Serpent
EXCEL MK2-96
1/8 scale gas racer

The 1996 EXCEL MK2 is the latest evolution of the Serpent 1/8 scale racing car. This is the version as used by the World best drivers at the World Championships in Thailand 1995. Lambert Collari won the Championship, closely followed by Michael Salven both with the EXCEL MK2. (Click the picture to download larger one)

The Excel MK2 features full adjustability, roll-centers and geometry to offer the best possible traction and steering-response , easyness of set-up and maintenance. Combine this with the back-up of information from Team Serpent and you have the perfect package.

The EXCEL 96 version is prepared to mount the DRX-2000 datalogger. A demo-floppy of the START software will be included in each EXCEL kit.

Specifications:
-front width 255mm
-rear width 266mm
-wheelbase 293mm
-race-weight 2.530 grammes
-top-speed around 120 km/h (75 mph)
-accelleration 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) within 2 seconds

Chassis-plate:
5mm CNC machined T6 aluminium, lightweight, durable and rigid, lowered sections and positioning holes for engine and suspension brackets, chamfered edges (bumper and flywheel section) , countersunk holes, positioning holes at center points for alingning board, threaded holes for up-stop crubscrews.

Radioplate:
CNC machined carbon radioplate for easy radio-installation, lightweight but also very rigid and durable material. The kit includes complete and easy mounting brake and throttle linkages.



Fueltank:
The famous 125ccm Serpent fueltank with integrated sintered bronze filter, top-mounted pressure nipple, quick fill cap and inner dams to reduce fuel-movement.


Front suspension:
Fully adjustable double wishbone suspension with reinforced wishbones, spring-steel 11mm pivotballs-links, durable steeringblocks with special angle for optimal steering response. Easily adjustable caster and camber positions. Ride height adjustment and integrated up-stop system (to limit suspension-travel). Rigid front suspension brackets holding the 3mm spring steel pivot pins . Caster spacer-set with 3 sizes. Easy mounting track-rods and Serpent servo saver are included.

Shockabsorbers:
Hydraulic aluminium coil-over shockabsorbers, internally and externally adjustable with progressive springs and high quality Serpent silicone oil . Hard anodised and PTFE (teflon) coated housings. Hardened steel shockabsorber shafts for ultra smooth operation. The EXCEL features different shockabsorber positions to adapt to each situation.

Anti-roll bar front:
Fully adjustable front anti-roll bar . Stiffness can be changed by simply turning the positions of the anti-roll bar rods (ball and cup side).

Transmission:

Front transmission:

• Beltdriven aluminium front axle with pricision pully and high quality one-way bearings. Spring steel adapters and wheel-axle with quick-change system for front wheels. Durable and lightweight drive-shafts ( 63.5mm). belt-drive system from 2-speed layshaft to middle axle with ball-raced belttensioner. Beltdrive from middle to front axle.

Rear transmission:

• 9mm Kevlar belt from 2-speed layshaft (with 23T pully) to to Flex-drive axle ( 46T pully) . Durable spring steel drive-shafts (44m).

Flex-drive

• a new type of solid rear axle with integrated rubber buffers to take away the first hard power-blow when accellerating. This will make the drive-shafts and flex-drive axles to last much longer. A version with ball differential is also available.

Rear suspension:
Fully adjustable double wishbone suspension with durable A and H-arms. Upper rear wishbones and rear up-rights are carbon filled material to increase stiffness. Spring steel 8.5mm pivot ball links for easy adjusting. Unique integrated ball-cups for smooth operation. Easy setting of camber and toe-in/out position. Spring steel wheel-axles with quick-change wheel-system. The rear supension block is very rigid with precision rear brackets, back-plate and brake-bracket.

2-Speed gearbox:
Fully automatic 2-speed gearbox based on the centrifugal forces. The set consists of an aluminium precision CNC machined clutch bell in which the 2-speed shoes are captured , the aluminium drive-flange with one-way bearing and ofcourse the 2-speed gear. 43T / 47T are standard, other 2-speed gear-ratio's are available as optionals ofcourse. The durable gears have an easy mounting system. The complete 2-speed unit can be removed from the layshaft within seconds if needed.

Centax clutch
The EXCEL comes standard with the unique Centax Clutch . For more information on the working, set-up and contents click here. (Use the Back button from the browser to return to this page. Use the index-button on the centax-page to get more info about other serpent technologies).

Engine mounts:
Aluminium CNC machined and purple anodised engine mounts (wider and longer) for improved positioning of the engine.

Rear anti-roll bar:
3mm anti-roll bar system linked on the rear lower wishbones. 2.3mm and 1.6mm anti-roll bars are available as option.

Disk brake-system:
Cam operated effective dual plate brakesystem with ventilated disk and new type of brake-material. Smooth braking under all circumstances.

Ball-bearings:
The chassis is completely ball-raced with high quality precison ball-bearings on all the shafts (front-blocks, steeringblocks, up-rights, rear brackets , middle blocks) , wheel-axles (front and rear) , 2-speed and clutch-system.

Wheels:
Quick-change front and rear 5 spoke racing wheels. The kit includes complete wheels with glued and trued tyres.

Bodymounting:
Front bodymount plate with strong nylon body-supports. Rear bodymount with new centering device and facilities to integrate a body-support wire.

Documents:
The kit includes a very comprehensive and clear instruction manual which takes you step by step through the whole process. Also a very detailed chassis set-up booklet is included. It is very important to follow the order as given in the manual. This is exactly the way as top-drivers like Michael Salven build the cars. A questionnaire is put in each kit with which you can request the latest set-up info on the EXCEL MK2 by mail.

Packing:
The Excel comes as a car-kit. All the parts are packed by sections which are refered to in the manual. The chassis is partially pre-mounted in the box to show some parts of the car when you open the box. The Excel is a very nice and easy car to build. All the parts fit very well and almost no work needs to be done on the parts.

The EXCEL 96 Model is introduced in the market in november 1995. The EXCEL 95 version can be up-dated to the 1996 version, so all the parts are interchangeable.

Bodies:
A bodyshell is not included in this kit. The Porsche 962 bodyshell is recommended as it gives the best steering and downforce. The Serpent Porsche 962 MS #1745 comes with the cut-out lines prepared exactly for the EXCEL MK2 version.

Engine and tuned pipe system:
These are not included. Serpent recommends to use the Mega SX-21 racing engine (made by Nova Rossi) and Mega tuned pipe system.

 

Versions:

Version:	Drivetype:	Rear axle:	Gearbox:	Clutch type
9020-96 EXCEL MK2 96	4 X 4	Flex-drive	2-Speed	Centax
9021-96 EXCEL MK2 96	4 X 4	Differential	2-Speed	Centax
9022-96 EXCEL MK2 96	4 X 2	Differential	2-Speed	3-shoe normal clutch