Your Favorite Flexi Chassis - Why?

[fl_slotter]

When I first came back to slot racing - I mean I thought I saw it through a tragic death in the ealy 1970's - when a slot track opened up nearby I decided to find out what was what, so . . . . . The "Development & Testing Phase" immediately started.

I purchased a Champion Turbo Flex, JK Cheetah 7, JK Cheetah 11 - .025, JK Cheetah 11 - 030, Parma Flexi 5, Pro-Slot 5001 and Mossetti Titan chassis, then blueprinted a motor and took each chassis, with the same body on it and did some testing. I found out that just about any of the above chassis could turn identical lap times, but I did notice some interesting qualities about each of them.

Champion Turbo Flex - probably the most widely used chassis in slot car racing. Kind of like the small block Chevy motor - it's consistent and is easily repaired after an "unfortunate incident" during competition.

Parma Flexi-5 - I thought this to be a great chassis. It is very similar to the Champion in just about every respect. I do think there is more tuning that can be done as the side pans are separate.

JK Cheetah 7 - Another excellent chassis for the novice. Easy to setup and get running very well. Tends to be a bit tighter then either the Parma or Champion.

JK Cheetah 11 (.025 and .030) - I think I have settled on this chassis design for most applications where flexi chassis are running. They handle great, it does take a bit more time and effort to tune them correctly and when properly braced, are pretty survivable.

Pro-Slot 5001 - I was very disppointed in this chassis. Oh, it has some of the best handling characteristics of all the chassis. When properly set up, it will out handle most chassis. However, there is a problem with the metal in the chassis. After running it around on a banked track for 30 to 50 laps, the chassis becomes "swaybacked" and the middle of the chassis is dragging the track. I just bought a new Kelly "Treated" version of this chassis as it is supposedly a better metal and should correct that problem. More to follow.

Mossetti Titan - If you have a tight course where you need a car to handle and "run on rails" then this is your choice. They're kind of hard to find, but the hunt is worth the time. They tend to be a bit heavier than the others, but when setup correctly, I don't think anything will beat it through the corners.

What's your favorite flexi chassis and why?

[trailerkeith]

If you're going to a swoopy king and using a C can motor, then the C11 with the .030 center and .025 pans is the ticket.
If it's a flat track with the same motor it's the .030 C7 with the aluminum pans. (both need setup/blueprinting and some care in getting a great mesh as well as reinforcing of the rear)

For D cans (super or unleaded 16d) I tend to stay with the Mossetti 300ss (stainless) center and their aluminum pan, or a freshly setup Champion T-Flex. The added weight of the D motor and the stoutness of each is a great combo.

I did try the proslot (d can) chassis and did ultimately wind up with a pretzel (I hit the wall, then I was rear-ended while in the wall). The Kelly version I have yet to run. The C11 seems to be the chassis of choice after many of the proslot adopters had similar results.

Now if you're running a smaller (proslot 4000 series or Falcon) motor, the T-Flex and Mossetti may be a little on the husky side of the scale for good top end. The C7 & 11 seem to have a great combo of lightness, durability, and handling for these motors.

Now if you want a chassis that really handles and can take a shot, the JK spring steel (1023?) chassis is the way to go. No they are not a "flexi chassis" or legal in most races, but they are smooth, will take a D size can, and can definitely take a shot. Besides being illegal in most series, the only other downside is it's cost.

There are a few other flexi chassis models out there, the Gambler, the Trinity, in 1/24 scale. in 1/32 JK's new chassis and the venerable International 32.

Check your race rules as to what is allowed before getting any chassis though.

Now all of this depends on body type used, track condition, tires allowed, gear ratio, controller, humidity, phase of the moon, Mercury being in retrograde, and of course the nut behind the trigger being in alignment.

But favorite overall (stuck on a deserted island with a track and my box) it's the Turbo-flex by a narrow margin over the Mossetti with the C11 right behind it. All have their strong points (and weaknesses) but the t-flex usually never disappoints.

[brassy]

For me, it's the T-Flex hands down. It's simple and it's durable.

And it works well on more tracks than most of the alternatives.

If I can only carry one stamped steel chassis, it's gonna be a Turbo-Flex.

That's not to say some of the others aren't really, really good at times. But the T-Flex will be at least really good almost every time.

[Phil I.]

I'v got 2 turbo's for low down force bodies like nascar,truck ..I use the old JK scorpion 2 for downforce cars like Mercadies (sp). I just got a C11 and haven't got it tested out yet for nascar . I think that a hi down force body & it will fly. The JK 7 handles nascar bodies better but for most S16D's & 16d's and ease of going pritty fast...Turbo gets the nod. I even quickly put a G12 in one & wing body to race a G12 race and came in 3rd out of 15....I wrote Two Ton Tesse on the body too.

PHIL I.

[fl_slotter]

Well, I got a chance to do some preliminary testing of the new "Treated" Kelly Chassis.

From what I saw happen, I'm impressed with the results.

I have another Kelly / Pro-Slot chassis that has a D-Can Super 16 in it running a GTP body. After about 25 laps on a high speed banked track, the chassis would look like a good old swayback. Yep, you could see where the chassis was hitting in the middle of the banking.

The new "treated" chassis does NOT seem to have that same issue. Terry Tawney, a fellow racer from the 60's was kind of impressed with what he saw during my test session last night.

As the stars would have it, a turn marshall was watching the race instead of their assigned area. My car came off due to bad driving and before the marshall could react, the car got hit very hard from the rear. With the old chassis, it would be to the pits to adjust things up. However, when the car was put back on, it ran just as good as it had been. Perhaps the rear brace and the gear protector from Kelly did what they were supposed to do?

When the race was over, I took the car over, removed the body and put a straight edge along the bottom of the chassis. It was straight, no work needed. I took a couple of photos today so y'all can see.

There is more testing to be completed prior to saying this is a great chassis. However, preliminary testing shows that it might just do that.

I'll keep you posted.

[Raunchy]

This thread has help me more than any info on all the bbs, I just got started and I've learned a lot from this thread its a great baseline for me. I wish there was more like this on motors and tires. I still have a lot of homework to do and this cut my learning curve down by weeks. Raunchy

[trailerkeith]

This thread has help me more than any info on all the bbs, I just got started and I've learned a lot from this thread its a great baseline for me. I wish there was more like this on motors and tires. I still have a lot of homework to do and this cut my learning curve down by weeks. Raunchy

We're always glad to help, the nice thing about slot car racers is that none of us have an opinion about absolutely nothing!

Best of luck!

[Grandi Racing]

A bit of advice.....do NOT try the Gambler chassis. Believe me, we bought 3 of them.....and at this point they arent even worthy of being called paperweights.

[fl_slotter]

I had built up a "Vintage" racing car for a track where he is trying to do some different stuff. The car has a Falcon 7 motor geared 8 and 28 in a Pro-Slot 5000 "Flexible Flyer" chassis. I put motor, gear and guide flag reinforcements on the chassis and took it out and tested it this week.

"Out of the trailer" the car ran a 4.8 on the hillclimb track I was testing it on. For reference, the 4 inch "Sealed 16D" class that was running later that night had the fastest qualifying time of 4.7. I do believe this car will run a bit quicker after some more time on the track.

Matter of fact, I think I will put an appropriate lightweight body on the car and race it in this event next week. This car handles like it is on rails and I think a lot of that is due to the lightweight of the Falcon motor.

It sure is a cheap way to run fast.

Of course I have about 20 minutes of test time on this combination. We will learn a bit more as we go along.





I am expecting a gram scale with adequate capacity to measure the weight of the car to get here this week. Once it does, I'll post the weight of the car.

[Mopower71]

Where can one find one of these Pro-Slot 5000 "Flexible Flyer" chassis?

[fl_slotter]

I got mine at The Raceway in Cocoa, Florida.

Bill also has the new "treated" chassis which is much stiffer and works very well. That would be my choice.

You can reach him at:

theRaceway.biz
1507 N. Cocoa Blvd (U.S. 1)
Cocoa, FL 32922
(321) 639-4692
(866) 845-4559 (toll free outside Brevard County)
bill@theRaceway.biz
Mon - Fri 5:00 - 9:00
Sat - 3:00 - 9:00
CLOSED WEDNESDAY and SUNDAY

Hope this helps.

[Mopower71]

Thanks,
The eason I asked is, I looked on Pro Slots site and only found wing car chassis.

[fl_slotter]

Here's a photo of their chassis from the Pro-Slot site.



Here's the part numbers

SpeedFX C-Can and D-Can Stamped Steel Chassis
PS-5000 SpeedFX C-Can Chassis $21.95
PS-5000C C-Can Center Section $11.95
PS-5001 SpeedFX D-Can Chassis $21.95
PS-5001C D-Can Center Section $11.95
PS-5002 Standard pans $10.95
PS-5003 Medium pans $10.95
PS-5004 Light pans $10.95

[Mike R]

I would reccommend getting the Kelly heat treated version of this chassis as it doesn't have the tendency to bow in the middle like the non-heat treated version does. Kelly is the only one between Pro slot and Kelly that has the heat treated Speed FX version and it's worth the extra buck. I run two of them now with medium pans and they are great handling chassis, though they do require a little taller tire in the rear over a Cheetah C11.

You will need to set the chassis up in a jig and make sure the rear uprights are straight and that the motor bracket side is a true 90 degrees to the chassis. Use an burr tip on a dremel to square out the motor opening in the motor bracket side, similar to what we used to do on the old Parma/Champion chassis. Use 3/16 ID brass tubing cut in 1/2 inch lengths for the forward and aft can mounts. At the rear pan mount where the clip is, use a .005 thick teflon flag washer under the clip to put a slight limit on the rear pan movement. I have the weight on mine equal to a Cheetah C11 .025 with the Cheetah having the lightest pans and the SpeedFX having .030 pans. For me at least, I've been able to get more out of it as far as handling over the Cheetah with certain body styles. The two I have are keepers and are definitely staying in my box as they work well with NASCAR car and truck bodies. The gear guard is an added plus, and I wish the heck I had used this last weekend in the State My Series race, it would have saved me a lot of grief and I definitely would have finished higher.

Your local raceway can order them from the main suppliers, either Eagle or Crawley.

Mike R