slotcars, scalextric anyone?

[lunchbox147]

A friend of mine got me into slot cars last year and four of us hooked up to start racing. We set a track up in the loft and started a championship after about 6 months of old scaley track distorting i convinced my other friend to set a track up in his garage.
I built his track using mdf and a router and we haven’t looked back since, i also built a timing gantry linked to some light sensors plugged into his laptop to give us a timing system. Finding a free slot car race program we run very specific events from classic gt to trucks, timing is accurate to 1/1000 of a second.
I am now working on using the new digital system on the track which allows six cars to be used (instead of two) on a two lane track with overtaking.

Our racing is very intense and is a great way to get out of the house for a morning
check out my web site im still updating the site but there are vids and pictures
my web site

and a link for the digital sytem
scalextric digital

 

[wee_man]

I used to do slot cars a while ago. A friend of the family's built a massive 4 lane track in his garage. He built it comepltly out of scalextrix track, and kept the same layout so the track wasn't damaged. He used scalextrics so he could get the magnetism, so the Fly's would absolutly fly (ha get the pun) around it. Was about a 30 second lap with the back straight being about 20 metres long. It was masssive. A real good laugh as well. We'd get to his for about 7ish and stay up til 3 in the morning just drinking and racing. Have our own little leagues and all. Don't really have the time so much for it anymore. But we still have our collection of about 70 cars. Most of them are Fly's, particularly the old prototypes. The cars that are being produced nowadays though are of such high quality you could use them as models as well.
Anyway I think scelextrics are producing some good cars and they're very drivable, but the fly's are a lot quicker. Though not so drivable, as in you can push them, but suddenly they'll break loose, where as with the scalextrics they'll slide and stuff. Though also nowadays I'm too kinda scared to push the cars as tehy look soo good I'm scared of scratching them and stuff.
Also one thing that's put us off it recently is the prices of these things. A couple of years ago it was about £14 on average, and now it's about £35 on average. They're just soo much.
Have you ever heard of a make called Parma? We used to race them, now they are serisouly quick. They were just simple plastic lightweight bodies on mighty motors and chassis. They were proper expensive. But that got all too serious for me and my dad.
How many cars you got?

 

[lunchbox147]

A 20 meter straight....wow, that’s big our straight is about 5 1/2 meters and we don’t run magnets, no offence but it requires more skill to drive in my opinion.
We run seven classes and if a car gets old or just isn’t quick enough we sell them and buy a new one, we don’t really collect. I would say i have about 15 cars and two of them i keep and won’t race, team slot hand made MG6r4 and a fly panoz esperanti.
Also a hand built track gives much more freedom to create a better flowing track has we are not limited to the radius of production made track sections.
Yes i have seen the Parma cars but out the box cars make for a better race with out spending too much on hop-ups.
The best car that’s gives a good sense of behaviour is the caterham i love racing this car with loads of sliding if you hit the throttle to early. I raced r/c cars for two years but slot cars is in my opinion are the cheapest way to race competitively.
So what’s your favourite car in your collection and if you don’t race anymore will you eventually sell them?

 

[Calibretto]

We did slotcars a couple of years ago. I got beat in the finals by .002 seconds.

 

[PS]

I've never ever seen one of these up close, how do you win? Does it depend on the car? The slot? Whoever keeps their finger on the button the hardest?

 

[Cap'n Jack]

I used to have a slot car set when I was younger, it was great fun. I had an Nissan Skyline GT-R and a Ford Thunderbird, both Australian Touring Cars. I wish I really got into it.

I like the way your track goes real close togeather in the corners, must make the racing alot more exciting!

 

[Jay]

I used to have a slot car set when I was younger, it was great fun. I had an Nissan Skyline GT-R and a Ford Thunderbird, both Australian Touring Cars. I wish I really got into it.

I like the way your track goes real close togeather in the corners, must make the racing alot more exciting!

Did the Skyline GTR own them all? Just like they did in real life

 

[G.T]

I've never ever seen one of these up close, how do you win? Does it depend on the car? The slot? Whoever keeps their finger on the button the hardest?

For me yes it depends on your cars. My Dad has got a few previous generation Corvetts and they go around corners badly. You can get some cars with high performance engines which go really fast. The tyres are rubber, so after time you'll have to buy new tyres for it. I think there's different tyres to buy, not just one type. Like in real life the more you push the car, the more rubber you burn. You also have to be carefull with overheating (which I read somewhere). You oil the components of the car as well to make it run more smoothly.

You win like in real life, finish first. You have to be careful not to push your controler button too much around a corner or you'll fly off and damage your car, which I've done before. It also depends on your controller settings (if you've got a controller like this), you can change it to low response where you need to push the button harder to go fast, which helps if you've got a twitchy finger, or a really high setting for very long straights, like a speedway for example.

Me and my Dad together have around 20 cars. I quite enjoy it but I've not played it in ages.

 

[nitro_2005]

hey guys, you ever heard of people who make their own custom slot car tracks ot of MDF or plywood. here's a sight with loads of them. there's also some videos which are pretty decent. check it out.

www.oldslotracer.com

 

[zoxxy]

I had a scalextric once, with a Ferrari and a McLaren F1 car My god that was fun! Ask Cosmic

 

[ExigeEvan]

Cool track. All you need now is some wire mesh and green felt and you can landscape Abit of gravel would be good aswell!

 

[Jondot]

Oh hell yeh, whooo!!! Anything car related i love, so slot cars are right up my street.

I got an old set with two touring cars - Audi A4 and Opel Vectra. A year later, i got two extra cars - Toyota Corolla Rally car, and a TVR Speed 12.

Last August, i got a new set - John Cooper Challenge, with two BMW Mini Coopers, which i haven't had out for a while - small house where i live unfortunately. I use my 1:10 scale RC Mini more, i just drive it up and down the road, and over ramps and stuff.

 

[Chris_rx7_2005]

Not a lot of love for slot racing on GTP

Here's the setup me and my dad are working on.

It has 4 opportunities to swap lanes plus a pit lane. Can be hooked up to a laptop to monitor lap times, mimic fuel loads and add pitstops etc. It's about 10foot long on the longest straight, which isn't really long enough for any top speeds, but it's still a lot of fun and a very technical track.

It's taken 2 years to get to this stage, working on and off.

The collection of cars is most impressive. It's like a Gran Turismo garage! The collection was recently insured for just-shy of £5,000 in 2010. It's grown a lot since then too!

 

[W3H5]

Where's axletramp? I'm sure he was big into this thing.

My local kiddies shop has a sweet set up with four lanes and a bout 50m of track. It's so expensive though, I just play on the demo track.

 

[ECGadget]

I've had a scalextric set since I was 4 (19 now ). It's called Jaguar Challenge and it's an XJ220 vs an F40. I haven't played it in years though due to lack of space. And slowly I've bought more and more pieces. A few years back I had it set up in a 28ft through lounge, so the longest straight (pit straight) was about 5 or 6 meters xD

 

[Jimlaad43]

I have loads of Scalextric and I love it.
I once made a version of AVUS in my house down a long hallway, 15 metre long straights.

 

[Skython]

I have some Scaley stuff. I tried recreating Infineon but gave up because I couldn't be bothered creating the elevation. Though I have the pieces to create the layout.

 

[photonrider]

Interesting stuff. I'm a sucker for any type of racing - and racing models of any kind is always a blast. Had different slot-car set ups but no way as big - 20 m?! Maybe more discussion and photos needed if we want to generate more interest.
Any of you guys race MICROZ GT?

 

[Prince.M5]

Back in 1998 when I was 4, I got a slot car racing set (certainly not Scalextric) as my birthday present. I had to customly built the track with the help of my father and wow... It was a great fun!

Unfortunately they're no longer with me and I really have no idea where they are. One thing for sure, in the future I will start it all over again and buy a Scalextric one 👍

 

[axletramp]

Where's axletramp? I'm sure he was big into this thing.

Hi! *cough* 1981 UK Scalextric Championship Bronze medalist. Also run 24 hour endurance events in my time.

@Chris_rx7_2005 - nice setup. Is that Scalextric Digital? A bit after my time, although I do still pick up the rare cars from eBay, etc. if I get the chance. I have a few handmade cars which the kids aren't allowed to touch.

I did once built a scale version of Brands Hatch in my back garden which took longer to plan and build than actually got used.