How to Make the Fastest Pinewood Derby Car
- 1). Use a sloping front end to reduce drag on the car. Cars that reach the mandated height with broad faces will suffer from increased drag compared with sloping cars. Look at popular sports cars for examples of effective aerodynamic hood shapes.
- 2). Position the legal weights at the back of the car, near the ground. As all cars use equal weights, proper placement is important. Cars with low, rear-mounted weights will perform better than cars with a similar design but with weights high or near the front.
- 3). Drill a hole for the weights, then plug it with a cork and fill it with wood filler to avoid unsightly divots in your car's body. When painted, a properly filled hole will be indistinguishable from the surrounding wood.
- 4). Do not paint the wheel wells of the car. The wheel wells are the portions of the body that will be contacting the wheels. Painting these areas increases the friction and slows the car.
- 5). Apply polish to the wheel wells of the car to further reduce friction.
- 6). Reuse wheels from previous years of the Pinewood Derby if you are not entering for the first time. Often cars with the same design from year to year will perform faster each year.
- 7). Test that the wheels of your car are distributing the load of the car evenly for best results. Rub the car over a flat surface but do not let go of the car. Pick it straight up and turn it over so that the wheels are facing up. All four wheels should stop spinning at the same time.
