The cars we race at ARRA

At ARRA we race mostly the classes laid down by the BSCRA. All these classes are metal, flexible chassis cars with motors a t the rear. Cars use special compound foam tires which vary in width between classes. Bodies are made from thin plastic and are replicas of the original race cars. A massive range of shells are made by BETTA and are widely available. These are the classes we race: (see the race calendar for when) Above is Arthur's shiny new F1 car.

1/32nd Production

A standard class, using one of about 3 different production chassis. These are simple 2 piece brass or steel chassis, without the degree of articulation present in the more advanced cars. They are also heavier than the others, as lead is added to compensate for the handling problems. Tyres and gearing are standard fare - with a free choice of tyre foam and gear ratio. The cars are powered by a range of motors, from the humble JK falcon and 16D up to a wasp motor. The wasp motor is a lower power version of a group 12 arm, using the same advanced can and endbell along with a very similar armature. No ball bearings are allowed, but the newest wasp motor are getting seriously quick - almost matching some older sallon cars! This is the first car to be bought, and is eligible for all 1/32nd classes apart from F1. Shells used at the club are any vehicle which has raced - so there is a very good variety of cars to be used. The cars are simple to maintain and very cheap to repair.  Lap record: 9.490 Laps per minute. 

1/32nd Saloon

Free choice of flexible chassis, using a group 12 motor. Faster than a production and handles well. Shells are any production saloon bodies. Also qualifies for sports races.  Lap record: 10.070 Laps per minute. 

1/32nd Sports

Free choice of flexible chassis, free choice of motor. Expensive and extremely fast. Many people race saloon or production to keep costs down, but these cars have to be seen to be believed.  Lap record: 11.044 Laps per minute. 

1/32nd F1

Raced only once a season, same as sports but have the motor mounted north-south and are open-wheeled. When these are run, members have the chance to race in either F1 or Scalextric.  Lap record: 10.170 Laps per minute. 

1/24 Open

A larger scale, with free choice of flexible chassis and limited to group12 motors. These cars have a lot of grip due to the wider track of the car and also the wider tires that can then be fitted. Raced with sports car shells.  An alternative is an Indy car, which is of the same scale and motor but uses F1 or Indy car shells. Lap record: 10.315 Laps per minute. 

1/24 Production

A standard class, which can be used for 1/24 open. Uses a Parma Flexi-Car 2 chassis and a 16D or balanced 16D motor. Le-mans bodies are used. Again this keeps the costs down, with a level playing field as well. The club owns several of these cars as we now use them for our events.  Lap record: 8.913 Laps per minute. 

Scalextric

Once a season we race normal scalextric cars for those who don't own a F1 car or want some light hearted fun.  Lap record: 5.467 Laps per minute.

As can be seen from the lap records, all the classes we race trounce a scalextric car.

© Mark Croston 2002 - 2003