Project: Alfa

I've decided that I'd like to race my Alfa in some proxy races. In order to do that, I'll need to do more advanced modifications than I am currently doing. Changes to gears, different tires, full suspension, all will need to be tried and tested before I'm completely ready to compete.

When I picked the three Slot.it cars I own, this was the third pick after the two Fords. There was something about it that I liked.

The Alfa Romeo is a curious car. It's shorter than the Fords, and has remarkable quickness and handling through tricky parts of the track. Due to its short wheelbase it rips through turns and jumps like a rabbit on the straightaways. And it's got way more power than I've ever given it. I'm sure when it gets on a nice big track it's going to have fun. And it'll float through the technical sections.

Topless Alfa

My plan is to purchase a handful of accessories for the car: a different motor or two, a few different pinion/gear combinations [actually, Slot.it makes rear end kits that come complete and just need to be swapped out], and I'll pick up the rest of the parts for the front suspension. I don't believe, based on what I've done so far and people I've spoken with, that I'll need to get any kind of rear suspension. It's just not necessary, especially on the nice tracks that are usually featured in proxy races.

I have done everything that I can to the car without buying a tire truer or upgrade parts. It has had the chassis trimmed where it meets the body, has been taken apart and rebuilt three times, and is cleaned after every session, like any car I race. I like clean cars. That hair on the front axle in the photo above bugs the hell out of me.

Yeah, I call that a race car.

After the last race I noticed that the Alfa had a diagonal ripple pattern on the left rear tire. I can't remember ever hearing it chatter through a curve, but something was up. I went to a lighter grade of sandpaper and re-sanded the tires. Once that happened, the Alfa became a grippy glue monster, hugging the track, refusing to drift, and most especially not wanting to crash. I believe that improvement alone made this the fastest car of the three, and I am going to test that theory tomorrow in a full-field time trial.

I'm looking forward to tweaking the Alfa for racing. Once I start doing that, I'll likely get another Alfa to speed up my experiments.