CG Shadow DN4 Can Am

[slothead]

Some people belittle the Shadow DN4 because by the time it won the championship most of the bigger Can-Am teams had pulled out. The early to mid 70's was a difficult time for many forms of auto racing, particularly in America with the oil blockade, gas rationing, etc. The Trans Am series basically died then too as the major manufacturers withdrew support.

The fact the Shadow featured new technology and topped speed records from years prior is a big deal for those of us that race slot cars as replicas of the real thing. It would have been great to see the Shadow DN4 doing battle with Mark Donohue in the Porsche 917/30 (considered the most powerful race car ever built at that time) and Bruce McLaren in an M6, but I guess it was just never meant to be. BUT, then again, that's why I build Shelby-Hendrix Speedway (SHS) and created the 'Endless Summer Racing Series' where time is not a factor and all these cars and drivers get to go at it again and again.

I'm confident Dan Gurney and Mark Donohue will be in action this weekend at SHS giving Jackie Oliver in the Shadow all he can handle. Slot car racers don't just respect history, we get to relive and recreate it.

Slothead

[MacMoose]

I don't have a complete CG Shadow so this is in no way a criticism of that car or its performance.

What I do have are some CG motor pods. Seeing their design I thought they might be useful for holding the ballast necessary to meet minimum weight in our Can Am class. I used them (in their stock condition) in a couple of Slot.it chassis (Matra & GT40) and the resulting wheel hop was catastrophic. Considerable (major) bracing was required. Anyone else have similar experience?

[Rleog]

I've entered a CG SlotCars Ti-22 in the current HRW Can Am Proxy, which has 36 entrants. I have also prepared a prototype CG Shadow DN4 as though it would be entered in the same Proxy.

My Ti-22 uses the stock Chassis and motor pod. The motor pod is the same as that in the DN4. The chassis is 3D printed from the same material as the DN4. The motor was changed to a Piranha for higher torque and RPM and the gears were changed to Slot.it to achieve a more favorable ratio for the Proxy. The Piranha is stabilized to the pod with screws, which was easily done because the motor pod already has holes for motor fixing screws. The rear axle bearings were glued in place after alignment. A Slot.it tungsten weight was glued to the motor pod rear magnet pocket.

My DN4 was prepared in a manner similar to the Ti-22. Again, both stock chassis and motor pod were used. Both cars run NSR Ultragrip tires that were glued and trued similarly.

I have not experienced wheel hop or rear axle/pod instability with either car.

The DN4 is currently the 2nd fastest car to have run on my 55' routed wood track; the Ti-22 is the 3rd fastest.

My Ti-22 is currently in 9th place overall in the Can Am Proxy after two rounds.

I believe that the DN4 tied for 1st, prepared by Smokeio, utilizes the stock chassis and motor pod. It also has a Piranha motor and Slot.it gearing.

Obviously there are varying opinions regarding the quality of the motor pod and chassis.

[Brumos RSR]

[MacMoose]

[Brumos RSR]

MacMoose, thanks for that as you are very correct with me comparing an Apple to an Orange in this case. Hopefully others can chime in here as we want to help create success when your racing or having fun.

[WB2]

Regarding Shadows in general, there are five of them at Road America right now.
One Mk I, one DN2, two DN4s, and one - my favorite - DN6 F5000 (Dodge powered).
When I arrived Thursday, the first car I heard, and saw, was a Shadow Can-Am car going into the carousel. Amazing.