One thing about these cars, a bunch of them together is an impressive sight. As bad a photographer as I am, I call these great shots. Imagine what someone who knew what he was doing could do.
Getting to business, here are the various things folks did with their cars. Notice the different parts of the underbody that were cut out and mounting post modifications, the chassis changes, including freeing the edges from any body contact, contact posts that are cut away, motor swaps, drive shaft changes, and a pinion change you can't see. The brass pinion on one of them was not the same pitch as the crown gear on the Revell, and it was bound. I swapped it for a stock pinion and taped the brass one to the inside of the body for the owner. Nearly all cut the mounting lug off the belly, and the magnet box as well.
Here is the long and short of wheels and tires clearance... The lowest car in the group and the highest. Notice that the lowest is basically a tripod, the front wheels nearly don't touch the track. Both the fronts and the rears have been sanded down as far as they will go and still function. On the straights, the fronts are stock-still. The other car is the highest clearance in the group, owing to having cut down front tires from the rear of the original car, and Indy Grips silicones on the rear. Oddly, the tires that fill the wheels wells actually belong to the fastest car in the group. There's a lesson in there somewhere about how we prepare front motor cars. For one thing, each of the cars with rear tires sanded down noticeably were much slower than their brothers. But the fact that urethanes and silicones on the rear that were full size had not only speed, but better handling all around is something to think about.
Two of the cars were slim can motors, and their performance was much different from each other, but not all that different from the fat motors in the straights. In the esses, they ran off and left everybody. What they differ in power is made up for in lightness. In fact, balancing a slimcan car is a different task entirely from a standard fat motor. I suspect that has a lot to do with the way manufacturers have been using them. In these front motored cars, the difference can be amazing as a single change to the car.
The highest and the lowest again. The guide depth isn't significantly different, but the body, therefore the center of gravity, is higher on the lighter blue car. But the lower center of gravity car isn't faster. The darker blue car is the fastest car in the 7 that were tested. But that low car sure looks good, doesn't it? Of them all, the lowest car definitely looks the best by far. If I was a better photographer, you would see it better.
In conclusion, the bad name that front motor cars have had is bunk. You can fix them with just a little thinking and a motor change here and there. In this case, the guide depth matters, but the body height doesn't. The added weight that made the difference ads up to only 1/8 ounce or less. I'm going to re-visit the big bad buggaboo of front motors this week, the Panoz. If I use what I learned here, I bet that car will fly around the track.
The road tests were something I wish I could have filmed. Seven cars running one after another, and then 3 at a time. That was really fun. Each of the cars ran the inside lane and the outside lane at a constant speed to observe the cornering characteristics, and was run as fast as possible in the center lane. After every heat, tires were thoroughly cleaned, and braids were cleaned. The results have been hinted at above, but the end result was dark blue first overall, then white, then red. The remaining four cars were almost identical. The difference, as always with slot cars, is the speed in the curves, and wheel spin coming out of the curves. The cars that went through the esses swinging way out still maintaining their speed, had wheel spin as they entered the straights, and lost to the cars that held the line in the curves, then hit the straight with full traction and brakes. Like we are always saying, “The fastest car isn't usually the winnerâ€. And having one driver for all the cars eliminates the skill factor in the test. It levels the field.
Oh and lastly, cut that damned mounting lug off the belly. It sticks down so far, it can ruin your clearance. I never noticed how much that thing hung down before. And using red velvet from your wife's fabric stash makes a great background for photography...
A comparison with this many visiting cars is a big job, but you can do it and have a ball if you plan it ahead of time. Afterward, I recommend massive intake of cold beverages with sausage and cheese as a reward for getting it done! [*burp*]
