Track length to get a car up to full speed

[Peter1707822935]

Hi, does anyone know roughly the track length needed to get a car up to full speed, I have seen some video's where a car hits a "full size speed" of 220mph on a relatively small track. Thanks.

[Andy P.]

220 mph in 1/32 scale is 6.875 miles per hour in "real" speed which is roughly a brisk pace for a human i.e. slightly more than walking but not outright running.

How long of a track a car needs to achieve this is all dependent on the gearing (and to an extent the motor).

Just like on a bicycle the higher the gear the higher the speed but the longer it will take to get there. Conversely, a lower geared car will hit its highest speed faster but the overall highest speed will be lower.

It is all explained here:

BTW: There are those out there that argue one should use "high" and "low" the other way around the argument being there are fewer teeth on the gears and therefore a "lower" number for a "higher" speed.

I use the terms roughly as how they are on real cars with a "higher" gear i.e. 5th verses 4th usually results in a higher speed.

While the motor does play a role it is pretty much down to the overall RPM. There are motors as low as 10k RPM and as high as 30k RPM. Obviously a higher RPM motor will result in a higher top speed....

Most standard cars or in the middle around 15k-16k.

[Peter1707822935]

Thanks for the reply and the information, as you have probably guessed I am a newbie to the sport. I am building a track using Scalextric Sport track, I have an area of 23ft long by 5ft wide reducing to 3ft wide for the last 6ft.

This last six foot will be a little tricky to extend the track into so I am just trying to work out whether a 17ft straight is long enough to really let the cars rip or whether going to the extra effort to gain the extra 6ft is worth it.

The intention is to build a permanent track that is quite technically challenging to drive on with a long fast straight to a R2 and long sweeping corners.

Regards Peter

[Andy P.]

A general rule of thumb that many people use is as long as you can go full throttle for 1-2 seconds you are pretty much maxing out the car. 17 foot or 5.2 meters is a nice long bit of track!

A few other tips:

When you start hitting 30 feet/10 meters of track you might have problems with power drops. See here for tips: https://uk.scalextric.com/community/advice/track-maintenance

Depending on your powerbase you might be able to use 2 power packs as well.

Regarding track design: If the space is wide enough try to use wider curves at the end of that long straight so it gives people more time to react: 22.5° R4, 22.5°R3 and then maybe 22.5° or 45° R2 to get around... it make for a much smoother driving experience...

It is my personal preference as I tend to drive with underage drivers and they like to go like bats out of heck....