1/12th scale electric powered 2wd competition level pan car chassis.
Serpent are pleased to introduce the S120, our first entry into the resurgent 1/12th scale pan car class. Made using high quality components throughout, we have worked within the confines of the scale and class rules to produce a unique, high performance and fully adjustable chassis.
The S120 chassis consists of 2 main elements, the 2.5mm thick carbon fibre chassis plate and the rear single piece aluminium motor pod. The chassis uses a T-bar system, which has adjustable tension thanks to its unique tweaking system is damped using a conventional centrally mounted shock absorber together with a laterally mounted floating monoshock. The front end of the car is completely adjustable and utilises the now standard fixed lower suspension arms combined with active top wishbones, which together with kingpin mounted springs ensure that the car is able to corner at high speeds and soak up any small bumps found on the racing surface.
The front end of the car features 11 different adjustments to help you get the most from your car, all of which are easy to adjust and measure. Fixed lower suspension arms are themselves damped by the central strut which uses rubber o-rings to take up the flex in this area, while the grey anodised aluminium front upper wishbone mounts are available in different caster angles, the car being supplied with 6 degree versions as standard. With the steering block king pins spring loaded, the cornering forces are channelled through the upper wishbone, which enable the car to corner at high speeds.
One of the most unique features of the S120 is the rear motor pod, which has been machined from a single block of high quality aluminium. This, combined with the design of the pod, ensure that its perfectly aligned and extremely stiff, meaning that all cornering forces are absorbed by the cars 2 shock absorbers. This motor pod is also extremely strong and is therefore resistant to crash damage and tweaking that can come from a heavy impact. It has also been designed to accept all of today's brushless motors, with enough space to mount the sensor and power cables.
To help tweak the car, as well as adjust the tension on the rear pod, the S120 features a tweak station that allows simple tweak adjustment through the use of grub screws that have been set in spring steel blades. This system allows you to not only tweak the car but gives the racer to ability to adjust the flex tension. Offering a wide range of settings, they can be easily adjusted on the track through a single screw that is accessed through a slot in the bottom of the chassis plate. The front of the tweak station also doubles up as a mount for the supplied carbon antenna rod.
Another very unique feature of the S120 is its laterally mounted floating monoshock which dampens the flex between the chassis and the motor pod. Mounted using ball joints from the top of the rear motor pod, both ends of the shock shaft are attached to the top of the rear carbon body mount plate on the chassis, and thanks to its design even the smallest of movements between the front and rear of the car is easily absorbed. This system plays a big part in how the car turns into a corner which can be adjusted through the use of different oils and shock pistons.
To aid rear traction under acceleration and to absorb bumps, the S120 sports a centrally mounted shock absorber. Supplied with a soft blue spring, the pre load of which can be adjusted, the front mount of this shock absorber is used for adjusting the rear down stop and range of movement between the chassis and motor pod.
The S120 comes supplied with a durable and high performance ball differential. Easily adjusted by a plastic nut, accessible through the right rear wheel, the diff uses high quality steel balls and plates and is supplied with both suitable silicone and graphite grease for use during assembly and maintenance.
The lightweight graphite rear axle is mounted on bearings that sit within eccentric composite inserts that allows the user to ability to quickly and easily change the rear ride height of the car simply by changing between inserts. The kit comes supplied with all 9 inserts which range between 0 and 4mm, each differing by 0.5mm and all are reversible for an even wider range of adjustment.
The S120 comes supplied with a high quality miniature servo saver, which through the use of orange anodised shims, has adjustable Ackerman. Further to the servo saver, the car comes with aluminium servo mounting posts that feature an offset mounting hole in the base giving them a greater range to accept a wide variety of servos.
On the S120, the cells can be mounted in 2 different positions by simply changing the composite battery insert mounting position. Attaching it to the front or rear of the slot means the cells can move by 4mm, perfect for adjusting the cars weight distribution.
For securely mounting the body shell to your S120, the car has strong plastic body posts front and rear. All 4 posts are supplied with orange anodised adjustable collars to precisely adjust the body's height and the posts are supplied extra long to allow the user to cut them to their own preferred length. The front body posts have also been designed to help protect the front of the carbon chassis from splitting in the event of a heavy front impact.
The S120 is sold in a very compact matt black box that follows the same design cues as that from the S400 and which can fit the built S120 (minus wheels). To allow you to build your car with the greatest of ease, Serpent supplies a full colour instruction manual and integrated reference guide section that contains all the exploded views and latest options. The S120 also comes supplied with a pair of decal sheets in orange and black.
The manual is available to download as a PDF in the 'Downloads' section of this product page.