Autodesk Inventor (and the 'thrice' stuff)

Since I began my studies, we were thought how to use various design, simulation, calculation and drawing software. I was really excited, because I was good at visual design software, but had no idea how to use the scientific stuff. From the very first semester in the university they started to teach us how to use a solid modeller called -

 - 'Solid Edge' (Published by Siemens, so you can get the idea of its quality). At first I loved it. It was great, it had everything I needed: measuring, simulation, visual representation of various stuff, etc. Though it was crap everywhere else. The interface was unbearable, and the PC hardware was being wasted god knows where. Pretty menu icons, I suppose. Which it didn't have.

So, I started looking for something else, that was similar. Of course, first thing I did was I went to the Autodesk website. And boom. 'Autodesk AutoCAD Inventor'. Got the trial version, tried it. Most of the actions were the same compared to Solid Edge, but the interface was much more organised and less space-consuming. The assembling part was even better. Everything just works. So, I started to model my chassis. Finished it. It was uber crap, cause it was out of proportions, pipes were too big, everything just started to fall apart. After three months of redoing everything I got tired, opened a 'New part' and started from scratch.

Then there was the suspension part. Had to redo it thrice (like twice, only three times). First design I did in inventor was for the old chassis, which you already know, was crap. Second one was for the new chassis, which was a concept, just to check if stuff worked, and the third one was the original 'how it's going to be' suspension. A couple of drawings with some modifications were used from a book called 'Build you own sports car on a budget' by Chris Gibbs. It has pretty good explanations how everything should be. (I would suggest you to buy one, it's not that expensive, and very, very useful)

So, had to redo the chassis thrice, had to redo the suspension thrice. That's what you get when trying to self-educate with no third-party help... Don't do it kids! Never try this at home. Ask for help, talk to your lecturers if you're studying. Talk to the lecturers if you're not. Read some books from library (I would suggest all the books that starts 'How to build a sports car...', I'm pretty sure there were 3 different issues of the book), go to some kit car meetings, talk with the guys in MoT, etc. Every little bit helps. ...Not to do stuff thrice (I love that word. And I love how I misuse it).

*The picture represents 3rd phase of the front suspension, which is final.