By: Todd Wheatley
(c) IQ-2k   12-05-22

Yesterday I attempted to add up to 10 grams of weight to a 28 gram vehicle ... The La Fasta ... my first inclination was to cut the head and part of the shank off the biggest, fattest nail I could find. Then drill a hole in the bottom of the car and glue the nail. Unfortunately my drill press bounced and skipped causing the hole to go off center. Next my depth adjustment was off ever so slightly causing a hole in the roof of the car. Finally, the nail head wasn't exactly smooth. It had ridges where the head was pressed during manufacturing. Besides, the added weight was only 2 grams. So I drilled a second hole. Which went slightly askew.

Several adjustments later It was apparent that the aerodynamics would be compromised with the nail head tilted. So I decided to pour wood glue in the openings to increase the vehicle weight. Unfortunately the glue immediately flowed through the hole in the car roof. After a quick patch the glue held inside. and the weight had increased by 10 grams ... SUCCESS! ... For almost two minutes ... before I noticed glue seeping from the front wheel wells ... fortunately the glue was easily removed with warm water and the car was saved. That's not to say the extra weight would have helped the car's performance, but I didn't get to the testing stage. Then again no one I've seen gets to the testing stage. That's why little Remy and I have so much trouble getting these toys to work -- hence the CAR MOD and other fixes.

Although WHEEL-BASE and CENTER-OF-GRAVITY play a significant role it seems that heavier cars tend to stay on the track longer. Even with one fix or another, loops, jumps, and curves all present a different challenge. Therefore a full range of testing must be provided on both MODIFIED and UNMODIFIED cars. Right now, preliminary results favor shorter, heavier cars.

(addendum Jan.2023 - try JB WELD)


(edited Jan.2023)
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