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Have you seen the Scale Racing Center 8 Lane? Perhaps you can model a 4 or 6 lane after it...
My Analog Build and Adventure - Running Middle of Four Lanes
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Charles
Love that idea of the first layout where it almost gives you two loops to complete a single lap. Thinking outside the box on that. I can see your point where driving each lane provides a different experience and can be quiet enjoyable for both single and multiple racers. I as a single racer are looking at using a more proxy based philosophy to keep it fun for me. You can only do so many laps with 1 car on a 3 second layout
I can see a six lane overpass being a bit more trouble IF this is an area where wrecks could occur and clearing those can be like shutting the road down in the Winter in the frozen North.
And curious, if building a six lane track and not using the inner two lanes does not defeat the purpose of having an extra set of lanes? Did I miss something?
Love that idea of the first layout where it almost gives you two loops to complete a single lap. Thinking outside the box on that. I can see your point where driving each lane provides a different experience and can be quiet enjoyable for both single and multiple racers. I as a single racer are looking at using a more proxy based philosophy to keep it fun for me. You can only do so many laps with 1 car on a 3 second layout
I can see a six lane overpass being a bit more trouble IF this is an area where wrecks could occur and clearing those can be like shutting the road down in the Winter in the frozen North.
And curious, if building a six lane track and not using the inner two lanes does not defeat the purpose of having an extra set of lanes? Did I miss something?
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Like my current four lane layout I would use the outer lanes as shoulders... with six I would run the middle four.
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With analog you can run in the opposite direction... requires no more space and doubles the fun.Ah got it, misunderstood the respone. Four discrete lanes create four experiences. NICE, just need space
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That was my second layout and I loved it with Carrera cars. If they were all I ever ran I'd still have it. However after trying various high-end cars (largely RevoSlot at that point) it felt like it was stop and go and the car never really got the chance to let go... in essence they handled much better than the layout allowed. Once I switched to a more sweeping layout the better handling cars came into their own and the Carrera cars felt out of place. Even thought the layout was twenty-five percent shorter it felt longer as I wasn't stopping and going rather it was one long ride.
I started with the Carrera analog lap counter which works rather well and is super easy and quick to setup and use. Looked into/sort of tried a couple of the "fancy" lap counters that connect to your computer but punted for one reason or another. Bottom line the way I use the layout it would be a "pain" to have to power up the PC and get everything configured to run a few laps. I know in a lot of cases I wouldn't even bother.
Right now I'm using LapTrax on a phone I purchased. It's covered in this thread and a few others of late. For what it does it works great, it's free and more than serves what I'm looking for. It announces lap and fast lap times and only takes a minute or so to setup and you can instantly reset it for another "race".
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Charles I really think you should look at making a four lane Policar track with borders they are that good that you will be able to use the borders as roadway and will have four lanes torun on, the system for supporting the track is good as well.
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If I decide to give them a try again I'll probably get some pieces of everything either in a large set (looks like the big four lane set is on back order) or buy the pieces individually as I won't need the controllers, power supply, control unit and whatnot - based on how discounted the track is in the set. I will say I'm not a fan of the different textures and even in this "cool" image I'd rather see four lanes. And I think my four lanes look cooler.
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The more I read the more I wonder why you want to change your layout. You seem happy with it and enjoy running your new cars on it. I think you have reached the point where you need to throw your views out the window and start making the cars more of a challenge rather than trying to make an even more full 'commercial' track in the space you have which will only mean a smaller and more basic less satisfying layout. That or find a different location for the layout where you can build what you really want.
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I don't necessary disagree. I'm more than happy with the current layout and cars. However at the same time I sort of see it as stepping stones... going from one experience to the next. First it was the cars... upgrading my Carrera cars, followed by upgrading the layout to match the cars which led to high-end cars to match the upgraded layout. And finally upgrading the layout once again to match the high-end cars.
I will say going smaller has been more satisfying as it has only feed the commercial vibe and has produced a more enjoyable experience. Now how far I can take this is a good point... when does smaller become too small and do I need to increases the available space to not sacrifice what I am looking for.I have even given HO some thought as it reality it would offer me tons more space per se without taking up any more room. Although from what I have read the current track appears to be rather iffy and I don't think the driving experience would be as enjoyable. Expansion wise I could add 2.5' x 12' in front of the long straightaway without having to redo the room. If I did I'd want the same table guy to build them and I have to keep in mind if I ever punt I already have three tables to "get rid of"... do I really want two more to deal with...
The allure is I'd really like four racing lanes and I know I'm not getting that with Carrera (more than likely even if I added two tables). And I think I got super lucky with Chris designing my layout (even though I sort of converted it) so changing it as you suggest might not even a lateral move. Rather a step backwards.
I guess I'll figure out how much thinner four lanes with shoulders are versus six lanes without. If the different is measurable I'll see what I can design and add it to my current confusion.
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I do like the design. Only thing I would chance is reduce the curve before the straightaway a bit. For me it scrubs too much speed off right before hitting the straightaway (reducing it quite a bit).
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I agree needs to be one long sweeping bend before the straightaway
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For the fun of it I'm working up a Policar track order (seeing how bad it would be) and I'm wondering does the track packs come with any straight/curve cips or are they only sold separately? I see they also sell an intersection locking clip?
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Charles I am going to blame you and this thread, I ordered a Scalauto F1 car yesterdayI'm becoming a better car builder.
View attachment 331533
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Based on your layout it might be the fastest however it should give a great driving experience. Plenty of torque and speed with just the right amount of traction that keeps sliding instead of letting go.Charles I am going to blame you and this thread, I ordered a Scalauto F1 car yesterday
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Wil let you know how it stacks up against my NSR F1 86 89
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On my layout it beat the NSR F1 with upgraded tires by a tenth or so... couple tenths when the NSR had stock tires. With a less sweeping layout it might be reversed. Most of its advantage was faster entry and exit on sweeping turns. Torque wise the NSR might accelerate faster (much lower top speed) which with stop and go again just might give it the win.Wil let you know how it stacks up against my NSR F1 86 89
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Any tuning tips on scaleauto F1 I assume you did the standard lube and tire prep ?
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