Thinking about it!

Feb 8, 2013
226
0
16
12
Hey guys. I am thinking about buying a 35' double lane BestTrack. This would be for my personal home use. My reason for buying a 2 lane is its only $130 more than the single, the champ timer is a 2 lane timer, and then my boy and I can race.

I have just enough room downstairs if I ran the track corner to corner. I would be setting it up and taking it down from time to time.

I think I will just run it on the carpet, and probably lay some 1/2" plywood pieces under the sections.

Is the Champ the best timer?

Should I get an extra stop section?

Got any tips or suggestions for me?

Anyone have a Promo Code they can share with me?

Thanks, Ted.
 
Double stop section for sure. That is a must.
I never used the Champ, I have a microwizard. That is what John uses as well. Its less expensive. They have a kit you can buy thats even cheaper. You just have to assemble it. It comes with step by step instructions that are easy to follow. They provide good support too.
 
That sounds good. I will do some research on it. Do you have a link for it?

I shouldn't need any race software should I? Just for testing and tuning?

How is the included start section? Should be fine for my needs right?

Ted.

zeebzob said:
Double stop section for sure. That is a must. I never used the Champ, I have a microwizard. That is what John uses as well. Its less expensive. They have a kit you can buy thats even cheaper. You just have to assemble it. It comes with step by step instructions that are easy to follow. They provide good support too.
 
I found it. The kit is tempting, and I am pretty good with a soldering iron.

But I think I would go with the GPK2 2 lane package for $355.
 
zeebzob said:
I use the Grand Prix race manager just like John does. Its $60, but if you are just testing you dont need it. The timer displays the times. The start section is fine but you definitely want to get a solenoid start for consistency.

I didn't see the solenoid start as an option on the Besttrack web page. Is that a Mod you guys are doing yourselves?

Can you point me in that direction?

I need to figure out the total cost of track and materials before I pull the trigger. Still debating. Thanks.
 
I have mine on carpet, and at first had lots of problems keepingt the track straight. The track is sindgle lane which I put on plywood with sides to stop a car that might try to jump of the track. the wood part is actually wide enough to add a second late some day if I want. However, it has been up for a year now, and I found out a 2nd lane would be of no use to me. As I test, I want the running lane the same for each run.

What I found out quickly is that the carpet pyle makes the track creep. It creeps so slow that for a while you don't see it, for a couple of days even, especially if you don't have something that will allow you to check for creep.
Finally I put a tight string (like carpenters use) from one end to the other. And with that I could see a bit of creep on a daily basis.
I solved this by using a set of 1 by 2s attached to each section of the track and going all the way to the wall and firmly attached at each end.

IN my case, I had enough room to set the track parallel to the walls, about 4 feet away. I left the guide string up permanently so I can see if the supports need to be reset. I had to cut off the end piece of one track section in order to have a 4 foot stopping section (which I wish was two feet longer). Anyway my track is 40 feet long with another 4 foot stopping section.

When I send cars to race by proxy, I get a time just before shipping, and again just after I receive them back, then I create a ratio of the NPWDRL track to mine. Currently my ratio is .9925. Now I can get a good idea how new cars might perform at NPWDRL proxy events.

Maybe the creep depends upon what kind of carpet and how thick the pyle is. But be sure to start out using the guide string.

By the way, I use a DerbyMagic single lane timer on an aluminum track that I built. The front end of the timer is manual, but the back end is a beam. I have been using it for over two years now, first with a DerbyMagic plastic track, and later with the aluminum track that I built. With all the wood I used, the end cost was too high. With after the fact thinking, I should have just bought a BestTrack. However, in spite of my choosing the wrong direction cost-wise, My end result is perfect for me.
 
There are a couple solenoid start kits out there. The ESS by Jewkes Engineering is probably the nicest one out there, but is also the most expensive. Quadad built mine for me. One lesson learned is that more is not better. Only need 12 volts, not 24.
Anyway, my setup is just like what is run in league racing. My track is nearly dead nuts to Johns. For example, my unlimited ran about 2 thousandths slower at Johns this month than it did at my house. Close enough for me to know what to expect. Same with the other cars I sent in. They were all within a few thousandths of my track.
 
So, I priced it all out and here is what I got.

1. 35' two lane besttrack with extra stop section = $580 shipped.

2. Microwizard K3K kit 2 lane timer = #210 shipped.

3. Judge start gate solenoid = $120.

(Updated to show different selection of timer and start gate.) And that drops it down to the low $900 range.

And then add the cost of lumber for a track base.

Still going to have to ponder it over the next couple months while I decide if I want to get that hardcore.

In the meantime I am going to build a nice tuning table to set my steer. Use johns graphic and cover it with some custom cut glass.
 
I agree with Scott on the Timer. When you look at the portion of your funds that would be going to the timer, it just doesn't make sense. The kit options are a good approach. Basically for $200 you will get displayed times immediately. I personally use the cheapo, 4-lane, $60 timer kit from Microwizard, but you will need a laptop, PC or their remote display to read the times. http://www.microwizard.com/k1cheap.html Either way you will find yourself needing to record some notes on car, setup, staging, etc., along with the time.

You can't go wrong with a Judge solenoid start. John Sheffler of NewDirections is an electronics wiz and a great guy. Did you know that he grew up in the Zeebzob Speedshop back yard (before moving to Virginia) ? He has some very cool rotary solenoids, but those get expensive !
 
Ted, I bought a $25 laptop off craigslist to display times on mine. Laptops with a dead battery go for cheap used. Mine did come with a good battery but I use the power supply pretty much always. I use the computer to record notes anyway so it's handy to have. I even scored an $8 ebay wireless card for it so I can surf pinewoodderbyonline.com while I'm testing!

You can use the demo version of Grand Prix Race Manager for free. It only supports four racers and you don't get full functionality but it will show the times. The full version is nice because you can set up each car as a group and each test session as a subgroup to keep it organized. Or maybe you shouldn't. You need to slow down! Just sayin'.
 
Thanks for the info guys. Those all sound like good ideas and choices so I updated my previous post. In the end the cost only dropped $80 or so but it added the nice solenoid kit.

Bracket, the laptop idea is great and a nice low cost option. And I already own one. But I would rather not use a PC with the test track at all if I can avoid it. Computers piss me off.
 
I went and measured again. And the location I wanted to set a track will not work. I have a new location, from wall to wall is 37'. So that means I would have to cut the extra stop section nearly in half. Or remove a couple feet from a track section. Also with this setup I will not be able to stage the cars very well, since the top of the track will be against a wall. Not sure what I want to do.

are any of you running shorter than 35 feet?
 
Just an idea, but you could always buy the 35 foot track and not install one of the 7 foot sections and reduce track length to 28 foot.

TedBull said:
I went and measured again. And the location I wanted to set a track will not work. I have a new location, from wall to wall is 37'. So that means I would have to cut the extra stop section nearly in half. Or remove a couple feet from a track section. Also with this setup I will not be able to stage the cars very well, since the top of the track will be against a wall. Not sure what I want to do. are any of you running shorter than 35 feet?
 
My (homemade) track for pre-testing is in a basement corner, so I learned to stage from the side. And when I go to the Zeebzob speed shop I STILL stage from the side while Ian and Andy shake their heads !