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Here are the most important things to make sure you get right:
#1 Make sure your wheels are on straight. Some people claim that putting your wheels slanted will make it faster by reducing friction, but I don't agree. Straight wheels mean your car will go straight and won't rub the guide rail.
#2 Make your car body light, then add weight to the back end. Try to get your car's center of gravity (balance point) as far back as possible without making it pop a wheelie. This is simple physics - The back end of your car will be at the top of the track at the starting line. The farther back your weight is, the more potential energy your car will have. Get your weight as close as possible to the maximum weight allowed (usually 5 ounces). We weigh cars at check in on an accurate digital scale, and my cars are always 5.000 ounces.
#3 Polish your axles and use graphite powder. I polish my axles with a series of sandpapers, from coarse to ultra fine, then finish off with some chrome polish. After your wheels are mounted, apply some graphite and then spin each wheel by flicking it with your finger A LOT to "work in" the graphite. Then leave it alone. Don't apply more graphite on race day.
Other general tips:
- Aerodynamics are really not that much of a factor on cars this small. Thin wedge-shaped cars tend to be faster because their weight is to the back, not because they have less drag.
- DON'T get any glue or paint on your wheels & axles! Put the wheels on after everything else is done and dry.
- Make sure no part of your car drags on the track or rubs against your wheels.
Well, what I did to win the derby back in '82 was to cut most of the back half off, and glue it on top of the front half, leaving enough of a flat bed in the back for the rear axle (it comes out looking like a big-rig, without the trailer). So then slap some blue and red paint on it so it looks like Optimus Prime, and let her rip.
The fun little surprise is when the cars are sitting on top of the track, all 4 wheels are touching. But once released, the front-heavy truck actually races with only its front wheels touching the track. Without the back end touching, the resistance is lessened, and the beast hauls. This was a total surprise to me, as at 8 years old, I was just trying to make it look cool. But it was a total blow-out. Won every race by a mile.
The next year, I wanted to make a sleek little Delorean looking thing, which I did. It probably would have done so-so as it was, but it was way under the max allowable weight. So then my mom stepped in with the idea of hollowing out the center of the car from the underside, and gluing in enough quarters to bring the weight up to max. The low, central center of gravity got me a repeat of the previous year, only this time, all wheels touched.
The following year was going to be something sick, as I had planned to remake the truck only this time deliberately balanced with quarters. Unfortunately, I wasn't in the scouts after that. So, unless they have changed the rules in the last 20 years, this'll probably blow them all away.
The shape is one of the least important aspects of a fast PWD car. I'm the PWD coordinator for our Pack and the father of 2 Scouts who make very fast cars. The car design did not play as much a role as weight, friction and alignment. Weight needs to be in the back - just think about a marble on a track - will it go faster on the incline or the flat part of the track - the incline so move the weight to the back so it is accelerating for the max time. Mount the weight across the car (not front to back) to reduce rotational force required as the car moves down the curve of the track. Do not have a pointy nose to the car or they may run it down the track backwards.
The theoretical maximum speed of a PWD car is governed by friction and gravity. The track starts 1.2192 meters (4 feet) up and is 12.8016 meters (42 feet) long. Gravitational acceleration is 9.8 meters/sec^2 (32 ft/sec^2). A perfectly frictionless car would be going 4.89 meters/sec after falling 1.2 meters (4 feet). Going at that speed, it would take 2.62 seconds to go the length of the course. That is a car and track with no friction - not going to happen in real life. My son's car had a best time of 4 runs of 3.5004 seconds, which is 74 percent of the theoretical best speed. He beat 30 cars at the Pack and 160 cars at Districts. His car was a modified wedge - the Ground Effects Machine on this site.
His car has an extended wheelbase with titanium weights in the back - high density, non-toxic. Three wheels were on the track and the axles were deburred, straightened and polished with 1500 grit emery paper and 1 mil polishing compound. Silver polish would probably do a good job for final polishing. He took the mold marks off the surface of the wheels. The only lubricant was powdered graphic. No nickel plated precision milled axles, no milled Teflon covered wheels with coned hubs. Aside from the paint and the weight, everything came out of the box. Aside from the bandsaw, my son used all the tools and did all the work.
It is all a "by chance" last year my son did not do well, he shed tears. We talked about winning/losing and how to improve. I looked up some tips and tricks, this year he placed 2nd for Den 3rd in pack. (and I am sure they played VERY little in his chance to win, but it made my son feel better knowing we tried our best to build a winning car even if it did not do well)
Wiki User
∙ 10y ago
Wiki User
∙ 11y agoThere is no one trick to making a Pinewood Derby car go fast. It is a combination of several different things that you do that make the car go faster. The four most important things to improving the speed of you car are weight placement, axle polishing, wheel roundness, and axle/wheel alignment. Remember that friction is the enemy of Pinewood Derby cars.
I could easily write a book on all the procedures you need to go through in order to make your car go faster, but luckily others have done this for me. My recommendation would be to go to Google and do a search on the words "Pinewood Bible". One of the first hits is a PDF file called the "Pinewood Bible" that was written in 2002. Even though the article is many years old, it covers in detail the basic points of making a Pinewood Derby car go fast. Once you've built a few cars and raced them you can begin to refine you techniques into what you feel works and what does not. Then become a member of one of the many Pinewood Derby forums that are out there (Derby Talk is a good place to start) and learn the finer points to tweaking every last bit energy out of your designs. This is the best track to follow for becoming a Master Pinehead like myself.
Wiki User
∙ 10y agoTHE BEST TIME IS 2.279 SECONDS ON REGULAR 35-FOOT TRACK!
My best time is 2.976 seconds on regular 35-foot track.
My son just raced his new design this year and won his district in Cub Scouts. His best time was 2.591 on a standard 35 ft track.
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What is the main fuel for a pinewood derby car?
gravity
How much can a pinewood derby car weigh?
5 ounces.
How can you make wheels for a pinewood derby car?
dude you can't make e'm, you have to buy them.
What makes your Pinewood Derby car move faster?
Make it small light, and stylish.
Were do you find a Mustang pinewood derby car?
If you are looking for a Mustang Pinewood Derby Car to build, go to Google and do a search on the words "Maximum Velocity Stallion". The first link will take you to a site were you can purchase the Stallion kit, that was modeled after the Ford Mustang.
How big is average pinewood derby stop stick?
If you are referring to the stop section on a Pinewood Derby track, the average length is about 4 feet; however, if you are good at making fast Pinewood Derby cars, it will take nearly double this length to safely stop your car. Because of this most Pinewood Derby races place a pillow or a jacket at the end of the stop section to abruptly stop those cars that over shoot the stop sections.
Where is a pinewood derby cars?
Pinewood Derby cars are popular for young boy scouts or anyone who is interested in soap box car racing. You can purchase them quite cheap online and they are sure to be a fun way to spend a day or few.
How tall is a pinewood derby car?
7 inches 7 inches is the length of the car, not the height (aka tall). Pinewood Derby cars are generally less than 3 inches in height; however, the actual height varies based on the electronic judge sensors that attached to the finish line of the track. The cars run under these sensors, so it is the height of the sensors from the track that determines how tall a Pinewood Derby car can be. I've seen some that can accommodate cars that are 6 to 7 inches in height.
Should the wheels be large in the front and back for a pinewood derby car?
You need to use the wheels from the kit. They are all the same size.
What is the difference between a pinewood derby car and a co2 dragster?
There are several differences. CO2 Dragsters (sometimes known as "Blast Cars") are longer and have thinner lighter wheels than Pinewood Derby cars. Also Pinewood Derby cars race using gravity as their only power, while C02 Dragsters use CO2 cartridges to power the car. The standard track size for a Pinewood Derby race is about 32 feet, while the track size area for a C02 Dragster is usually 80 feet or more. C02 Dragsters run on a filament string to guide them down the track, while most Pinewood Derby cars run on a center guide rail. C02 Dragsters usually can only run two cars at the same time due to the starting gates only being designed to accept two cars. Pinewood Derby cars on the average run on a four lane track (I've seen tracks as high as 12 lanes). There are very few C02 Dragster tracks that utilize an electronic finish line, while the majority of Pinewood Derby tracks use an electronic finish line. These are most of the differences between the two cars.
Why isn't there an 8 in your pinewood derby kit?
This is because the staging area on the track between the starting pin and the back end of the track is only suitable for a car that is 7 inches long. If you build your own track, you can extend this area so that your group can race longer cars (such as Pinewood Derby Big Rigs).
A picture of the fastest pinewood derby car?
i cannot give you a picture but i know that mine have always won in the small competitions i compete in. its always safe to go with a wedge. and put weight in the back but also in the front. you dont want the car tipping forward. not good. probably best to go with a little more weight in the back but not my too much. ya know what im sayin? im only 13 but i think im right. i just love cars and love racing my tiny wood ones! :) ~josette :) hope this helped a bit! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A good question, but one that is difficult to answer. You see, most Pinewood Derbies are held at the local levels. There is no "national" Pinewood Derby races that allow us to determine which car is considered "the fastest". Best answer I can give you is that in 2005, the BSA held a national Pinewood Derby Race, in honor of the 75th Cub Scouting Anniversary, in Irving, Texas. The winner of that race was a car called the Brett Bullet. If you go into Google Images and search on that name, a picture of the car will be displayed. This is the only car that has ever been named as "national champion" and there has never been another national race since. Now there are a few Pinewood Derby Racing Leagues out there, that do annual racing circuits, of which one of the most well known is the Lima Land Open, in Lima, Ohio. If you go out to Google and search on the words "Lima Land Open", you will find their site and pictures of past winners from past divisions. This is probably the best answer one can come up with to your question.
