The Redfox Acura vs. The Redfox Audi R8

[Reaper802]

I’m starting to look into building two cars for the scale Nats at Chick’s this coming spring. Since I found Chick’s last spring I have discovered that flat track racing is the direction I want to go in my second stint of slot car racing.

After looking at the scale classes that will be run on the flat track it seems to make sense that I build an LMP and a GT-12. I’d love to build a 1/24th Eurosport but since it’s almost a two hour drive for me to get to Chick’s I’ll be taking baby steps for now.

And with that let me get back to the topic at hand: The Redfox Acura body vs. The Redfox Audi R8.

After looking over the tech sheets for LMP, GT-12, and 1/24th Eurosport from this years Nats it became pretty clear that the Redfox Acura was the shell of choice. I couldn’t help but notice though that a few folks did go another route and ran the Redfox Audi R8 shell. One of these even took a 3rd place finish.

I pose the question mainly because since I built my first car for the flat track this spring I have been running a Redfox Audi R8 shell and have been very happy with it’s performance. I must also admit that I love how the shell looks vs. the Acura.

So the question becomes how much faster is the Acura shell vs. the Audi R8?

Is the Acura more forgiving than the Audi R8?

Is running the Audi R8 over the Acura putting a car at an automatic disadvantage or are the differences so small between the two shells that in the end it’s a push?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Rocky L. McCumbee

[dominator]

Follow this link.
http://www.slotcartalk.com/slotcartalk/showthread.php?t=26172

[Forsyth Racing]

The acura is much faster in my opinion. The O/S R10 is comparable to the Acura in my opinion, only tried it a few times however. Paul G, had alot of success with this body at the recent scale Nats.

Jonathan

[Reaper802]

How much is "much faster"? Are we talking 3 tenths of a second faster? 2 tenths? A tenth?

Also which body was Paul G. using?

[Forsyth Racing]

I feel the Acura is about 2 tenths faster then the R8, of course everyone has a different driving style and opinion on what makes them go faster. Although, I think it has been pretty unanimous lately that the Acura is the body to run. Paul Gawronski ran the O/S R10.

[topkat]

the R8 is a very fast body!!! this was the first body (LMP type) to break the 3 second barrier at Slotcar Raceway in Rohnert Park (2.96 on yellow just after the nats in Penn.) The R10 has gone about a tenth faster on yellow(fastest lane ) however it is up to 3 tenths faster on the longer,slower lanes due to its downforce.The Acura only about a tenth faster on the slower lanes.

Herman

[Reaper802]

Looks like I need to pick up some Acura shells. 2 tenths is huge! The LMP-ish car I have built at the moment has done a 5.5280 best on Yellow at Chick's. That car has a puppydog in it geared 8/38 on a JK C-11 frame with .810s on the back.

[topkat]

have you tried those "Hermanator" tires on Chicks track yet?:D

herman

[Speedshop]

The R10 (long USRA version) will be the fastest and strongest body for Chick's.

[Slidergreg]

I feel the Acura is about 2 tenths faster then the R8, of course everyone has a different driving style and opinion on what makes them go faster. Although, I think it has been pretty unanimous lately that the Acura is the body to run. Paul Gawronski ran the O/S R10.

Paul could win with just about anything. Just because he ran it and won with it doesn't meant it is the best. George Russell TQed in Eurosport with an Acura. His car was amazing!
I ran an Acura because our testing showed it to be the best on our cars.
That doesn't mean that on some cars the O/S R10 isn't the right body.
Test! Test! Test!

Greg

[rca90gsx]

Thats where I ended up with a falcon powered LMP car at Chick's first time running the flat track, with the Hermanator tires on the rear of it, they worked well! best was in the 5.5's with low 5.7's high 5.6's consistent at the end of the first day trying it, going back in couple weeks to try different car setup! Flat track racing is very addictive, first time really trying it, and hooked!

-Richie

[fxgeorge]

Richie, you are one of the racers on OWH who comes up with very good questions, and you get great answers from top racers such as Jonathan, Herman, Lee and Greg. You and I have exchanged many PMs about various things, and we always come up with the same thing Greg said, "Test, test test". It's really the best way to form your own program not only by subjective (how the car feels and handles) criteria, to the objective (the lap times). Keep in mind that for 1/24 Eurosport you will have only one choice, the Red Fox Audi R10 Short Version. I believe only 35mm high rear spoiler which I recently converted into something like 1.377" (can anybody verify that?), so it's a short pancake, about the same height as what we've been running in 1/32 Eurosport. The other thing to keep in mind is the new bodies coming out. I'm testing the Red Fox Peugeot in a few days, and that looks like it could be very good. The Red Fox Acura and Audi R8 may be yesterday's news given Roger is currently working on approving a new set of body shells for the Chick's Nats. I think it's going to be a great Nats in April!

[Reaper802]

So when will the 2010 legal body list be available?

This is the problem with living almost 100 miles for my nearest track. If I lived 30 minutes away I'd be at Chick's at least twice a week. I appreciate all the feedback so far. It's nice to see some constructive discussion going on in the flat track section. Perhaps I'll start a "Building an A-Main LMP for the 2010 Nats" thread along with a "Building an A-Main GT-12 for the 2010 Nats"

[Roger Schmitt]

the 2010 usra body list will be up in about a week.
just getting all the pictures done now.

once they are all up, i'll post a link so you can see all the legal bodies

roger

[topkat]

Maybe the title should be "building a winning package" it takes driver/builder ,car ,attitude and luck in the winning package.

I bet if I got into jimmy johnsons car I would not make the race!! (Not a winning package)

[rca90gsx]

Send me a PM and let me know the next time your going to Chick's... I'm about 250 miles away from Chick's and I should be up there either next weekend (19th) or the weekend of the 26th!

-Richie

[Reaper802]

the 2010 usra body list will be up in about a week.
just getting all the pictures done now.

once they are all up, i'll post a link so you can see all the legal bodies

roger

Excellent, the photos should be very helpful.

[86ed once again]

Come on Herman!!! Have a little more faith

[Alex"Ace"Molle]

I know I'm going to be the one that kinda goes against the grain but Honestly I really don't think there's as much difference in the bodies as people make it out to be. I believe a lot of slot racing is more Monkey see Monkey do than actually one part being that much better than the other. I still use bodies and chassis from years past in all the classes I run as long as they are still on the approved list and I don't have a problem keeping up. And Herman can back me up on this, I run old out of date junk and I still keep him on his toes when we get the chance to race against each other.

Like others have said. Test test test is the only way to know what works for you and your driving style. There are to many variables to say for certain that the Acura or the R10, or any one of the new as of yet released bodies is going to be the body to run 6 months from now on a track surface that u have no idea what its going to be like when u get there on the actual race day.

ITS NOT THE PARTS YOU USE BUT HOW YOU USE THEM.

Putting in the time and effort to know your chosen equipment inside and out will bring home more wins and podium finishes than some new fangled latest and greatest part will. Yes there is some value to the fact that a certain body style or chassis design tends to become a majority choice. But you need to understand that if you look close enough that most of the chassis , bodies or motor setups all have to fit within the same guidelines for their respective part types and that with a little tweaking and adjusting that just about any combination of parts could be made into winners.

And ultimately the biggest factor of all is the squishy pink thing between your ears. So build your car the best you know how, drive smart and of course have fun. After all We are all just a bunch of big boys with little toys.

[fxgeorge]

Got my five Red Fox Peugeot bodies yesterday, did the masking in my car during lunch and will paint tonight. This body looks really good, kind of like an Audi R10 closed cockpit. I like the front of this body better than the Acura. The downside of the Acura has been the front end losing shape during a race, kind of turns into a fish mouth. The Audi R10 never got fish mouth, just a lot of bad karma.

[BSlotcar.com]

The Red Fox r10 is back on the Approved list for 2010, so best that is included in testing too!

The Pug is a really nice shell, sits really low. Interestingly, the guys over here tried an Outisite R10 against the Outiste R8c and prefered the R8. Just goes to prove personal preference.