Looking for Slot Car advice

[Don Plumley]

Thinking about getting a big slot car set (for my son) for Christmas - and converting our underused living room into something more useful (my wife's idea).

I like the idea of the new digital sets that enable passing. 1/32 seems like the most common side. But which mfg to go with: Scalextric, Ninco, Carrera??

Any experience or advice?

[jtfreels]

No personal experience on digital (did route my own wood track). But look here http://www.slotforum.com/forums/index.php?act=idx
they have a forum on digital that might be usefull.
I now the different brands have there own unique advantages.

Jay

[Aerkuld]

I have always had Scalextric track, but the Ninco track is supposed to be good and you can get adapters to mate the two. Th good thing about the Ninco track is the extra width, but the Carrera track is slightly wider still. I think the hard plastic tracks are better than the Scalextric - try looking down a long length of Scalextric straights after they have been used a few times and they are VERY uneven. Given the choice I would go with the Carrera if I had to set it all up over again.
Try this site - http://www.ncphobbies.com/132help.html

The cars themselves are getting to the point of being great static display models as well as slot cars. The best I have seen to date are the 'Fly' cars. They have some superb classic Porsche racers, 908's and 917's.
That said, alot of the other manufacturers have been catching up the last few years, but I'd still look at the range of models from 'Fly'.
Look at this site - http://www.scalemodels.co.uk/ - I know they're inthe UK, but I have used them before and they know what they're doing. They also have a lot of the old 'collectors cars' to look at just in case you want one the same as you had when you were a kid!

Another thing, I would advise staying away from open-wheel cars for a while. They are easily broken and just don't stand up well to 'wheel bashing' which is inevitable in slot car racing.

[Don Plumley]

Thanks for the input - I spent an hour or so last night looking at all the various slot car sites. It seems that Carrera track is wonderful, but huge (it handles 1/24 cars). Ninco has not released their digital system yet, supposedly the digital modules for the cars will be easier to install than the Scalextric.

I agree, the cars are looking really cool - that's part of the fun factor I'm thinking about. Uh, that I'm thinking about for my son. Yeah, that's it.

Too many choices!

[Aerkuld]

Don - I know you have been searching around on the net so you might have found this already, but they seem to explain it pretty well...

http://www.hotslots132.com/digitalslotcars.php

Unfortunately I have never run a digital set,so don't know whether they are good or bad. The one thing that is mentioned in the page above is the simplicity of a slot car and how the digital system deviates from this a little. One of the nicest things when I was a kid is that I could fix my own cars easily.
In fact, some of the most fun cars I have run on my track are some old Scalextric Formula Juniors. Of course I'm going back on what I said about open wheel cars, but these are fun for experienced drivers. They aren't very fast at all, but they have very skinny tires, very low weight, and consequently hardly any grip. Combine that with a guide pin instead of a blade which makes complete spins fairly frequent, and you get some realy fun racing.

I guess you're going to have to find a local hobby shop with a set and go and play!

[cstreit]

Sorry to ask what may be a stupid question but...

Whats the point of a digital? I see you can run multiple cars on the same slot, but since I assume you can not pass, why bother? (or can you pass? How?)

[Don Plumley]

With digital you can pass at designated spots, and run multiple cars. There's even a pit lane feature...

[trekkor]

When you get it figured out, let me know. i want to play!


KT

[LeRoux Strydom]

I echo the comment about open wheel cars. I have destroyed a very nice Mclaren-BMW car recently... um, I mean my son broke it.... Fortunately I could buy complete chassis replacements for the F1 cars for very little cost.

I guess all track sets will become uneven over time. Our Ninco track is not bulletproof, when kids step on things, they bend. Our track is on the floor, one day when I have built our dream house we will have a permanent setup on a table.

I look forward to the Ninco digital conversion.

[jyl]

I have a large 1/32 setup, unfortunately in storage. Cannot advise on digital, have never tried it.

I wonder, though, if the small R/C cars won't eventualy challenge slot cars. Imagine a 1/32 track without slots, being able to take any line, with genuine pit stops (quick-replace rechargeable batteries).

[wcc]

I was into this too for a while. Then my son lost interest. Well my son at the time was only 2 and a half, so big surprise. He's getting back into it, but now the track is kinda broken up. At least it still works.

Here's a link to another thread about slot cars:

Slot Cars Tracks