How and where do you test your cars for mail-ins?
I'm having a dillema with testing the cars sent out to race. Priorly I had nowhere to test my builds before mailing out, now I have a little setup that I don't think gauges my cars' speed accurately. I don't have a lot of room in my apartment for setting up an 8'x4' base for a standard downhill track footprint.
I'm currently using a Hot Wheels 6 lane drag track with either more straight lane exentions(for drag), or a connected Crash Racers 180 followed by two CR straights. Cars that look fast on this setup never perform this way once racing at the tourney.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Discussion
At your mom's house.
Joking aside. Having a short track is better than not having a track at all, for a long time. I only had an 8-Ft track, time. It had about a 3-ft long hill and 5 ft of run out, no timer and a DIY start gate made of popsicle sticks and hot glue. It worked pretty well, especially when entering Open road races,
When I built a more traditional drag strip, I did fined with stock cars that castings that had a more rearward weight distribution and were heavier did better on a longer track with a bigger hill and more run out because they carried their momentum better.
I'm contemplating rebuilding my track to be more like Marco Polo's drag track , basically all gradual hill I think that would help farm the best rolling wheels and negate some of the effects of overall weight and weight placement when running stock cars.
- I have three tracks. Two at my house and a 22' drag track at my mom's house. She has a bigger house. — Numbskull
- With the tracks that you guys have, what do you think I could do with what space and parts I have? Also: My mom says I can't play on her track when I visit... — RaSungod
- Be nicer to you mom. — Numbskull
- Numb's mom has got it going on! — Dutch_Clutch_Racing
- She does have a big house. — Numbskull
I have about 15 feet of single lane track with three 180deg turns on a 2 foot x 4 foot piece of plywood with a timer system. It certainly helps me to filter out the duds and marginals but not really sure it helps to produce winners. The tight red 180 Hot Wheels turns can burn off speed and without long straights its hard to see if more weight would be helpful. I have an 8 foot drag strip but moving the timers is a hassle. Maybe I need wireless Bluetooth timing gates.
The other very important tool is 18inches of very flat and true wood plank 3inches wide. It's at a slight angle with a line down the middle. This is where cars get regular checks to see how they are tracking straight - or at least mostly straight.
Hi Ra, hope all is well!
Just trying to put myself in your scenario, I would look at a single lane test track, and timer. But failing that, the first speed test I do is a rollout, 1/18th drop and how far they roll. ( But there will be different results depending on what lube you use, so you have to factor that. (Being able to compare that with your time is preferable) It is not perfect, some cars roll for ever and never have speed, BUT those that dont roll are duds on all accounts.
Best wishes to you,
I would suggest investing in a timer, if you don't already have one.
No place to test for me. I just build and hope for the best.
- I did that for the first year or so. — Numbskull
- I did that fir my first year as well... mixed results from poor to fair... building a track to test on now! — Stoopid_Fish_Racing
At my mom's house.