# Short vs. Long wheelbase for Racing



## Dyno Dom

What are your opinions or set-ups for long vs. short wheelbase?
Include input for type of track(oval or road course) and chassis from
T-Jet to inline mag cars.


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## NTxSlotCars

I'm gonna give my opinion on the Tyco pan chassis.

The LWB tends to settle a chassis down, because the pin is behind the axle in this position.
Because of the geometry of the pin, relative to the LWB front wheels, the chassis wants to drive straight.
But, your preferred position also depends on your driving style.
If you like a lot of brake, you may want a SWB because you tend to slow down later into the corner.
If you like coast, you slow down earlier and drive out of the corner, so you may prefer a LWB chassis.

I prefer the LWB on most Tyco chassis because of my driving style.
From stock tires to push on silicones, they all seem to like the LWB better.
Of course, you can make all kinds of adjustments to the tires and magnet setup to suit your needs.


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## BRS Hobbies

Generally, a short wheelbase chassis will turn better than a long wheelbase chassis. A long wheelbase chassis will be more forgiving but will not be as fast through the tight corners so it is a trade off. 

Best regards,
Brian


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## smalltime

Long wheelbase for t-jets, anyhow.

Every car, in every "A" main in the last seven years at the Fray has been long wheelbase. 

In fact, the last short wheelbase car to win the Fray was Jack Rutherford in 2003. and that was a slip-on tired car.


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## Joe65SkylarkGS

smalltime said:


> Long wheelbase for t-jets, anyhow.
> 
> Every car, in every "A" main in the last seven years at the Fray has been long wheelbase.
> 
> In fact, the last short wheelbase car to win the Fray was Jack Rutherford in 2003. and that was a slip-on tired car.



Thats one serious and informative statement.

Put that in the bank Dom.:thumbsup:


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## slotking

in general the short wheel base used to be the better car for short twisty tracks
but the key today is to keep the front end in!
ie.. long wheelbase

magnet cars?
depends but in general my cars (slottech T1 - T3 ) win using short wheel base


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## 1976Cordoba

I never got a LWB to outrun a SWB in a magnet car setting. My experience has been that LWB should race against LWB.


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## Hornet

I think short or long wheelbase depends mostly on your driving and building style.
My preferance is long wheelbase on my magnet cars,but other guys with the same style cars like the short wheelbase,so i think it's something that doesn't have a hardcore right or wrong answer,it's more driver preferance 
I've ran into cars that worked better either way,it's up to you to discover what you and that car like on that given day:thumbsup:
Swapping axle holes is the easy test,and run whatever version works best for you:wave:


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## Rick Carter

Rick,

Mike King swaps axle holes all the time -LOL!

SWB vs LWB depends on the track as Mike mentioned in reference to a twisty track. In my G's all of my cars are SWB but in my Storms, they're LWB. I ran a SWB Storm for the 1st timebin a race and it did well. I don't know if it was the axle position or the special effects chassis -wink-wink Rick, LOL!


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## Hornet

No comment,i figure if nobody says anything,you should get away with it for a bit longer,.
I'm just glad you like the chassis mod and it's sorta working for you.:wave:
Rick

No comment on Mike either,lol


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## Hornet

There's one other option yet,a floating front axle.
Has anybody tried slotting the 2 front axle holes together to let the axle float back and forth.
It's an idea i've had for awhile now,a floating axle to go with the floating guide-pin i run in my Storms,just haven't got around to trying it out yet.
So outta curiousity has anybody done a floating front axle in a car.


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## 1976Cordoba

My guess is that the handling would be pretty dodgy with the front end flopping around. Or, the axle would just slide all the way back and just stay there - so what's the point? I've not tried it but my guess would be you'd be better off with that axle in one fixed spot.


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## Hornet

I thought that would be the same scenerio when i started floating the guide-pins,but they work better then i figured they would.
The pins do things opposite of what we think they should do.The floating guide-pins move to front of the slot going down straights and slam to the back of the slot when the car hits a corner,pretty well opposite of what i thought they'd do.
My theory is the pin must be spinning fast enough in the chassis from rubbing the side of the slot to physically overcome the forces forcing it to the back of the slot,till it hits something relatively solid like the entry to a corner
So the axle might also do the same things backasswards,from what you'd think it should do.:wave:


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## slotcar58

I've always preferred SWB as it gets more magnet over the rail in curves. This is especially important on 6" radius corners. This is where the race is usually won or lost on a tight track.


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## Dyno Dom

A lot of good info, Thanks! :thumbsup:
Our club tracks have long straights & no 6 inch turns. My layout has
varied turns of 17, 23 & 29 inch curves. The G+ seem to like SWB keeping
the traction mags to rails. The AW/JL t-jet cars appear more stable 
sliding thru turns with LWB.


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## joegri

round here the tjets go beter with the long set up. seems you can run the car harder into the corner and still not spin out. i dont know wnything bout racin cuz i never have turn 1 lap against another racer. but if i do it will have the long wheelbase.


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