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My oval is almost ready. It has three lanes and I want to make it digital to become a bit independent from the three lanes and thus three cars, but bring in a bit more action.

Since I have no experience at all with oval racing I need suggestions.

Where is it useful to put the lane changes for passing ? And how many ?
Any tip is highly appreciated.

Roland

I would suggest putting the lane changers just coming off the turn. If you hit them at high speed they can deslot and can also be unreliable as far as picking up the signal in time.
As for how many, I like a set up that can move from any lane to any other lane each time. Cheers.

Thank you very much Patwa !

Nevertheless it is a bit sad that you are the only one in a thread called "Oval Racing HQ" who seems to be able to reply a question regarding an oval racing question.

Regards,
Roland

Roland,
I think most of that have ovals that are of the analog type.
Your question was in regards going digital, which many of us here have little to no experience with. Thus, we didn't have any advice for you.

You could try asking in the digital forum here on HRW. I think you'll get better response there.

Google SLOT CAR WOOD TRACK LANE CHANGERS.
There is a lot of info
Good luck and let us know how you progress .
Richard

Now I have enough brain games....

Thank you all !

One last question - would one lane changer be enough or should there be more ? I tend to two - one for changing the lane and one for back...
I´m still in doubt for myself wanting fuel management and other of the possible digital gimmicks ( rain etc ).
I think this is a matter of personal preferences and development regarding slotracing. I have been done it for 45 years now, but analog. Try to change my mindset... I think I should try it somewhere, maybe I´ll be convinced at once ?
Why I want to build in lane changers - well, I have only very little idea about oval racing ( live in Europe ) but I like it very much. But I have not understood until now what is the thrill of oval SLOTRACING ( apart from building nice cars ). You have to stay in your lane, normally the outer one is the slowest because its lane is the longest.
No action possible by passing or running in one line or similar ( hard to explain for me..).
I thought digital racing would add a bit of that - running in one line, changing lane for passing etc.
So or so - I have many NASCARS of all generations ready to convert to slotcars and here in this forum such a lot of guidance how to build oval race cars that I can´t but do it !

Roland

What system are you going to run ssd has a number of programs that you can use.
I would say two lane changers, one at each end of the straights and if you want pit stops one more for the pit lane.

It was digital racing that got me back into slot cars 10 years ago. I spent a lot of time planning an oval. I ended up giving the digital track, chips, and other stuff away, but still think it's the way to go because of the realism of multiple cars in a lane and having to pick your lane to pass or not be passed.

I think putting the lane changers at the end of the straights is the way to go. Cars will be straightened out and can decide to go outside or inside of the car ahead of them thru the corner. I envisioned switches that would have a default setting to keep cars in the best driving lane, but could be activated to select the passing lane. At the next switch (other corner of the track or next lap) the switch would return cars in the passing lane to the driving lane unless activated. I was leaning toward just one switch at the entrance to turn 1 because it would be near the drivers for resetting de-slotted cars.

In my imagined setup the outside lane of a 2 lane track or middle lane of a 3 lane track would be the default driving lane. Cars could activate a lane change switch to get into a passing lane which would merge back into the driving lane by default at the next switch. I also thought about 'smart' switches that would not allow a lane change (become disabled) if they sensed a car in the area that would be crashed into by a lane change. A car entering a lane change area would disable the switch from bringing a car into its lane till it passed out of the lane change area. I appreciate that this might take some of the fun out of it for drivers who think the best part of digital racing is being able to T-bone other cars.

To me, having a bunch of cars lined up 2 by 2 on a 2 lane track for a race with the best cars in the rear (inverted by series points) would be tons of fun. Keep the races short like at a local short track and when a car brings out the caution it goes to the rear for the restart. Winning would require patience and skill as much as speed. And the reward for winning - probably starting last for the next race.

Slothead

I think you should plan a pit lane if you go digital. The fueling aspect adds a whole new dimension. Since you are routing your track go with long radius lane changers, especially on the pit entrance. Curved lane changers into the corners would be ideal as doing this makes the lane change the same as a corner with a shrinking radius.

Cheers

Dan

Inverted starts are standard for weekly dirt track racing on an oval. Combine that with cars who are involved with bringing out a caution going to the rear for restarts. Top runners need to be precise as they work their way thru the field. And keeping individual races short (8 - 10 laps for heats and 20 - 40 laps for features) means even slower cars can have a chance if they drive a great race. Short bursts of amazing fun that can be repeated.

My hope is that as technology gets faster and cheaper even solo racers will have access to fun like this due to 'intelligent' ghost cars. The missing piece right now is knowing just where a car is on the track in real time for more precise control, and there are ways to solve this problem.

Slothead