I have just bought...

A Scaleauto chassis
A Slot.it motor mount
A Slot.it motor

None of them have any screws included which will allow me to...

Fix the mount to the chassis
Fix the motor to the mount

Not important, just an observation. Wish the retailers had flagged up the need to buy screws at the same time.

   

A car that sort of passed me by in the excitement of the Scalextric launch in January was the McLaren F1 road car in Papaya orange paintwork and the tiny 'XP1 LM' decal just forward of the rear wheel arches...

   

Ignoring the completely wrong box at the Margate unveiling, the car is now available - the box inscribed with the rather less incorrect 'McLaren F1 GTR'. The actual car the Scalextric model is based on is very special indeed - the original prototype (XP1) of the five production road cars with the F1 LM designation, built to mark the 1995 Le Mans 24 hour victory of the F1 GTR (five of the six McLarens entered finished the race).

The Le Mans-winning F1 GTR was derived from the McLaren F1 road car - at the time, the fastest road car in the world. The six F1 LMs were also based on the F1, but with modifications - including a very basic interior and high-downforce aero upgrades - very similar to the race cars. The V12 BMW engine was race-spec and without intake restrictions, delivering 680 horsepower, as opposed to the 627 of the standard F1 road car.  Here's a video where Tiff Needell takes an F1 LM for a spin...



The five production F1 LMs were snapped up - a pair of black-painted cars bought by the Sultan of Brunei - with two more standard F1s subsequently upgraded by McLaren to LM specifications. One of the modified F1s sold for $19.8 million last year. The prototype - XP1 LM - was kept by McLaren. According to sources inside McLaren, Lewis Hamilton brokered a deal with Ron Dennis back in 2007 that if he won the 2008 drivers' title and the team won the constructors' championship, he'd be given XP1 LM as a bonus. Another story is that he was promised it if he won three drivers' championships with McLaren.

In case Dennis tried to pass off a modified F1, Hamilton is said to have marked XP1 so he could tell for sure he had the right car. No-one at McLaren has ever been able to find that mark. Although Hamilton won the 2008 F1 title, McLaren missed out. Neither did Hamilton win three championships at McLaren. Either way, XP1 LM remains on display at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking. If the car is ever put up for sale, Hamilton would certainly have the cash to buy it - and would know for sure he'd be buying the authentic XP1.

   

The Scalextric McLaren F1 GTR is a lovely looking model, certainly the most accurate F1 slot car produced to date. It's a decent performer on track too. The F1 LM road car model has a couple of small differences to the race version - although the bodywork of the real car is nearer to the race car than the standard F1. Inside there is a 'civilian' driver with no crash helmet or overalls. On the outside, the bonnet is the flat version, without lights and the air intake above the windscreen is more pronounced. Looking at lots of pictures of the XP1 LM and other F1 LMs, I do think Scalextric have overdone the intake. The race car has a small slit, whereas the opening is larger on the LM - but not as big as on the Scalextric model. It should also be more recessed into the roof. It is a small criticism, but having gone to the lengths of modifying the body part, it could have been perfect.

The C4102 McLaren F1 GTR Papaya Orange is available now for £40.99 RRP in the UK. It can be ordered online from you favourite Scalextric retailers, including Pendle Slot Racing, MRE and Jadlam Toys & Models.

I just discovered this very cool forum!

Here is a video I produced that I hope you will enjoy:



Scale Car Garage - 1961 Ford Ranchero in 1/32 Scale



Please take a look at my channel "Fast Sports" to view the other slot car related videos!

Any and all comments are more than welcomed!

Thanks

John

   

The latest edition of Robert Schleicher's Model Car Racing Magazine is out now. The magazine is available in the UK from Pendle Slot Racing (www.pendleslotracing.co.uk/model-car-racing-mag-issue-110) with more details of subscriptions (paper and electronic) on the Model Car Racing website: modelcarracingmag.com

This is what's in the March/April issue...

• Track Test - Scalextric Lotus 25 F1 1963
  
• Formula 1 grid 1961-63 in 1/32 scale
  
• Scenery Hay Bales
  
• Track Test "Magnet Free" - NSR Corvette C7R
  
• Track Test "Magnet Free" - NSR Mercedes AMG GT3
  
• Track Test "Magnet Free" - Scalextric Ford Thunderbird & Chevrolet Monte Carlo
  
• Track Test "Magnet Free" - Fly Porsche 917K
  
• Track Test "Magnet Free" - Carrera Porsche 911 RSR
  
• Real Race Track Plans
  
• Slot Mods three-lane wood track
  
• Slot.it Mercedes 190e DTM
  
• Scratch built classic F1 cars
  
• Vintage Racing - Cobra 289
  
• Carrera Digital Racing
  
• Track Test "Magnet Free" - Scalextric Start F1 Car
  
• Track Test "Magnet Free"- Scalextric Start LMP1 Car
  
• Track Test "Magnet Free"- Scalextric Start Rally Car
  
• Carrera Ferrari FXX K Evoluzione
  
• Toy Fair Report 2020
  
• New Cars
  

Damn! I just made an order to Pendles the other day - looks like I'll be making another.

Does anyone have a png or jpeg of the original BRM logo? It's the plain round one rather than the one with an eagle at the top. I'm doing a V16 and can't find the logo anywhere!

Part 1 - Teaching Granny to Suck Eggs (the very basics)
I'll keep this section short....
Slot cars support multiple pinion and crown sizes.
Manufacturers supply cars with a gearing that can work reasonably on most tracks.
Performance can be significantly improved by setting gearing to be optimal for the track upon which you are competing.

Crown ÷ pinion gives you a basic ratio.
Eg 27 / 9 =3 The motor turns 3 times to make the wheels turn once.
-Higher numbers can make a car accelerate and brake more quickly but reduce the top speed because they result in a shorter distance per motor turn.
-Lower numbers can make a car accelerate and brake more slowly but increase the top speed because they result in a longer distance per motor turn.

Part 2 - Beyond the Basics. Wheel and Tyre size
Accounting for wheel sizes, also known as "roll out" gearing.
Pi x diameter ÷ ratio = distance traveled in one turn of the motor.
"Longer" gearing results from lower ratio numbers.

Gearing matrix chart.
It's easy to create a gearing chart with a spreadsheet program.
Below is a link to my "test tools" which includes a link to a chart I generated.
https://ibb.co/album/nJ6RBF

Part 3. Speed and Torque.
-Motor speed and ratio
You may intuitively think that the ideal ratio is related to speed and that when changing your motor, you can make a calculation so as to make the car's performance equivalent to the older motor as a start point.
Eg I'm changing my NSR king22 to a king30 to improve performance
22/30 = 0.73
This might lead you to want to change your ratio from (for example) 3 to 4.1 (so that the rear wheels will top out at the same speed) but this would be a mistake.
Gearing is less related to motor RPM than is is to torque.
So if changing a motor that's optimally geared, to a faster one of the same G/CM rating, the existing ratio should provide a good start point.

-Torque and ratio
Torque : A measure of how hard the motor will pull.
If you have two motors of equivalent speed spec (rpm) but different torque ratings:
The motor with the higher torque rating (eg NSR king-25 at 350G/CM) is likely to be able to pull a longer mm/rev than (for example) a Slot.IT FlatSix RS at 240G/CM
However, basing your gearing decisions on manufacturer torque numbers is problematic.
Testing of the torque of several motors has shown me that some manufacturers are "glory running" in this respect (over stating) and others are "sandbagging" (under stating) . Manufacturers don't all test at the same voltage. Some don't even quote the voltage that their torque numbers are representing.

Part 4. Advanced : "What goes on in your head, Wilkinson ?"
A. Gear preparation
There is much more to be gained by diligent gearing installation and preparation than from changing ratios.
I know racers who rarely change their factory ratios but their equipment prep is certainly a thing to be admired.
- Backlash is an important factor. Set by the spacing between crown and pinion, a fit that is too close or too loose will waste energy.
For inlines, ensure you use axle collars or spacers to maintain an ideal mesh.
For Angle winders, adjust the pinion and crown toward (or away from) the centre of the car to loosen or tighten the mesh (respectively)
For sidewinders you are at the mercy of the gear manufacturer. This partly explains a growing trend for some manufacturers to create sidewinder pods with a greater and greater angle. It also partly explains why there is a current fashion with some racers to fit short can motors into anglewinder pods with motor adapters.
- Running-in your gearing can also bring performance enhancements.
Toothpaste or other abrasive products can be used at slow speeds to get the crown and pinion to mesh nicely, but do be sure to scrub this gunk off the gears and apply a dry lube before racing.
A noisy gear is a slow gear. If your car is screeching its way around the track, you are wasting energy and losing speed.
If you are not using feeler gauges to Install your axles, I suggest you do. Slot.IT manufacture a nice set of axle washers and gauges on an acid etched foil. Axles Installed to tightly or too loosely agaist the bearings are wasting power and costing you performance in friction or resonance.

B. Non fixed pitch.
A dirty little fix employed by slot car manufacturers to maintain a fixed motor to axle distance.
Ideally, all of the tooth wheels that are running together would be of identical pitch (represented as a TPi "teeth per inch " number)
However, Companies like NSR and Slot.IT play fast and loose with gear pitch, especially on angle winder and sidewinder gears so that they can avoid having to design a system where the motor would have to be on a sliding mount to account for the different gear diameters that such a fixed pitch design would require.
Instead, the manufacturers stretch and squeeze extra teeth or fewer teeth onto the same diameter gear.
Practically, such designs work but if the mismatch is pushed too far, the gears cease to work efficiently.
These compromises can completely overcome any advantages you may get from altering ratios.
The manufacturers do not publish their TPI numbers, you will have to take measurements and make calculations.
If you can, try to stay in the sweet spot where pinion and crown are of similar pitch.
My father used to cut gears for RollsRoyce Gearboxes.
I would listen intently to his stories of optimising gear faces for silent running , right out of the factory.
(The stories always came with shed loads of comments about supervisors and managers who simply had no idea what was really happening on the 'shop floor)
Slot car gears and their variable pitch would have triggered some consternation I think.

C. Counter Intuitive Effects
Often the ratio changes that you plan and deploy don't have the required effect.
Rule1 : "A junk motor is a junk motor".
No amount of gear tweaking will make such a motor perform well. Dump it!
Rule2: "Acceleration and top speed are not a perfect trade off.
Sometimes a longer mm/rev will make your car more sluggish (expected) but bring hardly any additional top end speed (and vice versa)

D. Power band
Its sometimes easy to forget that electric motors have a very flat power band.
Internal combustion engines are "peaky" requiring the driver to keep the motor inside a certain rpm range to get the optimal power.
The peaky power band is the reason that IC engine cars require multiple gears.
Electric motors do not really need a gear box.
(The policar gearbox is not really a gearbox, it's a fixed ratio layshaft, but more about that later)

E. Mass of the Car.
In theory, the lighter the car, the better.
Each extra gram on your car is mass that needs power to accelerate and decelerate it.
lighter cars can run longer mm/rev gears and still accelerate like a kicked cat.

In practice, Other factors come into play that may make a heavier car perform better.
The car may well overcome the tyres' capability to put the power down.
The car may exhibit start line "power DeSlot" or other such bad behaviours.
Be aware that rotating mass (wheels, tyres, gears, armatures) has more of an impact than non rotating mass (body chassis)
1g removed from the wheels will have a larger impact than 1g removed from the chassis or body.

F. Mismatched gear manufacturers.
Many believe that you should never mix and match gears from different manufacturers.
Mixing is asking for trouble because each manufacturer has gone to some length (some more than others) to design the crowns and pinions to engage and disengage each other cleanly and smoothly.
Practically, some gears will play well together.
Eg. I have AllSlotCar pinions driving Slot.It inline crowns without any problems at all.
All you can do is try it and see.

G. Psychology
An age old adage states that "Races are not won on the main straight. Races are won in the corners"

Having said that, hammering down on your opponents on the straight can have a negative impact on their state of mind.
Even if you are barely as quick in the corners, they know you are coming at them in spades on the straight and it can cause them to push too hard on the infield and leave their braking too late at the end of the straight.
Ferrari F1 deployed this psych-weapon in 2019 but underestimated how methodical and hard headed the Mercedes F1 team really are.
Infield short straight "punch" can also act as a psych-weapon. Against an over geared car , this kind of performance can push an opponent into trying to enter a short straight too quickly in the hope that you won't punch past them. Once their car gets out of shape, they are unable to get traction out of the corner to defend their position.

H. Oddities
The Policar F1 GEARBOX.
A very unique slot car drive solution designed by Maurizio Ferrari of Gallileo Engineering SRL.
The design employs a lay-shaft so that a large and unsightly protruding inline crown wheel is not required, making the Policar range of classic 1970's formula 1 cars more aesthetically pleasing.
There are no pinion options. Only the factory fit 9 tooth pinion is available.
There are no layshaft options.
The final drive ratio axle has three options. 16, 17 and 18
17 is the factory fit.
18 results in a higher ratio number and a shorter mm per motor revolution number.
16 results in a lower ratio number and a longer mm per motor revolution number.

Tyre size changes have far more impact on the final mm/rev than any of the gear options.
This design is crying out for a better spread of gears and I would guess that we might see that if and when the "policar generic modern f1" car comes to market.

As above, diligent prep of the policar gear box brings far more performance improvement than ratio changes.
The right spacers, diligent run-in and application of lubricants are critical to good performance.


In summary,
Gearing options are a useful tuning technique but require experimentation.
Setting up your factory ratios in a diligent way can bring just as much improvement and sometimes more.
Track testing and competition is absolutely required to fine tune your gearing.

Final thoughts
Why am I obsessive about car setup and tuning ?
In short, its because my driving skills are "sub optimal" (Ron Dennis speak for "not good enough")
I compensate as best I can with better and better car preparation.

Now... If someone has a technical fix for my sub optimal eye to hand coordination....
Or maybe those highly skilled guys should be made to wear boxing gloves during racing ....

As always, comments are welcome, especially if I've made a technical error in the details above.
AlanW

Team Slot are producing the road-car version of the Delta HF 4WD.
Due in UK soon.  
These cars were the first four-wheel-drive Delta to be available and after successes in the 1987 World and European rally championships, the integrale versions were rapidly developed and world domination resulted...

Photos courtesy of Staffs Slot Cars

Leo    

   

   

Well I've had my run and my bike ride ,all in the confines of the shed ,got a treadmill and rollers for the bike    but the best fun is on the Wii constantly loosing at tennis and pants at 10 pin . I'm hoping at the end of 3 months I will have the body of a god 

Steve

I  have been away from slot related forums for a good while - looking forward to being part of this one and hopefully contributing positively.

I am a keen modeller, have a permanent digital layout and I collect 1:32 Porsche (All manufacturers but am currently trying to complete Ninco)

New mailCopy

   

NSR-0123 Porsche 917k #19 Gulf - 24h Le Mans 1971. Available now. RRP £82.95

This is a stunning new release from NSR - and fantastic to see new cars arriving from Italy at the moment. In iconic Gulf colours and driven by Dickie Attwood and Herbie Müller, the car was one of the three John Wyer Automotive Porsche 917's that looked to dominate the 1971 Le Mans 24 hours. In the end, it was the only car of the three to finish - three laps behind the winners...

   

The Gulf cars had been running 1-2-3 through Saturday evening, the #19 sitting second. However, the night was a disaster for John Wyer's team. First, the #17 of Siffert and Bell lost an hour in the pits, then leader Jackie Oliver lost half an hour - both with gearbox issues. The #19 Porsche followed having lost fifth gear and over 30 minutes in the pits. By dawn, Attwood and Müller had battled back up to second place, but could not close the gap on the leading Martini Porsche 917k of Gijs van Lennep and Helmut Marko. That's how it finished. The iconic Gulf Porsches missed out on a final chance to win at Le Mans.

Here's some action from the race...



   

Unlike some of their models, I think the Porsche 917 really looks the part. The original car is low and hugs the ground, with sleek lines and a relatively low rear - to my eye, the NSR model captures that and delivers a highly-competitive car on track...

       

Before the arrival of the NSR Porsche 908, the 917k was the weapon of choice for many slot car racers in classic sports classes. The 917 has the latest NSR Evo sidewinder 'classic' motor mount, a Shark 21.5 Evo motor (21900 rpm @ 12 Volts. 164 gr/cm) and the new racing bushings...

       

The body weight remains at 19.5g

This car - together with a new livery on the Mercedes AMG GT3 - has arrived in the UK this week and is available at all the usual NSR stockists, including Pendles, MRE and the distributors Gaugemaster.

A big thank you to the NSR team in Salerno for getting these new cars out in such difficult circumstances