Thread: Electrathon - A Different Kind of "Hotrod"

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Thank you all for the compliments and encouragement.

Seth - How far is Doon from Cedar rapids? There are some big Electrathon races in Cedar Rapids at least once a year.

Originally Posted by J. Robinson

Thank you all for the compliments and encouragement.

Seth - How far is Doon from Cedar rapids? There are some big Electrathon races in Cedar Rapids at least once a year.

That's about a 5 hour drive from me. I can just about throw a rock into Minnesota or South Dakota.

The University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls (not much closer) used to host a big race, but I don't know if they still do. You could check the EA schedule next Fall when school starts up and see if/when there are races in Iowa. It's possible there may be something closer to you. From the race results I've seen from Iowa, there must be other teams and other races. If I can find anything I'll post it here for you.

A warning to anyone who attends an Electrathon race the first time: It's contagious and highly addictive! I went broke three times racing stock cars over the 35 years I was involved in it. This is the cheapest racing I've ever done.

When I was in high school we did mileage cars with small gas engines. we did go to Cedar falls 2 years for races. Hopefully our school still competes. They have nutted the automotive program so bad it's unthinkable.

Ryan - I know what you mean about nutted programs. The ugly hose bag that was head of Technology Education in this district didn't like anything "dirty" so she went through all 12 high schools in this county and systematically eliminated all the wood shops, masonry programs, and about half of the automotive programs. All she wanted was more computer labs and "clean" subject matter. The auto shops and construction programs that are left are painfully underfunded.

And they wonder why they can't fill any skilled trade positions these days...............

Hey Jim, just wondering when we will see you competing in the "E" powered Formula One type cars? lol Have you had an opportunity to catch them running anywhere? Neat stuff!

Hi Dave. Long time no see!

Ha! As much fun as it would be, I doubt if any owners are going to offer a ride in a half-million dollar car to an old fart like me.

I've only seen them on TV, but it's interesting. They run really close (performance wise) because they are all using the same stuff. As battery technology improves and advances the cars will probably run longer races. Time will tell.

Originally Posted by J. Robinson

Hi Dave. Long time no see!

Ha! As much fun as it would be, I doubt if any owners are going to offer a ride in a half-million dollar car to an old fart like me.

I've only seen them on TV, but it's interesting. They run really close (performance wise) because they are all using the same stuff. As battery technology improves and advances the cars will probably run longer races. Time will tell.

Yeah, it's way beyond my checkbook, maybe Uncle Bob will sponsor you?

Well, it's been a while, but I'm baaaack! Okay, back in early September I got an offer on my pretty blue flamed car that I couldn't turn down and I sold it to Mulberry High School. That, of course, left me with no car to race and I really didn't have time to thrash another one together right away.

For the October 27th race at Jenkins High School, my good friend and sometimes team mate, Rodney Schreck, offered to let me drive one of his cars. I accepted the offer and I ended up beating him by 3 or 4 laps. I would have felt bad about beating him with his own car (that I built for him), but actually I only won because he had a mechanical problem that sidelined him a few minutes for repairs.

I missed the December and January races, but I debuted my new car last weekend (Feb 16) at the USF race. The new car is a sort of hybrid; it's my old Silver Bullet design, but updated with independent suspension like my blue flame car had (see below). I won my first race by 4 laps over Rodney. Jerry Bristow drove the second race and led from the first lap. Rodney passed Jerry with 3 minutes remaining and Jerry didn't have enough battery left to pass him back. That's how they finished - Rodney leading Jerry by about 15 feet. When the laps were totaled, my car won the day by 4 laps.

The starting field was small this year - only 8 cars showed up. I built 6 of those. At the end of the second race only 4 cars were still running - I built all of them!! I had an offer to buy my new car, but it's not for sale... Well, not yet, anyway...

Very cool and congrats on all the cars doing so well! It sounds like you could make a decent living at building and selling these.

Well, Ryan, I doubt I could make a living building these, but I have made some cash to spend on my hotrod addiction...

OK, last Saturday (March 9) I entered the race event at Lennard High School in Ruskin, Florida. This race was held on the paved track around the football field. There were a total of 9 cars entered (I built 8 of them!) - two Advanced Battery cars, two Open Class cars and Five High School cars. I won my (Open) class first race by 4 laps over Rodney Schreck. Jerry Bristow drove my car again in the second race and he won by 2 laps. We had a total of 195 laps; Rodney had a total of 189 laps. The only car that outdistanced us was the Advanced Battery car from USF - he got 196 laps total.

Is there a reason all these cars run so nuch negative camber

I believe it prevents the spokes from breaking.

Yes, Ted, Firebird77 is correct. We are using some bicycle components for jobs they were not designed or intended to do.

When riding a bicycle, the rider leans into any turn he makes. The amount of lean is according to the speed and degree of the turn, but the result is that the pressure on the spokes is in a straight line from hub to rim. When turning our Electrathon cars, the wheels are held at a stationary angle regardless of our speed and sharpness of the turn. Therefore, the rims and spokes are subjected to extra stress as the wheel is effectively pushed sideways in reference to the hub. The negative camber helps relieve some of that sideways stress on the spokes of the outside front wheel (The outside front wheel takes the most load transfer during a turn).

My years of building and racing these cars has led to some compromises in engineering and design. I once tried 1 degree positive camber with up to 12 degrees of positive caster - that made the car hard to steer in tight corners. I have tried negative camber up to 10 degrees - that chewed the tread off the inside of the tires and made toe-in/toe-out critical. I even tried dual A-frame independent front suspension that altered the camber angle as the car compressed the suspension in a corner, but it was too unreliable. I finally landed on 7 degrees negative camber and 7 degrees positive caster - it is a compromise that seems to work satisfactorily.

After the unsatisfactory results with my dual A-frame suspension, I replaced it with a rigid mounted front axle. It was strong and reliable and easy to maintain and/or repair. The next 13 cars I built all used that same simple front end. My last two cars have independent front suspension using a split tube front axle with a tubular strut rod (radius rod) welded to the axle tube (pic below). So far it has worked well. I still set it up with 7 degrees negative camber and 7 degrees positive caster. The cars settle and deflect very little, so there is minimal camber change. The purpose of the suspension is just to make my 71-year-old bones take less of a beating on a couple of the tracks that are rough.