I remembered to start a section about the strange oddities that come about to any other slot car racer. To start this kind of "Slot Car X-Files" section, I'll present the strange happening that almost ruined my chance of scoring in my last race of the LMP championship.
Although the regulations allowed foam tires, I decided to use my best-ever pair of Slot.It P1 tires, trimmed to a very small 17.5 mm diameter (they were 19.0 in stock form) and treated with several kinds of oils (Blue Factor bushing oil mostly). The swelling promoted the formation of a "bubble" all along the tire middle section, and grip greatly improved since then. Eventually, they get used up, hardening a bit.
This is the car which I contested 2 races of the LMP championship, which consisted of 4. I took the Audi R8 Pro from SCX, a very light and incredibly fast model, fitted with the powerful Slot.It Boxer-2 motor.
Coupled to the sticky P1s, I could face the foam-tires shod competitors knowing that, while not reaching laptimes like the fastests around, at least I could do fairly well - and the 1st race proved that: 5th place from 15, being the only one fitting rubber tires!
Alas, the next race I was surprised by a rare - if not unlikely - occurance: a tire puncture on a slot car! That occured somewhere from the middle of the race forth. I decided my starting lane so that I would end on the fastest, and that was where I noticed that the car was not as fast as I expected... until track assistants started to comment on the strange leveling on my car - it looked like the rear was bottoming on the right side. This is what I found after the race:
Although the regulations allowed foam tires, I decided to use my best-ever pair of Slot.It P1 tires, trimmed to a very small 17.5 mm diameter (they were 19.0 in stock form) and treated with several kinds of oils (Blue Factor bushing oil mostly). The swelling promoted the formation of a "bubble" all along the tire middle section, and grip greatly improved since then. Eventually, they get used up, hardening a bit.
This is the car which I contested 2 races of the LMP championship, which consisted of 4. I took the Audi R8 Pro from SCX, a very light and incredibly fast model, fitted with the powerful Slot.It Boxer-2 motor.
Coupled to the sticky P1s, I could face the foam-tires shod competitors knowing that, while not reaching laptimes like the fastests around, at least I could do fairly well - and the 1st race proved that: 5th place from 15, being the only one fitting rubber tires!
Alas, the next race I was surprised by a rare - if not unlikely - occurance: a tire puncture on a slot car! That occured somewhere from the middle of the race forth. I decided my starting lane so that I would end on the fastest, and that was where I noticed that the car was not as fast as I expected... until track assistants started to comment on the strange leveling on my car - it looked like the rear was bottoming on the right side. This is what I found after the race:
A closer look, with the assistance of a finger, clearly showing the rim:
Luckily I was able to score, being the only one to bring rubber tires - again!
I suppose after this incident you are all in favour of mandatory tire changes during races... ;)
ReplyDeleteCheers
Eheh, not quite :)
ReplyDeleteBut this is what you get for over-treating your tires. Plus, this is the old rule in motorsport, concerning tires: more grip, less durability...