,
To reduce friction, we bent those polished axles so that we could have a bit of camber in each wheel—the reduced contact patch on each wheel would mean less friction with the track surface. We also tweaked one wheel upwards so that the car was riding on only three wheels—again, for less rolling resistance.
We finished third in our group of the youngest kids and that qualified us for the finals at the end of the event. There, we were in the thick of things and finished in respectably. My son didn’t meet his optimistic goal—but in that lies the next bit of wisdom to be gained.
Our favorite trick we learned was to align the car so that one of the front wheels didn't touch the track, reducing our rolling resistance by 25 percent.
“What do you want to build next year?”
“I want to go faster”
And so we will.
