When I first encountered the Scalextric 4 Schools competition I was tempted to dismiss it. It initially to me that they may be too small to allow deep engineering thinking. Three years further on I am starting to wonder if I will ever plumb it's depths.

From a teaching point of view it is manor from heaven unlike many projects it has been described as being an onion, you no sooner remove one layer then you discover another.

The Scalextric 4 Schools started some three years ago and the very first finals were held at the Meadowhall Shopping Centre. The first year told us just how much technology could ultimately be put into a car as the winner was "Helped" by he UK slot car champion. The second year this team was no longer there but the Sandbach team brought all the lessons they had learned from the first finals and swept the two top prizes. The third year included the new Land speed or Bloodhound challenge and the formula continues to grow.

At keystage 3 I would expect the pupils to assemble a pre-cut chassis and then design their own body. It is interesting how much the pupils can lear about industry when they have to interface with an existing product. Much like you would in industry. Electric motors are almost always bought in and the manufacturer will have a standard interface template which you will have to match. I would also use the wind tunnel to test their shapes.

At Keystage 4 I would be expecting pupils to design and manufacture their own chassis and body. They G&T pupils may also wish to get involved with the Bloodhound challenge as this is very free form designing. If G&T pupils are looking for an extension exercise then the production of the wheels tyres and bearings are parts of the project they could get involved with. As yet we have not addressed front wheel steering to reduce drag in the corners and differentials to reduce counter lock in the corners. I am currently looking for small bearings that will allow the front wheels to free wheel and one way bearings to make the back wheels effectively have a differential and on the engineering goes. Some might say that the front wheels need to be glass as any friction they make is counterproductive, this assumes that the pick up is the main load bearing unit, once you get to the point where we are trying to govern the ideal pressure on the power pick up plate a little like a needle on a record we are starting to enter the world of shock absorption and sprung axles. We will come back to all this as time permits.