Oops, fat fingered the keyboard there. You happy now. Putting the weight in the back does give it an advantage, agreed?
I have a collection of fathering advice from various people that I keep as a reminder to myself. I pull this list out every once in awhile and read it to remind me about what’s important and keep me on the right path. It’s easy to lose track of the big picture when you’re so close to the action so to speak. I consider your post one of the true gems I have culled from the vast resources available and if it’s any consolation, your sage advice has made the top of my list.
@TwinTurbo, Thank you for the kind words.
I’m humbled by all that I continue to learn from contributors on this forum - both technical and pearls of life wisdom.
In all the discussions I haven’t heard any mention of adding weight to the wheels. Based on the flywheel effect that a spinning weight will carry momentum, my sons glued washers to the insides of all four wheels of their cars. You can see that we also added weight to the rear on this one. My memory is that the cars were a little slow off the line but carried the speed when the track flattened out and rolled past the other cars.
Mechaniker: we’re talking about PINEWOOD Derby cars here, not SOAPBOX Derby. Pinewood derby cars are about 6" or 7" long, and built from a block of wood by the Cub Scouts or whomever. The starting ramp is perhaps 20’ long and 8’ high. If I remember correctly, the starter stood on a stepladder.