Ideal track dimensions

[DarthRacer]

I'm looking for some guidelines for building a track, especially from those who have built one and raced on it.

What is an ideal lane width?
What is an ideal track width and length?
Is a 4' X 4' track too small?
Should it be more rectangular or square?
What is the smallest turining radius a bit can negotiate while moving?

I have seen nice threads here about materials, but no notes on how big or small things are.

[john]

Well, here's my experience with ZZs.

8" lanes are very generous on straights. It gives you room to pass or zig zag, or experiment with different lines, or place obstacles

For 90° curves and even 180° cruves, 8" is still fine.

For S curves, you need more room. Though you can make it around 8" wide S curves without hitting a wall, it's really hard to do. 10" wide lanes around S curves make for better racing in my experience.

The first track I built was around 45" x 54" total size. The lanes were all 8" wide, and I had a lot of trouble with the S curve. (I've attached a pic of the layout of that track.) So, I modified the design into the middle image. There are fewer curves, but the curves are wider.

The size (45" x 54") is 4 feet by 4 and a half feet. I like the size because I can put on my dining room table or the floor, and I can prety easily move it out of the way when I want to use the dining room table for something else... like eating. I don't like the size because 54" isn't that long of a straight section. It's long enough to get top speed around the outside even with the 2 curves, but you can't hold top speed for very long. I'm probably being to fussy about that though. But I still get track envy when I see a 4' x 8' track.

For guard rails, I'd go with 3/4" or more. The cardboard pieces I'm making only have 1/2" walls and I can get a ZZ stuck over them. But, that could just be a result of the cardboard piece's modular nature. If it were a continuous rail, 1/2" might be fine.

I am working on a modular track now, because to be perfectly honest, the same old track gets boring. I'd like to be able to easily rearrange the track.

The track in the pic is quite fun for a few reasons even though it isn't modular. It has the 3 outside walls for a nice, long, speedway, and a series of sharp curves for technical driving. And, the added bonus is that you are using your whole surface to race on. If you add some gates to this design (movable walls) you can get a few varieties of tracks pretty quickly. I drew up a design with 3 gates so you could quickly change the layout of this track to an oval, and two other simple variants.

I hope this helps!

[DarthRacer]

Thanks for the info.
I want to build my track in at least 4 pieces so it can be stored when not in use. Maybe I can make it modular. Are there any modular layouts that anyone has designed that I may try to get ideas from? My concern is attaching the pieces together, or keeping them from separating while in use.

[Kajoq]

I made my track on a 4x8 sheet of hardboard that is cut into 3 2'8"x4' sheets, works great, For the track barriers I used 1inch wide flat sprinkler hose heres a picture

[FELIX]

I JUST FINISHED MY FIRST TRACK
I HOPE TO HAVE PICS SOON

FOR THE BASE I USED BLACK GATOR BOARD THAT I GOT FOR FREE
I USED 2-3'x4' PIECES AND A 2"x4' PIECE, THEN I HINGED THEM TOGETHER WITH 4 HINGES AND ZIP TIES.

FOR THE GUARD RAILS I USED 3/4" ALUMINUM ANGLES ($6.00 FOR 8')THAT I GLUED DOWN, THEN I USED ALUMINUM TAPE FOR THE CURVES($3.50 FOR 60YDS)

THE GATOR BOARD GIVES GOOD GRIP AND THE WAY IT'S PUT TOGETHER I CAN FOLD IT UP AND ITS ONLY 3'x4'x2" THICK, BUT WHEN I'M USING IT IT'S 6'-2"x4' WHICH IS PLENTY OF ROOM.

MY LANES ARE 8" WIDE. IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE JUST ASK.

[trickstar]

In response to your track inquiry. I am working on a small track that has strategically located movable rails, so that I can have a 4' panel, and add another or even 2 more, without much hassle. I am also going with a looong straightaway that is only 3" wide. There is enough room for a car to pass another easily, but since I'm concentrating on using exactly identically performing cars, most of the skill driving payoff will occur in the twisties. The most important constant on this track is that the guardrails are extremely low friction, so that if you are racing against an unskilled drivers, they can basically not even steer, and still get through the course pretty briskly, but a skilled driver will be able to reduce the friction of the guardrails even further, and, thus, shave time off of their lap time.

Another important feature of this track is at the corner curves, the curves are built in such a manner that you could choose to never use the left/right steering button and still not wreck headfirst into the oncoming perpendicular rail. The curves are 3" wide at the entry and exit, but at the 45 degree mark, they are not wide enough to allow more than one car through. This means that there is a potential for 2 car merging wrecks, but no single car spinouts or head-ons.

Why is this so important? Well, you can now set up another car, and race against it without having another person present. Simply clamp the button down with a hardware clamp of some sort, or a block under a rubber band, and you're set to race.

I would like to have some "s" curves in this setup, but they will have to be painstakingly engineered to assure the 'ghost' driver's car cannot wipe out or lose control. A good driver will benefit by simply reducing the wall contact here and there.

I'm about to go to the store and get the rubber traction paint for the road. If you'd like to see the construction specs for the track, you can look at my track over at another 'track' thread, Extremely easy, cheap coroplast track.

If anyone has any ideas or debates, from an opinion or philosophy standpoint, please feel free to share them here. I'd like to hear your viewpoints.

Some of my views may be biased by my acquired taste for the Nakamichi nracer. This has become my car of choice, and some of these opinions may be swayed by this.

Thanks,

JF