setting up a car

[scottc]

I have been reading all the posts here for a week or so now. Now I am in need of some advice. Do you need to set up a car for wood track differently than a al. track?

[sporty]

That is a good question to ask !!

I say yes ! you do set up differently, but perhaps the others will chime in on this one.

See, i feel you can go really far back on the weight on a metal track, but wood, so much more comes into play, wood warp, uneven or non smooth surfaces on the track.

Wheel surface prep is even a tad different, but it also depends to what level you are achieving.

breaking records ? or a top 3 ?


However, the best set up and test, is always to be done on the track the car is going to race on !!

Sporty

My thoughts, set up for a wood track ! unless you are 100% sure its a metal track

[ichiban]

scottc, I saw your other post where you explain your preparation and how your car is much better on wood than aluminum. We had the opposite problem this past weekend at District where there were two tracks, one aluminum and one wood.

My Bear scout had to race his wedge on the wood track and my Tiger scout had to race his wedge on the aluminum track. Both cars are very similar except the Tiger scout car has more wood weight and less lead; resulting in a COM slightly forward than the Bear scouts COM.

Our Bear scout car finished 15th in the Bear class on wood and our Tiger scout car finished 1st in the Tiger class on aluminum. The Overall was then held on the aluminum track. The Tiger scout car lost to the other class winners in the overall, finishing 4.5 inches behind the nose of the District winner and aluminum track record holder of the day. Btw, the District winner came from the Wolf class that also got to race on the aluminum track.

After the racing, we were able to race our two cars and as I expected, our Bear scout car was faster; beating our Tiger scout car by 2 inches on the aluminum track. I believe our Bear scout car would have made a better showing had their class raced on the aluminum track.

[Sappington R]

Scottc, glad you are posting here and hope you are benefiting from all of the past and current threads.

I think the short wood track vs. the long aluminum would definitely produce a different result given a particular set-up.

You will likely benefit from a more aggressive set up on the aluminum, e.g. COG back more (like 3/4" in front of the RWB) that is if you are running and Extended WB. I would definitely raise a wheel and Rail Ride on the aluminum. The amount of steer is something that you should practice with on a test track.

MY experience with short wooden tracks is basically only from what I have read on the boards. If it's smooth and not bumpy, set up shouldn't really matter a whole lot. Though, you may want less steer into the rail.

IF you have noticed that your cars seem to "pull away" from the others on the straight, it has a lo to do with aggressive COG. The less aggressive COG cars lose energy and start to slow down, while the more aggressive COG cars have more gravitational energy that has not exhausted. OK, I'll stop while I"m ahead I'm not into engineering or physics- I'm more into the art of building and a lot of trial and error- every now and again we get lucky and make something really fast.

It sounds like everything you are doing and asking about is right!

Two final offerings:

1. Get access to a practice track for tuning

2. Send those babies in to proxy race ;D

PM me if I can help anymore.

[beakerboysracing]

scottc,
it sounds like you are using standard wheel base from your other post. Do your rules allow for extended wheel base? How does the car go down the track? Is there a lot of wobble or bouncing back and forth on the rail? Alignment is HUGH on these cars. If bad alignment, real slow. Have you tried tapping the wheels or running grooved axles? Sapp is right about com. I practice on a pretty smooth wood track and set up for 3/4 com and they run even faster on aluminum. To give you an example short wheel base 3/4 com runs .005 faster on my track than a extended wheel base with com at 1 inch. That doesn't sound like much but it's about a car length at end. I would also try with some more sleek designs. Wedge is good but with tungsten weight you can acheive 3/4 com with a car less than 3/8 thick. If you don't have some of the tools that Racer x offers I would suggest investing in them, pro body tool, pro hub tool, hub shaver, wheel shaver, hub polisher(ps use the real thick soft pipe cleaners you can get from tobacco store or Randy at Maximum Velocity). Polish axles down to 1 micron(winderby.com for polish kit) will help you get more out of the car on the flat. Now that derby seasons are about over, this is time to get involved in proxy racing to hone your skills. That way next year your boys will be waiting at the finishline for the rest to get there.
Beakerboysracing

[scottc]

Thanks for the replies!

I have every tool they offer to prep the wheels. I have to admit I used lead on his cars in the past but will start using the tungsten. I used the standard wheel base on this car. I will extend the wheel base on the car I am building now. I have been sucked into this league racing like it is the vortex in a black hole. I hope to have it done in time for this months WIRL race.