Trans-Am, Modern F1 & GT Unlimited Rules

[Autorama]

After further testings, we will be racing the series at 11 volts — and yes, it is final this time :lol:.

[Race Control]

I may be a neophyte to the serious world of competitive slot racing, but I don’t understand why you limit the F1 slot cars to Scalextric only. I also am not 100% in accordance with the “no magnets” rule for F1 either, as the real F1 cars are designed to give the maximum amount of downforce possible. In fact, a real F1 car generates so much down force that in theory it could drive upside down on a ceiling at 120 MPH. That is why real F1 cars don’t “drift” and how they hug the tight turns so well. In fact, the drivers are subjected to over 4G’s in some turns. I would gladly participate in an F1 race where any and all magnets were allowed as long as they did not interfere with the look or integrity of the stock chassis, and I would really like to see how the various types stand up against each other, being that some brands have turning front wheels while others don’t. I need to keep abreast of what is going on with you all as I would really like to participate in the next F1 race, mags or no mags, scaley or otherwise.

[Bellator]

races2u wrote:

I may be a neophyte to the serious world of competitive slot racing, but I don’t understand why you limit the F1 slot cars to Scalextric only.

This keeps the playing field more equal, placing more emphasis on driving skills than car manufacturer.

races2u wrote:

I also am not 100% in accordance with the “no magnets” rule for F1 either, as the real F1 cars are designed to give the maximum amount of downforce possible. In fact, a real F1 car generates so much down force that in theory it could drive upside down on a ceiling at 120 MPH. That is why real F1 cars don’t “drift” and how they hug the tight turns so well. In fact, the drivers are subjected to over 4G’s in some turns.

Most of us understand and appreciate the basic physics of the 1:1 F1 cars, but keep in mind that even an F1 car will drift in a tight turn. Tight turns are more about mechanical grip and car control than aerodynamic grip. The downforce required to perform the mythical upside down driving occurs at speed on straights and long high-radius sweeping turns.

races2u wrote:

I would gladly participate in an F1 race where any and all magnets were allowed as long as they did not interfere with the look or integrity of the stock chassis, and I would really like to see how the various types stand up against each other, being that some brands have turning front wheels while others don’t.

The reason we don’t race magnets is that it becomes more a race of mashing throttles than real car control. Another reason is that when magnets loose their grip they do so in a very dramatic way, and with little or no warning. That leads to broken cars and damaged scenery. We use tire selection to replicate mechanical grip in the turns.

The manufacturers are different enough that racing them against each other in anything other than varying degrees of “open” classes (in which the rules allow many modifications) is not viable. For example: as a general rule the SCX cars don’t run well at anything less than 14 volts. The Carrera cars tend to carry more weight and require more voltage to be performant. And the Scaley cars have their own performance envelope, that tends to emerge at 11 volts and higher.

If you follow the various proxy series on any of the national and international forums you will see that they are designed in a way that either pits same-manufacturer cars of the same class against each other, or they allow modifications to the cars that encourage the equalization of their varying performance ranges. The allowable modifications are designed with a certain amount of realism in mind. (i.e. GT2 car modifications will tend to constrain performance so they will be slower than GT1 cars, which will be constrained to be slower than what the rules will allow for an LMP car.)

races2u wrote:

I need to keep abreast of what is going on with you all as I would really like to participate in the next F1 race, mags or no mags, scaley or otherwise.

We start our F1 series in Q3.

B

Build it strong.
Keep it simple.
Make it work.
      (Leroy Grumman)

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