Transitioning from open track to lanes

ghenty Monday, 4/20/2020

So....

Very new to the scene, hooked by open road racing initially but seen some cool drag racing on YouTube yesterday which I really liked!

Got some ideas of what I want to do when my first set up and Adventure Force set come later this week but here is my main question...........

Has anyone developed a way of transitioning from open road track BACK to lane track, I'd love to see some pictures or video, sure it has been done, maybe similar to how 3D had his finish line set up before the newest track was assembled.


Discussion

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Chaos_Canyon 4/20/20

I did initially, using 3DBotmakers trick of just having wide barriers coming into the narrower track width - can still cause chaos/crashes if cars are dead even but that just add to the fun. 3D did it using coroplast as the base, then cutting strips and using those to go from wide to narrow. Check his website for details.


  • Yeah, seen that, and really like it. I'm wondering if there is a way to move from open road to 2/3/4 lanes! A little unusual but be great if I could achieve it. — ghenty
  • Instead of just from open road into one lane — ghenty
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redlinederby 4/20/20
Site manager

This has been in my head lately too. When I redo my track here soon I'm thinking of doing an open lane drag strip that will filter into the laned finish but not sure how well that will work. I suspect they'll just hit the lane separators and crash...but maybe not...or maybe that's part of the drama...?

But I might play around with designing something to convert from open to lane, just need the parts for measurements and testing. Might have to get me one of those Adventure Force kits if that's what people are starting to use. That's a big issue, there's no standard for the open road products so any solution will have to be specific (or very generic and so-so).


  • What is the adventure force kit.? — Lionsden112002
  • If the floor of the track tips one way, gravity would sort the cars into a single line and they could feed into a reduced lane. — Lionsden112002
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redlinederby 4/20/20
Site manager

Research questions...

I'm assuming the lanes you're want to transition into are orange track?

And the number of lanes is two? Or 4? 


  • Yes, orange track for definite. And yes, would like to look at options to take it into 2 lanes, or 3 lanes, or 4 lanes! I guess once there is a method for one you could customise it so you could do any lane number you want — ghenty
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Chaos_Canyon 4/20/20

The other idea I was toying with, when I was looking at doing a similar wide track split into two lanes, was to essentially stat splitting the track with a curve down to each side (away form the middle) to encourage the cars to separate before an actual barrier. Didn't get around to making it as I went in a different direction, but that may work.


  • Love that idea! So basically have the track "leaning" outwards from the middle so cars go down one side or the other? — ghenty
  • That's the ticket. — Lionsden112002
  • Yes, I had the same idea a few months ago, you need to create a peak in the middle and slope the sides to a wall, then you can make lanes. You could just cut the chloroplast in the middle but only halfway through the material, then bend it down to an upside down V shape.hen — WidowmakerRun

Having no barrier were it starts the split is challenging...open to single hmmm


  • Yeah, I agree. It's starting a split without the risk of them smashing the barrier. Open lane to one is fairly easy to do I would think, could create a real mess though! — ghenty
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Sam_Haul 5/25/20

I've wondered the same thing, being new to this (this is literally my first writing on this site).  Not exactly sure what the purpose would be, but, I don't know, maybe one of the lanes is a Mario Kart style risky shortcut?  Mainly just wondering if it's possible.  I have a couple of ideas, but nothing put into practice (again, really new, current track is two lanes winding through my son's Paw Patrol toys).

The first is shaving down the interior separators of whatever laned track you're attaching to the open track, starting from flat with the track, and then gradually allowing them to incline up until they're at their full height, so they gradually "grow" out of the track.  This might help to guide the cars into eventually choosing the path of least resistance and picking a lane, but I still foresee issues.  Mainly that it seems likely that the cars might just get stuck and keep riding the barrier, and that they could also just as easily "pick" the same lane, those behind getting trapped behind such stallers.  Though as others have said, I suppose that could be part of the drama, and I imagine it's better than abruptly smashing into a sudden barrier.

The other was what Chaos_Canyon was saying, somehow having the track begin to slant towards its outer edges from the center (sort of like how roads are shaped where it's flat and rains hard, or at least how that's more pronounced in such places), forcing the cars to pick a side before separating into two lanes.  If you were starting from a four lane width, I suppose it would be possible to repeat the process with your new two lanes, resulting in four.  Still doesn't guarantee all the cars don't just end up "choosing" the same lane, though.  Anyway, just thoughts, haven't tried anything yet.  Maybe I'll try some experiments when the appropriate track material gets here next month.

Without actually trying this, I think the best and possibly only decent option would be forcing the cars to the outsides of the track like suggested above already. Any introduction of a middle barrier before cars are guided to the outside in theory sounds too destructive to be enjoyed properly. 

With open track you can easily manipulate the cars. IE... Lift right side of track just a few millimeters and cars go left... Or vice versa. So couldn't you raise the middle and the cars could choose their own lane. Of course you would need to weigh down the outsides of the track to create the curve. This also adds another element of randomness to the racing w/o so many crashes (althoug that'spartially why I watch 3DBotmaker.)

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3DBotMaker 5/25/20

My guess is whatever you do, you won't have a 100% sucess rate, at least not if you're trying to do this during a high speed race. If you gradually introduce a barrier to seperate them, one car is eventaully going to end up doing a rail grind or flying off it like a ramp. If you wanted to bring the cars to a stop, and then have them seperate into different lanes that could certainly be done. The hot wheels super ultimate garage actually has a piece that does that.

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