# Tomy Hairpin



## AZSlot Racer (Dec 5, 2007)

Does the Tomy hairpin fit inside their 6" curve?
Thanks


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## noddaz (Aug 6, 1999)

*Yes it does.*

Yes.
Have fun.
Scott


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## 13013comstock (Nov 25, 2006)

I was wondering the same thing myself... Is the outside curbing a separate piece? I've seen a photograph of it both ways on a distributor's site.


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## noddaz (Aug 6, 1999)

*Yes it is...*



13013comstock said:


> I was wondering the same thing myself... Is the outside curbing a separate piece? I've seen a photograph of it both ways on a distributor's site.


The outside curbing is a seperate piece...
Scott


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## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

*The curbing is 2 pieces...*

It is a 2 pc doohickey that clips onto each side. nd


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## 13013comstock (Nov 25, 2006)

Thanks, I'll get one and give it a try. Heard they're a little tough to take with a fast car. I'm wondering how the layout will look since the tracks leaving and entering the hairpin will have to be touching...


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## Grandcheapskate (Jan 5, 2006)

I would get one and try it out with different chassis before commiting to it. I have never owned one, nor do I believe I will ever try to get one.

I have found that the 6" radius turns can be a problem in terms of maintaining shoe contact and keeping the traction magnets over the rails. Because of the sharpness of the turn (especially the inside lane of the 6" curve), you need to get the car to fishtail slightly in order to keep the shoes and traction magnets somewhat lined up with the rails. If you take a 6" curve slowly (coming off a straight), you will find that some chassis do the following:

1. The inside tires fall off the inside of the track. This is because the track bends sharply, and while the front of the car may have started turning, the rear has not.

2. Because the car does not turn as sharply/quickly as the curve, the shoes don't follow the curvature of the rails. This causes some types of shoes to lose contact with (move off) the rails.

3. Same as #2 for the traction magnets. As the rail bends but the car remains somewhat straight, the traction magnets move from directly over the rails. This causes you to lose magnetic downforce and can, on some chassis, cause the pickup springs to uncompress and raise the guide pin out of the slot.

Joe


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## roadrner (Jul 21, 1999)

13013comstock said:


> Thanks, I'll get one and give it a try. Heard they're a little tough to take with a fast car. I'm wondering how the layout will look since the tracks leaving and entering the hairpin will have to be touching...


Just make sure you show us a pic so we can all see.  rr


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## weirdjack (Apr 11, 2007)

I've owned one....seemed like a cool idea when I bought it. 
You might want to try one out first. They can be quite fussy to navigate. Some cars can't run through it slowly, some can't go too fast. I had problems with T-Jets in general on it. They'd lose electrical contact halfway through unless you went just right with a enough drift to keep the pickups aligned with the rails. If not, the car would just sit there dead. Then magnet cars were hard to get slowed down enough to get around it without deslotting. All in all, it was just a cute piece that was a major pain for me and got thrown out.
Jack


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## JordanZ870 (Nov 25, 2004)

I would be happy to send mine (Hairpin with aprons) to anyone (except 'Nuther dave LOL) who would like to try one out (risk free) without having to spend hard-earned slot-dollars on one. :thumbsup:

The first guy that sends me his addy in a PM by 1-26-08 gets it, hey!
I'll PM ya back if it is headed your way! :thumbsup:


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## Xence (Oct 2, 2007)

You have a pm.

Cheers,
Xence


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## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

*Dang!!!*

... too slow. nd


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## Dslot (Sep 2, 2007)

There's more info on the Tomy hairpin starting near the bottom of page 2 of the 4'x4' thread . Seems like experiences with T-jets vary from user to user - TJD241 reports that his Tjets run well thru the hairpin; AFXs and Xtractions seem to be a problem, but might be fixable with pickup-shoe tweaks.


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## Xence (Oct 2, 2007)

Chiming in with Dslot's point. I was the one that started that post and used one hairpin like a madman. I found that what Dslot is saying was right on the mark. What I did to correct this though was to just find a bunch of the real wide AW pickups and that completely solved the problem concerning getting stuck in that hairpin turn. 

Hope that helps.


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## Jim Norton (Jun 29, 2007)

*Everything but...*

We have raced just about everything around the hair pin and found that AFX and T-jets will not negotiate the inner turn as the pickups are not wide enought to touch the tight radius rails.

Everything else, Like-Like, modern AFX.....go around really well and are actually fun and surprising to watch as they whip around.

I consider it a great piece of track.

Jim Norton
Huntsville, Alabama


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## Grandcheapskate (Jan 5, 2006)

Jim Norton said:


> Everything else, Like-Like, modern AFX.....go around really well and are actually fun and surprising to watch as they whip around.
> 
> Jim Norton
> Huntsville, Alabama


Jim,
Will they all go around the curve if you take it very slow? By slow, I mean no drifting or fishtailing. As I said before, my sense is just about any chassis will have trouble taking the inner lane of a 6" curve slow; a 3" curve has to be much worse.

Joe


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## AZSlot Racer (Dec 5, 2007)

I bought one and it works great. I don't have any older cars so the T-Jet and AFX problems aren't really a concern. It's great with the SRT's and Super G+'s I have. I also had no problems with a couple of AW cars I've got. All in all it's pretty cool, thanks for the input


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## Jim Norton (Jun 29, 2007)

We usually place the hairpin in a very slow portion of the layout. So, yes I can say that "modern" cars can negotiate as they "brake." Another reason for such placement where its slow is that 2 cars can't go through it side by side. This allows a little time and driving skill to yield or pass your opponent.

An aside.....Once, on our customary 4 lane, we placed the hairpin at the end of about 14' of straight away. This proved to be a great challenge for everyone learning to out brake the competition into the curve!

Jim Norton
Huntsville, Alabama


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## Slott V (Feb 3, 2005)

Grandcheapskate said:


> As I said before, my sense is just about any chassis will have trouble taking the inner lane of a 6" curve slow; a 3" curve has to be much worse.
> 
> Joe


Actually every type of chassis will make it through both sides of a 6" turn without problems. I have 2 90° 6" on my track and they are definitely tricky but don't upset the car. Makes for some good driving skills.


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## Grandcheapskate (Jan 5, 2006)

Slott V said:


> Actually every type of chassis will make it through both sides of a 6" turn without problems. I have 2 90° 6" on my track and they are definitely tricky but don't upset the car. Makes for some good driving skills.


 I've found that a 90 degree turn isn't as bad as using 6" curves for a 180 degree turn. On a 4 piece 180 degree turn (1/8 curve pieces), spinouts seem to happen at the exit of piece 2 and entering piece 3. Where I use 6" curves for only a 90 degree turn, I have much less problem. When used by themselves, they are easy to negotiate.

Joe


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## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

*With experiences yay and nay...*

Perhaps driving style and the controller being used plays a part as well. Not good vs bad.... just different. A case of what your used to? I'm not sure, but I wouldn't have put in 4 more hairpins if I had trouble with the first. Same with the 6 inch curves. If they were a problem ... wouldn't have glued'em down. My first permanent layout had 5 hairpins and lotsa 6's. On my hairpins, smaller tjets could almost could get through at the same time. I had 2 MEV Mini's and 2 MEV D-Types that were a BLAST racing together through the hairpins. My second permanent layout (the current one) has 1 hairpin. The next layout will have ZERO hairpins. Why?.... For a change!!! I still have no plans for any chassis except tjets and tuffys.... Just changing my layout errrrr...because I can!! My offer still stands though, if anyone wants a hairpin, just PM me with your address and I'll send ya one.  nd


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## AZSlot Racer (Dec 5, 2007)

I have a 6" 180 degree turn at the end of a semi technical section that includes the hairpin. The Slotman file is close but I have an 18" curve going into the last 180 turn. I'm still experimenting but this is the best layout so far, it might be the one that gets nailed down and landscaped.


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## Slott V (Feb 3, 2005)

I've always thought if you're going to include a hairpin you should do 2 of them so the other lanes have the same challenge.


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## Crimnick (May 28, 2006)

Slott V said:


> I've always thought if you're going to include a hairpin you should do 2 of them so the other lanes have the same challenge.


Not a problem with lane rotation... :thumbsup: 

But since the hairpin is also a lane squeeze..I threw a 9" lane squeeze on the outer entrance to the 6" outer hairpin...for the joy of the other two racers...

But I'm just evil that way...

That's why I call that section the "mosh pit"....


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