Best way to correct slower lanes??

[Tomcat14]

The track we use at our church seems to have some variations in the lanes. Lane 1 is fastest, and Lane 4 is the slowest. I was curious if anyone has some ideas on how to even these out. I thought about adjusting the hinges on the starting gate to give lane 4 just a little bit of a head start.

[gpraceman]

First, I would say to check the transitions from section to section. The surface of the downhill edge should be even with, if not slightly below, the surface of the uphill edge to avoid a "speed bump". Also check the lane strip transitions. Ideally, you would want the downhill edges to be taperered inwards so there is not an edge for a wheel to catch on.

You also should check all of the surfaces (including the surface of the lane strips) for any bumps or divots.

Another thing to consider is levelness of the track. If the track sections are not level side-to-side, then you will induce iniquities in the lanes.

You will never be able to get every lane to perform the same, so if the difference between the "bad" lane and "good" lane is not extreme and you are running every car on every lane, then everyone is at the same advantage/disadvantage.

[Stan Pope]

Equalizing the lanes will be a challenge. "Compensation", changing one attribute to equalize the composite, will probably not be satisfactory for all cars. The reason is that different cars respond differently to different track attributes.

Let's list some of the variables:
1. Total lane length.
2. Height above finish line for all points along the track on which the wheels may rest. (This covers track slope.)
3. Smoothness of the track surface.
4. Track section joint smoothness.
5. Track surface "stickiness".
6. Track surface compressibility.
7. Lane guide smoothness.
Maybe someone else can add some that I may miss.

If it helps to appreciate the need to equalize at this "micro level", recall that flex body design is engineered to minimize the effect of track joint and track surface smoothness. If you shorten a lane to compensate for losses that most cars incur from track joint problems, you give the "flex design" cars an advantage!

[gpraceman]

Let's list some of the variables:
1. Total lane length.
2. Height above finish line for all points along the track on which the wheels may rest. (This covers track slope.)
3. Smoothness of the track surface.
4. Track section joint smoothness.
5. Track surface "stickiness".
6. Track surface compressibility.
7. Lane guide smoothness.
Maybe someone else can add some that I may miss.

I would add side-to-side levelness of the track surface.

[Stan Pope]

Let's list some of the variables:
1. Total lane length.
2. Height above finish line for all points along the track on which the wheels may rest. (This covers track slope.)
3. Smoothness of the track surface.
4. Track section joint smoothness.
5. Track surface "stickiness".
6. Track surface compressibility.
7. Lane guide smoothness.
Maybe someone else can add some that I may miss.

I would add side-to-side levelness of the track surface.

That is another way of expressing item 2! I should have listed it along with "track slope."

Noticed when I finished composing before that you had been in there, too! Good comments!

[Tomcat14]

Thanks guys for your input!! The variation between the lanes is not huge, but we all know it's there. I need to check the levelness side to side. I suspect that is where the problem is. I think I will also change our racing method so every car races in every lane. The weird thing is that my oldest son's car always does best in lane 1, but most other parents would say that lane 2 is fastest for their kids. Thanks once again, I'll check everything on your list and get them as close as possible.

[FRANKLIN WHALEY]

If the lanes are allready close, you can possibly use some fine sand paper or steel wool on the slow lanes. We only have a two lane track so it was easier for us. We used the timer and several different cars to verify that the lanes were getting close to being equal. We got ours with averages of five cars to .0038 difference.We ran each car ten times in each lane, alternating after each run. We allways do some test runs with different cars before testing or racing to verify the track hasn't changed.