Re: This is the Can Am page.

That was a great time! Thanks everyone and sorry for all the wrecks! Those cars are just a little too fast for me

52 (edited by reek455 February 10, 2020 7:46 am)

Re: This is the Can Am page.

No need to apologize, we’ve all been there at some point.

Race cars are neither beautiful nor ugly. They become beautiful when they win.

Re: This is the Can Am page.

reek455 wrote:

No need to apologize, we’ve all there at some point.

and some of still are at that same point uk uk ukka

The secondnidator

Re: This is the Can Am page.

Mt Goat wrote:

That was a great time! Thanks everyone and sorry for all the wrecks! Those cars are just a little too fast for me

Tom, if we work on getting your car a little easier to drive you will have a much better time. A car that tips easily is never good when you are starting out.

Don't get discouraged. If you show up early next time we can play with it, I also have a backup can am car you can run anytime!

Zack

Re: This is the Can Am page.

Don't worry about it Tom, we have all been there! The main thing is to just keep coming back and you will get the hang of it. A "tippy" car is not fun for any one, new or an old timer. Sounds like a little weight may help. At any time you can always ask questions, we are there to help if we can. Zack is very helpful to the new guys as are others.

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Thanks guys. I’m not discouraged, just wanted to acknowledge there were a lot of wrecks.

57 (edited by Mitch58 February 11, 2020 4:23 pm)

Re: This is the Can Am page.

Mt Goat wrote:

Thanks guys. I’m not discouraged, just wanted to acknowledge there were a lot of wrecks.

Wrecks and Breakdowns, there are always a lot of them whether you're there or not.

The only exception was a couple of races where Howie was having issues with his power supply and was stuck at 10 volts. Those guys bitched for 4 hours over how slow their cars were.

Terry and I on the other hand ran the best we ever had, and nothing broke.

Re: This is the Can Am page.

Wanabgts wrote:

Thanks Dennis, it is an easy car to drive fast!

Obviously the potential is there for a flexi chassis'd car, just have to mind the details.

Was a fun race, thanks for coming down!

Zack

Is that body on the CA list?  Looks similar to a 962 to me. What's the weight?  Is it full width 3.25"? I might have to get one ... to catch you if I can.  smile

Re: This is the Can Am page.

I believe Zack's body was the BETTA and CLASSIC 1973 Porsche 917-30.   www.bettaandclassic.com

My understanding is the rules for this class were made to keep the cars representative of the real racing cars, true to Northwest True Scale's mission. With that said it should be noted that just because a car is listed by make and model, depending upon the manufacturers design and interpretation of the car, it may not be suitable for or meet the intent of the class. Many of the cars listed are available in versions that are intended for serious competition with no regard from the manufacturers as to being true to scale. Case in point is the TI22. It is listed as a legal body however, there are versions of the body that have exaggerated nose angles and rear wing configurations. These designs are intended to add aerodynamic benefits to slot cars with little to no emphasis on replicating the actual car. If you adhere strictly to the rules, the only TI22 body that is legal is the True Scale body, and it is no longer available. Personally I like the more realistic bodies for this class and in my opinion I think we should update the list of legal bodies before the next racing season for these cars.

Re: This is the Can Am page.

wb0s wrote:

I believe Zack's body was the BETTA and CLASSIC 1973 Porsche 917-30.   www.bettaandclassic.com

My understanding is the rules for this class were made to keep the cars representative of the real racing cars, true to Northwest True Scale's mission. With that said it should be noted that just because a car is listed by make and model, depending upon the manufacturers design and interpretation of the car, it may not be suitable for or meet the intent of the class. Many of the cars listed are available in versions that are intended for serious competition with no regard from the manufacturers as to being true to scale. Case in point is the TI22. It is listed as a legal body however, there are versions of the body that have exaggerated nose angles and rear wing configurations. These designs are intended to add aerodynamic benefits to slot cars with little to no emphasis on replicating the actual car. If you adhere strictly to the rules, the only TI22 body that is legal is the True Scale body, and it is no longer available. Personally I like the more realistic bodies for this class and in my opinion I think we should update the list of legal bodies before the next racing season for these cars.

Bill, you are correct on my body choice. It is .010", but can be ordered in .020" as well.  I chose it because it did seem to be the best "scale" body available for this class. The front is still under 3" on my car to get the wheels inside the fenders, but the rear is 3.250. I think it is probably the best body on the current list of approved cars, as it was also the best Can Am car in 1973!


I agree with bill that the cars should represent realistic shapes. If you look at other versions of my car the air intakes are basically none existent in an attempt to fill the rear wing.

I ordered a few more bodies to try and build for other people. It looks like for the most part if they have "scale" in the description they look pretty realistic. But it will be hard to tell until I get them here.

Zack

Re: This is the Can Am page.

These two pictures illustrate the difference between the "performance" retro version of my body and the "scale version.

Betta and Classic:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49522779533_1d79efc58c.jpg

The MAC "retro" version.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49522784348_841fa7317a.jpg

There are various others out there as well. But again, it seems like if they are advertised as "scale" they are much closer to the real thing. The "retro" and "retro pro" versions are all squashed down and high downforce versions.

Zack

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Pic of real car for reference. I think it is fairly accurately portrayed, except of course the wing being moulding in, instead of an airfoil.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49523326001_e6bf6567bf_b.jpg

Zack

63 (edited by howie February 11, 2020 4:34 pm)

Re: This is the Can Am page.

I agree with Bill 100%. This body issue has been going on for too long! Here is what I am going to do at Rapid: Get a committee of 7 racers who will have the power to vote on what body is legal. I have talked to two racers already about this and they said they would be on the committee with me. So I need 4 more racers. The body list on the Can-Am rules will be eliminated. If you want a body that may be controversial  then you need to bring a picture of the 1 to 1 car and the slot car body.  If a car shows up for a race and looks to be an illegal car, the committee can check it out and if it is indeed voted to be an illegal car then it can't race, not even a DQ!

This will take effect before the next race on Feb. 22, 2020.

This is a HUGE relief to me, the thing will not be just on my shoulders any more! I may even vote this class in some day!

If you are interested to be on the committee please email me at howieandsandy@hotmail.com or call me at 503-252-7692.

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We have 5 guys on the Can-Am committee now. That is probably enough, but if two more want to join in that is fine.

Thanks to those who volunteered.

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I'll just stick with my Lotus 40.

There's just something about those curves.

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Okay, I tend to get in trouble for my remarks here but I only respond to other's posts about rules and what's legal or fair. My two cents is that in every other class at Howie's the cars actually look like a scale size driver could climb in and out and actually fit in the car to drive it. I saw very few cars at the Can-Am race that a driver could fit into. Same goes for tire size. Until the Porsches came along, Can-Am cars ran the biggest tires out there to handle the huge power. The little tires on the front of some of the cars looked weird to me. Even the .9 inch tires for the rear only equate to a real tire less than 22 inches tall. That's a little tire for the rear of a race car from the era. No matter what the outcome on rules, I will do my best to stay out of the way of the fast cars.

Re: This is the Can Am page.

HEADTURNER wrote:

Okay, I tend to get in trouble for my remarks here but I only respond to other's posts about rules and what's legal or fair. My two cents is that in every other class at Howie's the cars actually look like a scale size driver could climb in and out and actually fit in the car to drive it. I saw very few cars at the Can-Am race that a driver could fit into. Same goes for tire size. Until the Porsches came along, Can-Am cars ran the biggest tires out there to handle the huge power. The little tires on the front of some of the cars looked weird to me. Even the .9 inch tires for the rear only equate to a real tire less than 22 inches tall. That's a little tire for the rear of a race car from the era. No matter what the outcome on rules, I will do my best to stay out of the way of the fast cars.

I think these are some valid points. The driver interior on my car I believe is quite scale. The wheel and tire size is definitely not, nor will it be for most of the cars. Either the wheel will be to big or the tire will be too small, but if equalizing performance is the goal you can't really mess with the tire minimums.

I think if we can just get rid of the "modified for performance" bodies out there, then it should be all good.

We also just need to accept that this class is the furthest away from every other class run at Rapid. The nature of the cars and body choices are always going to lend to these problems. But I believe Howie is doing the best he can to manage it.

Zack

Re: This is the Can Am page.

I've got one to be scrutinized:
https://i.postimg.cc/8cXdQ9qF/IMG-0674.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/QNfJTKHX/IMG-0678.jpg

Rico

Race cars are neither beautiful nor ugly. They become beautiful when they win.

Re: This is the Can Am page.

WOW! That car is beautiful Rico. I can't see a problem with it. It looks pretty to scale to me. The Shadow is my all time favorite Can-Am car. Looking forward to seeing it in person.

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Thanks for the kind words Howie. I hope to make it for the race. My son has a basketball game at 12:15 on Saturday, what time is the race starting?

Rico

Race cars are neither beautiful nor ugly. They become beautiful when they win.

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Hoping to get the race started by about 1:15 to 1:30. If you think you are going to be a little late I can put you in last, give me a call if that is the case.

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That looks SWEEET. Looks very scale to me, and probably a great body for this Category!

Zack

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Dang, Rico, that's almost too pretty to race. Looking at the picture, it's hard to tell it's a lexan body.

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Scott asked me to build him up something for this weekends race, as he was borrowing one of Howie's hot rods. Similar setup to my car only running the big wheels, and a little more of an anglewinder.

Body is a .020" thick Betta and Classic "Scale" Lola T70. Pretty high quality, I think it turned out looking pretty nice in the bright blue!

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49561322261_8de12120ed_k.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49560826503_0c84b27e60_k.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49561558787_4bf379ed3c_k.jpg

Zack

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Nice car, I really like the color!