Worth a Chuckle

[Mojo Racing]

Are pros doing less than 1/2" COG or less than 15g on the DFW? I was skeered to go under those benchmarks.

You will be fine with 15g on the DFW. There are a lot of racers that run less than that, and a brave few who run a LOT less than that.

15g is a good starting spot for a track that is rough or that you are unfamiliar with. From there, you can be more aggressive and cut your weight back in small increments.

 

[Mojo Racing]

Yeah, I think I'm going to follow your advise on the double sided tape. If the weight doesn't feel secure, I can always go back and glue it. Doing 2 cars a year, I'm sure I've already spent hundreds on Tungsten weights.

Hey Prozach,

I have been racing for more than 6 years, and I have never had a weight shift on my cars with my tape in the weight pockets. Like I said in the other thread a few weeks ago, I use Duck brand double sided carpet tape. It is thin, it is very tacky, and it works great.

I was in a Zoom meeting the other day with one of my students, and showed him how tacky it was. I had my weight pocket open, turned the car upside down, stuck my finger on the tape, and the tape held the whole weight of the car, suspended on my finger.

 

[Chris Stevenson]

If I do vinyl next year, do I need to buy a heat gun to put it on? If not, is there a relatively cheap and easy way to put it on?

Not with the kind I got. It's the type of vinyl used to make decals. Just peel and stick. I found the adhesive to be plenty strong. We just traced the shape of the body very carefully and left about 3/4" flaps under the car. Cut it out with a straight edge and Exacto knife. Very easy to apply straight. Here is a link to what I have: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HEB3UNQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Hangtime]

If I do vinyl next year, do I need to buy a heat gun to put it on? If not, is there a relatively cheap and easy way to put it on?

Monokote ( the iron on, heat shrink variety ) can warp and twist ladder cars ( and other lightweight designs ). Monokote trim sheets have an adhesive back, and not much weight penalty.

 

[Prozach2]

Not with the kind I got. It's the type of vinyl used to make decals. Just peel and stick. I found the adhesive to be plenty strong. We just traced the shape of the body very carefully and left about 3/4" flaps under the car. Cut it out with a straight edge and Exacto knife. Very easy to apply straight. Here is a link to what I have: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HEB3UNQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Very cool. Too late for this year, but we'll definitely give it a try next year. I was looking for some vinyl with cool designs and came across these PS4 skins. Wonder if they would work?

https://www.amazon.com/Gam3Gear-Pro...22XRFM/ref=psdc_6427829011_t2_B077QXD4MR?th=1

 

[Mojo Racing]

If the graphic has an adhesive back, it will work great... If it requires water, I would stay away.

Water on your car, after you have already drilled it, increases your chance of warping, and essentially, causing your car to become mis-aligned

 

[Chris Stevenson]

Update: Our pack race was yesterday and my son won 1st place overall. We cut .04175 seconds off of our average time last year, which is a significant improvement. What's weird is that the scaled speeds produced by the race software were actually slower than last year even though the times were better. Not sure what's up with that.

 

[Hangtime]

Update: Our pack race was yesterday and my son won 1st place overall. We cut .04175 seconds off of our average time last year, which is a significant improvement. What's weird is that the scaled speeds produced by the race software were actually slower than last year even though the times were better. Not sure what's up with that.

I think that most guys here would caution you not to read too much into this years result vs. previous years unless the track is a permanent fixture. Same thing applies to times on two different tracks. But, congrats on the win! Do you happen to know if times were faster across the board, suggesting that the track was faster this year ( as was the case at our recent race ) ?

Scale speed calculations require that the software knows how long your track is. I’d guess that value was changed between last year and this.

 

[Chris Stevenson]

I think that most guys here would caution you not to read too much into this years result vs. previous years unless the track is a permanent fixture. Same thing applies to times on two different tracks. But, congrats on the win! Do you happen to know if times were faster across the board, suggesting that the track was faster this year ( as was the case at our recent race ) ?

Scale speed calculations require that the software knows how long your track is. I’d guess that value was changed between last year and this.

I know that even the same track torn down and put back up can yield different times, faster or slower. The times this year, except for ours, were slower. Last year the top 3-4 cars were running 2.59-2.60. This year, the second place car ran an average of 2.60 and there was a pretty big gap between second and third. We ran 2.55 even though the scaled MPH was about 3 MPH slower than the fastest scaled speeds last year. I couldn't understand how even though the times were faster, the MPH was slower. It has to be a difference in the track distance, but it's the same track from last year.

 

[Hangtime]

Sounds like the speed gain is legit! Again, I think the scale speed issue is the result of someone changing the track length parameter in the race manager software.

 

[Prozach2]

Update: Our pack race was yesterday and my son won 1st place overall. We cut .04175 seconds off of our average time last year, which is a significant improvement. What's weird is that the scaled speeds produced by the race software were actually slower than last year even though the times were better. Not sure what's up with that.

That's awesome Chris! Great job. It's a great feeling to work hard with your kids to put that big smile on their face. I'm 42 and winning the pinewood derby as a kid is still one of my favorite memories with my dad.

 

[T-Bone Racing]

I know that even the same track torn down and put back up can yield different times, faster or slower. The times this year, except for ours, were slower. Last year the top 3-4 cars were running 2.59-2.60. This year, the second place car ran an average of 2.60 and there was a pretty big gap between second and third. We ran 2.55 even though the scaled MPH was about 3 MPH slower than the fastest scaled speeds last year. I couldn't understand how even though the times were faster, the MPH was slower. It has to be a difference in the track distance, but it's the same track from last year.

It’s very tough to compare between tracks even when taken down and put back, but typically time will be what you want to improve on more than mph.