- Schumacher Cougar SV -
Words & Pictures: Arn0

Rear end and transmission installation

Putting the transmission aside, the rear end is the next step for this piece of engineering.

Two nice purple anodized aluminum parts make up the bottom of this rear end, providing by default a three degree anti-squat angle. The hinges are encapsulated by pivot spheres on each side and maintained by a third and also nice purple anodized aluminum part which sets the rear toe to -4°. By adding shims, you are able to set the anti-squat angle to your convenience from 3° which provides more on-power traction, down to 0° in order to absorb ruts, bumps and jumps.

The stock assembly sets the rear shock forward and the corresponding positions for the wishbones. If you read the manual further, the shock can be mounted in a reverse position. No, not shaft up and body down but backwards, on the rear on the wishbones. To achieve this, you have to relocate the ballstuds to the backside of the wishbones. This installation allows the car to be more stable on bumpy tracks. So depending on the tracks of your local area, you may go directly with this setting, otherwise, let’s stick with the shocks on the front.

The rest of the rear suspension is the same as the front end design, a double wishbone type suspension with the camber links mounted on an angled carbon fiber plate. This plate is screwed onto the transmission casing with a 2mm spacer in between. That means you can play with both the 1mm shim and the 2mm spacer to adjust both camber change and roll center. To have more droop, you need to use a Dremel or similar tool to remove some material form the low desk as the wishbones' front edge touch the chassis.

The rear hubs provided are made of plastic, offering a 0° angle outboard toe and are symmetrical right-left. The bearing fitting is good, not too lose nor too tight.

The assembly process starts by installing the differential on the bottom. It is not indicated in which way to mount the differential so, by installing it the wrong way, the differential will be loose after some minutes of usage. Make sure to install the differential with the setting screw on the same side as the spur. Remember also to set it on the low position.

The next step is to install the transmission. To do so, you may first loosen the three screws, if not done earlier, holding in position the motor plate. Why do so? Loosening the screws allows the gearbox to fit well when you will tighten the four screws. Once done, tighten the screws you kept loose and then install the shaft with all the others components.

To finish with the suspension, you have to set the turnbuckles and the rear hubs. The latter can be spaced forward, center or backwards to increase the wheelbase using some plastic clips and changes the weight distribution between the front and rear ends.

A final comment about the rear wheel mounts: Schumacher uses some roll pins and no hexagons - a really good point as you can use rims other than Schumacher’s, especially if you are switching to the Cougar SV and hence reusing your Associated or JConcepts rims.

Some may consider here an alternative solution for something less flexible offering angle adjustment to generate the wanted downforce. So, this is probably one detail some competitors may want to work on.