Received an email from O'Brie today in which he made these comments:
In the future I think we need to work on the F1 class. These cars are way too fragile as we all know. The club need to make a decision on a way forward and if that involves another IROC grouping then we all subscribe to a budgeted build.
I agree with this. F1 is a class for which I no longer take the trouble to prepare a car. I just pull out the old McLaren and Brawn and stick them on the track. We need to revive the option discussed in this post:
We also decided to look at using the following chassis in place of the aluminium Sloting Plus chassis. This chassis uses a Slot.It motor pod which will solve the magnet issue (there's no place for one on the aluminium chassis) and simplify several other issues:
Here's an article from the Austin Slot Car Club about setting up this chassis for their GP Formula class which they have adopted as their F1 class. In their case, they use a long-can motor and race without magnets. We will use a short can and race with magnets.
I also agree with the above. Like Gordon, I don't go to any lengths to prepare my F1 car (and I only have one-the Renault ). In fact, I can't remember the last time I even opened it up as I find to do so is very difficult.
If or when we decide to go with the above suggestion, I don't think we can call the cars Formula 1 as they won't be based on any real F1 cars (or will they?). My suggestion would be to call them Formula F , the 'F' being for Fairways !
With our F1 class coming up again next week, I've been thinking about this topic again for our 2018 season. Here are my latest thoughts for the regs:
Class Name: GP Formula (or Formula F as Steve suggests or whatever)
For AllSlotCar GP Formula cars with the following specifications:
Body: AllSlotCar body (must be painted - no unpainted bodies allowed. We want this class to have cars that look like real F1 cars). Front spoiler and rear wing must be attached at all times. Rear wing attachment can be reinforced with glue or tape (inside of the wing – no tape is allowed on the top surface of the wing).
Chassis: SVQ-Slot Fórmula 1 MIXTO: part# SVQ-CH132-F1-CA (see pic below).
Interior: At least shelf and driver head required. Must comply with General item 3.
Digital Chip: Free.
Motor: Any non-high-downforce motor up to 22,400 RPM.
Gearing: Free.
Motor Pod: Any Slot.It compatible inline motor pod which may be modified if necessary to fit the chassis.
Magnets: USD rule. Magnets must be positioned at least x mm ahead of rear axle (rear magnet position of inline Slot.It pod).
Wheels: Front: Slot.It short hub aluminium wheels PA33-Als or Slot.It short hub plastic wheels WH1215-Pl. Rear: Slot.It Short hub aluminium F1 rear wheels PA20-Als. Original AllSlotCar wheel inserts must be installed.
Axles: Free.
Tyres: Front: Free but must be no less than 18mm diameter. Rear: Free but must be F1 size (no less than 18mm diameter and no less than 11mm wide).
Guide Flag: Free.
The SVQ-Slot Fórmula 1 chassis:
Notes:
"Magnets must be positioned at least x mm ahead of rear axle" - the "x" will be replaced by the actual measurement which is not available to me at the moment.
By allowing any Slot.It compatible inline motor pod, owners can determine which offset pod they prefer or can use 3D printed ride-height adjustable pods to make adherence to the USD rule easier.
These are suggestions which we can refine after doing some tests. Let me hear your thoughts.
RameshB wrote:Great direction , can we all get a couple of them as a group purchase.
Let me get the parts needed to finish mine and then run some tests, letting all of us drive it. We can then finalise the class rules and place the bulk order. I bought my chassis directly from the company in Spain and it took about three months to get here, so I'll try to find the chassis elsewhere.
Good to hear your thoughts on this Luke. While nothing can be discounted, I wouldn't bet on Slot.It releasing a line of F1 cars anytime soon. They have traditionally always only made full-bodied cars so it would be a big change to go in that direction. Mind you, I think it would be nice to see them start doing F1 cars because they always make great cars anyway.
What I would really like to see is the 3D chassis makers start doing F1 chassis to fit existing F1 cars from any manufacturer, ideally using a Slot.It-compatible pod design. 3D chassis tend to be substantially stronger than the standard plastic versions, so this could be just the solution for us. In all cases mind you, the bodies also take a lot of beating so this is one more reason why I'd like to go for the AllSlotCar bodies which may be a bit more robust. Also, being just one design, body parts can be interchanged... for example you don't have to find a front wing for a Ferrari versus a Mercedes. All the parts are the same.
