Re: Racer Tech Can Am Commander JUMP VIDEO!
I will drop some knowledge on you guys here....
As most of you know I had the opportunity to drive the Cam Am months before its release in the dunes of Little Sahara in Utah. During the test session I put the X through its paces, I mean I really ran it hard. During a run through the baby dunes I found some pretty gnarly looking whoops....I gassed it into the section but I could feel that something was almost jerking the car back as I was throttling and feathering the gas. I looked at the Can Am guy riding with me asked him if the car had some sort of a torque limiter or something? He said NO. So then we were ripping through some small bowls towards sand mountain and I am going at a solid looking jump and as I told the Can Am guy to hang on I gassed it hard and launched a lip like I have done a million times in the desert. Right away I felt the X nose dive. I was like woah, I must have let off, so being the dip shit I am I gas it at another but this time hold it down and it launches and flew better but still nose dived.
We got back to our trailer location and I was giving my feedback to the engineers on the shock charecteristics and a few other things. Despite a few obvious problems we were having with Fuel Injection the biggest thing I brought up was the fact that the car felt like it was slowing down in the air. The engineer at that point (the guy in the car with me was not an engineer) told me that in fact BRP had put a type of torque limiter in the drivetrain to preserve the breaking of axles and drive train components. The idea is that when the wheels get off the ground the limiter will reduce the wheel spin so that when the car lands it will not be spinning so fast that we tear up CV's and Axles. Now while I told them concept was good I also told them the way it was set right now was VERY dangerous. That the car has a tendency to nose dive not just during jumps but anytime you may get the wheels off the ground like a whoop section. They assured me that they loved my feedback and that they would address the situation..........
Dont believe my story? I am sure Magnum Dan, Jon Crowley, and a few others who were privey to my info upon returning from the trip could confirm this story. In Can Am's defense here I have not driven a production unit off road so maybe they did de tune it a bit?