[Lushen1600]

Hi all, my name is Lushen and I'm from Pietermaritzburg in South Africa, I tried my slot cars for the first time locally at our track and they both performed horribly, I came out last in both LMP and Saloon classes, the reason being there are not enough downforce in these cars and they tend to deslot and also the rear tends to be tail happy sliding all over the place in corners, so how can I tune my cars to perform on these tracks. For now I would like to concentrate on one class and that's the saloon class, I have the following ninco cars for this class, the first being an Alfa 155 and a backup car being a W202 series Mercedes Benz C Class

These are the rules for this class
-Front tyres need not touch the track
-Tyres may be glued to rims
-True and light sanding of tyres only
-Cleaned and apply tire dressing only
-Minimal paint/decals permitted only to differentiate similar cars
-Aluminium or mag rims permitted, excluding F1 rims
-Alternate Brand of rubber or silicon tyres permitted excluding F1 tyres
-Sand or trim body or chassis only sufficient to prevent body roll permitted
-Disconnect and remove lights and related circuitry permitted
-No gear ratio, motor, magnet or guide modifications
-Magnets may only be added to existing position
-No rims or tyres to protude beyond the standard wheel arches

So what can I do to my cars to make them run better and still be legal according to the abovementioned rules?

Thanks
Lushen

 

[driver#8]

Well if you're running rubber when other guys are running silicon tyres then there's a problem right there. Rubber tyres won't grip on a track that's had silis on it.

Is everyone else running old NC-1 cars? If so great, they're lovely to run together. If not then there's another problem - about 5000rpm and a truckload of torque. So if you're running your car against the later Ninco Mercedes CLK for example then you're in for a long night and few points.

Are many people swapping their wheels and tyres from standard? It can make a big difference.

Are you running with magnets? If so, perhaps some folk have found more powerful magnets to fit the pockets of their cars. Looks like there is room in the regulations for this. The old Nincos never relied on their magnets to handle well.

And finally there's the choice of car to consider. We run Ninco GTs with NC-1 motors in them on Ninco track. That gives us, in theory, a choice between the McLaren F1 GTR, Porsche 911 GT1 and Ferrari F50. However the McLarens are all at least a second per lap faster than the best Porsches and Ferraris.

Those look like regs that are open to a lot of interpretation to me.

 

[zendragon]

Would need an awful lot more information before any real recommendations, but glue motor into its mount, keep tyres clean use a bit of lighter fluid on a cloth rub around rear tyres and then with gaffa tape do the same thing, loosen body screws, these are the first steps, and as has been said above make sure everyone at the club is using the same type of tyre dont mix silicon tyres with any other as you will have no grip or use only silicons.
Sincerely
Zen

 

[Lushen1600]

Thanks for the replies guys, forgot to mention that my cars have the NC-2 motors in them cos they allow the 18100rpm motors, I'm also using the standard Ninco rubber tyres on both cars and the car do have the original button type magnets on them, but these don't seem to produce enough downforce, also the track we run on is a plastic 4 lane Carrera type track

Thanks
Lushen

 

[dangermouse]

Ninco tyres can be good on rubbered up tracks, not sure how they go on Carrera track. What tyres do others run? If they are running stock Ninco find out what they treat them with - I give my Ninco tyres a rub with a light oil 3 in 1 or similar to soften them a bit. I find the results vary from car to car though.

If they aren't running then buy the tyres they are running

DM

 

[Lushen1600]

Thanks for the advice Dangermouse, can anyone tell me how I can increase downforce on these cars, but still be legal according to the rules

Thanks
Lushen

 

[rick1776]

There really isnt any secret "zen" to tuning magnet cars.

Make the car as light as is possible within the rules. Remove everything possible to save weight.

Buy 10 or 20 aftemarket traction magnets and find out which is the strongest. Fit these to the car. The further back the mag is mounted the more traction it will develop.

If the rules say that the front wheels must touch the track then elongate the holes in the chassis upwards so that the tyres/wheels can move upwards. You do not want the front of the car supported by the tyres. It must be supported by the guide. In mag racing the front tyres are for cosmetic purposes only. Coat the tyres in your wife's nail polish or coat them in super glue. The front tyres must NOT generate any grip!!

Lower the car as much as is possible so that the chassis sits as low as possible. This will increase the mag force. To do this fit the thinest braid you can find and make sure the front of the car is not supported by the front tyres as decribed above. Buff down of buy new smaller rims and tyres so that the rear end is as low as possible.

There is always one gun tyre compound that will work for a particular track surface. FIND OUT WHAT IT IS!! Be it silicon, NSR that is juiced up with 3 in 1 oil or WD40 or whatecer else is the secret potion that is used at the club.

An NC 2 pulling 18000 rpm???? Really??? What voltage are you using? Find out what the gun motor is and just use the same.

Do you have to run Ninco cars? If not choose a car that runs bar magnets

That should at least get you started. Just like real1:1 racing its going to cost you money to be competitive and just like 1:1 racing people will cheat to get an advantage. Errr sorry I meant people will be creative with their rule interpretation.

Cheers
Rick1776

 

[zendragon]

Rick,
Mate a little info is very dangerous, and if you actually read MY RESPONCE it would be apparent that I was asking for more information!, some of what you have said is correct as far as general setup is concerned, others are club dependant, at most clubs you are not allowed to remove plastic from the cars to lighten them,and not allowed to coat the front tyres but can replace with zero grip, I am of course only talking about GB clubs and have no idea of the rules in your area of the world, (I do know why you use magnets though as you are hanging upside down).
We all have areas of expertise which is why I asked for more info about his club and the rules that apply.
Regards
Zen

 

[Abarth Mike]

QUOTE (rick1776 @ 15 May 2012, 17:00) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>If the rules say that the front wheels must touch the track then elongate the holes in the chassis upwards so that the tyres/wheels can move upwards.

Some cars have long enough holes. One can put a cylindrical piece of plastic like a large drinking straw under each side of the axle to keep the wheels up.

 

[Lushen1600]

Hi thanks for the reply, the front wheels for the saloon class does not need to touch the track and lot of racers replace these with smaller tyres to keep the front running on the braids, like a tripod system,
We are allow to run Ninco, SCX, Scalextric and Carrera cars but see that the ninco cars that I have got NC-2 motors I decided to use them, I do have a lot of other cars and brands but wanted to use these as they had the required 18000 rpm motor already installed and did not know what the rpm of my scalextric and carrera cars were.

I do have a Scalextric E36 BMW and Ford Mondeo with bars magnets, but not sure what rpm motor they have and also a Carrera Porsche Boxster with twin magnets, but also don't know what rpm motor it has

Thanks
Lushen

 

[Lushen1600]

Hi Rick with regards to tyre compound I was told that my tyres on my cars were too hard and that I needed to have them sanded and to use dishwashing liquid on them to make them softer and to make them have to grip, will this work?

Thanks
Lushen

 

[zendragon]

I would use a little WD40 on a cotten bud rub this around the tyre then gaffa tape the tyre , if others are using silicons though you will get no grip.
Zen

 

[rick1776]

Hi Zendragon,

Ha Ha sorry mate...I was wondering why you were upset?? Then I reread my post. My reference to "zen" was not directed to you. I was referring to "zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance" with regards to the mystic of tuning.

Lushen,

Some NSR with WD40 treatment will work. But find out what the gun tyre is and just copy it...with the potion added to the rubber.

You say 18K motors are permitted. Is this a true 18K as measured by a tacho or the listed 18K that a manufacturer quotes?? The two are VERY different. Scaly quotes 18K for their motors but in realality they spin to 21-22K. And what voltage do you run?? An NC2 will struggle to get to 15K at 12V.

I woulod go for a listed 18K long can with stump pulling torque. That way you can load up big with magnets.

cheers
rick1776

 

[Abarth Mike]

QUOTE (rick1776 @ 16 May 2012, 05:55) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Hi Zendragon,
Ha Ha sorry mate...I was wondering why you were upset?? Then I reread my post. My reference to "zen" was not directed to you. I was referring to "zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance" with regards to the mystic of tuning.

No need to apologies we all know what you meant. Someone who picks a pseudonym with a common word within it should not be upset if someone uses that common word in a post. After all they picked the pseudonym and there is no secret zen to that. Individuals cannot simply hijack the English language because they feel like it. Any reference to an individual would according to the rules of grammar require that reference to be capitalized as in "Zen you had no reason to upset".

QUOTE I would use a little WD40 on a cotten bud rub this around the tyre then gaffa tape the tyre , if others are using silicons though you will get no grip.

Simple sanding can be done with 150 grit sand paper glued to a small piece of glass ( welding mask window) to keep it flat. Tape this onto the track with masking tape and with the car running backwards gently lower the car onto it until the surface of the tires are evenly worn.

Then like the man said. It ( WD-40) should soak in quite quickly. Leave overnight and repeat. More than say 4 times (to be conservative) and the tires will start to swell so would need to be glued to the rims. If the tires do not absorb or is it adsorb the oil they are screwed.