What makes some FTE CArs
|
|
Research Approach
I was curious about why some FTE cars are faster than others. My curiosity started by asking why the Cadillac V-16 and Way-2-Fast were my fastest FTE cars. I knew they are slightly heavier than most of the other FTE's. They also had a long body and wide frame. At the same time, there were other FTE's that were heavier and with longer bodies, but were not so fast. So what gives? To help quench my curiosity I conducted some analytics correlating speed to various characteristics of the cars.
I went through my collection of 135 different FTE cars (out of 140) with the intent to understand the relationship between features of the cars and track speed. Features of the cars included weight and length, for example. So I documented as many factors of each car that I could think of that might explain their speed:
I built a multivariate regression model to see what factors predicted track speed. The result was a model that enabled me to compare projected speed to the actual speed. The correlation between the actual and predicted speed was .72 (with 0 zero meaning no correlation and 1.0 being perfect correlation), which is considered a good to strong correlation. With that assessment, it's not surprising that most of the cars I would have predicted to be fast were indeed fast and vice versa.
I went through my collection of 135 different FTE cars (out of 140) with the intent to understand the relationship between features of the cars and track speed. Features of the cars included weight and length, for example. So I documented as many factors of each car that I could think of that might explain their speed:
- Weight (in grams)
- Car length (cm)
- Presence of a metal base
- FTE wheel type (the standard 5-spoke FTE wheel or the later FTE2)
- Height of the car (cm)
- Width of the distance between the tires (cm)
- Presence of wheels being set in from the car frame
- Wheel size
I built a multivariate regression model to see what factors predicted track speed. The result was a model that enabled me to compare projected speed to the actual speed. The correlation between the actual and predicted speed was .72 (with 0 zero meaning no correlation and 1.0 being perfect correlation), which is considered a good to strong correlation. With that assessment, it's not surprising that most of the cars I would have predicted to be fast were indeed fast and vice versa.
FTE Car Factor Evaluation
Here is a break down of the factors impacting the predicted speeds.
Model Factor (starting with the lowest P-value) |
Direction |
1. Weight of the car |
The heavier the car the more energy that's created and the faster the car. The average FTE car is 35.9 grams. The heaviest car is Hot Tub at 47.4 grams and the lightest is the '81 DeLorean at 29.3 grams. 8 of the 13 cars that are at least 40 grams were in my top 25. |
2. Presence of set in wheels |
Cars that have wheels set inside the frame were as a rule not fast. This can create drag with the wheels touching the car and is also indicative of narrow wheels, although that's another factor. There are 12 cars like this including 8 Crate, Steel Flame and Nissan Titan, |
3. Car length |
The longer the car (all else being equal) the faster the FTE car. The average FTE car is 7.2 cm long. The longest is 8.4 cm (Plymouth Superbird) and the shortest is 5.7 cm (Scion Xb) |
4. Distance between the wheels |
Cars with wider separation of the wheels have more stability on the track and avoid wobbling which slows them down. This was measured from the distance between the insides of the wheels. The narrowest wheels are approximately 1.25 cm apart, others are 1.55 cm apart and the majority are 1.85 cm apart. If a car has front wheels 1.85 cm apart and the rear wheels at 1.55 cm, I counted the lower number. 55 of the 135 FTE cars tested have at least one set of wheels that are less than 1.85 cm apart. The slowest five cars are all at 1.25. Cars at 1.55 are hindered significantly, but can still be fast with good weight and body length. |
5. Presence of an FTE2 wheel |
The FTE2 wheels are not as fast, even when considering all the other factors. There are 14 cars with FTE2 wheels. None of the them are in my top 70. The characteristics of the FTE2 cars (weight, length, etc.) suggest they should perform better. Not sure if the axle changed or the wheels themselves changed in quality. |
6. Height of the car |
Borderline factor, but in general cars with a lower center of gravity were faster (again, all else being equal). Cars like Boom Box, Dodge M80 and VW New Beetle Cup will have some potential drag associated with their height. Formul8r and Speed Bump benefit the most as they are lower to the ground. |
Presence of a metal base and wheel size were not factors (or rather the information they bring is already accounted for in the other factors like weight and height).
Assessment
Based on the model the fastest FTE cars should be:
Way-2-Fast is among the heaviest cars at 43 grams, is 8.0 cm long (tied for 8th longest), has open wheels, FTE wheels, a wide stance for both front and rear wheels and is not overly tall. All of these characteristics are positive factors with its height being neutral.
All five of the cars are among my fastest. Cadillac V-16 is my #1, Way-2-Fast is my #2, Hot Tub is #4, Cadillac Escalade at #8 and the Impreza is #11 . I just upgraded my Escalade and it moved from #24 to #8, as the model suggested it should have been faster.
The slowest 5 cars according to the model should be:
3 of these 5 are in my slowest 5 cars and the other two are in the slowest 20.
Cars I have over-performing (run much faster than the model suggests):
Cars I have under-performing (run much slower than the model suggests)
I'm upgrading the above three cars as a result of this research.
I hope you found this useful. Let me know your experience with FTE cars and if you have any suggestions for other factors to evaluate. Also, do you have any ideas that explain the over or under-performing cars? Perhaps there is another factor I'm not thinking of.
- Way-2-Fast
- Cadillac Escalade
- Cadillac V-16
- Hot Tub
- Subaru Impreza WRX
Way-2-Fast is among the heaviest cars at 43 grams, is 8.0 cm long (tied for 8th longest), has open wheels, FTE wheels, a wide stance for both front and rear wheels and is not overly tall. All of these characteristics are positive factors with its height being neutral.
All five of the cars are among my fastest. Cadillac V-16 is my #1, Way-2-Fast is my #2, Hot Tub is #4, Cadillac Escalade at #8 and the Impreza is #11 . I just upgraded my Escalade and it moved from #24 to #8, as the model suggested it should have been faster.
The slowest 5 cars according to the model should be:
- Hummer H3
- '70 Dodge Challenger Hemi
- '47 Chevy Fleetline
- Steel Flame
- Nissan 370Z
3 of these 5 are in my slowest 5 cars and the other two are in the slowest 20.
Cars I have over-performing (run much faster than the model suggests):
- Straight Pipes
- 2005 Ford Mustang GT (my #7, perhaps I ran into some luck with this car)
Cars I have under-performing (run much slower than the model suggests)
- Honda Civic Si
- Ferrari 512m
- VW New Beetle Cup (finished 116th for me, but model says 59th)
I'm upgrading the above three cars as a result of this research.
I hope you found this useful. Let me know your experience with FTE cars and if you have any suggestions for other factors to evaluate. Also, do you have any ideas that explain the over or under-performing cars? Perhaps there is another factor I'm not thinking of.