Pinewood Derby Car Designer (2024)

  • Pinewood Derby Car Designer (1)

    Car Designs(scroll down for selections)
  • Pinewood Derby Car Designer (2)

    Axels(0)(scroll down for selections)
  • Pinewood Derby Car Designer (3)

    Wheels(0)(scroll down for selections)
  • Pinewood Derby Car Designer (4)

    Weights(0)(scroll down for selections)
  • Pinewood Derby Car Designer (5)

    Lubes(0)(scroll down for selections)
  • Pinewood Derby Car Designer (6)

    PRO Tools(0)(scroll down for selections)
  • Pinewood Derby Car Designer (7)

    Secrets(0)(scroll down for selections)

Angry Bird$4.95

Car Design Plans and Pre-Cut Car Bodies

Start building your car by selecting either a Car Design Plan or a Pre-Cut Car Body.

Our Award Winning Car Design Plans include everything you need to cut that car out of your block. Each plan includes design templates and shows every cut with 3D images so you can't make a mistake. They also include weight placement and speed tips.

To save time building your car, you might want to select a pre-cut car body. Our pre-cut cars are make fronm Official BSA car blocks.

To save even more time, our Lazer and Grey Ghost car bodies are pre-weighted and primed. All you need to do is paint, and insert your axles and wheels!

BSA Polished Axles$9.95

Fast Axles Make the Fastest Car

To build the fastest car, you need to minimize friction. Friction between the axles and the wheels is the biggest factor in slowing down your cars. With this tool, you can customize axles and wheels to create your own car with as little friction as possible. Less friction = More speed, and speed is what wins races.

Axle Tips and Speed Hints

When your wheel rubs against the axle head it can cause the wheel to wobble because the corner of the axle head is not a perfect 90 degrees. Cutting a groove directly under the axle head removes this source of wheel wobble, but it is difficult to do by hand. Consider our Grooved Speed Axles that have a groove cut directly under the axle head.

The stock BSA "nails" that come in your kit are mass produced. These nails have burrs, crimp marks and can also be crooked, all of which severely limits your car speed. An Axle Polishing Kit and Axle File are essential to fix your axles and increase your car speed.

The axle slots that are cut into standard blocks are too tight for your .089" diameter axles. Small axle slots make it difficult to get your axles in straight. A #44 drill bit is .086", which I find too tight. Consider a #43 Drill Bit, which is a perfect match at .089" for a snug fit.

BSA Speed Wheels$16.95

Precision Tuned Wheels make the Fastest Car

Our wheels are precision lathed in 5 different areas to remove imperfections so they are lighter and trued up.

Lighter wheels turn require less energy to turn them, which translates into speed. We offer lightly lathed wheels and the faster Ultra-Lite wheels (check your rules!). To get even more speed, we offer both versions in a graphite-coated version, our fastest BSA wheels.

Tungsten Cube Weights$9.95

How Weights Make a Fast Car

Your car races down the track from the force of gravity and it races to the finish line due to inertia. To build the fastest car, you need to maximize weight and balance your weights to get the optimal center of gravity. Choose between Zinc, Tungsten and our new composit Flex Weights that can be cut with a scissors.

Weight Tips and Placement Hints

Tungsten weights are ideal for pinewood derby cars. Tungsten is about 1/3 smaller than zinc that has the same weight. Therefor, you can pack Tungsten weights in a smaller area to optimize your center of gravity to maximize inertia giving you greater speed at the finish gate.

Our non-hardening Tungsten Putty is ideal for getting your car up to the maximum 5.0 oz limit. Drill a hole in the bottom of your car and insert Tungsten Putty as the last step to bring your car to 5.0 oz. If the official scale weighs you in at 5.1 oz, simply remove a small amount of putty to bring it back to 5.0 oz.

Nyoil$9.95

Lubricating Reduces Friction

To make the fastest car, you need more than polished axles and lathed wheels. You need to a good lubricant! PRO Graphite or NyOil lubricants is the single most important thing you can do to make your car fast.

Lubrication Tips

Our PRO Graphite, with molybdenum disulfide, has helped people win races for over 15 years. Our Track Tests show an average speed increase of 17%.

Nyoil is a thin film lubricant that has the advantage of staying on your axles throughout the race, unlike powdered graphite that blows off every time your car goes down the track.

PRO Driller$19.95

Save time and make your car faster with Pinewood Pro's PRO Tools!

Our PRO tools will save you time building your car while helping make your car faster. The PRO Driller, featured here, is just one of our many PRO Tools.

The PRO Driller is a versatile tool that helps you drill perfectly straight axle holes, 2.5 degree angled holes and a raised wheel hole. The axle slot on your block has several problems. It is too small for your axle, making it very difficult to insert your axle, usually requiring a hammer to get them in. This process inevitably results in your axle going in crooked. Crooked axles make slow cars!

And because the slot is so narrow, sometimes the block can crack when you force the axle in.

Lastly, the axle slot itself might not be perfectly square to the block, so even if you insert it straight into the slot, if the slot is crooked, your car doesn't roll straight and it will hit the center rail as it goes down the track severely reducing speed.

The PRO Driller allows you to re-drill the axle slots, drill new axle holes, or drill axle holes to make an extended wheelbase.

Optionally, you can drill a raised wheel hole to make your car even faster. See our Winning Pinewood Derby Secrets book.

Aside from the PRO Driller, Pinewood Pro offers an exclusive line of Pinewood Derby PRO Tools, like our PRO Axle Inserter Guide, PRO Wheel Spacer, PRO Wheel Bore Polisher and PRO Axle Puller-Inerter that will both save you time and make your car faster.

So Go PRO and Go Blue with Pinewood Pro's PRO Tools!

Winning Pinewood Derby Secrets - Hard Copy$9.95

The Secret Speed Tips

Some of the building process is the parts that go into your car, but the rest of the speed lies in the actual building! Our Speed Secrets will help you build your car and give you that extra speed you need to leave your competition in the dust.

Winning Tips and Speed Secrets

Winning Pinewood Derby Secrets contains all the tips you need to win your race. Updated annually with the latest tips and speed products, our book has proven results with 1000's of winners but don't take our word for it! Read over 100 Customer Reviews and check out our Winners Gallery!

Using the Pinewood Derby Car Designer

Winning Pinewood Derby Secrets tells you how to build a fast, winning car...

  • Contains basic speed hints so you have a competitive car
  • Contains advanced speed hints to win your race
  • Proven results! Thousands of winners for over 20 years.
  • Reading Winning Pinewoood Derby Secrets is the single most important thing you can do to save time and build a winning car.
Pinewood Derby Car Designer (2024)

FAQs

What is the best design for a Pinewood Derby car? ›

The wedge is a classic and probably the easiest shape (besides keeping a block) to build your Pinewood Derby car. The Wedge is the foundation of many cool car designs, and it is designed to be aerodynamic and is a one-cut wonder.

What is the fastest derby car design? ›

To go fast, it's all about aerodynamics, and the best shape is a simple wedge. Just like a spoiler on the rear of a sports car, the wedge shape allows as much air to flow over the top of the car without hinderance while keeping the car pinned to the track.

What is the best shape to cut a Pinewood Derby car? ›

Create a Pinewood Derby car that is reasonably aerodynamic

No need to get crazy here, but simply having a wedge-shaped Pinewood Derby car instead of the standard block out of the box will equal a 1.4-car advantage at the finish line.

Should I bake my Pinewood Derby block? ›

Baking your Pinewood Derby wooden block helps to remove the moisture so that you have more wiggle room to add extra weight at the end. Remember, every little bit of weight in the right place makes a difference! Bake it in the oven at 250° for about 2 hours.

Where is the best place to put weight on a Pinewood Derby car? ›

PUT MOST OF THE WEIGHT IN THE BACK

Science says the heaviest part of your car should be about 1 inch in front of the rear axle. The idea is that the farther back the weight is, the more potential energy you have because your center of mass is higher up on the track.

Do heavier Pinewood Derby cars go faster? ›

Aerodynamics have little effect in such a short race, but weight does and putting the weight at the back of the car will make your car faster on the flat of the track. Tungsten weights, in most cases, are best because of their high density. Lube the car at the body/wheel friction point.

What is the fastest Pinewood Derby car speed? ›

How fast do these things go, anyway? The distribution plot below shows a range of speeds from 177 mph to 229 mph, with most cars exceeding 200 mph.

What is the fastest horse in the Derby? ›

Secretariat

Should you bend Pinewood Derby axles? ›

We recommend installing axles with a 1.5° bend for the front of the car and 2.5° bend for the rear. The axles heads are marked in the direction of the bend. Install the axles with the mark straight up. The alignment procedure requires turning the axles while they are in the car slot.

Should a Pinewood Derby car be light or heavy? ›

The important thing (aside from shop safety) is to get the car weighing close to, but not over, 5 ounces. Some scouts add weight to their car before it is painted or decorated, and then hide the holes or cavities that contain the weight with wood putty.

Is it better to have a heavy or light Pinewood Derby car? ›

In most races, the maximum allowable weight of a pinewood derby car is five ounces. By meeting this maximum limit – while also strategically placing your weights at the rear of your vehicle – you will improve your momentum and increase the distance your car travels towards the finish line.

Is it legal to sand Pinewood Derby wheels? ›

You may not significantly change the wheel dimensions. Wheels may be sanded/lathed/filed to smooth out molding imperfections in the tread area. The contact surface of the wheel must be flat as it sits on the track.

Should you sand Pinewood Derby wheels? ›

Turning your wheels on a lathe are the best way to remove imperfections and get a uniform, balanced and finely tuned pinewood derby wheel. The wheel is secured in the lathe and spun at a high speed, then it is sanded or shaved with a tool attachment.

Should you prime a Pinewood Derby car? ›

Try to make the wood as smooth as possible for best results. Do not pre-coat with primer or wood sealer.

What are characteristics of successful Pinewood Derby car designs? ›

To build the fastest pinewood derby car at competition, you need to maximize your momentum while also minimizing friction.
  • Quality Lubrication. A major way to decrease friction is by properly lubricating your wheels and axles. ...
  • Properly Prepared Wheels and Axles. ...
  • Perfect Alignment. ...
  • Maximized Momentum. ...
  • Aerodynamic.

How to make the most aerodynamic Pinewood Derby car? ›

Crafting the Design: Outline your Pinewood Derby car on paper, cut it out, and affix it to the wood block. Remember, a rectangular car is not an aerodynamic design. The most basic aerodynamic design is a simple wedge. If you don't have time to design a complex car, a wedge will work just fine.

What is the best wheel angle for a Pinewood Derby car? ›

The rear wheels should be set at a 3-degree angle (camber). This angle reduces friction as only a tiny portion of the wheel makes contact with the track.

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