'91 WC Stealth vs B4

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'91 WC Stealth vs B4

Post by jbmeyer13 »

The '91 IFMAR champ had a very (perhaps most) unique suspension geometry during that era. For a variety of reason AE never released that exact design but the influence ever since is undeniable. Based on comparing photos of the B4 and '91 Stealth the similarities are very evident. I understand that the B4 has the widest track (ROAR specs) and I wonder if the same can be said of the WC Stealth car? Furthermore, the rear end looks almost identical as well.

Makes you wonder why it took so long for those particular design elements to make it into full scale production :?

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Re: '91 WC Stealth vs B4

Post by Oozzee »

have you got any pictures to go with this,
my brain can't work with out pictures :D
well thats what they tell me
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Re: '91 WC Stealth vs B4

Post by slow_jun »

hahaha me too, I normally skip post with out pics. hahaha... more of a visual person. hahahah
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Re: '91 WC Stealth vs B4

Post by jbmeyer13 »

How's this?

Looks like the B4 might have slightly longer arms but tough to say for sure. The shocks are also at a steeper angle on the Stealth but that can of course be adjusted.
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Re: '91 WC Stealth vs B4

Post by fredswain »

There was a Radio impound podcast last year with Cliff Lett where he talked about this. He said that many things from that car finally made it into production. That car was where they got their current arm length from and having equal length arms all around. They also learned shock mounting locations on that car so the front mount hole on the arm probably lines up with one of the current locations. The shocks behind the tower were also an obvious trait. The front end high geometry never made it since it didn't work well on every track. Probably due to the high center of gravity. If you compare the arms of a B3, B4, B44, and B5 you'll see that the arms are all the same length with the same shock mounting locations. It has now become the most copied geometry with other manufacturers.
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Re: '91 WC Stealth vs B4

Post by jbmeyer13 »

Thanks. I tried to listen to that pod cast on itunes but i don't have it on my work computer. Will have to try that tonight.

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Re: '91 WC Stealth vs B4

Post by jbmeyer13 »

Just had a chance to listen to that Podcast. The '89 Stealth car became the B2 and the '91 became the B4. Interestingly enough the original Prototype used at the Detroit warm up was really fast but then in Cliff's words "they lost the mojo" when they started building the 15 cars for the actual World's. The caster block geometry was the issue and maintaining a low COG. After many years of additional R&D that became the B4. Cool stuff :mrgreen:

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Re: '91 WC Stealth vs B4

Post by fredswain »

The 91 Stealth car is my ultimate want list buggy. I'm sure that goes for many people.
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Re: '91 WC Stealth vs B4

Post by jbmeyer13 »

fredswain wrote:The 91 Stealth car is my ultimate want list buggy. I'm sure that goes for many people.
I think a replica can be built with the chassis being the easier part while the suspension is a real challenge. I need to find a good CAD modeler who's preferably experienced with R/C. I figure that a combination of my CC car/RPM front end in conjunction with B4 specs should hopefully result in a fairly close front end design. I think the hardest part will be the front end caster blocks. Very few photos and none with the wheels removed that I know of.

That car is the R/C equivalent of a Ferrari 250GTO :)

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Re: '91 WC Stealth vs B4

Post by Rootdown4594 »

so since the B5 is based on the B4 and the B4 is based on the 91 worlds car, the B5 design is 23 years old!

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Re: '91 WC Stealth vs B4

Post by jbmeyer13 »

Rootdown4594 wrote:so since the B5 is based on the B4 and the B4 is based on the 91 worlds car, the B5 design is 23 years old!
Pretty much. Back in the late 80's-early 90's they had the R&D budget. Nearly all focus was on building the next World Champ 2WD. The RC10T was the only other off-road product; no Nitro, 1/8th scale, 1/10th 4WD, etc. Seems like relative stagnation in design, mainly just subtle refinements.

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Re: '91 WC Stealth vs B4

Post by Rootdown4594 »

I still wonder where the T2 came out of and why that platform was only used for the T2. The T2 platform is like a highly refined RC10. I wonder if there were plans for a buggy to be released based on the T2 platform and something just didn't happen. What if the worlds car was actually suppose to be based on the same platform as the T2 and they just didn't get it polished enough to send it into production or to be used as another stealth car at the worlds?

It seems odd that after the two stealth cars they "regressed" so to speak back to the worlds car.

The T2 is like this neat little stepping stone between the RC10 and the B2. It's the only truck platform that's not based on a buggy platform. They created all that tooling for production for one generation. That doesn't usually happen.

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Re: '91 WC Stealth vs B4

Post by fredswain »

I am a good CAD modeler.
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Re: '91 WC Stealth vs B4

Post by GoMachV »

Rootdown4594 wrote:I still wonder where the T2 came out of and why that platform was only used for the T2. The T2 platform is like a highly refined RC10. I wonder if there were plans for a buggy to be released based on the T2 platform and something just didn't happen. What if the worlds car was actually suppose to be based on the same platform as the T2 and they just didn't get it polished enough to send it into production or to be used as another stealth car at the worlds?
The trans and chassis are the main differences, nose and suspension were all the same. The chassis was too long and the trans ratio was too low for a buggy so those items would be new pieces anyway. I feel like a B2 would and should have been a T2 style buggy but for some reason it never happened. We do build a lot of them around here tho and they are a sweet "what if"
Rootdown4594 wrote:It seems odd that after the two stealth cars they "regressed" so to speak back to the worlds car.
"We race what we sell" might have had something to do with it. Those cars were developed for a specific track and while the rest of us drooled over it we could not buy one. It's good marketing to show that your current car is capable of winning
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Re: '91 WC Stealth vs B4

Post by mk-Zero »

Interesting thread and cool history. One thing I'm confused about though: why does that car say Yokomo all over it? Was it not an AE car? What am I missing?

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