Track Ramps
Getting ready for Sunday's Race, and doing some preliminary track testing. At the current time, my track ramp is 7.7 ft and normally it is about 4 ft high. I put some boards together and made a ramp 13 ft long, and its height was 5.8 ft. After running the same car down both ramps, I came to the conclusion that the longer ramp offered a smoother transistion, and of course faster speeds. My average speed for a distance of 24 ft was 1.4 sec on the 13ft starting ramp at 5.8 ft. Then I tried my 7.7 ramp at 4.6 ft height, and was getting 1.6 seconds with the same car. I then jacked the ramp up to the top of the 6 ft ladder and was then able to get the 1.4 sec speed of the 13 ft ramp.
CONCLUSION: The larger ramp offers greater speed, smoother transition for the cars.
PROBLEM: My dearly beloved wife, said "since we don't have a timer on our track the speed thing isn't a real issue...people just want to see who wins the race." She might have a point...but I like speed!!!!
What do you think...should I stretch it out some more, or just leave it alone?
Preacher
Discussion
HMMM. LESS TRANSITION ANGLE SHOULD INDEED BE SMOOTHER...
MIGHT IT NOT ALSO BE THAT WITH A LONGER "HILL" ONE HAS A SHORTER "FLAT" ?
THROTTLE PEDAL DOWN FOR ALMOST DOUBLE THE DISTANCE, 7.7' TO 13', COASTING FOR 6' LESS,
THE GRAVITY BRAKE HAS LESS TIME TO "SLOW" THE CAR...
BORED BETWEEN HEETS, JUZ SPITBALLIN'
The flat part of the track is the same, 24 ft. I was timing the car when it reached the bottom of the ramp, and the time it took to make it to the end of the track. I know that it might not seem like much of a difference 1.4 vs 1.6 but when you see the car make the run...its visibly faster. To put it into perspective...
1.4 seconds to cover 24 feet equates to 747.42 mph scale speed 1/64
1.6 seconds covering the same distance, 654 mph scale speed 1/64
Preacher
Your wife is right. I've avoided using timer finish lines because of that. Once you learn that Car A can go down your track in 2.43 seconds, it does take some of the "magic" out of it when it runs against another car, especially if you know the time for that far.
Sure, track differences and slight changes can mean a lot to a 1:64 car but all in all, when you leave the time off of things then people think they have a better chance of picking a winner. It's all perception.
And for me when it game to the Fantasy League, I wanted to encourage people to do their own racing to make them smarter at picking cars. If I had listed times for cars then I just don't think it would motivate people to do much with it...but who knows.
I won a bid on Ebay for some seamless track. Replaced all my sectional track on the 13 ft ramp with the seamless and its sooooooooo smooooooooth, it like a different track now. I still have a 24 ft straightaway for the cars to do battle, but now the track is right at 37+ ft. And the cars are still hauling the mail when the reach the finishline. I'll have to do a video of our next race so you can see the speed this thing makes. Seamless track is the way to go! JMHO
Preacher
I need to bite the bullet and find me some seamless track too. One 50-foot will do me since I only have room for about 20-feet of track total.
Question, at what height is best then to get maximum speed and best ramp length to make both cars of equal speed, reason being at 1/64 scale in the quarter mile and the cars transition from the ramp to the finish line it should be 20ft. So your total track length should be about 30 ft, 10 ft for ramp and 20 ft for transition to end. Not sure please help I'm going to try to build a high end track.
CLIFFS: No transition.
in drag racing you begin from a standing start. A 1/64 scale quarter mile would then be 20.6 feet in total length. To get the optimum speed for equal cars there should not be any transition from the ramp to the finish line. Meaning your total ramp length would be 20.6 feet as well. Therefore; any angle for the ramp you choose would induce the optimum speed of both cars at that angle of descent. Of course the steeper the angle the faster the finishing speed. Meaning a 90 degree drop would be your fastest velocity. At that scale distance, I dont think either of your cars would reach their terminal velocity before impacting the ground.
The set up you are describing is more like a land speed record run where you try reach a maximum velocity and cover a set distance to determine your top speed.
We here of course dont abide by the scale quarter mile limitation and many enjoy the flat run over a longer distance to the finish line as friction and gravity may slow one car and the other may have a chance to over take!
So your desire for a high end track lies with you and what you want to see in a race. A seamless track is the only thing you would need for a best quality - high end track. There after resources, materials, portability and available distance (space) to set up a track will determine your level of high end track you can reach.
If you want to share your addition resource, materials and space limitation - we can then help you further in your design.
CLIFFS: No transition.in drag racing you begin from a standing start. A 1/64 scale quarter mile would then be 20.6 feet in total length. To get the optimum speed for equal cars there should not be any transition from the ramp to the finish line. Meaning your total ramp length would be 20.6 feet as well. Therefore; any angle for the ramp you choose would induce the optimum speed of both cars at that angle of descent. Of course the steeper the angle the faster the finishing speed. Meaning a 90 degree drop would be your fastest velocity. At that scale distance, I dont think either of your cars would reach their terminal velocity before impacting the ground.
The set up you are describing is more like a land speed record run where you try reach a maximum velocity and cover a set distance to determine your top speed.
We here of course dont abide by the scale quarter mile limitation and many enjoy the flat run over a longer distance to the finish line as friction and gravity may slow one car and the other may have a chance to over take!
So your desire for a high end track lies with you and what you want to see in a race. A seamless track is the only thing you would need for a best quality - high end track. There after resources, materials, portability and available distance (space) to set up a track will determine your level of high end track you can reach.
If you want to share your addition resource, materials and space limitation - we can then help you further in your design.
Couldn't have said it better...but I like that "Land Speed Record" sort of thing.
Preacher
I do too! But my current "set distance" is limited to the width of the finish line!
HMMM. LESS TRANSITION ANGLE SHOULD INDEED BE SMOOTHER...
MIGHT IT NOT ALSO BE THAT WITH A LONGER "HILL" ONE HAS A SHORTER "FLAT" ?
THROTTLE PEDAL DOWN FOR ALMOST DOUBLE THE DISTANCE, 7.7' TO 13', COASTING FOR 6' LESS,
THE GRAVITY BRAKE HAS LESS TIME TO "SLOW" THE CAR...
BORED BETWEEN HEETS, JUZ SPITBALLIN'