How to Build a Winning Pinewood Derby Car

Tips and Tricks for Making Your Pinewood Derby Car Fly

Every year a car show of a different sort takes place in Cub Scout packs all across the nation. The Pinewood Derby offers scouts and parents alike the opportunity to work together and build not only a car, but a lasting memory.

The spirit of the Pinewood Derby is that of friendly, but sometimes fierce, competition. Almost everyone would love to have a car that takes home the first place trophy, so here are some design tips to help you build a car that will fly down the track.

Suggested Tools and Supplies
While you can carve a car with a pocket knife, some more specialized tools will increase your design options. Some of the tools you may find helpful include: a Dremel with accessories, wood files, sandpaper, drill, graphite, paint, a coping saw, variable speed drill, a wheel turning chock (available at hobby shops), and clean up supplies.

Designing the Car
While aerodynamics play a big part in designing a car for speed, with a surface area as small as that on a Pinewood Derby car, the aerodynamics are a minimal factor. The biggest key here is to minimize turbulence by designing a car that has a smooth underside and a lower profile in front. While the classic wedge shape earns points for aerodynamic simplicity, it's also one of the most overused designs as well. Be original! As your son designs his car, encourage his creativity. Use Hot Wheels cars for inspiration. Let your son design as much as possible and use the design phase of building the car as a teaching tool.

While there are car templates and such on the web, a simple template design can be easily made at home. Just take your block of wood and set it on a sheet of paper. Then trace around the block to get your starting dimensions. Once you have drawn out your design on your template, cut out the template and flip it over. Then trace the design onto another template. This will be used to draw the design on the other side of your wooden block.

You can trace your design through the paper onto the wood using a pencil. Bear down hard and it will make an impression in the wood. Pine is a very soft wood so this s easier than it sounds.