First Track

[Apec]

Hey guys, just looking for some tips/advice. This is my first time mapping my track and only second track I have built since buying my first Carrera GO set for my son.

It equals 55'.

I am also including a photo of my first track. You can see I talked my son out of the loop for our second track.

Its ok to be harsh!!

Next up is nailing down a design and building a table.

[BARC 1]

Glad you got rid of the loop. That is the first step to scale slot car racing in 143 scale!

[bigman]

:text-goodpost: That's not a bad looking layout. :text-bravo:
Looks like you have everything you need to have a great race. :auto-driving: :auto-checkeredflag: :auto-driving:

[Apec]

I am trying to make it “flow more” like I see so many 1:32 tracks. Do I need more 2/45 and 3/45 for that?

[ourwayband]

That is a great looking track..
Rusty

[buspor63]

[slothead]

The track looks good, just remember to keep it fun so your son remains interested. And, let him make and fix things. One of my grandsons raced with me all the time since he was 6 or 7, but whenever something needed doing I did it. So, when he left for college this year he still hadn't learned how to wire up a track, solder, design and build a chassis, etc. He was participating in my hobby more than making it his own, and that was my fault.

On the up side, when he came home for Thanksgiving and came over to see me, after about 5 minutes he wanted to know if he could run some laps on the road course, and raced car after car till we got called to dinner. When he comes home for Christmas break we'll do some real racing and maybe scratch build a car together with him doing most of the work.

Fun comes first, then teaching and learning basic skills follows.

Slothead

[munter]

More flow? get rid of the curve mid long straight for one thing.

When I built my track I wanted....the longest straight I could get, a set of esses, a sweeper or banana and a hairpin.
I also managed some slight banking and a changing radius corner...it was my fourth routed track.

I havent had much to do with plastic track but believe the different elements are important. I tried to avoid short straights as well.
Also dont be tempted to put too much track in. Sometimes less is more.

Build your table to suit your space and try different designs out before fixing anything down.
One advantage of sectional track is that changes are relatively easy.

Keep it in the slot and keep it fun.

[Apec]

I have to say I really am not a fan. With a tuning motor and even the stock motor and no brakes, you can’t use full throttle with tuning and barely with stock motor on the longest straight (which still is short). Would it be better for me to add brakes, or lower voltage?

[mattb]

both

[BRS Hobbies]

If your running GO cars with traction magnets or even GO cars no mag with urethane tires, then you should be able to use full throttle on the longer straights. I set up a layout that is much smaller than yours and still use full throttle on the main straightaway and a 180 degree R2 banked curve. The R2 and R3 banked curves can be taken at really high speeds and in some cases full speed. It also can take some laps to learn a new layout in which case the lap times will come down.

Running the rear tires over the stick side of some masking tape really helps as well.

Best regards,
Brian

[Apec]

Thanks Brian. I forgot to mention I was running 20V. I am now back to 14.7V and using Evo controllers.

This track is a lot of fun and everyone very much likes it