Jungle Falls facts, opinions, discussions

I've visited your track once and knew I would come back, which is happening now with the Hi-Roller Affair. There was a section that I thought was a bit chaotic in my first race (Busses and Trains) but your 'Cat'tastrophy damage not so long ago appears to have resolved my concern when you did repairs. I think the next investment should be some static track cameras that have a high speed frame rate capture, plus a more robust handheld camera. I realize that quality audio/video can be daunting fiscally but I think the content production equipment for your channel is a good place to focus efforts upon.

I love that this track is challenging, and I wouldn't want it any other way. I'm looking forward to watching my builds race there again! Somehow most of my fastest builds end up heading to the jungle.

You're doing great over there, thank you. Not finishing happens in racing, it's called racers luck. 4 out of 4 DNF's is probably the car.

Personally, I'm not really seeing a problem with your track, and certainly not what this guy is saying. As BadWool pointed out, yeah, you had that problem with CatZilla destroying part of the track--accidents happen--but you fixed it. Moreover, THAT section of track was a bad one, so it needed to be reworked, anyway. 

The Jungle, being an open course, is not really too forgiving on taller builds, so I've learned low and lean work best. You can't really flatten out the corners much more than they are, or cars will start flying off the track more frequently. At the same time, you can't jack them up higher, because then the cars  will start rolling off the inside of the track. Six of one, half-dozen of the other .....

Now admittedly, rail slides are a problem. Cars come out of the corners, hop up on the rails, and slide to a stop. What's going on there? Don't worry, you're not the only host that has that problem. Maybe, where you're noticing the rail slides a lot, either a barrier fence or jack up that edge of the track a little more? (Not being a track buiilder, I can't really say what to do, but offering a suggestion as requested..)

Start a collection of different weighted cars. Go from the lightest to the heaviest, and run each down the track several times. Make a couple of REAL heavyweights (like 70g+: throw a 100g on there, see what happens!) and run those down the track, as well. See how everything does, and take notes on where the cars are having problems: rail slides, tumbling off corners, overshooting turns, whatever. Then you have an idea of where the problems are starting to lie, and for what weights are making it and which ones are not. You're not going to get it perfect--if you get it above 50% of your cars make it to the bottom, great! That at least tells you that you're on the right track (pun intended,) The better you can dial it in and get those percentages higher means less DNF's and more racing action. Tweaking and testing, rinse and repeat ... that's about the only way to dial it in.

The Jungle is one of my current favorite tracks, and I'm enjoying the hell out of watching each run.

Some people seem to really enjoy belittling tracks without a valid reason. As many above have said, the rebuild address most of the "valid" previous complaints.

That being said, I would be interested in seeing the 3rd to last curve being checked out. Since it's blind from the camera angle, it's extremely difficult to tell what happens when racers dnf or slows down through it. 

Your track is a personal favorite of mine and I really look forward to watching Hi-Roller Affair play out!

You know me, Jason, I'm thrilled with your work through every iteration of the main track and the few secondary courses you've built. We learn, we grow, we adapt

So weird to be called out for asking for advice on a site dedicated to racing and gather thoughts from racers and fellow hosts. What, were you going to write a letter to the Los Angeles Times? The instances where I offer constructive criticism, it's in the vein of "I see you're doing X, have you considered doing Y to achieve goal Z?" Provide some concrete guidance instead of a mere complaint, and something actionable within a host's current capabilities

I feel some out there on the other side of the screen still don't know AFCR track is a product that was never intended for gravity racing with plastic wheeled cars, so if anyone is getting the results I see at the Falls, cars finding the finish on a track of this size, that sure deserves respect.

DNFs are part of the game regardless of track build, the best anyone can do is tack down any consistent problem areas whether it be a section that often has joint separation or a turn that visibly flexes a LOT when multiple cars careen through them simultaneously

My palms are still sweating. That was the most nervous fun I've had in awhile, the track is challenging but fair in it's own way and that's what makes it unique.

To be honest, I take it as a badge of honor just to make it to the finish. My first attempt didn't, I changed how I built, my second attempt made it. Us builders need challenging tracks. How else are we to learn and become better? I take it as they wanted you to make it easier so they don't have to put out the effort...

You are a wonderful host with great tracks! Keep doing what you are doing!

I know someone said this already but you need to add a few static cameras to the course. If you happen to have any old cell phones laying around that still work those work great. that's what I used on my track. Then I transferred the videos to my computer and edited them with capcut on my PC.

Overall I love the design of your track and how long it is. You have less of a speed focused race and more of an endurance trial. DNFs happen no matter what you do, and guard rails can sometimes cause a DNF rather then prevent it. Keep up the good work, and keep tuning the track. Not all castings are made the same.

I absolutely love the track! Fast and challenging. Top Shelf Diecast Racing. Keep up the great work. 

Hey all. I suppose what it comes down to for me is that you can't really build a track that ALL cars will run well on. The fastest builds will be too fast, and the slower ones might flop over in a turn. Too, the track itself can be too steep making it too fast. I notice that most tracks have that problem, and it looks more like diecast goo speeding down the track instead of separate builds. The same can be said for tracks that are too slow. It's like goo flowing down the track. In my opinion, 60 grams would probably be a more suitable weight for your track. Too much momentum at too much speed makes it more difficult for cars to transition and level out on open track turns. The two 90 degree left handers as well as the following two 45 degree turns that make up the kink are a challenge, but using a lower weight build might help on the 90's and would definitely help in the kink. Either that, or raise the outside edges of the 45 degree turns on the exits. The bottom third of the track is spot on. All that said, you do a fantastic job, and your posting this takes some moxie and shows a willingness to possibly improve. It's admirable, and yours are the only two queries I've publicly seen in my year and a half in the hobby. Cheers.

I've been watching your channel for about a year now and sending my first cars your way for the cops and robbers event. 

I think the new turns have greatly improved the s bend in the middle, that seemed to cause a few problems but it's the same for everyone so no advantage to be gained just luck I suppose.

As far as dnfs go..

I have been watching the high roller affair time trials and only a couple of cars didn't finish but they didn't make it out of the single lane orange track section, so I believe that is an issue with the car rather than the track. 

Once you put four cars down the open lane at once you're going to get DNFs, it doesn't take a lot to lose momentum and no way of getting moving again. You get that on any open track. Just part and parcel. 

I quite enjoy the 1 camera, raw production vibes. I agree that it could be leveled up but also appreciate its not that easy. It's not gonna stop me watching or participating.

I admire what you do, the size of your track, the work that comes with hosting a tournament etc. I still haven't got the balls to upload any videos of my track.

Just keep doing what you enjoy and ignore the haters.