Ferrari F2004

The Ferrari F2004 was driven by Michael Schumacher in the F1 2004 World Championship. This car brought the seventh world title to Schumacher and demonstrated the awesome supremacy of the prancing horse over their rivals. Therefore, this car is considered as one of the best cars in history.

In 2005, I built a F2004 1/5 scale, controlled by remote control and powered by a 2 stroke single cylinder engine. The body work is made by glass fiber, allowing a lighter chassis and bodywork components.  

The engine is a OPS-ProCorsa with 3HP that reaches up to 26.500 rpm and pushes the car up to 70 km/h. The most important feature of this prototype, is the magnificent bodywork. There is no other RC car like that in terms of aesthetics. Thus, this unique model represents a new class in the RC world. Its chassis is also based on a real F1 car, using a monocoque + rear frame structure. The suspensions are push-rod type, providing even more realism and following the car’s philosophy.

The chassis is made out of glass fiber and a wet-layup process was used. The model was shaped on foam prior to the layup process, made on its outer surface. Wings and bodywork are also built from glass fibre, which means that a mould has to be made for each part.

Engine	OPS Pro Corsa .21. Longitudinal configuration.
Max. Rpm / Peak Power	26.000 rpm / 3 CV
Driveline	RWD. Centrifugal clutch. No differential.
Brakes	Rear central brake disc. Front brake discs on each Wheel
Chassis	Glass fibre moncoque. Rear steel sheet structure.
Bodywork and wings	Glass fibre, plastic and aluminium
Front suspensión	Double Unequal A-arm with push rod
Rear suspensión	Double Unequal A-arm with push rod
Weight	6,5 kg
Dimensions	940 x 360 x 190 [mm]

The car's major issue is cooling when the engine cover is on. This problem is not usually found in commercial RC cars since they have big splits on their bodywork to get a large amount of air flowing arond the engine head. Of course, this is not possible with this F2004 and two small fans were allocated around the engine. They are powered with an extra battery and this keeps the engine on the right operating temperature.

Another cool feature of this car is that the steering wheel and the driver's helmet have their own motion. When the car is steered trought the remote control, the steering wheel spins accordingly. Meanwhile, the driver's helmet can rotate when the car is turning. This time, the helmet uses a small ballast that forces the helmet to tilt when g forces appear.

Mechanically it is quite simple to reduce the possibility of a reliability problem. In addition, the processes and budget that I use are limited and therefore, it is not possible for me to use complex machining processes all the time. That is the reason why I tend to use my own tools as much as I can, which sometimes it is not the optimum solution. However, it does not mean that using own tools is decreasing the level of accuracy or quality but a limitation of the project's scope.

I have to mention, that following the original's car bodywork has been quite tough. Nowadays, Formula One cars are designed for high speed thus aerodynamics are extremely important. In order to obtain maximum aerodynamic efficiency they have complex geometries that represent a challenge when it comes to manufacturing, and this car is not an exception. Even with different structural requriements, the components of this small car are hard to manufacture.

After all the time spent on this project, I have to say that the result deserved it. It took me about one year and a half to build all the parts and some extra time for painting. The paint I used is an official Ferrari's Rosso Scuderia. A very nice color that was used in their F1 cars for long time. The stickers were also drawn and cut by me. I hope you like how the car looks and I would be glad to answer any questions you have about this project.