LightninBoy 2014 Cars - updated with "spoils"

[LightninBoy]

Ok, just trying to kick up some activity on this board ...

I sent this Limited car into the January race and it was pretty successful. But it was a fairly standard build for me - no new concepts.




So this month, I'm sending in this Limited I'm calling X1. X is for experiment cause this one is a little rough around the edges but there a number of new (to me) concepts I'm trying out. The most obvious of which is the fenders (and fairing on the front wheel)



With the fenders - I'm trying a couple of things that are a bit unique from what I typically see ...

* The obvious one is the fairing on the front wheel. My theory is that for the front wheels a trailing fairing would be just as effective as a leading fender. And both would be ideal.

* The fenders taper both the vertical angle to the wheel and the horizontal. Look at the rear fenders in the below picture and you'll see what I mean. I have no idea if this will be of any benefit, but it seemed logical to think of the air being displaced to the sides of the wheel and not just going over the top of the wheel.

[CycRunner]

Here is my thought on the fender behind the front wheel - As shown I think the air going over the top of the wheel by the front fender will be caught and be deflected down onto the rear of the wheel by the front lip of the fender behind the wheel. If you make the front and rear one piece with the front top continuing over the top of the wheel and joining the rear the air flow might be improved. You should get less air flow disruption this way.

[Evolution]

I agree Cycrunner. I think it that either making the fender as a single piece or removing the back half would be the best ways to go.

[twistediron]

Nice....are you racing Sunday?? I will be live again

Sent from my XT1080 using proboards

[texastornado]

Mike, will Tyler be able to make it or will there be too many germs around? Take care with Bubba. LightingBoy I agree with both Cyc & Evo on the front finder, but give it a try. o you have the front fender notched out so the don't come into contact with the rail. Without those notches it's a speed killer.

[LightninBoy]

Yes, I'll be racing Sunday. Not sure if I can make it in person though, I've got two boys in a basketball tournaments so if they keep winning they keep playing all weekend.

The top lip of the fairing is actually some ways down below the top of the wheel. So it shouldn't catch air, but looking at the gap, I probably could've tightened that up to reduce the risk. Too late to change it now as I dropped it off at the track last night.

[twistediron]

I don't think bubba will be there..we had hoped but lots of cold and flu around here...

Sent from my XT1080 using proboards

[LightninBoy]

To follow up on this, the X1 was fast. Very fast. Don't know how much the fender design helped, but I think its pretty safe to say it didn't hurt anything.

Now if I can just get this dang pure stock car built ....

[LightninBoy]

Ok, the pure stock car is just about ready. Its going to run sans decorative covering because I didn't leave enough weight after all the fenders were added. This car is *really* rough around the edges (all but the fenders were built the night before the February race), so its going into the experimental series as the X2.

This is also the first time I've tried to build a serious car with a standard wheelbase. So I'm anxious to see how it does ...

[LightninBoy]

I hope to have the cubbies in tow for the next league race. Their pack race is Friday after the league race, so we're still finishing up their cars. The oldest cub just finished the decoration portion of the build ...

[Evolution]

Nice cars

[LightninBoy]

Thanks Evo!!

Here is the "Lightnin 2". This one is going to be racing in the Stock class but I designed her for the 2 gram wheel classes popular in other leagues.

So this weekend I'm planning on bringing 4 new cars - the X2 (Pure Stock), 2 cub scout cars (Limited), and the Lightnin2 (Stock). Its going to be a busy weekend trying to get all these ready!

[LightninBoy]

Ok, for sake of completeness, here is the 2nd scout car, called "Marvel Mobile"

[notsofast]

I think the fender idea is very clever. I'm interested to see how you develop it. The cars are very cool. Davet

[LightninBoy]

Well - Districts were an absolute blast. I'm in the same district as Graviton Racing so its always a competitive race. Plus our cars were often together in the same heat so it added even more excitement to watch them fly down the track neck and neck.

Final tally: Scorpio took first overall, Marvel Mobile took 1st in Lions (and was the 4th fastest overall). The other car I helped build for the Webelo2 took 2nd overall.

Interesting story on the Marvel Mobile. On its first run Marvel Mobile posted the fastest time of the night. That time was over .01 faster than any of the other cars and I think it was just getting warmed up. However, that first run also ended in a spectacular crash when it hit the stop section. Subsequent runs were .05 slower than the first. I checked after the race and - sure enough - the DFW was partially knocked out and toed-out. So it was steering the opposite way and was actually rail riding on the lifted wheel in the rest of the heats. I'm actually surprised that only ended up costing .05 seconds.

In the end it worked out for the best since Marvel Mobile took first in the Pack and Scorpio took first in the District. That helped alleviate some of the sibling rivalry between the two. I really should have done more to secure the DFW after it came off completely at the Pack. Live and learn.

Here are the spoils: