Free Pinewood Derby Car Design Template (Word, PDF) (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.

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.

For example, on a smooth aluminum track, a wheelbase of 4.75” offers a good balance between speed and stability. For a rougher track where instability could be a concern, the Race Team might consider going with a 5.0” to 5.25” wheelbase. New axle holes must be made to move or extend the car's wheelbase.

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.

Sanding the wheels

Work up to as fine of grit as you can find. Only sand enough to remove imperfections and make the wheel round as possible.

Use All of the Graphite

Coat it everywhere – all over the axles, where the wheels touch the axles, on the car itself, where the wheel can touch the car—everywhere. Pinewood Derby High-Speed Graphite - Get ready to take speed to the next level of fast with this lubricating powder!

Slide the axles and wheels onto the car and glue into place. Use an epoxy or nonresin glue, and make sure you don't get any on the surface of the axle where the wheel rides.

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.

Bake the wooden block, usually at 250 degrees for two hours. This removes moisture, which allows you to apply weights when the block is finished. A heavier car is a faster car, but you can't go over that 5-ounce mark.

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.

Should weights go on top or bottom of Pinewood Derby car? ›

Most PWD experts believe a car is faster when the weight is predominately placed towards the rear of the car. Why? Because most tracks are designed so a car rolls down the track on an incline from a height of 3.5 feet -‐ 4.5 feet before traveling down a long flat stretch.

The longer the wheel base, the greater the turning distance (a short car turns much more quickly than a long car). A pinewood derby car should go as straight as possible, so a longer wheel base is an advantage.

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.

Pinewood Derby Results. The average times with just weight added was 3.288 seconds. There was 0.188 seconds between the fastest and slowest car, about 23 inches. The average time was 2.994 seconds, about 44 inches faster than without graphite (0.353 seconds).

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.