Setting up a new indoor 1/10 offroad track

[VintageRacer]

I am in the fortunate position of having been given money to set up a school club in the school I work at with intention of getting youngsters interested in the hobby whilst teaching them some physics, engineering, etc....

My plan is to start in the school theater as the stage will make a great ready made rostrum and there is no permanent seating so we have a decent sized hall (I think) to layout some basic tracks. What sort of dimensions of room would you expect to need to get a useful space for 1/10th off-road buggies? Initially there will only be 4 cars racing at a time, but I hope kids will get there own and that number increase.

I could use the gym which has a high level viewing gallery, but it is much higher than a standard rostrum, but the space is much bigger.

Next is how to mark the track? I am currently thinking about getting some foam pipe insulation or foam swimming aids (sometimes called noodles or woggles) with pieces of old carpet on some of the corners, but maybe there is a better solution? It must be quick to put out and pack away and not be very expensive.

Longer term if the club takes off, I hope to get the kids to build something permanent outdoors in the school grounds.

[Frecklychimp]

Great idea, anything which brings new blood into the hobby is a bonus, particularly if it teaches youngsters some engineering skills and r/c cars are a great example.

We at A1 Racing Club have been running beginners nights or a couple of months to get youngsters into the hobby and it has been successful, the parents all agree that they want to get the kids off the xbox etc and out doing something social so you are doing something good.

one thing that may cause issues is the grip factor, if you are going to be running on a slippy surface then the lack of grip will make it hard for the kids to get used to controlling the cars in any manner and lead to frustration from the start... maybe something to consider, carpet is expensive, awkward to store and unless you use decent stuff it can fluff up and damage bearings and drivetrain on cars plus wear fast!

for basic track markings it may be worth looking at fire hose as its easy to shape and won't get damaged by the cars... a lot of clubs use it for marking, we filled ours with gravel, which makes it hard to move if hit by cars, doesn't cause damage to cars if they hit it but it would be a pain to lug about and store if we didn't have a venue where we can leave it laid out permanently over winter.

But you could leave it empty to mark out basic tracks and simply roll it up or storage... worth going to your local fire brigade and asking if it would be possible to have some old hose (or offer a contribution to their welfare funds etc) that they have to discard after certain use or damage etc... if you explained it was for a good cause then they should be keen to help.

If not then we bought ours from a builders merchant and they do good deals if you need a good amount.

Hope this helps a little, best of luck with the venture

[ghostdogg]

Originally Posted by VintageRacer

I am in the fortunate position of having been given money to set up a school club in the school I work at with intention of getting youngsters interested in the hobby whilst teaching them some physics, engineering, etc....

My plan is to start in the school theater as the stage will make a great ready made rostrum and there is no permanent seating so we have a decent sized hall (I think) to layout some basic tracks. What sort of dimensions of room would you expect to need to get a useful space for 1/10th off-road buggies? Initially there will only be 4 cars racing at a time, but I hope kids will get there own and that number increase.

I could use the gym which has a high level viewing gallery, but it is much higher than a standard rostrum, but the space is much bigger.

Next is how to mark the track? I am currently thinking about getting some foam pipe insulation or foam swimming aids (sometimes called noodles or woggles) with pieces of old carpet on some of the corners, but maybe there is a better solution? It must be quick to put out and pack away and not be very expensive.

Longer term if the club takes off, I hope to get the kids to build something permanent outdoors in the school grounds.

Hi Mate,

After running a club in my school when i was a teacher found old tug of war ropes ideal or old climbing ropes. There will be a company that comes round to the school to test the PE equipment ask them for a kind donation of the climbing ropes they replace (they will just throw them away otherwise).
Good luck

Oli

[sosidge]

As mentioned above, fire hose filled with something a bit heavier (gravel for example) is quite good, stays still most of the time. Foam probably won't. Fire brigade used to give it away for nothing once it had come to the end of its life, hopefully they still will.

Another marker is shipping ropes, again with a little begging you might get them from the docks when they are at the end of their life. Old tyres make good corner apexes, I've even seen clubs make their own concrete or even iron castings - these have a good weight to them.

Another popular one - more common with on-road tracks on carpet but OK for off-road too - is square drainpipe sections which you can link together with wooden blocks cut to the correct shape. You could attach some ballast to the ends.

As far as track dimensions go, for 1/10th buggy I'd be looking at 2m lane width minimum, ideally closer to 2.4m. Anything less than 2m and the track starts to feel very small and it is difficult to turn the car full circle within the lanes. For a decent variety in the layout, you are looking at 4 lanes as the track width, and a straight as long as you can manage. Anything less than about 15m will start to feel very short for a 1/10th car, even a slow one.

Using a viewing gallery as a rostrum may not work out so well, you can end up with a strange perspective on the obstacles, and it can take a while to get up and down which will cause delays with marshalling and switching the cars on. Low level stage units are great rostrums (rostra?) if the school has them already.

Sounds like a good project, hope you can get it up and running.

[VintageRacer]

I have a friend that works for the fire service, looks like I may have to sweet talk him.

As far as track dimensions go, for 1/10th buggy I'd be looking at 2m lane width minimum, ideally closer to 2.4m. Anything less than 2m and the track starts to feel very small and it is difficult to turn the car full circle within the lanes. For a decent variety in the layout, you are looking at 4 lanes as the track width, and a straight as long as you can manage. Anything less than about 15m will start to feel very short for a 1/10th car, even a slow one.

So ideally I need a minimum of 10m x 15m or thereabouts? Might have to bring the tape measure to work tomorrow.

[Paul Field]

Hi I run a small club in a village hall. We use old shotblast hose and fire hose with small bore drainpipe inside.

Take a look at a video of our club http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_BRk...3&feature=plcp


Where are you in the country?

Good Luck

[blue_pinky]

Hi, I help to run the Caldicot indoor club, which runs 10ths and 1/16th scale cars...

Our track area works out at about 20m x 12m and is just about an ok size for 10ths to run.

For track markings we're using the fire hose and gravel method for corners and lumps/bumps, plus sections of guttering for straight sections.

For floor covering we use proper racing carpet which is perfect for racing on, but expensive. The club has been running for over 20 years so it's had time to accumulate stuff and the bit of cash needed for the carpet. Alternative is to try any cheap/blaggable short pile carpet in the short term...it might not offer the consistent grip levels and wear rate of the racing stuff, but it could get you started.

Try the floor you have there first though, see what the grip is like, you might get lucky...as long as the school doesn't mid you running on it and it doesn't mark. A lot of clubs run just on the floor...although as mentioned driving on slippy is a special skill, but a useful one.

1/16th scale cars are pretty good on all floors to be honest so might be another alternative...they are much better than they used to be and do really suit smaller rooms, while tolerating slippy floors better as the 2 main makes of cars are both 4wd...just a thought. Cheaper to run the smaller cars too...and once you can drive one of those you can easily step up to 10th from there...great starting point.

Timing equipment is your next cost consideration...the AMB stuff we use is expensive, but is currently 'the standard' at most clubs. Although I have heard of slightly cheaper alternatives.

[VintageRacer]

Originally Posted by Paul Field

Where are you in the country?

Midlands, Wolverhampton.

[Big G]

Ludlow club races in a school hall.
We have a large canteen that we can pit in also