1/18 Track building questions

Well I would guess that 1/18th of a mile would be a good start. The total sum of the straits would be 2/3 of the total length as a guess. Width would be from 4 car widths minimum to whatever you want.

FastEddy said:

Well I would guess that 1/18th of a mile would be a good start. The total sum of the straits would be 2/3 of the total length as a guess. Width would be from 4 car widths minimum to whatever you want.

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293 ft. seems a bit large to me. I want it to be small enough so that I'm NOT able to top out with high gearing. Also, I'm not planning a standard oval. I have a layout in mind though.

The reason I ask is because I'm not familiar with how these little on-roads perform. I have not yet witnessed one in person so I really just don't know what kind of handling and speed they have. I've put myself on a budget this year and I figure I won't be able to have my M18 running for a few more months, but I'm itching to start designing the track now.

I think 2ft. will be a sufficient width for most of it. That's a little under scale for a 40 ft. wide track (Bristol). Maybe an extra 6 inches in the turns.


I think I can talk my wife into a spot about 20' x 10' but I'm not sure if that's large enough. Just guessing I would think 30' x 15' would be better but the car would probably have to reach at least 18 or 20mph, otherwise it would seem to large and handle TOO well.

just not sure

Top speed of a M18,with a "stock" 180 motor and 5 cells.Around 15mph,and this depends on gearing,this is a crude estimate.I used Trinity's 17turn Mini Monster motor and fuive GP1100 cells...this thing goes...Over 25mph

You can reach a good deal higher speeds with taller gearing at the expense of increased amp draw,heat and lesser acceleration.

have to try a mini Cobalt 14turns with six cells,should compete with the lower KV
mamba combo.

Now this sounds like slow,but 25mph for a tiny electric is fast.

Well...I have experiance in building 1/28 scale tracks so I can help you out here. I can tell you it gets frustrating when you have a little car, bumping on the sides of the track because you forgot to make it big enough. I would recommend about 2.5 - 3 foot radius, especially if you're racing. I know that seems big, but you'll be glad once you do make it that big. You may want to consider banked curves, although it does make it harder to drive and is especially hard to make.

What design DO you have in mind? I would recommend something similar to Daytona's track.

Another quesition, what would you be making the surfaces with?

293 feet long does seem long...I would aim for about 100ish, depending on how much room you have.

I might also mention a portable system, built on some sort of platform, but thats just a recommendation.

I hope I helped,
Todd

SpitFireV12RR said:

What design DO you have in mind? I would recommend something similar to Daytona's track.

Another quesition, what would you be making the surfaces with?

I might also mention a portable system, built on some sort of platform, but thats just a recommendation.

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I got a custom design in mind. sort of an offset D-shaped oval. it's a bit more complex than I care to explain at this stage of the game.

Well, the problem I have is that my yard is NOT flat, which obviously doesn't make for a very good oval track. Therefore I will be building up. Framework in lumber with a concrete surface. certainly not "portable" by any means but definately reusable. I want to make it with absolutely no screws. Mostly strong joints and probably some nut and bolt fasterners. I want to be able to break the surfact w/o destroying the framework so I can take it with me when the time comes.

anyways, I'm finding that the maximum amountof space I could probably get away with using is pretty small, far less than 100 ft I think. This concerns me, but not excessively. Only because I understand the physics are different with r/c's so comparing sizes to the real world is hard or in most cases illogical. They handle soooo much better relative to their size that to recreate the same type of handling characteristics I assume the track needs to be pretty tight, which means track times are very short.. less than a few seconds I figure. Keep in mind I'm lookin to have something closer to that of Richmond or Dover rather than Daytona or Dega. So if I have any average track speed of 18mph with a car that capable of 25(with proper gearing) that's ok with me.

I'm saying 100 feet total, including turns and straitaways...100 ft of track, layed out how you want.

thanks for your suggestion. I think I'll be lucky to break 50 ft. centerline with the amount of space I have to work with. not exactly sure yet untill I finish the basic layout.

Are you going to give the track banked coners ?

dougc said:

Are you going to give the track banked coners ?

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yes, I'm planning on it.

Wow I want to see this. If it looks good maybe I will get a on road micro and try to make a track out of wood.

If you're gonna go with banked corners, keep the straitaways slightly banked...about 2 or 3 defgrees.

SpitFireV12RR said:

If you're gonna go with banked corners, keep the straitaways slightly banked...about 2 or 3 defgrees.

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I gave that a thought but decided I wanted it flat. throttle control is very important in my design

I just finished drawing up the centerline. It measures a little shy of 50' total length. If I don't modify it at this stage it will fit in an area no larger than 22'x12'. I think the size will suit a stock motor ok, I'm just concerned about handling in the corners. I just dont want to run a car slow enough that it can go flat out all the way around.

I tried turning my Slab 26 x 9 into a track and it was too tight for the Baja motor....I had some other issues that made it harder to run the course but I could tell it wasn't going to cut it....If your yard is uneven why don't you do an offroad course......you can use the elevation change to your advantage and stand at the bottom of the incline...you can then see the whole track w/ no blindspots.....

and you won't need to build the wooden frame......

Take your car out to a parking lot and start doing some laps. Measure the size when you feel comfortable..

Part of racing is adapting to what you have available. If all tracks were the same we would get complacent.

Plaid- I've been goin back and forth between doing just that and on-road. I contemplated doing an on-road road course because I would be able to use the elevation change like you said, but I really want to build an oval. Besides, building the frame has turned into a hobby in itself. I'm very excited about it. Time to put my AutoCAD LT to work

Eddy- I havn't loaded up the M18 with electronics yet. It's built, it just doesn't go.

As of now I have a 2D top view layout finished. It will end up a little larger than I noted above. The best way I can descrive it is an "offset D-shaped" oval. Try to picture a small Pocono exept turns 1 and 2 are almost one large turn that starts tighter than it ends.
Here are the approximate centerline dimensions for those interested...

Back stretch (think of the front stretch of Pocono): 13'-6" 2ft. wide
Turn 2 (Pocono turn 1): 9'-5" 135 degree 3ft. wide
Turn 3 (Pocono turn 2): 12'-2" 76.5 degree 3ft.- 2ft. wide
Front stretch (Pocono straight #3): 7'-5" 2ft. wide
Turn 1 (Pocono turn 3): 6'-7" 150 degree 2ft. wide

I think a stock or a non-big block modified will be sufficient for the size as far as speed is concerned. To make the handling more realistic I think making the car RWD may help. That's just an assumption though. The grip of the surface will make a huge difference as well.

I havn't yet decided on the banking although I do have a general plan.
Turn 1: medium bank 22-26ish
Turn 2: mild progressive 8(inside) to 18(outside)
Turn 3: turn 2 levels to zero bank (or low bank 4) within 7 feet
still not sure where the pivot points will be at all the turn entries and exits

Now I have to break the corners into small straight segments that can be cut and installed end to end at rather shallow angles. I just need to decide on the maximum angle between segments and shortest length of segments I should allow. After that I can start giving the track it's depth. Once the perimeter lines are finished I can actually start to draw the individual pieces that each segment represents.

And that's just the perimeters! Believe it or not I actually enjoy this!

Plaid- feel free to chime in here anytime buddy

is this taken from the bristol model you did?

Plaidfish said:

is this taken from the bristol model you did?

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no, but I'm going about it in pretty much the same manner. Matter of fact, I did that model with a trial version of TurboCad and saved it as an AutoCad file for you to view. I finally figured out how to draw in a different plane utilizing UCS in in my ACLT so I've been able to do all the work in ACLT which I'm excited about. This is gonna take a lot of work but it's fun I don't even have an estimated time to finish the design.. not that it would matter, I don't have the required tools to build it either..HA! (yet anyways)