Wheel arches

[Jaymes]

Any else also notice that the wheel arches in most models are too wide and not accurate at all??? Even the biggest rims don't seem to fill up the damn arches and there's always gaps on the sides.

[freakray]

Fujimi?

[hirofkd]

Originally Posted by Jaymes

Any else also notice that the wheel arches in most models are too wide and not accurate at all??? Even the biggest rims don't seem to fill up the damn arches and there's always gaps on the sides.

What kind of world do you live? Never heard of cars with a suspension stroke?

Well, I see your point though. The fact of the matter is that human eyes don't register a 4500 mm long real car and a 190 mm long model car the same way. If a certain car is reduced to a miniature size "accurately," the body will look too narrow, and the tires & wheels will look much smaller than you'd think. Company like Tamiya tends to exaggerate certain features so that their models look better. Case in point? See their 911 Turbo kit? Wheels aren't that bit on the real car. What about their FD kit? The body is ungodly inaccurate compared to the ones of Aoshima, Rosso and Fujimi.

Fujimi has a series called "inch-up," and as the name suggests, they (are supposed to) represent wheel sizes bigger by 1 inch. The problem is, it seems that Fujimi has forgotten the meaning of the series, and some wheels are rather "accurate," even if it's in the Inch-Up series. Their NSX has accurate wheel diameter, but as a result, they look too small. (Stick to the principle of your own product line, Fujimi!)

In reality, tires look much smaller. Just pay attention to the gap between the wheel arch and the tires of an unmodified Mustang or something in your neighborhood, and you'll be surprised.

[blubaja]

It's called wheelgap. Subarus tend to have the Fujimi syndrome sometimes. Well, modified ones. Like this beauty

[Jaymes]

No, I'm talking about the sides of the wheel arches



Judge for yourself

[bhop73]

Originally Posted by Jaymes

No, I'm talking about the sides of the wheel arches



Judge for yourself

The Z model looks 100% accurate to me... well, maybe 99%

[generationx]

hirofkd has it right of course. In "real life" cars need suspension travel to give handling and comfort. Just look at a Ford Focus or similar family saloon. Even tarmac-spec rally cars have large wheel arch gaps, mainly to allow good wheel travel, especially while turned for corners.
It is just that the reality doesn't look so good on a scale model...

[Jaymes]

Originally Posted by Jaymes

No, I'm talking about the sides of the wheel arches



Judge for yourself

I drew lines

[356speedster]

The modelcar wheel is too small.

Measure the with of the bottom of the wheelarches on both pictures and the diameter of the wheels on both pics, and then make a "cross calculation" you find that the modelcar wheel is about 8 percent smaller than the wheel on the real car.

Rough calculations meassured from the pictures:

REAL CAR:
Wheel arch = RA = 34 mm
Wheel dia = RW = 31 mm

MODEL CAR
Wheel arch = MA = 38 mm
Wheel dia = MW = 32 mm

"Cross calculation"
(MAxRW)/RA = 34,6 mm = the size the model wheell should have been on the picture to be acordingly the same size as the whell on the pic of the real car.

Then the model car is also lowered way too much (compare ride height on sideskirts) so with a bigger wheel sitting lower it would fill out the with of the wheelarch almost as much as on the real car.

End of class :-)

[freakray]

Originally Posted by blubaja

It's called wheelgap. Subarus tend to have the Fujimi syndrome sometimes. Well, modified ones. Like this beauty

That's a '98 RS, I had the same year & model and mine never sat that high.