Personal test track

[Obsessedderbydad]

So I'm probably going to have the opportunity to buy a best track ( gotta buy one while the wife is happy) I'm looking at buying a 2 lane 35ft with champ timer. I do however have a few questions for track owners or John. I know the times between a 42 ft track and a 35 ft track will be different, but my question is, will this effect the tuning because it's a shorter track? I don't really have the room for a 42ft track unless I do it outside. Basically it's just another 7ft section is what I'd be missing, so I should be able to do a calculation to account for that extra distance. Am I missing anything? Is this question dumb?

 

[txchemist]

I made the comment once and as usual, it killed the thread so I do not know if any agree with me.
Test and get rid of any wiggle on the 35ft.
Your times will be 2.50 to 2.60 probably.
Find the spot lower on the start ramp to let your car go by hand where it takes 3 sec to get to the end of your track.
This will make sure that you are running a slower speed that should cover the slower last 7 ft. of the 42 ft track, and you can see if it wiggles at the slower speed. Many cars do not show a wiggle until they get near the end of the run.

 

[Kinser Racing]

You'll need a good stop section also, that will add about 6' (I'm not sure on the exact measurement) to your length. /images/boards/smilies/smile.gif

 

[Obsessedderbydad]

It comes with the stop section. It's 40in

 

[Obsessedderbydad]

Interesting chemist. I wish I had the room for a 42 ft track. I do outside, but would rather not set it up outside everytime I want to test and tune.

 

[zeebzob]

Do youself a favor and get a double stop section (80" long). At the speeds you will be running after a while, you will surpass that 40" mark quite easily. Especially if you get into eliminators and unlimiteds
As for 35 vs 42 feet...they say the last 7 feet is the monster. But if you cant fit it, you cant fit it. A 35 will work just fine, you will know if your car is running well or not. Once you have a base line from sending a car in, you will know what times you need to get on your track.

 

[Old Geeezer]

Skip the Champ timer and go with the K3 Microwizard Timer, it is a much better timer.

 

[SoGone]

100% on what Geezer said. You"ll save a ton of money, better timer and Killer service. Call Micro wizard Talk to Stuart.

 

[E.T.Racing]

Do youself a favor and get a double stop section (80" long). At the speeds you will be running after a while, you will surpass that 40" mark quite easily. Especially if you get into eliminators and unlimiteds
As for 35 vs 42 feet...they say the last 7 feet is the monster. But if you cant fit it, you cant fit it. A 35 will work just fine, you will know if your car is running well or not. Once you have a base line from sending a car in, you will know what times you need to get on your track.

+1 on the stop section. During our pack race we only had a 40" stop section and my sons car would all but go off the stop section even with the bottom of the car left a little bit rough for that very reason and this was with a graphite car an oil car will fly off the end.

 

[DerbyDad4Hire]

You can compete with 35'. If I had 35" i would tune it to the fastest time then give it a touch more steer and you should do fine. A lot of people get by with 35' and are very competitive. It is important to get your car coming to the races so you can start baselining. It takes several months to get it down.

 

[Obsessedderbydad]

By a touch more steer, you are saying instead of say 4" over 6' go 4" over 4'? (as an example)

 

[ZZ Racing]

I do all my testing on a 28' besttrack as most motel rooms are not big enough to set the 35' plus stop section. It can be done just make sure you keep good notes and get a base line for times between the league track and your track.

 

[Guest]

You can compete with 35'. If I had 35" i would tune it to the fastest time then give it a touch more steer and you should do fine. A lot of people get by with 35' and are very competitive. It is important to get your car coming to the races so you can start baselining. It takes several months to get it down.

BnB did all his tuning on 35 feet of aluminum and I don't think there was a guy out there that was racing 3 years ago that didn't fear his cars when they showed up for the race.

 

[Obsessedderbydad]

I do all my testing on a 28' besttrack as most motel rooms are not big enough to set the 35' plus stop section. It can be done just make sure you keep good notes and get a base line for times between the league track and your track.

Good point. Once I get a baseline for times on the 42' track I'll be able to corrolate those time to the 35' track times. Wish I could get some time off work to make a car. Hopefully I'll be able to make one here soon to send in. Maybe May or June I'd say

 

[cygnus]

Skip the Champ timer and go with the K3 Microwizard Timer, it is a much better timer.

I made the mistake of buying The Champ Timer because it looked nicer in the pictures. I had issues with the cheap foam holders that hold the emitters on the bottom of the timer ... I had to wedge pieces of paper in there to get them to point correctly to the sensors on top. Two other things I didn't like about the Champ ... the part of the display that shows the times is really really tiny, and two, the timer displays absolutely nothing when the cars are going down the track. I ended up buying the Microwizrd K3 and have been happy ever since.

 

[Kinser Racing]

+1 on the double stop section. I usually pick my cars out from under the foam at the end of the long stop section at NPWDRL.

Do youself a favor and get a double stop section (80" long). At the speeds you will be running after a while, you will surpass that 40" mark quite easily. Especially if you get into eliminators and unlimiteds
As for 35 vs 42 feet...they say the last 7 feet is the monster. But if you cant fit it, you cant fit it. A 35 will work just fine, you will know if your car is running well or not. Once you have a base line from sending a car in, you will know what times you need to get on your track.

 

[renegade]

I have a 35' track with the 40 in stop section. That is all I have room for in my garage. I put down a
towel at the end of the stop section and it works fine. A few times I have forgot to put the towel down and it ended badly. I broke a real nice set of Unlimited wheels.