From: bobwo@ecs.comm.mot.com (Bob Woodhouse)
Subject: Insane Parking Lot Car
Organization: secure_comm
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1992 13:41:47 GMT

Hello,

My first 1/10 scale electric car was a Kyosho Scale Series Nissan GTP type
which I used for racing in parking lots.  In order to satisfy my desire to
race regularly with other people, a couple months ago I bought and am racing
a CougarII off-road car.  With the tracks being exactly 1 hour away and with
the recent discovery of a 1.5 - 2.0 acre empty parking lot, my desire to run
on parking lots during those times when I am not at the races has been
re-ignited.  I have 'officially' retired my Kyosho car especially since when
I put a 12 turn Double in it, the plastic gears were stripped -- I will probably
give the car to a kid I know.  I am not excited about using the CougarII as
a parking lot car because I want to keep it race-legal, but I want to toss
race-legality to the wind in the new project that I see coming.  Also, I don't
think an off-road car is going to be as fast or as good at turning as other
types of cars.  I will list some of the things I am considering, and I invite
your replies.  
   

THE CAR KIT

Many types of kits could be considered in trying to produce a vehicle that will
give maximum speed, acceleration, turning ability, and general impressiveness
within the confines of a typical empty parking lot.  Maybe a Losi LXT would
work or maybe a Lynx Elite.  I do wish to stay with 1/10 scale and electric.
Car kits that attract me the most are the Custom Works 4WD Dominator and the
Trinity Reflex10, both dirt oval cars.  I think that 4WD would be great, but I
like the Reflex10 design much better as far as I can tell from reviews and
photographs.  I believe that the direct-drive and the independent suspension
are the right kinds of features for the parking lot, and that's what these cars
have.  I probably will not buy a Dominator because a RC Car Action review of
the Intimidator (2WD, assumed similar to Dominator) shows that changing the
spur gear or adjusting the diff is a pain, plus the gears are open for dirt
and sand to get in.  The Reflex10 also uses nifty slider drive shafts and
probably has more readily available spares (at least where I live, the Chicago
area).  So I guess my nominal car kit choice is the Reflex10.  Any other
recommendations will be considered.  Consider cost to be a small factor.


THE MOTOR(S) & CELL COUNT

Like I said before, ROAR or other type rules don't apply.  Maybe I'll run 10
cells and 2 motors -- well, I would rather run 1 motor, I think.  It looks like
the Astroflight motors are made with heavy duty use in mind.  Does anyone have
anything to say or experiences to share about their Astroflight motor, especially
as compared to the usual ROAR-race, 3-pole kind of motor?  Would it be too hard to
gear Astroflight motors in a direct-drive dirt-oval chassis (given, say 7 cells)?  
Do the motors fit on the 'standard' type of motor mount?  Do common pinion gears 
(e.g., Losi) fit the output shaft?  Other comments regarding other motor choices or
the implications of using 8 or more cells are welcome.  

By the way, I see that Kent Clausen's Super Insane RC10L-SS used 12 cells and 
then 5 little cells for the receiver.  Sure, you may not want 12 cell voltages
 feeding the receiver, but why introduce the weight of 5 little cells when you 
could just tap off 5 or 6 of the main cells for the receiver? 


GEARBOXES

I think direct drive is the way to go here, but after looking through RC Car Action's
Buyers' Guide for 1992, I saw the Nova 2-speed gearbox that looked like it might be meant
for electric motors.  Now that I think about it, the name of Nova seems linked to articles
I have read about gas cars, so maybe I'm mistaken.  Anyway, if this box is used for electrics,
does anyone have experience with it?  I don't know if a 2-speed gearbox would even enhance
an electric car's performance, but I don't want to count too much out at this point.


TIRES

It looks like something like the Reflex10 can use rubber foam or capped (rubber around foam)
tires.  I know that foamies are good on asphalt, but I have never tried capped tires.  Might
capped tires out-steer and out-accelerate foam on asphalt (somewhat dirty asphalt, you know)?
I know the capped tires are much more expensive than foam, but I read that they may last longer.
Can someone give an opinion on the "cost per mile" and performance (front or rear) of foam 
versus capped?  As far as capped tires outlasting foam tires, I guess it depends on when you
consider a foam tire to be dead.  I imagine it is pretty clear when a capped tire is dead
since you could then see the foam that lies under the rubber, but I found that if you let,
for example, a front foam tire that is 3/8 inch thick get past the coning stage to where it
is about 3/16 inch thick, it will wear for a long time from there -- I believe that this is
because a thick foam tire will lean over a lot when cornering, but the thin tire can't lean
as far, so it certainly doesn't cone as much and seems to wear better.  Is a rubber capped
foam tire really better than a plain rubber slick -- it is hard to imagine why it would be
except for a possible weight difference?


AERODYNAMICS

Even with the Kyosho car and 7 cells and a Slot Machine, I experienced occasional aerodynamic
phenomena, like nose lift.  I expect that this new vehicle will go much faster and that aerodynamic
considerations will be even more important -- I'm not talking about streamlining for speed so
much as keeping the thing on the ground.  If I go with say a Reflex10, I can choose a GTP or
dirt oval or stock car or other body.  Dahm's bodies come with the 'Thunderbody' piece that
fits under the car and allows for a velcro-only (cool!) body mounting system.  Do the Thunderbodies
offer any notable advantages or pains?

Probably due to unbalanced tires or something, when I pick up either of my current cars and
hit the throttle, the rear wing vibrates all over the place and makes me question its worth.
Are there stiffer wings that prove themselves to be better or do I need to balance tires
in order to see that this vibration goes away?

I am attracted to a body I saw in the RC Car Action Buyers' Guide that is a dirt oval type with
a spoiler and little side wings that attach to the body (no huge side-dams please)  -- I think it 
is the Camaro Open-Comp body from a company that I can't recall.


Well, I guess that's about all I can think of.  Please feel free to comment.
Bob Woodhouse