Good, Bad & Ugly Car Designs

Nice topic, Preacher

I noticed that a few of those cars have wheels tucked lateral movement of the wheels while they're spinning. Without it, the wheels would constantly bind against the chassis and slow the cars down. But if the outer face of the wheel(s) are covered by the body then the potential for resistance doubles. There's also the fact that castings with (partially) hidden wheels often have a narrower 'wheel track', which can also hinder stability. I usually try to avoid cars w/'hidden wheels' for these reasons.

GspeedR

of the wheels while they're spinning. Without it, the wheels would constantly bind against the chassis and slow the cars down. But if the outer face of the wheel(s) are covered by the body then the potential for resistance doubles. There's also the fact that castings with (partially) hidden wheels often have a narrower 'wheel track', which can also hinder stability. I usually try to avoid cars w/'hidden wheels' for these reasons.

GspeedR

Very good observation! I too try to get cars with the wide track wheels, but sometimes a certain style of car will evoke an emotional desire to have it...because it looks cool. Also the design of the front end has something to do with the cars snatching and flipping off the track. Normally this takes place at the transition area, where the down hill meets the straightaway. I've lowered my descent to lessen this problem, but with some of these cars they have more of a tendency of crashing out.

Preacher

bingo... i feel that the cars with wide rear tires do not perform... narrow cars sometimes slam side to side at an increased rate compared to a wider car...a wide tire to track surface can't be good !
why not ask 442 to look under the top, say 4 or 5 cars to see if any run wide tires... and check their track widths...

Yes, the narrow cars have trouble, and usually they are narrow because they are tucking the tires in behind the fenders.

bingo... i feel that the cars with wide rear tires do not perform... narrow cars sometimes slam side to side at an increased rate compared to a wider car...a wide tire to track surface can't be good !
why not ask 442 to look under the top, say 4 or 5 cars to see if any run wide tires... and check their track widths...

I used to think that was the case but have since found several cars w/wide rear wheels that track pretty well(eg. Camaro Conv. Concept, Ford GTX1, 40 Something, ect.). I've also noticed that some wide wheels have a slight conical shape and the inner edge of the wheels have the most contact w/the track surface, but the entire 'tread surface' will make contact w/the track as the wheel spins due to the lateral movement of the wheel itself. I came to this conclusion after examining the accumulated dirt/graphite on the tread surface of wide-wheeled cars after multiple runs on my open coarse. In many cases, dirt doesn't remain on the inner edge of the wheel because its worn away by contact with the track...but the middle & outer edges tend to accumulate more of it because their contact is more sporadic.

But on the topic of car width & wheel track...most narrow-track cars are limitations of 'scaling down' an existing full-sized car.

GspeedR

This is the one that gives me more troubles than any others at the point of transition on my track. 2007 Chevy Tahoe

Im pretty sure its the high center of gravity. But other similar models (07 Escalade) do not have the same problem.

If I can keep the Tahoe's on my track, they are fast. They don't have the sme problem on our 50 foot league track. Very few cars ever come off on that track.

Narrow cars often look great but suck on the track because they are so narrow that they just bang into the track walls too much. Even if the car wheels don't rub or have trouble, they seem to rarely go in a straight line.

Great analysis men.

bingo... i feel that the cars with wide rear tires do not perform... narrow cars sometimes slam side to side at an increased rate compared to a wider car...a wide tire to track surface can't be good !
why not ask 442 to look under the top, say 4 or 5 cars to see if any run wide tires... and check their track widths...

From memory, I do not believe any of the Top 8 gassers had wide rear wheels. I threw some large rear wheels from the back end of a Diesel boy onto my 442 gasser because I thought it looked cool. Didn't have time to test it before I sent it off to compete, but if you're following the Gasser Wars, you'll see that my 442 isn't fast. Now I'm thinking those meaty rear wheels weren't the best idea for a gasser. My friend Daniel also put large wheels on the rear of his gassers and they're not in the top half either.

This was my fastest car from my childhood. It's still very fast, but for some reason it gets to a certain speed and begins to careen from side to side until it eventually jumps the track.