What can you do if one lane is quicker than the other?
What kind of an adjustment can be made to equalize your two lane track?
I did a couple of practice runs with some of my cars before I ran the Altered Assault cars tonight and I thought the tracks were pretty close, especially after running the first two races. After that it became apparent that the left lane was a little quicker than the right lane, which made me glad I decided you had to win two consecutive races to move on. Problem was I ended up with an awful lot of long back and forth races until one car finally took two in a row.
I switched my track around because I moved it for the race. The top 13 ft or so are the ToysRUs track, about 22.5" long. The last 2.5 feet are the arrow tracks. It seemed like it was about a half car length quicker. I ran about 175 races tonight, for only 22 matches. Most of the races were won by the car in the left lane, 1/4 to 1/2 car length. I had several that took between 11 and 16 runs to get a winner, one that went 20, and one that went 30 runs. I had fun believe me, but I don't really want it to take this long when the Gassers are here next month.
How do you guys handle something like this? Any Sudden Death ideas? I'm thinking if I had a timer after having a tie after maybe 10 runs down the track you could run each car individually down the same lane and the fastest time wins.
Suggestions?
Discussion
Part of the fun of mail in races is the variety of tracks and layouts. Just as in real life perfectly equal lanes are hard to come by. I had this issue with the Dragtracks. I swapped out track sections, and made certain the transitions were ultra smooth and aligned. I have a few cars that are consistent performers. One of these cars is a full car length faster than the other. I test run and align the track till the faster of the cars wins by close to that margin. And like night stalker said...clean, level, even lanes to the best of my ability. Nothing is perfect, but I do my best to have fair and even lanes to race on.
The important this is you noticed and are working on improving the lanes. Go Dad go!
Thanks for the input! Funny thing is I brought a small level up from the basement and then forgot to use it. I checked the starting gate and it was off a little, but even after leveling it the left lane was still faster. I think my problem is I don't have a specific area to permanently set up my track. Each segment of the wood base is screwed together so it doesn't move. I use Velcro to hold the track to the wood so it helps keep them from separating at the joints. I'd like to do a set up like yours Stalker (mostly so I don't have to keep bending down getting the cars from the catch box), but 12 ft. is about the max length I'll have. I like the 16-18 ft. track lengths but maybe I'll just bite the bullet and do it. Thanks again guys.
18" drop with a 6' angle & 6' runoff = 12' of real exciting easy to watch and follow action!!! The "Majestic Dragway" on the other hand.
A good shot showing the drop, (gonna soften that up a bit).
And another showing it at it's 30' max length. I would be able to make more sections but the "Judge" finish line only has a 30' wire.
I would be able to make more sections but the "Judge" finish line only has a 30' wire.
Might be able to make some recommendations - what type of wire and connectors does it have? (Pics if you have them)
...I brought a small level up from the basement...
I have a level dedicated to the track sets! Even though I dont move either set around that much - it does get out of level - all the time!!!
...electrical tape...only on the sides...
Maybe heard to believe but I have electrical tape, too! I was considering this fix for some track joints that still have a bit of snag potential, but was going to use clear packing tape. Anyone else tried other tapes?
What kind of an adjustment can be made to equalize your two lane track?
Lots of good ideals and fixes already noted and I am looking forward to more!
The problems with orange track thread has some good track lane improvement ideals as well.
Though just like in real drag racing - one lane is going to end up faster than the other.
I currently have the new Smittsburg layout down to .02 and .04 of a second differences between the two lanes using the two identical cars process. I compare the timed difference over ten runs. Switch lanes and do ten more runs. For this track layout the faster of the two identical cars wins by .04 seconds in lane 1 and .02 seconds in lane two predominantly.
For comparisons the faster car of this pairing had always previously won against the identical car in any 2 out 6 lane combination runs on the HW 6 lane layout.
I noticed in your race post on the Altered Assault series that you were using the 6 lane finish gate from the HW set for yesterdays races.
I believe the primary factor to determine for this finish line gate Is to determine if the finish gate is absolutely square to both track lanes? And will it stay that way! Then you can begin to "even" up the lanes by seeing which of the "two usable adjacent" finish gate tabs gives the most consistent and closest finishes between your identical test cars on your track layout.
Visually, I can see on mine that the 6 tabs do not hang down at the same angle. I haven't (yet!) tried to adjust them though. I can push on one and the next will straighten up to match. Lane 1 and 2 seem to be connected to each other. Then 3 and 4 and finally 5 and 6. I also don't know how the "switches" are adjusted inside the box. That is does one tab have to be pushed farther back than the others - before it triggers their contact switch?
Depending on your track lane layout, if you cannot find two adjacent lane tabs that are visually even - you can try to angle the starting gate to even up the two tabs you choose (or have) to use for your race track.
We are talking less than millimeter measurements here, but at 1/64 scale that is up to 2 and 1/2 inches in real life. At 400 scale mph that equates to thousands of a second. And you guys with timers, know that - that is often the margin of victory on our tracks! Or less the width of a Hot Wheels bumper!
My temporary gross adjustment so far has been to use a small square. I use it to draw a perpendicular line across each of the track lanes at the finish line gate point. I then place the finish gate to line up with that line as close as possible to the finish lane gate tabs. I have a pair of Smitty gate holders for this gate and will use a smaller diameter screw than the drilled hole size. This allows for a little bit of play in 360 degrees as the adjustment limits.
I make sure both lanes are clean, the electrical tape at the side rail joints are smooth and not wrinkeled, both lanes straight (easy if mounted to a track base), and keep track level.
you can see where I keep the level at all times.
you can see the tape joints here. only on the sides and make sure your track sections are close, no gaps. This works for me, hope it helps.