Interesting proposals for IFMAR AGM
IFMAR, the body responsible for governing r/c racing’s six different World Championships, will hold its AGM at the up coming 1:8 On Road World Championships in Lostallo, Switzerland, and Red RC have received copies of two interesing proposal’s that will come up for discussion. The European Federation of Radio-Operated Model Automobiles (EFRA) has put forward a proposal that the use of Lithium based batteries (LiPo) be included in the World Championship for 1:10 ISTC Electric On-Road (touring car) and 1:10 Electric Off-Road. The prosposal from EFRA goes into full technical and labelling details for the 2 cell 7.4V packs and recommends a maximum capacity of 5500maH. On the grounds of safety they also outline requirements for charging including only the use of CC/CV (Constant Current/Constant Voltage) charge profile and the pack being charged to a maximum output voltage of 8.40 volts.
The use of LiPo packs has already been adapted in many National Championships and speaking to a number of top drivers here at the Electric Touring European Championships in Luxembourg they would welcomed the idea of the low maintainence batteries but also expressed caution regarding motors. Currently modified has no restrictions on the number of turns a motor can have but with LiPo the cars may become too fast and policing a restricted motor could prove difficult. One leading international racer believes that LiFe batteries may be a better proposal due to their lower voltage but this new generation of battery has not yet had the same level of development for the r/c competition usage as LiPo but we understand that Team Orion, one of the key players in the competition market, have a LiFe project underway should this battery type get the nod over LiPo. We are sure which battery to choose is going to be the topic of many debates but we believe a switch to LiPo would be a positive move for the sport.
The other key proposal up for discussion comes from the Far East Model Car Association who have drawn up a draft set of rules for Truggy. While many classes are experiencing a drop off in numbers, 1:8 Off Road is enjoying strong growth and should the Truggy rules be passed one would presume IFMAR’s next step would be to create a World Championship. IFMAR will shortly publish on their website full details of all the proposals recieved from their member blocks for the AGM
