RULES CHANGE: THE THUNDERSLOT SERIES WILL BE RUN AT 12 VOLTS
After the RevoSlot race today we tested the Thunderslot cars with multiple drivers at both 11 volts and 12 volts. The cars were stable and driveable at 12 volts and the decision was made to run the series at 12 volts.
I was able to run a lap of 3.740 seconds at twelve volts in my #21 spyder. I took the chassis out of that car and put it in my coupe body and ran a lap of 3.744 seconds. It was slightly more difficult to run regular laps as fast in the coupe. Regular laps were 2 to 4 hundredths slower in the coupe. Try to measure .04 seconds with a stopwatch! David ran a lap of 3.798 seconds but had not yet added weight to the front.
My chassis has the original, treaded front tires which had been trued on the original plastic wheels, with tread still visible. The optional, slick rear tires had been trued on the original rear wheels. I adjusted the front axle height, installed grub screws on the edges of the chassis to adjust chassis to body clearance, and added a small weight between the front axle and the guide post. With the testing, it appears the spyder and coupe were very close in time. A little tweaking of the chassis to the coupe body may have helped. The coupe body is slightly wider at the rear, which would allow a rear track 1 or 2 mm wider. Driver skill should make more of a difference than choosing between the coupe and spyder. Speeds on the various cars running were close.
Expectations are that this will be a fun series to run. If you have not purchased your car yet, there is still time!