There are two types of first time LEGO builders: those who stack LEGOs randomly as high as they possibly can, and those who make impressive structures such as… cars! And while I’m still extremely proud of the 20-brick high wall I made when I was 4-years-old, I, as an adult now, see how much more practical making a LEGO car is in terms of transportation for my yellow LEGO men.
The Brick Experiment Channel on YouTube has been churning out LEGO Technic videos for years, but it was only recently that the channel put up a tutorial on how to make a LEGO Technic car that can overcome almost every obstacle you put in its path:
The video mostly focuses on the physical aspects of making a versatile LEGO car. Aspects like wheel diameter and tire grip can be easily adjusted by swapping out parts (in this case, the tires), while minor changes like adding a four-wheel-drive add to the car’s overall torque.
Adjusting The Car Body
Things start to get interesting once bigger changes are made to the overall car structure. To get your car to adjust to sudden changes in terrain, it is advised to make an adjustable middle joint in the car’s body. This allows the vehicle to contort itself to an angle that can traverse practically anything, no matter how oddly placed it is.
Oh, and don’t forget to evenly distribute the weight on both ends! If you forget this, you’ll more often than not end up with an upside-down car with its wheels spinning in the open air.
Two Motors And One Smart App Equals Fewer Problems
To help solve the issues of weight distribution, torque, and power, placing two motors on your LEGO car – one controlling the front tires and one for the rear tires – helps make things easier.
Couple this with a special SBrick which allows for remote control and the BrickController 2 app, and you can manually drive this puppy using an ordinary PlayStation 4 controller. It takes some practice and a lot of fiddling to get the car over more tricky terrain, but with a little patience, you can definitely get your vehicle up and over most of the time.
You may have noticed one glaring omission from this particular LEGO car, and that’s the lack of a steering mechanism. In order to make the build as simple as possible, this LEGO car was made to focus solely on vertical traversal. Here’s to hoping the Brick Experiment Channel will make another video dedicated to horizontal steering soon!
For more LEGO Technic experiments, The Brick Experiment Channel is definitely the place to go.
