http://forums.radiocontrolzone.com/showthread.php?t=219036
So, what’s the best way to win? (serious and on topic responses please).
find the most efficient motor possible(gas or electric) and put it/them(if more than one is desired) onto the lightest, stiffest chassis possible.
Then make a body to go over it with a cockpit of some sort.
I might lean towards a magmotor of some sort or possibly one of these- http://robotcombat.com/marketplace_motors_perm.html
if you feel like going for an overkill solution.
Perm-132
72 V Performance
Peak efficiency: 88.6%
Peak power:34.3hp
No-load angular velocity: 3590 r/min
Stall current:* 1440A
Stall torque:*38500ozf·in
Oh, and find some FM radio gear with good range
Edit for random thought- Perhaps a flywheel based design would be worth considering. Spinning a 20-30lb flywheel to oh, say, 500mph(yes, insane, I agree) then transfering the power to some wheels and seeing what it does could be interesting.
Things to consider-
Wheelie bars
Very Low CG
front/4wd
how long it’ll take a small motor to spin something that weighs 30lbs to 500mph
Radio control Porsche Carrera? or ferrari enzo… I forgot what was faster…
But seriously, traxxas sells cars that run around 60-70 mph stock.
It is seriously un believeable until you see them in person.
http://traxxas.com/products/promo/j33-n4t33-promo.htm
take 2 4-tecs motors and put them in the same car and gear them up 2x or even 1.5 (to compensate for the additional weight. and you will have one hella fast car.
Judging by the fact that they say it will be held at the “California Speedway drag strip in Fontana” I am assuming it is a dragrace?
Knowing what the track looks like is crucial to your design. The straightness of the track is a very important factor in determining the shape of your car. A dragster will not fair well in a slalom.
J&H Hobbies near my house was a long time record holder for the worlds fastest RC car.
The car they raced was a suped up model dragster.
They used electric motors, because they had better acceleration. The frame was made from carbon-fiber for rigidity. And it featured two super big wheels in the back for extra pushing traction.
Here’s another modified racer I found online.
http://www.rccaraction.com/rc/articles/need_speed.asp
Realize however that these cars would fit easily into the size limits (40"), wasting a lot of space. Your best bet is in using bigger motors and more batteries.
Checking out the RobotMarketPlace is a good idea.
Worlds fastest RC car (with the following page of conditions and caviots!)
maybe they should change the competition to Worlds Fastest Toy Car?
The Mythbusters rigged up a full sized RC car with 6 rockets on it, went **well ** over 200 mph
i would lean in the direction of a single high powered wheel with two smaller wheels in front for steering. and then just lay a cockpit over it. that way it could be incredible light weight but still stable.
funny you should mention that. the first rule says.
Wheel-driven vehicles only. Vehicles powered by thrust (jet, rocket, propeller, etc.) are not allowed. Turbine power is allowed only if the turbine is used to drive the wheels, not for thrust.
thats what I was referring to, the page of requirments and caviots that go along with the ‘World’s Fastest RC Car Contest’ title
you cant claim to be the best / fastest /strongest… in the world, if you slap a bunch of restrictions on the contest.
The fastest electric RC car that I know of did around 110 mph. Some 24 batteries driving a 2 turn brushless motor.
15,000 RPM at the wheels!!!
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.03/images/FF_speeddemon_2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.03/speed.html&h=210&w=280&sz=35&hl=en&start=3&tbnid=KOochFbqnaH8JM:&tbnh=81&tbnw=109&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dfastest%2Brc%2Bcar%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN
1440 Amps at stall - Yikes!! Better use some automotive starter cables.
Nitro engines are what will probably win, they produce more power per unit weight than the electric motors, have all their torque at the top end where it’s needed in high-speed applications, and don’t need a huge battery pack to power it. If one is looking for RPMs at the wheels… nitro engines can run easily in excess of 20,000rpm producing 5hp or more with around 1lb of weight. Use, say… a 3 spd automatic transmission plus another gear-up since we don’t care about acceleration too much, run 2 or more motors mated to an AWD chassis, and the car would be much faster than any electric.
Oh yea, a good aero package would be defintely needed to keep the thing stable.
There use to be a video floating around with a car attached to a sting and it would go around a circular track at WAY over 200mph…I’m not sure if it was the mythbusters one of not.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=e1YYfwaiQBA&search=fastest%20rc%20car
Here it is.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=QADldgFHvD4&search=rc%20car%20ramp
This ones pretty fast 
Also, heres the worlds fastest: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.03/speed.html
P.S. Sanddrag, if you find this to be an off topic reply, then please tell me and I will remove it.