix the axles to prevent them from coming out with the wheels.

[rm8]

2 minutes ago, jorgeopesi said:

Will can we use axles with stop with this differential?, if it is right it will be a nice feature. One of my headaches with small MOCs is how to fix the axles to prevent them from coming out with the wheels.

yes, but only one side, if you use it in the rectangular frame. The same as with old version

[jorgeopesi]

9 minutes ago, rm8 said:

yes, but only one side, if you use it in the rectangular frame. The same as with old version

Ouch but thank you, it would have been very good. I realize why one of the gears enters in that way...

Edited December 18, 2019 by jorgeopesi

[MajklSpajkl]

I like the new differential a lot. I hope it can be opened as pleased. A minor minus is that idler gears in the diff have some play because they don't have their own axle on the differential housing. 

[Didumos69]

1 hour ago, MajklSpajkl said:

I like the new differential a lot. I hope it can be opened as pleased. A minor minus is that idler gears in the diff have some play because they don't have their own axle on the differential housing. 

I like it too and have the same concern. Under high torque the idler gears not having their own axle may also cause friction issues. The idler gears would get squeezed against their 'slots' and lock the differential.

Edited December 18, 2019 by Didumos69

[HorcikDesigns]

Personally, I was hoping for coaxial differential that would be impossible to disassemble, just like the planetary wheel hubs.

Do not misunderstand me, I like the new design, it is improvement, considering the previous version, but it could have been just a little different, IMHO. 

[Jundis]

1 hour ago, HorcikDesigns said:

Personally, I was hoping for coaxial differential that would be impossible to disassemble, just like the planetary wheel hubs.

Do not misunderstand me, I like the new design, it is improvement, considering the previous version, but it could have been just a little different, IMHO. 

There are really two sides of the story. On one side, every Technic-fan likes sturdy, compact constructions as they give us new/improved building methods and techniques. On the other, the more Lego goes for complete build-in-solutions like the planetary hub, the more it gets lost from the original principle: Build everything from simple building blocks.

I really can't make up my mind, which side I prefer, while I like the basic idea of this diff as is somehow combines both of its advantages (but maybe also disadvantages?).

[HorcikDesigns]

14 minutes ago, Jundis said:

There are really two sides of the story. On one side, every Technic-fan likes sturdy, compact constructions as they give us new/improved building methods and techniques. On the other, the more Lego goes for complete build-in-solutions like the planetary hub, the more it gets lost from the original principle: Build everything from simple building blocks.

I really can't make up my mind, which side I prefer, while I like the basic idea of this diff as is somehow combines both of its advantages (but maybe also disadvantages?).

I know, any specialized part is step away from the basic LEGO principle (to build anything from only a few types of bricks), but it is the way TLC seems to be going right now. 

[allanp]

1 hour ago, HorcikDesigns said:

I know, any specialized part is step away from the basic LEGO principle (to build anything from only a few types of bricks), but it is the way TLC seems to be going right now. 

This may be an unpopular opinion but I like specialised parts. Real life vehicles are mostly built from specialised parts (by weight. There's lots of off the shelf nuts and bolts and electrical connectors but most of the weight is in large specialised parts). What I don't like is pre-assembled parts. This new diff seems to be the best of both worlds. I'm really looking forward to getting it. And is it just me or has the excitement factor of new parts been increasing lately? Starting in 2015 with the Arocs and later with the claas tyres, bucket wheel quarter gear segments, wheel arches, pneumatic valve, planetary wheel reduction hubs and now this new improved diff, they seem to have really upped their game in the new parts department. This is good because, being someone with lots of Technic pieces already, this is keeping me hooked on new sets year after year.

[schraubedrin]

4 hours ago, Didumos69 said:

The idler gears would get squeezed against their 'slots' and lock the differential

I first thought this to be a problem too. But after a little thought, that gives us kind of a load-locking differential as some people hoped it would be

[Jundis]

2 hours ago, allanp said:

Starting in 2015 with the Arocs and later with the claas tyres, bucket wheel quarter gear segments, wheel arches, pneumatic valve, planetary wheel reduction hubs and now this new improved diff, they seem to have really upped their game in the new parts department. This is good because, being someone with lots of Technic pieces already, this is keeping me hooked on new sets year after year.

Agreed, but also remember the history of TLG. As they were on the brink of bankruptcy in 2003, Jørgen Vig Knudstorp as the new CEO reduced the number of individual brick molds from 14.000 to under 7000 and went back to more basic bricks and classic themes instead of specialiced ones for specialiced themes. This in the end saved TLG.

I just hope the don't overdo it again...

[TechnicRCRacer]

I love it! It can be disassembled, right?

[SNIPE]

Yes, the red gear and gray housing unclips easily, becuase what if you put the bevel gears in wrong or want to use them again.

Only problem is it looks like the red gear needs a 5.5 axle because the tan bevel gear cannot have 0.5 L of axle since the gray housing would stop the axle.

You could use a 5L axle and the now outdated 1.5L CV joint female, for non steered and no suspention axles, you could just have the 0.5L excess sticking out past the rim but for steered axles the need for a 5.5L axle will be a problem.

Edited December 19, 2019 by SNIPE