[dgersh]

As you may know, I like all slot cars with "complications". Saw this 4WD model not that long ago and was of course interested... but then I took a closer look at the front-end gear...

Yes, the motor in the front drives the guide flag! ... which obviously can't rotate. So what was the guy thinking? Initial concept car for a steering system? A very odd dynamic braking system? or just parking his gear on a convenient post until he could put it on the axle?

This question will be on the final exam in your Slotology 101 class.

Professor Don

 

[Glock24]

Maybe the guy come from RC and was thinking of an RC-like steering system.

 

[RikoRocket]

There no room for a gear on the front axle so its not going to be 4wd.
No way to separately power the front motor so its not steering the guide.
So are the motors joined at the can end? A piece of tubing?
Is the gear free to spin on the guide spigot?

My guess, two can drive to rear wheels with a rotating front gear to attach a flag to as you drive round...


Did I pass???

 

[munter]

Bit of a dog but interesting from a “what the farffaloni” was the thinking behind that creation ?

Variation is the spice of life

 

[dgersh]

No connection between the two motors. The gear is solidly attached to the guide flag, which rotates normally.

Nobody passes, including the teacher!

Good try Colin, but you tried to apply logic to a case that seems strikingly free of it...

Don

 

[Houses]

It reminds me of the cart steering activation system on the second series TCR cars, but of course there is no steering here, so I assume I do not pass!

 

[TSRF]

Assembly quality is dreadful... regardless of the concept's apparent insanity.

 

[Aurora]

Maybe he used the crown gear to serve as a collar to clamp onto the guide post, securing the guide? The pinion is there to support the crown gear at the proper height, which in turn supports the guide at the proper height.

Or maybe the builder is just crazy.

 

[PatB]

Seems like a rather over-complex means of supporting the guide.

I'm wondering if the chassis was being used as a convenient place to store a spare motor, brackets, and gear, in order to keep them all together.for storage. It might explain the rather sloppy assembly, if it's not actually in working trim. Yes, the whole thing is a bit rough, but at least someone was having a go. It probably didn't cost them very much, and maybe the next one was better.

 

[gar]

I've been using the hubs of worn out gears as collars for 1/8 guide flags. I usually remove the old gear but this one was probably not so badly damaged.

 

[Coides]

If the guide can move through 180 degrees and there's enough torque in that 16D and the nylon gear holds up and the car is in a slot then the car should spin around the guide until it winds up the motor wires and they break. More likely it would ping its guide out of the slot, which would then keep rotating until the wires broke.

Andy

 

[RikoRocket]

That has to be it, its designed to do doughnuts!!!!

 

[Coides]

YES, that's the word I was trying to find! Ain't it terrible when you know exactly what you want to say but the words won't come.

Andy

 

[Zippy D]

I recon the "designer" was a fan of Cleetus Mcfarland, and in an attempt to produce said burnout car had not fully thought through the guide wires would likely fail long before any tyres would pop if driven by a motor.

The Scalextric 360 Degree concept on a couple of Porsche 962's proves that partial donuts are possible though.

On the other hand, we are all assuming it's a track car intended to turn around a track. Maybe the concept is some kind of steering damper, intended to keep the guide flag pointing in the same direction all the time, possibly for drag racing?

 

[beardy56]

I thought about drag racing but dismissed it due to all the extra weight and wouldn't you just fix the guide in place, or limit it's movement, anyway. I was thinking guide damping as the chassis seem quite long to stop the tail end stepping out to far or quickly.

 

[SLOT MART]

If there was a way to add power under braking to the front motor it would cock the guide in the slot and aid braking.
That makes the most sense to me.

 

[Wobble]

It wouldn't be something as simple as a damper for the guide would it? Best I could come up with.

 

[dgersh]

Guys, I have to admit, your guess is as good as mine.

Couldn't be a damper for the guide, because there's no self-centering action and it would leave the guide cocked over every time the car came out.

I suspect it was just a temporary setup by somebody considering a 4WD, who put the gear like that while he pondered the whole situation, or... well, who knows?

Don

 

[Under the stairs]

Hybrid it’s obvious while the guide is flapping rotating and driving the gear it’s providing a boost via the second motor, simples 🙉

 

[Houses]

Oh yes, an AC boost by the way