22 replies to this topic

[Isaac S.]

At some point some one asked me to say how one of the cars performed. I think it was maybe the Champion 26D car.

 

Racing on a smaller sized tri oval. One good sized bank, one flat corner. 

 

On the first few cars (draining less amps) my controller needs some work and wouldn't switch to the 15 ohm setting. Therefore some of the cars were not at all matched to the controller. Gonna try to get a new controller, if some one has a working MRC Endura Varipower I would be very interested. 

 

The Rannalli DC706 car wouldn't mesh with the controller AT ALL so I had to not race it. 

 

The two thingies both had NO grip so gonna try to fix that also. No go. The one needs taller gearing. 

 

4.905-Strombecker Testarossa. Now contains a Buzco Red Bomb from Don Siegel. Also has silicone's and 5/40 axles. Again, controller was the downfall. With a better matched controller it would be great, good power and brakes. It was actually a great runner. 

 

4.832-Strombecker With Igarachi. Stock motor with 5/40 axles and Cox slicks. Only reason it is faster is cause it drew a little more amperage. Gear mesh was a little rough, but also a good car. Not quite as much potential as the Testarossa though. 

 

?- Pittman 6001 GP, had good power and brakes but was very tail happy, needs glue. With a little glue it would be great. Forgot to write down a time though. 

 

3.662- Champion 26D Jaildoor. Very well balanced, power is perfect for the car. Good RPM's and great torque. Motor makes a scary wine when you are gunning it. Has a lot of mass though, was never able to push the plunger down all the way. 

 

3.256- Anglewinder. FAST! Very nice to drive, great power and brakes and in the corners it was fantastic. I think I could've taken it a little farther even. Looks super cool going down the track too. Beat all the fairgrounds cars other people brought out. 

 

Any comments or questions welcome. 

[Martin]

I going to need some pics Isaac

 

Cool that you have been testing

[MattD]

Lot of apples and oranges.     Without quality tires on all cars, times really don't mean much.   With upgraded tires  your times  are not limited by 60 year old tires.

[Isaac S.]

On the tires, the Champion jaildoor and the lighter thingie both have modern tires. I used a firmer compound that I had on the thingie but new, good tires on the jaildoor. Kinda expected the firm tires not to work. Back in the day the tracks must have had lots of glue, the original tires were fairly thin and small. The angle winder has the original tires but they are very soft and sticky still. The Pittman GP car have the NOS U-Go blues all they need is a bit of glue and then it will be a great car. You are right though. 

 

Here are quick pictures of the cars. Tried to show the tires on all of them too. 

 

[Isaac S.]

 

The tires shown on the thingies are not the ones on as they were raced, and I need to trim them. 

[Isaac S.]

Was in Nashville so went to nearby Apex Raceway where they had a 155' hillclimb. Great track with clean power and smooth track. 

 

First, I love the new controller, works very well with all my cars and the sensitivity and brake knobs are very helpful. 

 

The first car I tried out was my scratch built 26D sidewinder. Worked better than expected with good acceleration and speed. Chassis handles pretty well. On par or even a bit better than a Classic Manta Ray but half the cost to build so understandable why many would make this kind of car. I'm going to glue to tires on as I think they were expanding on the straights and making the car jump slightly. 

 

[Slot Car Rod]

Isaac, thanks for the track report.  Looking forward to more of them.

[Isaac S.]

Next I tried the Pittman 706 powered Dodge Hussein. Runs super smooth. But it's heavy which makes it a bit slow on the tight corners. The wedge Cox guide was too thick so at some points in corners it pushed the car out of the slot. I will file it down some. Fun car that looks cool though. The independent ball bearing wheels I added make a cool "whoosh" noise on the straights. 

 

[Isaac S.]

I then tried out the Pittman 6001BB powered BRM. This one is really fun as it drives well and is predictable, pretty fast and motor stays cool as a rock. Motor is very smooth but not too powerful as most of my cars are.  I could drive this car all day. It did consistent 9.1's. 

 

[Isaac S.]

After I tried out my 1967-era Jaildoor with Thorp arm. I thought that the Double 28 would be making this car very unruly but it actually was pretty good. Handled well with the old Cox grey's and was a beast on the straights. Motor didn't get too hot and if I pushed it too far it would only drift, never popped out the slot. Ran mostly 8.8's. 

 

[Isaac S.]

Next was the Champion Jaildoor with the super-powered 26 wire 617. The large Charger body acted as a speaker and made the car very loud and honestly scary. I'm glad I had the track to myself! I was just getting a feel for it when the right side came out and I immediately  stopped. Turned out the main rails broke from the axle tube. Before that happened I was running nicely and had plenty of torque to push it around. You can see the separation in the picture. Sorry the picture is backwards I have tried filpping it and cropping it like I normally do but it still always comes back. 

 

[Isaac S.]

Next was the Bay area D-can Perimeter chassis thingie. I threw cut down Riggens on it before leaving as I thought they would be good for it. Turns out they were and the car was extremely fast. Screamer on the straights but tracked smooth and fast in the corners. Similar times to the east coast (best lap- 8.756) jaildoor but totally different machine. With a crazy Choti body it will be even faster. 

 

 

[Isaac S.]

Next I tried out the Mura rewind powered Lotus 40. I lowered the chassis which really helped the stance. Speed was good and so was handling. Would be right at home on a flat cornered raceway as was normal in the mid-60's. 

 

 

[Isaac S.]

After was the Ferrett chassis with Group 20 motor. Motor had good power but speed was a little down. Traction was also good. Was in the 8.8-8.7's. Looks better than it drives. 

 

 

[Isaac S.]

After I drove the Dyna 16D powered Ferrari 612 around. The Steube Checkpoint greys are great, even with this pretty light car with thin pans the car had good traction. The motor has a ton of RPM and sometimes it just decides to do a burnout coming out of a corner. But speed is good a the C of G is very low so it handles well. 

 

[Isaac S.]

Next, I used the D-can powered Ferrari 612. The car has lots of speed and power and is great in the corners. You can tell it is meant for a big American Sovereign. Ran 8.7's and a couple 8.6's. 

 

 

[Isaac S.]

Last was the C-can early 70's car with Group 20 arm. Very smooth and Pablo, I actually think the gearing is pretty good. Not fit for a longer race but for a qualifying or the short runs I'm doing it works well. The main plus is that is has great brakes now. Didn't get too hot for the 40 or so laps I ran it. Very fast, stopped within like 3 feet off the straight and handled amazingly. I'm going to add a little lead in front of the rears on the pans for a little more traction ( not that it needs it) and a little better weight distribution possibly. Hot lapped at 8.54 something. 

 

[Isaac S.]

Thanks Rod, I always appreciate when others (like you) share how their track tests went too. 

[Rob Voska]

Not to hijack this thread but it would be interesting to know lap times on the original American tracks.  Year, class of car, body, motor, gear ratio, fast qualifier.  Does anyone have the old magazines with that information.  I think it would be interesting to see.

[Isaac S.]

See the Independent Scrathchbuilder page on this site and then go to vintage info and then race reports and you should find what you want. They should tell the type of track used and the rest you wanted. 

[Mark Onofri]

I must have missed the gear ratio on the group 20 powered car. Can you elaborate on that and also, the tire diameter?

[Mark Onofri]

Oh, by the way, the number 24 looks pretty cool like a old AFX Road Runner. I take it that's the one you're referring to that you're happy with the gear ratio.

[Isaac S.]

Sorry Mark, didn't see this till now. I'm pretty sure it was 10/47. Pablo and others (including myself) were concerned about the ratio. Tires are probably right at 1" they are pretty big.