oval speed calculation

[John Finch]

Hay, I hope nobodys got copyright on this. This is goog stuff! We've ran sprint cars for the last 10 years and I had these calculations for most of the tracks we ran. It's nice letting these brain children do the math for you. THANKS!

ps lane 1 is not always the fast way around the track. I know some of you brain boys will dispute this but that's OK........."Im OK , your OK" or something like that

Agreed. How fast the boat can travel on an egg shaped line vs a perfect oval where you scrubb off speed with a tighter turn can only be determined by experimentation with your particular boat.

 

[Greg Sheckler]

Hay, I hope nobodys got copyright on this. This is goog stuff! We've ran sprint cars for the last 10 years and I had these calculations for most of the tracks we ran. It's nice letting these brain children do the math for you. THANKS!

ps lane 1 is not always the fast way around the track. I know some of you brain boys will dispute this but that's OK........."Im OK , your OK" or something like that

Agreed. How fast the boat can travel on an egg shaped line vs a perfect oval where you scrubb off speed with a tighter turn can only be determined by experimentation with your particular boat.

The egg-shaped course length still had me wondering, so I threw some stuff together on the tube, and came up with this:

oval course lengths

Didn't make it out far enough to get a 1250' length. :blink:

Greg

 

[Wesleys Custom Graphics]

The egg-shaped course length still had me wondering, so I threw some stuff together on the tube, and came up with this:

oval course lengths

Didn't make it out far enough to get a 1250' length. :blink:

Greg

This is a great chart Greg! Thanks! Now if I can get it to print out without getting cut off. You got any calculations to help me out with that????

 

[Marty Davis]

Interesting chart. I like the way it fills out the blanks for you. Question........Is this chart only good if you figure a straight line thru the traps buoy 6 to 1? I have found that the oval course is fastest when driven with neutral rudder on the boat, which equates to an egg shaped course. One of the secrets to a faster lap time is not using the rudder down the straights but rather letting the boat run it's natural line.

John:

Yes it considers your line down the front SAW or back SAW as being straight. That is the way that I drive the course. I have seen some VERY fast times layed down using your method though. Please consider the old article that I did which defines the strategy that I like. http://rcboat.com/course.htm The reasoning is that using this method, you are accelerating over a longer period and turning over a shorter period. Your turn fin technology MUST be superb in order to use this method. If the boat slows down a lot because of the fin, it is better using the football shape.

One of the cool things about the spreadsheet is that you can find the optimum time that you can turn with your boat by just doing one turn and one SAW. Making changes will show you easily what you are capable of doing by just doing one turn and one SAW. Great for testing and preparing....

Since I have not been competing, maybe my ideas are out of style and obsolete.



Marty Davis

 

[Ron Olson]

I'm glas that Wesley saw something too that I was wondering about.

Watching NASCAR racing, sometimes the fastest way around an oval track is not close to the inside wall but higher up where they don't scrub off more speed although their foot can be to the floor all the way around. It makes me think that maybe this can be applied to the 2-lap record runs. It might be something for someone to try for the heck of it.

 

[Greg Sheckler]

This is a great chart Greg! Thanks! Now if I can get it to print out without getting cut off. You got any calculations to help me out with that????

Wesley, if I understand you correctly, you need to save the image and use a viewer that lets you do do a print preview, so you can verify that it scaled the image to fit the paper. If you're still having problems I'll resize it for you. Also, cad is a cool thing. I can plot any theoretical course, then just query for the length of it, so if you want to see any other iterations, just say so. Greg

 

[Don Ferrette]

This has been a cool thread with alot of interesting facts & ideas laid on the table. However, the bottom line here is your speed is based on a course line that is physically impossible to drive as it goes thru the centerline of the buoys. :blink:

 

[John Finch]

Interesting chart. I like the way it fills out the blanks for you. Question........Is this chart only good if you figure a straight line thru the traps buoy 6 to 1? I have found that the oval course is fastest when driven with neutral rudder on the boat, which equates to an egg shaped course. One of the secrets to a faster lap time is not using the rudder down the straights but rather letting the boat run it's natural line.

John:

Yes it considers your line down the front SAW or back SAW as being straight. That is the way that I drive the course. I have seen some VERY fast times layed down using your method though. Please consider the old article that I did which defines the strategy that I like. http://rcboat.com/course.htm The reasoning is that using this method, you are accelerating over a longer period and turning over a shorter period. Your turn fin technology MUST be superb in order to use this method. If the boat slows down a lot because of the fin, it is better using the football shape.

One of the cool things about the spreadsheet is that you can find the optimum time that you can turn with your boat by just doing one turn and one SAW. Making changes will show you easily what you are capable of doing by just doing one turn and one SAW. Great for testing and preparing....

Since I have not been competing, maybe my ideas are out of style and obsolete.



Marty Davis

Marty,

Why are you no longer competing?

 

[Marty Davis]

Interesting chart. I like the way it fills out the blanks for you. Question........Is this chart only good if you figure a straight line thru the traps buoy 6 to 1? I have found that the oval course is fastest when driven with neutral rudder on the boat, which equates to an egg shaped course. One of the secrets to a faster lap time is not using the rudder down the straights but rather letting the boat run it's natural line.

John:

Yes it considers your line down the front SAW or back SAW as being straight. That is the way that I drive the course. I have seen some VERY fast times layed down using your method though. Please consider the old article that I did which defines the strategy that I like. http://rcboat.com/course.htm The reasoning is that using this method, you are accelerating over a longer period and turning over a shorter period. Your turn fin technology MUST be superb in order to use this method. If the boat slows down a lot because of the fin, it is better using the football shape.

One of the cool things about the spreadsheet is that you can find the optimum time that you can turn with your boat by just doing one turn and one SAW. Making changes will show you easily what you are capable of doing by just doing one turn and one SAW. Great for testing and preparing....

Since I have not been competing, maybe my ideas are out of style and obsolete.



Marty Davis

Marty,

Why are you no longer competing?

John:

I hung it up 2 years ago and sold everything. Just had ENOUGH. Have a slight itch to do a little racing, but will have to see.

Marty Davis

 

[John Finch]

Interesting chart. I like the way it fills out the blanks for you. Question........Is this chart only good if you figure a straight line thru the traps buoy 6 to 1? I have found that the oval course is fastest when driven with neutral rudder on the boat, which equates to an egg shaped course. One of the secrets to a faster lap time is not using the rudder down the straights but rather letting the boat run it's natural line.

John:

Yes it considers your line down the front SAW or back SAW as being straight. That is the way that I drive the course. I have seen some VERY fast times layed down using your method though. Please consider the old article that I did which defines the strategy that I like. http://rcboat.com/course.htm The reasoning is that using this method, you are accelerating over a longer period and turning over a shorter period. Your turn fin technology MUST be superb in order to use this method. If the boat slows down a lot because of the fin, it is better using the football shape.

One of the cool things about the spreadsheet is that you can find the optimum time that you can turn with your boat by just doing one turn and one SAW. Making changes will show you easily what you are capable of doing by just doing one turn and one SAW. Great for testing and preparing....

Since I have not been competing, maybe my ideas are out of style and obsolete.



Marty Davis

Marty,

Why are you no longer competing?

John:

I hung it up 2 years ago and sold everything. Just had ENOUGH. Have a slight itch to do a little racing, but will have to see.

Marty Davis

I understand. You have been so involved in the hobby and have given so much. There comes a point when you have to say enough. I got to the same point and elected to cut back rather than stop all together. Instead of letting the hobby run my life, I manage my time and do what JOHN wants rather than falling prey to everyone elses wishes. It took a while to learn to say NO when people asked for magazine articles, being CD for a race, running a club, being in the politics, etc. I have finally become just another guy at the races and it feels great. I race when I feel like it, and that's mostly local racing with the guys in Chesapeake and an out of town race every now and then. Perhaps you can enjoy the hobby again if you keep a low profile and play at YOUR leisure. You deserve it.

 

[Marty Davis]

Interesting chart. I like the way it fills out the blanks for you. Question........Is this chart only good if you figure a straight line thru the traps buoy 6 to 1? I have found that the oval course is fastest when driven with neutral rudder on the boat, which equates to an egg shaped course. One of the secrets to a faster lap time is not using the rudder down the straights but rather letting the boat run it's natural line.

John:

Yes it considers your line down the front SAW or back SAW as being straight. That is the way that I drive the course. I have seen some VERY fast times layed down using your method though. Please consider the old article that I did which defines the strategy that I like. http://rcboat.com/course.htm The reasoning is that using this method, you are accelerating over a longer period and turning over a shorter period. Your turn fin technology MUST be superb in order to use this method. If the boat slows down a lot because of the fin, it is better using the football shape.

One of the cool things about the spreadsheet is that you can find the optimum time that you can turn with your boat by just doing one turn and one SAW. Making changes will show you easily what you are capable of doing by just doing one turn and one SAW. Great for testing and preparing....

Since I have not been competing, maybe my ideas are out of style and obsolete.



Marty Davis

Marty,

Why are you no longer competing?

John:

I hung it up 2 years ago and sold everything. Just had ENOUGH. Have a slight itch to do a little racing, but will have to see.

Marty Davis

I understand. You have been so involved in the hobby and have given so much. There comes a point when you have to say enough. I got to the same point and elected to cut back rather than stop all together. Instead of letting the hobby run my life, I manage my time and do what JOHN wants rather than falling prey to everyone elses wishes. It took a while to learn to say NO when people asked for magazine articles, being CD for a race, running a club, being in the politics, etc. I have finally become just another guy at the races and it feels great. I race when I feel like it, and that's mostly local racing with the guys in Chesapeake and an out of town race every now and then. Perhaps you can enjoy the hobby again if you keep a low profile and play at YOUR leisure. You deserve it.

John:

You sure summed it up.....

I just got so burned out. In preparation for the Nats every year, I would work for the entire season to be prepared as well as I could. The last 2 weeks, I ran every day to be prepared. Before every race, I would work for several days and it just got to be too much. I don't seem to be able to do as you are doing and just enjoy it. I ALWAYS had to be totally prepared and it took to much time.

It was, and still is tough to replace all the time that I spent in the hobby. I find myself with too much free time that I never had in the past.

Maybe some time I might be able to convince myself to do as you are doing and just go out and have fun - I doubt it though.... :blink:

I do still enjoy the discussions and also enjoy providing a place for people to interchange on ideas. I still like to get into in depth discussions with knowlegable people and also with newer people who ask good questions and show that they are interested. Guess that will always remain fun for me. The old tech notes that I started (and have not done in a while) seem to be a good way to give something back to the hobby. Maybe I will get back to that sometime too.

Oh well, enough of the "old timer talk"......

Marty Davis