Lane times?

I think that is just one of the natural challenges of pinewood derby racing. Just like any type of racing the other competitors on the track can have an impact on your performance.

derbychip said:
Is There A Possibility Of Adding Lane Dividers The Entire Length,
 
Kinser Racing said:
I build and tune my car for the fastest times period. If I can maintain that fast time with more steer, I do.
I do the same. That is, try to set steer such that I'm running right on the edge of what I need to hold the car along the rail (after the weight has been set). Too much or too little steer seems to slow me down (not that I'm screaming fast - yet), either due to friction, or due to "wiggling." I've been looking at some of the statistics from this past race to see the results of a little test I did (as well as for all cars). I had two cars in the SS class where I intentionally set one to run on the edge like normal and the other had a tad bit more steer that slowed it down some (set on a single lane test track). What I found is that the "standard deviation" is less for the car with the extra steer (runs more consistent on all lanes), but the car with the steer set on the edge ran faster in the outside lanes and a bit slower in the inside lanes (speed varies more with other racing traffic and your lane). With the steer set similarly, both cars were close in times (on my test track). With the steer set on the edge, one car was faster overall (both on my test track and in the MOTM race). The point is, I verified your statement. What is interesting to me is how much faster could a car be that has a standard deviation of .0011 (as an example)? Something to ponder in everyone's spare time.
hmmm


I always have to test theories when presented, just to be sure it works for me...
smile
 
I posted a huge deviation with my new car. I think my COM is too aggressive. Blue and black lanes ran 3.012 and 3.0032. White I hit 2.9876 and red was 2.9947. Not sure if I just got lucky on the faster 2 with the car holding the rail better in the transition. I am planning to leave everything alone and just re-position the weight for the next race. Hopefully that will be enough to off set moving the weight forward 1/8"-1/4".

I also need to find a smoother tuning table. I think the board I am using may be showing me stronger steer then what it would show on a sheet of glass. The kids broke the mirror that hung on our bathroom door that I was using for a tuning table surface before.