Long Digital track - Draft, Please give your ideas and feedback Options

[Michael363672]

I don't really understand your points. Are you talking about digital vs. analog?

Yes in analouge track layout is important but in Digital it is much more than a race to see who is the fastest

As Ade has said stopping for fuel can cost you lots of laps and if you drive carefully you can get a lot more laps for your tank of fuel than others

Some of our best races have been on our Oval with the strat you choose playing a huge part

I guess a track layout always is important to some extend

As long as it starts at the beginning and comes back there

Our club track is an Oval and that is great fun


Have you run many Digital races yet ?

[Wraith]

We've had a 13m straight before and stood in the middle, the cars were visible but not easily. We had all the technical track near the start line so it could be seen.

One lesson we learn is that there is no point putting a XLC anywhere on the straight apart from the start and finish as the speed will simply deslot the car. We also used lots of padding at the end as your cars will be doing full speed about 6 meters in and at that speed if you forget to slow down you will simply launch the cars on the corner.

Amazing space, very envious as I love long tracks, 30 second plus lap times are fantastic.

Looking forward to updates.

[Minardi]

Great lay-out Olsen, I love It. On which side will the powerbase be ?
My home track has a long straight of 6 m. But that is too short to get the 18k cars at full speed with standard gearing. I know this because I also have raced on a track with a straight of about 10 m., where the cars were able to reach there top.
You dont need too many marshalls If you place the tricky areas on either side, and in the middle, almost like you have done.
You dont need wireless right away either, It is very easy to extend controller wires, or go a little futher and put a spare 4-car PB in the middle of your track as expansion bay, also helpful to ID cars.
If we do not have enough marshalls, we use auto track call, have you tried that ?

Keep us posted !

[Erik M]

Not yet come into racing digital, been occupied with possible functionality, but built a few tracks. And as by built I mean routed there has to be a lot of thought put into layout, you don't just rip out and re-... rout.

Anyhow... The magnificent Moulsanne Straight of HOLM is some 30(?) meters and 3-4(?) seconds and at that length it's marvelous. You get acceleration for half a second and half a second breaking. Between is three seconds pure enjoyment, rest and recovery...
...at the same time I got a Ninco Audi TT with a NC3 8:23, low magna and a eight less than flat oldish Scalextric Classic. Still accelerating when hitting the brakes.

So what's my point then?
A long, really long, straight is marvelous. But it has to be balanced to work well.
With high rev motors it'll just be a short straight and impossible curvy in-field. While those choosing lower rev's will get through the in-field well. Not fast enough thou and left in the dust on the straight.
BUT if choosing a common low rev motor that long straight will be about enter with momentum and leaving under expert braking.

My additional advice is to keep the corners separate, each it's own personality. One back and forth, one long sweeping, one tight double back etc.
Don't bunch them up, it'll just be a long wiggle... Insert at least a meter between. And with 12(!) meter to work with you could have a three meter straight in-between. Would love that.

[Olsen]

Yes in analouge track layout is important but in Digital it is much more than a race to see who is the fastest

As Ade has said stopping for fuel can cost you lots of laps and if you drive carefully you can get a lot more laps for your tank of fuel than others

Some of our best races have been on our Oval with the strat you choose playing a huge part



As long as it starts at the beginning and comes back there

Our club track is an Oval and that is great fun


Have you run many Digital races yet ?

Have run about five race-days (from 10 AM to 17PM) so I am still new to this hobby
Have you any ideas of the factor between refuling-time-it-takes vs. fuel-burn-rate vs. track size? I am wondering if I should change the time it takes refuling and also ajust the fuelburn-rate?

[Olsen]

We've had a 13m straight before and stood in the middle, the cars were visible but not easily. We had all the technical track near the start line so it could be seen.

One lesson we learn is that there is no point putting a XLC anywhere on the straight apart from the start and finish as the speed will simply deslot the car. We also used lots of padding at the end as your cars will be doing full speed about 6 meters in and at that speed if you forget to slow down you will simply launch the cars on the corner.

Amazing space, very envious as I love long tracks, 30 second plus lap times are fantastic.

Looking forward to updates.

My hope is that the upper left corner with R4's take some of the "I forgot to brake" mistakes - but it will go very fast, so people have to brake I guess - or maybe use a straight lane change in the end of the straight as a brake-assistance.
Sounds like your track were huge. Have you got some pictures for inspiration?

[Olsen]

Great lay-out Olsen, I love It. On which side will the powerbase be ?
My home track has a long straight of 6 m. But that is too short to get the 18k cars at full speed with standard gearing. I know this because I also have raced on a track with a straight of about 10 m., where the cars were able to reach there top.
You dont need too many marshalls If you place the tricky areas on either side, and in the middle, almost like you have done.
You dont need wireless right away either, It is very easy to extend controller wires, or go a little futher and put a spare 4-car PB in the middle of your track as expansion bay, also helpful to ID cars.
If we do not have enough marshalls, we use auto track call, have you tried that ?

Keep us posted !

Thank you - I also think it is quite well, but not done yet... there must be something that can be designed to improve driving experience

My idea was that the powerbase (finish line) is placed near the middle of the long straight but before the pit-lane-entry. (are using Pit-Pro, SSDC)
Another idea is to place the PB after the pit-exit. Maybe it will be better?

We will use 18K GT cars like Aston Martin DBR9 etc. How many meters do you think the cars will need to reach top speed?
I have bought some extra controller-wires. Expensive but they do extend the wire and make it possible to stand 6 drivers next to each other. I would like the drivers to stand in the "bottom of the track", close to the the pit-exit etc.

I actually have the Advance Power Base (APB) and an extra 4-car PB. But I thought that connection and extra 4-car PB would damage the APB?

I have tried track call, but like it better when people get a bit more punishment and have to wait for the marschall to come rescue them. People tend to drive more carefully then - but they still race and get the adrenaline rush because they know that it have consequences to deslot.

[Olsen]

Not yet come into racing digital, been occupied with possible functionality, but built a few tracks. And as by built I mean routed there has to be a lot of thought put into layout, you don't just rip out and re-... rout.

Anyhow... The magnificent Moulsanne Straight of HOLM is some 30(?) meters and 3-4(?) seconds and at that length it's marvelous. You get acceleration for half a second and half a second breaking. Between is three seconds pure enjoyment, rest and recovery...
...at the same time I got a Ninco Audi TT with a NC3 8:23, low magna and a eight less than flat oldish Scalextric Classic. Still accelerating when hitting the brakes.

So what's my point then?
A long, really long, straight is marvelous. But it has to be balanced to work well.
With high rev motors it'll just be a short straight and impossible curvy in-field. While those choosing lower rev's will get through the in-field well. Not fast enough thou and left in the dust on the straight.
BUT if choosing a common low rev motor that long straight will be about enter with momentum and leaving under expert braking.

My additional advice is to keep the corners separate, each it's own personality. One back and forth, one long sweeping, one tight double back etc.
Don't bunch them up, it'll just be a long wiggle... Insert at least a meter between. And with 12(!) meter to work with you could have a three meter straight in-between. Would love that.

Have seached, but did not find anything about "Moulsanne Straight of HOLM". Sounds exciting - do you have a link?

I agree that a long, long straight has to be balanced to work well. That is also why I ask for some inputs if the straight in my draft layout is too long? The cars are as mentioned 18.000 rpm GT class with "common gear setting". I have never tried to play with other gear settings, maybe we should try that one day

In the upper right my track has a U-shaped hair-pin (R1) then a more open hair-pint- and then comes the S-curves and THEN the long, long straight. Is that a downside in getting momentum? Would it be better to place R1-R2-R2-R3-R3-R4-R4 somehow instead of R1? My thoughts in placing the R1 hairpin is that I want to challenge the drivers just before the hit the long straight and finish line in the middle of the straight. If you deslot at the R1, then you can loose the first place to the man behind you - if he just drive a bit more safely.

Would like anyones comments on this part of the track

[Olsen]

My additional advice is to keep the corners separate, each it's own personality. One back and forth, one long sweeping, one tight double back etc.
Don't bunch them up, it'll just be a long wiggle... Insert at least a meter between. And with 12(!) meter to work with you could have a three meter straight in-between. Would love that.

Nice points you got there! Is there any curves or in between that you would like to change?

Here is the layout again.

[Michael363672]

Have you any ideas of the factor between refuling-time-it-takes vs. fuel-burn-rate vs. track size? I am wondering if I should change the time it takes refuling and also ajust the fuelburn-rate?

It all depends on your settings change them and make a note of how long it takes to use a tank or fill back up

We tweak our settings in practice to get it how we want for the race we are running

Might have a bigger tank or slower fill up rate etc

[staglinger]

Hi Olsen
Yep set fuel tank to do about ten laps in car depends of how you drive.
Plus altered fuel fill rate and with the length of pit lane and pit lane speed it takes
about three laps to refill a full tank so you have to think of the hole race to win.
regards ade.

[sealevel]

I actually have the Advance Power Base (APB) and an extra 4-car PB. But I thought that connection and extra 4-car PB would damage the APB?

NEVER connect two PBs on the same track or you will indeed fry the APB. Most people connect the 4-car PB separately (or at least isolated from the main track electrically) to set the IDs without tying up the main PB. I think Minardi did this... check out his track.

Cheers!

[Olsen]

How many power taps would you recommend for a long track like this with 6 cars? I only got two homemade.
Btw... a newbie question: Does cars with front and rear light use significant more electicity than without?

[Erik M]

Thanks for the reception. I'll try to make something worth pondering...
And no, the LED's draw next to nothing. Especially compared to motors. But then again, it's is a possible draw against what the motor crave.
The motor draw, from the hip (or whatever approx is called at your end) mind you, an average 300mA (approx gentlemen, approx) and a LED 20mA.
Better to put it up as either mandatory OR a free choice...


Back to the track.
Some basic thoughts I've come across:

Never put single straights in amongst curves. It might look as if they become part of the curve complex, but they don't. A car can go smoothly from any piece of curve to another in a smooth transition. Never so between straight and curve, never. The guide will always "hit the side, hard" and the car change direction with an "infinite acceleration". Each time.
Yeah I know, it's an exaggeration. But still true.

Wiggle track are not a challenge. They are just a wiggle. Sure, a well set up car will beat a bad driver and a good driver will beat a ungainly car over it. But the wiggle... It's like the transport from one special to another in rallye...

If possible, let curves "build". Either opening up or closing.
A hairpin is great if built R4-R3-R2-R1 in and then R1-R2-R3-R4 out. And look great if you build out the track to show of the "apex".

A big hairpin works well when it's started with a switch-back. Never a switch-back on the way out, not unless it opens up really well.


Ok, the track.
It look fairly well. Just a bit cluttered. And that is almost impossible to avoid, you do want to use all those bits of track...
But try to make groups of them. Like Straight->S-curve->Straight->long curve->Straight->hairpin->Straight->back and forth->Straight-> etc. If you clutter it up with alternating straights, radius and direction you just make it a wiggle.
Mind you, it shows less if running magnatraction. It's a disaster waiting to happen if sans magna.

And with all this in mind...
...and going CLOCKWISE.

Down the long wonderful straight.

You got left-riiight-leeeft-righthand closing hairpin.
I would say riiight-leeeft-right hand opening hairpin. Or even riiiiiight-left-haiiiiirpin.

Then a short right and then a left hairpin.
Be sure to make that right EITHER R1 or R4, especially if you squeeze in a few more straights around it.

Remove that lone straight in the otherwise good big left hander. And... the next single one in that magnificent long and big right hander. And don't spoil it with the quirky left at the end.
Which also goes for the right-straight-left. Try a more sinister approach. A big chikane. R3-2-1 to the right and then back out left with R2-3-4; pinch in and throttle out.

The short straights in the following long sweeps should work, as the curves are so big radii.
Still, perhaps put the two single ones with the twins?
And remove the short one as you come out of that double grand hairpin complex...

Mind you - it's already a good track. And with or without my tweaks it will be great to race on.

[Wraith]

Here are a few pics of one of our largest tracks




and here is a video

http://youtu.be/zoWeDns8ix8?hd=1