VIDEO: James May breaks land speed at 1/32 scale
It probably takes considerable effort to get funding and engineering for a vehicle that can break the land-speed record or 458 mph. To achieve such a speed at 1/32 scale, you only need James May and 45 English Scalextric slot car fans. Just past the jump, you can see a terrific video that May put together on the history of the scale car, which goes all the way back to the 1930s with the British Dinky brand. After getting you up to speed on all gravity-based scale models, May settled on electrified slot cars. To make the story interesting, May rented out an airplane hanger and laid out 150 feet of track and then proceed to time car after car to see if it could beat the land speed record at 1/32 scale. As it turns out, the record was easily beaten, and speeds of almost 700 scale mph were achieved. Check it out.
[Source: Jalopnik]
_opt_thumbnail.jpg)
_thumbnail.jpg "2011 Audi A8: Live from Miami")
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Greg 3:35PM (6/29/2007)
Pretty entertaining video!
Reply
Tom 4:11PM (6/29/2007)
Does anyone know the tv series or specials that these little snippets from May are appearing on?
I'd love to find the full episodes
Reply
stan 8:22AM (6/30/2007)
This particular segment is from a 2005 Christmas special called "James May's Top Toys". It's quite good.
roadKonig 4:25PM (6/29/2007)
700 scale mph ??
Someone explain to me how to scale time.
Reply
David 4:35PM (6/29/2007)
I suspect the slot car went 700 scale miles in a full sized hour.
While they can hardly be called scale, the larger '1/24 scale', winged slot cars can approach a real 100 miles an hour on the main straight-of-way of a King track running qualifying voltage.
Do the math - that means they are approaching 2400 scale miles an hour.
xbird 3:41AM (6/30/2007)
RoadKonig, you aren't scaling time, you are scaling length or distance. A scale factor is a one-dimensional coefficient which, in this case, mathematically applies to the unit of length. So all you do is multiply all lengths, including the length of the car and the length of the track by, 32.
The winning car averaged 21.78 miles in one hour, in our scale of 1/1, 21.78 mi = 696.9 mi. So we can say the car covered 696.9 mph.
Time is inherently connected to space in one continuum, but our perception of each is vastly different. Unlike scaling distances, which we perceive quite well, if time slowed or hastened for the earth, we could never detect it, since time is a scale in itself for our perception.
josh 4:45PM (6/29/2007)
These are coming from TOP GEAR it is on the BBC
Reply
Will Angel 5:09PM (6/29/2007)
No, they are coming from James May's Top Toys, not Top Gear.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_May's_Top_Toys
RACER X 5:10PM (6/29/2007)
This segment wasn't taken from Top Gear. I've seen every episode of Top Gear that has been aired and this wasn't one of them. Also Top Gear is currently off the air until the Fall. Just because it has James May in it doesn't mean it's Top Gear, all three of the boys frequently go off and do their own specials and shows.
Phillip 4:49PM (6/29/2007)
The world record R/C car was a lithium polymer powered 1/10 that did just over 130mph, so scale speeds are 1300 mph.
Reply
Tom 5:21PM (6/29/2007)
I'd say.. we know they're not Top Gear.
Thanks Will!
Reply
nhl012003 6:53PM (6/29/2007)
awesome post, sure made me take out my set of slot cars :)
Reply
geo.stewart 9:47PM (6/29/2007)
he stole the end from Oceans Eleven...
but loved the whole segment
Reply
seoultrain 4:22AM (6/30/2007)
here's something i thought of in terms of maximizing scale speed.
If you take a golf ball with a globe printed on it (i've got one), and take a driver to it, that should give you a crazy scaled velocity.
Reply
David 9:01AM (6/30/2007)
Heh, nice idea. In 1/1 scale, that would be 75 times faster than light (I used 70 m/s for the speed of the golf ball by the time it leaves the tee)