How Do You Calculate Gear Ratios For Slot Cars?
Slot cars have been running around tracks since the 1960s, entertaining generations of participants in an environment every bit as exciting and as challenging as those at LeMans, France or Daytona International Speedway. Originally, the cars were powered by electric motors but today, gasoline engines propel these machines to speeds unheard of in the early days of the sport. One factor in their speed is the gear ratio the racers use–like the gear ratio in an automobile, it represents how many times the engine must turn to make the wheels turn one time. Remove the body of the slot car and any protective covering over the motor and the drive axle. Count the number of teeth on the pinion gear attached to the shaft of the motor. Count the number of teeth on the crown gear attached to the drive axle. Divide the larger number (the crown gear) by the smaller (the pinon gear): if the pinion gear has 12 teeth and the ring gear 28, divide 28 by 12. The answer, 2.33, is the number of times the pi
