setup questions

[QARAD4]

I see all the instructions for gluing tires onto wheels, how do you remove them?
I've raced commercial 1/24 cars before and we had chassis float on them (flexi chassis), does float work on 1/32 to help promote them to slide around turns? And does this only work on wooden tracks, will this work for plastic tracks?
How much does weight affect the car sliding, i.e. it takes a lot of weight to get it to slide?

[arroldn]

Welcome to the forum. Yes float is essential for a 1/32 car to negotiate a turn. Weight placement is a thing you have to experiment with and learn as you go. To think I've been doing this for over ten years and just learned that you want more weight forward than rearward. You still want a 40/60 ratio but more weight up front helps the guide stay in the slot and helps corner speed.

Back the screws off, trim the chassis from the body. Some have gone to podded chassis but a none podded chassis can sometimes be just as fast.

Take this with a grain of salt from one trying to catch up with the big boys.

[Fathead59]

I am with Arroldn , and it is all test and tune until you find the right set up for that car . But I think that after a bit of trial and error , you will find what will be the best for you might not be the best for someone else .

[Fathead59]

And about removing tire from the wheels . Well from what I have read is you might end up destroying them, as in the tires . there are a few places to get replacement tires , Slot Car Corner is one that has a good choice .

[QARAD4]

I know all about SCC, just completed a large order with them today.

[QARAD4]

I currently race with a club that has two large plastic tracks and we race a few classes without magnets and it seems that adding weight is huge, as in a lot to get the car to handle well, maybe track surface, sharper radius turns, I don't know.

[Fathead59]

I feel that if you remove the magnet place pieces of lead there and see how the car handles , it would be something I would do . I have read that others have placed strips along the sides of the car also

[QARAD4]

yeah, that is where we put it, it just adds up to a lot of weight. I feel that the track surface, sharp radii turns and maybe even too much motor make it difficult to handle well. I have non-magnet cars that weigh as much as 130 grams.

[Fathead59]

To me it is just a matter of trail and error , I think it is what dirt track racers would call , test and tune

[Fathead59]

Have you weighted the car ?

[QARAD4]

Have I added weight, yes, in all the fore mentioned spots.

[slothead]

There are a lot of factors that influence handling. Most important as I see it are guide depth (does the guide sit as deeply in the slot as possible) and rear tire compound. Urethane tires are best on my mfd road course, silicone tires are best on my slick hardboard surfaced oval. Having front wheels/ tires that act as outriggers to help keep a car from rolling over matters too. Cars with body float are smoother in the corners.

If you share more about a car's cornering issues guys with experience can offer specific advice. Does a car lift out of the slot, rollover, etc? Too much motor or voltage also can make a car very hard to handle. The great thing about a variable voltage power supply is being able to turn the voltage down and find what makes cars most drive-able and fun.

[arroldn]

130 grams is mighty heavy. What size motor are you running? The heaviest a car I have entered in a proxy is 116 grams. That might be your problemUnless everyone else is just as heavy

[Brumos RSR]

If you give the brand, car, motor, idea of track length we can probably get a lot of guys here to get you pointed in the right direction. First we need to put your car on a diet.

[RichD]

Take a look at this article: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1qB...qnhl30_ixis4rX
My fastest car weighs 80 grams.

[Kevan]

If you've only raced 1/24th with foams then be prepared for a mind re-set for 1/32 with hard rubber. Our clubs track is 3 lane routed MDF, 1/32 with NSR/SlotIt rubber tyres. The last thing you want is the car sliding if you want to get round the track quick...unless it's a Rally car on a tight Rally stage.

The old timers say keep adding weight until the lap times worsen, I was loathe to add weight for a long time, now I'm the opposite.

Plastic track cars tend to have much softer chassis, large club wood tracks seem to favour much stiffer chassis.

[War Eagle River]

QARAD4, where is it that you race, BBSCC?

[chappyman66]

Lots of help here, but it does depend on the car.

Heavy car sounds like it might be a Carrera. They take a different driving style and tuning set up.

Generally speaking, a deeper guide (can be as easy as gluing a strip of styrene on the bottom of the current guide) with flat braid, round rear wheels and appropriate aftermarket tires will help. We run Carreras with QuickSlick slip on silicones. I find I like a few grams of lead under the front axle, and the lack of brakes means I have to get off the throttle earlier than I do with other cars.

Other brands of cars perform differently and respond to different tuning, but the article RichD posted is a great overview.