This year's set of cars

[gpraceman]

Here's the cars that my daughter, two sons and I built for this years racing. We were a bit rushed this year, trying to prepare for our race (which I coordinated) and having the busiest January ever. They were all 3 wheelers and used NyOil II as the lubricant.

This is my daughter Amanda's "The It" car, which won first in speed for the 6th-12th Grade Division. She broke the track record for 3 straight heats with her fastest time of 2.4549 seconds. You can read about her "car-tastrophe" during our time trials at http://derbytalk.com/viewtopic.php?t=386


This is my oldest son, Evan's car, the "Velociraptor". It is sort of a hybrid of a wedge and a rail car. This won 2nd place in design for the 3rd-5th Grade Division. He had some wheel issues that we didn't have time to correct; otherwise I believe he would have challenged for a speed award.


This is my youngest son, Ryan's car, the "Silver Shark2" submarine. It won 1st place in speed in the Open Division race and was the second fastest car overall (behind my daughter). The profile is deceiving, since the COG is about 1.5" in front of the rear axle.

Technically this was my car, since we do not have a race division for the kids 2nd grade and younger. Instead we encourage our Cubbies and Sparkies to get dad or mom to enter and they can help their parents build the car. The parents then usually let the kids do the racing (hired pro drivers ). It gets them started on the learning curve to build their own car and there is none of the "dad (or mom) really built it" issue, since they race in the Open Division.

[Gavin Chafin]

Beautiful cars. Your daughter's car appears to be a great design for speed.

[TDean]

they all look great!
Did you have any problems with your daughter's car lining up on the starting pin with that sharp nose? Obviously not TOO bad, since she was so fast...

[gpraceman]

they all look great!
Did you have any problems with your daughter's car lining up on the starting pin with that sharp nose? Obviously not TOO bad, since she was so fast...

I had warned her about that when she drew it out on paper, but it was her design and she did most all of the work on it. It is amazing how quickly they grow up and don't need your help , but that is the way it should be. She just pinched her fingers around the front of the start pin to center the nose on the backside of the pin. If the start pins were smooth, then it may have been a problem slipping off the pin. The pins (really long threaded bolts) have plastic sleeves over them and are not slick, so slipping wasn't a problem.

[Den_Leader]

Great set of cars

Two observations' on thin nose of "The It" car:

It could give up some tiny distance/time on a vertically mounted sensor if either the sensor was not centered or the car did not cross while centered. I guess with both start and finish vertical sensors, it could actually help the ET if it crossed the start off-center and finished with the nose dead on the sensor, that seems unlikely though.

The nose could be a built-in detector of any bumps by others on a round start pin. I saw a boy 'hammer' both my sons’ car and the one on the other side. The thin nose on "The It" car would have slipped off and been past the start line. This would allow the scout to re-stage and correct the car placement that had been altered.

IMHO, any speed that might be lost on ET, will easily be offset if the car had been bumped by a competitor and allowed to re-stage. Thanks for the idea!

[gpraceman]

It could give up some tiny distance/time on a vertically mounted sensor if either the sensor was not centered or the car did not cross while centered. I guess with both start and finish vertical sensors, it could actually help the ET if it crossed the start off-center and finished with the nose dead on the sensor, that seems unlikely though.

I did try to warn my daughter, but in the end, it is her design. She's 13 now, old enough to make her own design decisions, so I just try to advise. Fortunately, the nose, though pointy does not extend much past the wheel supports. That and she did not have anyone else that was really very close at the finish line.