Hot Wheels World Race
Im glad you guys are enjoying the open track racing. Ive been playing with it for years now and have very mixed results. It really depends on the type of track you build. Some work and others dont. I think this one works primarily because of the simplicity of it. As you can see the turn really can shake up the cars momentum, if the track is too long after the initial turn, the action of the race seems to die down. This track only leaves a small amount of space after the turn and before the finish for anything to happen! Weight definitely plays an even larger factor as well. A light car that rear ends a heavy car loses all of its momentum. A heavy car deals heavier, potentially spin out blows and can block other car if it gets sideways.
Dont worry guys. If youre already thirsting for more and have youre head spinning on new ideas, We'll host another event maybe when it comes holiday season.
Two races in and not a single point...man, I didn't think I'd be doing THAT bad! That Ferrari of mine seems to like biting off more than it can chew in the first round. How heavy is that Obnoxious Fendered Forty that kept getting in its way, ha-ha-ha? I have one that's pretty heavy as a stocker.
Great videos, McJiggles! I got a kick out of the battles your black Gov'Ner, Cliffordshaw's Bus, and my Cadillac had! Amazing that the bus was the one to win in the end (I can't believe how my V-16 just died before it even made the curve in that last race). Of course, I also got a big kick out of the JDC reaction video...at least I know my Ferrari lost to that Cadillac in the first event to someone who appreciated it, ha-ha-ha!
I look forward to seeing the other videos! I'm hoping my choice of a V-16 pays off soon on the BluTrack and the 4-Lane Track, and the open-track drag race will be interesting to watch.
- Should have entered some Johnny's -or were you worried your jems might get scuffed up? — JDC442
- Perhaps your Hot Wheels will get some points on the 50 footer — JDC442
- By the way, my Fat Fendered 40 is a little FAT - half a gram over weight. — JDC442
- That, and I know things change on different tracks--JLs might be good for orange HW/Drag Track drag races, but not necessarily others. — FOTF
- I had to wonder--my fast one's 65-66 grams I think, ha-ha-ha (yours might be a different edition--I'm referring to the teal 5-spoke). — FOTF
- I hope they do! That's one of the two tracks that V-16 was sent for! Yours should really do well. — FOTF
- Heck, I'm to the point I'd pay admission to view the next one ; ) — JDC442
- We agree! 50-foot monster drag on blutrack begins in a few minutes with video results Monday. — cliffordshaw
- I'm hoping this is where the choice to go lighter pays off. I just hope after getting man handled by the heavies, they still track straight — iswingping
- So if the 25 footer took over 26 minutes of video, the 50 footer should be close to an hour. Will definitely need some popcorn. — JDC442
- 50ft...is a long way...I predict cars leaving the track. — Traction-Event
So today's blutrack race turned into quite an epic. We set up the track in the configuration that we tested a ways back and found it, well, boring. Blutrack's rubber composition sucks a lot of speed out of cars when flat, but we found the low walls will only support medium speeds, so you are stuck in the middle. We brainstormed ideas and decided to try a double drop idea on the deck. It took several setups to find the right layout and then many, many tweaks to get it working to a level that was both fair and competitive. Along the way we learned a lot about blutrack.
1. (As mentioned before) it's wide lanes exaggerate the effect of bad alignment or chassis wiggle
2) because it is rubber and it is summertime, the track basically molds itself perfectly to every countour of the surface beneath it, expressing every bump or dip
3) because of low walls, the issues listed above become deadly very quickly for unstable cars, causing them to jump their lane.
In the end we cribbed together a fun track - it drops to a straightaway, then drops again for a dash to the finish. The track is a bit of a Rube Goldberg mishmash featuring boards, rocks, sticks, a padded envelope, children's blocks and the finish gate from the six lane drag set.
The theme is this - every flaw of your car gets amplified on this track, and it is very unforgiving. Only the smooth, straight and stable survive!
As mentioned above, video length on this race in slo-mo would approach an hour, so we shot in real speed. coop is going to attempt the edit on his phone because the MacBook is out of town, so wish him luck.
Sorry to keep everyone waiting! We are having major issues getting out video to upload to youtube. Ive been trying since last night. We're gonna keep trying new ideas, hopefully we'll get it up sometime today
Maybe break it up into multiple videos? No reason we have to watch an hour all at once. Make a video per round? YouTube has limits of size and length so breaking it down will help. Also see if you can export at a lower quality, that will help too.
Ok we are finally ready guys! So before reading just some information on the vent. As Cliffordshaw notes earlier, this was a first real test on the 50 foot blutrack. We had a traditional drag setup and we were having a hard time with cars finishing the race and many wiping out. We invented a double drop drag to help car reset half way through the course.
Some notes.
-There was an elimination of both cars in the first round since neither could finish the course with 4 attempts.
-The track did a good job at exposing cars weaknesses. There are some wipeouts, but thats racing!
- I did make it all the way down the track once, so there's that. — MoHasAFastCar
- THAT WAS BY FAR, NO COMPARISON, THE MOST STRESSFUL RACE i'VE EVER WITNESSED!!! — JDC442
- Right there with you, Mo. — Finkle_and_Sons
- Mo, I feel your pain. I also had one car make it down the track one time. Those poor school kids! — cliffordshaw
Holy **expletive**!!! What fun and agonizing pain felt watching that video. Congrats to the winner! I believe you guys have opened my eyes and possibly a lot of racers eyes how fun non-traditional drag racing can be. You have my wheels turning how Park Place Raceway can bring some flare to this concept.......details to follow for sure!
So there won't be another reaction video, but if there was it would rival the first for sure.
Ended up racing Traction Event for the title once again, just not the car I thought -thinking the gold F40 blew a piston or something.
Racing against Mcjiggles white Gov'nr put me on edge not knowing who's car was who for a while. And not knowing if your car was even going to keep the track was just plain crazy!
Thanks for another killer video Cooper!! It was well worth the wait.
Fantastic job on making the 50ft video… not an easy task.
As for the racing action, agreed worth the wait, the races were not over till the light was lit… cars getting loose and coming off the rails at any point. Did the cars “get air” over the last drop off over the stairs? Lots of beating and banging down the track, exciting stuff indeed. The RLD pick up had some epic wipeouts in the last races. The black Gov, and my Datsun… looked like you had me Cooper? Gov’nor looked to be a good pick with its low weight for this track. Solid runs for iswingping, and 2Seven…
I thought my Datsun had a shot, but that Lanky Caddy had me covered.
My F-40 must have fouled a plug… dang Italian cars!
2 races left…looks like we are all chasing JDC’s Pimpmobile.
- TE - yes, cars were getting air at the top of the stairs in our first setup, so we had to work that transition down — cliffordshaw
- I think the ferraris were just moving around too much to hold their lane. Because the track is seamless and smooth, it's like every single — cliffordshaw
- Tiny little thing gets exaggerated, things like deck planks sagging, even the first transition from the hill which is made smooth as silk — cliffordshaw
- With a long flexible board became an issue. I had to hold the track tight by hand to keep it from sagging into every nook and cranny. — cliffordshaw
- Now that I watch it again I do see mini-hops of air by some cars! — cliffordshaw
- I'm fine with getting air, looks great! — Traction-Event
What's also interesting TE is that I think you're Ferrari still has tons of speed, but once you change track surface material and the width of the track some cars just can't handle it! We'll see more from that Ferrari in the next open track race I'm sure!
Also I think my black govna grabbed the win in that close race. The tab from the finish line seems to be pushed up further. I don't like that finish line as certain castings can trigger the finish before others. I didnt watch the footage until after then race had concluded so you got away with that one! :)
Gotta say that watching the videos have more or less sold me on the open track stuff. I wasn't so sure before because videos from other places made it look really janky and just not that interesting. I think the simplicity of your track along with all the space for action makes a huge different.
I'm sure I'm not the only now thinking about what type of open track I could build and host a few events. I like the thought of modding for open rather than just straight speed. I don't think I have the skill or patience to make a really fast car but making one that is just fast enough plus beefy enough to barrel through some others might be right up my alley.