[ss67]

This is my main SSD track attached to 4 tables each one measuring 2.3m x 1.4m that fit together to make a total of 5.6m x 2.3m.

I am in the process of relaying the track and changing from PBPro SH to APB with uprated power.

I use a 4 lane separated start finish for the 3 lane start and pit exit, SSDC & Pitpro.

Bearing in mind that the track needs to separate along the bold black lines (approximatley) and store vertically for transportation I would be interested to know what suggestions for improvements people may have?

 

[ss67]

Has no one anything to say?

 

[richardtheforth]

Hi Simon,
The track looks amazing. Is there any reason you might want to change something, or are you just looking to do some tinkering?
I'd say don't do anything!
Cheers,
Richard

 

[thekop]

I like the track as it is. Great work

Can we see a closeup picture of your pit exit please.

 

[ss67]

Sorry for the delayed response!

I lost my internet connection last night and after a bit of faffing I gave up and left it.

Richard - No major changes planned just tinkering. You know how it is. I love the track but you just keep thinking "How can I make this better?"

One of the main "crash areas" is at the top left where the 3 lanes come down to 2. I originally did this to try to reduce crashes on the first corner but all it seemed to acheive was to move them to the second corner!

thekop - I'm sorry if I've caused any confusion as the trackplan shows the new changes to my pit exit but the picture is the original version.

New pit exit

 

[ss67]

I forgot to mention the racing line lane change at the entry to the bridge. (not shown on the trackplan as I don't know how to)

You can see it here on the left of the picture below monitor 2 and behind the RichG laptower (which I will be sadly losing with the switch to APB)

 

[fdlg]

Very nice track! i loce all the lane changers and the pitlane is amazing!

 

[ss67]

Thank you for kind comments!

How can I make this better?

 

[GregK]

Put LEDs into buildings and grandstands. Have a look at Gloverman's postings about his track, it's Big and it's Clever IDEAS

 

[ss67]

Thanks Greg.

Gloveman's track has given me a lot of inspiration over the last year or so (March 2010 was when I bought the first Scalextric in my life, and that was for my son)

Sadly my skills don't match up to Gloveman's.

I would like to add lights at some point and also a realistic start light gantry with velleman board. I have been following Adrian's (bigbird) topics on these but haven't done anything yet.

Whatever I do has to be portable and either fixed to the tables for vertical transportation or very quickly assembled.

 

[staglinger]

Hi
if it races well and there is nowhere you have any problems step back and leave it
PS great track by the way.
regards ade.

 

[Biberle]

QUOTE (ss67 @ 10 Jan 2012, 12:58) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>How can I make this better?

Is it a track mainly for Kids? Do you drive with magnets?

Could be that over the years different countries developed different philosophies for their typical race tracks, but I (being from germany) don't think it is a very good layout at all (but please don't take this too personal):
- much too many 90 degree corners - IMO they don't provide much fun at least in magless racing. For me it's a typical beginners fault (even if you are not a beginner at all

) to build the track along the edges of the table.
- too narrow for such a big table - why don't you use more R3 and R4s corners beside the existing one (which is a banked one...)?
- too many short straights between the bends - even good cars can not really gain speed on those 50 or 60 cms between two turns - they just "cruise" around the track in a quite steady speed.
- no use of different radii within a corner - closing (R4, R3, R2) or opening (R2, R3, R4) bends are much more of a challenge and provide much more fun.

Impressive pitlane though!

 

[ss67]

Hi,

I don't take it personally. I agree that from an out and out race track it's probably not very good.

The track is hired out and used primarily by kids and adults with little or no slot car experience so we use standard Scaley cars with magnets. For these people it is quite a challenging track. You can really "hoof" it down the straight and take the first corner at a fair speed but then there are slower technical sections as well.

If someone can show me how to incorporate different radii into the corners then I will be happy to consider changing the layout.

BUT..... This is set up on 4 tables that need to slot together as easily as possible so the number of joins on angles needs to be kept to a minimum as it is already a taskrequiring some skill to join together. (Not too difficult on a smooth flat surface but really hard on an inclined field under canvass)

By the way, the lap record with a standard Porsche Boxster (with magnets) is around 11 seconds

 

[ss67]

I think that the track is good for what it is used for but if anyone thinks that they can do better I welcome any designs that would work on the 4 portable tables mentioned earlier and be suitable for people of all abilities.

There's a challenge for you!

 

[Coldblood]

I was bored this afternoon so fired up UR3 and came up with this design for you.

With track movement the 4 lane straight and s curve section in the middle will match up with no problems. I know because I copied it from 1 of my rug racing designs.

UR3 doesn't have single lane R3's so you would have to add them yourself.

Hope you like it

Regards
CB
Gaz

 

[ss67]

Thanks Gaz,

That looks good!

I will look at this more closely tomorrow if I can try to identify all the track parts.

At the moment the only downside I can see is that there might not be enough room for the pit garages and trucks!

I use Trackpower for my designs so I will try to recreate this.

 

[Coldblood]

Hope this helps you out transferring it over to trackpower

Regards
Gaz

 

[Mk1GT3]

Great Track guys, im looking to build my first track & need to build it across 4 boards to make it as large as possible without the need to build it on the fly everytime you fancy a session, how are you guys fixing the track to the boards? as i presume they are reconfigurable?

Thanks

 

[ss67]

 

[MrFlippant]

Is that some kind of thick foam with double-stick on both surfaces, to hold it firm to the track and the table?