Slot Cars

[gr8fl4porsche]

Getting my son a 1/32 slot car setup. Looking at the Carrera brand.

Any helpful hints?

[Heel n Toe]

1. How old is your son and do you know this is something he would get into? Consider their 1/43rd stuff if he is younger than 12 or so. It's "less serious" and you can buy extra track sections and have a "longer" circuit in a smaller space.

2. Are you thinking of a permanent track on a table... or at least mounted on plywood, perhaps that you can mount to the wall with hinges on one side and swing up and out of the way when not in use... or are you planning to go rug racing, and take it apart and put it away periodically? If you're thinking of mounting it on a board, and your son is older and you're pretty sure he is going to be into it, perhaps with the two of you racing each other a good bit, then you might want to consider digital at this point because it would be easier to start digital than go to it later.

A few links:
SlotForum - Slot car News, Forum & Reviews
Slotblog
Carrera Slots

[Heel n Toe]

One more:

Which is Best Analog or Digital Slot Car Track Sets
Choosing Which Track Set is Best for You

Best Analog or Digital Slot Car Track Sets

[ted]

Carrera makes some of the best plastic track available.
If I were to build a plastic track I would get Carrera.

The 1/43 cars are really cheap, best for younger kids.
If your kid is over 9 he's ready for 1/32.

The Carrera slot cars are on the cheaper side, price/build and performance.
The Carrera cars are great looking scale models, but other brand slot cars perform better.
But that does not matter as later you can buy close in cost higher quality replacement cars.
Besides if all you know is the Carrera brand cars your first time slot racer should be very content.

You know that it is the magnets under the slot car that hold it to the steel rails.
Some take off the magnets for more of a challenge, cars fish tail and take more skill to keep in the slot.
For a first time slot racer the magnets are good and make the car easy to drive along with masking problems with cheaper slot cars.
Problems being out of round rims or tires among other issues that modelers spend hours dialing in.

I would not go digital for your first slot car track.
It can be a crash fest for the first time slot racer to handle lane changes, or sharing the same lane and the race/pit stop required option.

Get the Carrera track, good choice.
I got an awesome plastic track for xmas when I was a kid and I've been a car guy since.

The Slotblog link was the where I ordered my cars, they have a clearance section for some good savings.
Careful some get addicted to collecting slot cars....

[Noah930]

I got a 1/32 Carrera set last year. I think I got it for about 1/3 off, free shipping, no tax, etc. My kids (pre-K) were way too young for that. Parts break on the F1 cars. As in the delicate bodywork snaps off. The running parts of the car (motor, chassis, wheels, etc) have held up just fine. The NASCAR bodies have been much more durable. (Imagine that.) They're just bricks, in comparison. The track's been durable, despite inevitable steps taken on it. In retrospect, the 1/43 would have been a better choice. But actually, even the 3 yr-old is driving the cars now without crashing too horridly. Attrition has slowed.

As for manufacturers, realistically you're looking at either Carrera or Scalectrix for a basic starter set. I don't think you can go wrong with either set. The track is NOT interchangeable, but the cars are (almost always). I'd go for the traditional analog (not digital set-up). A lot cheaper and simpler to use. Save the money for buying more cars.

The kids still love racing. I leave the set at my parents' house (they've got plenty of space, now). The kids want to race every time we're there, which is about once or twice per week.

[Super_Dave_D]

I bought my kids the SCX Digital system and its pretty awesome. Not the same slot cars as when I was a kid.

[Aerkuld]

If you get the Carrera digital system you can program the cars to limit top speed so kids can drive them without crashing off the track all the time. You have the ability to change lanes too. You also have features such as running a few autonomous cars that the computer drives around at a constant speed. They change lanes at random too so can really liven things up.
Expensive initially, but you may find that the set has more future potential as your son gets older.

[campbellcj]

I got my son a Scalectrix setup (from Dave Shepard of GPR...RIP) when he was much too young in hindsight - he was able to drive it reasonably well though as I rigged a 'throttle stop' on one of the controllers. Nonetheless many of our cars sustained damage...

The thing that still bugs me about these kits, as I remember from when I was a kid, is keeping the damn connectors and tracks clean, level, and carrying power reliably. What a PITA. Maybe the digital flavor or the Carrera brand is better?

[bivenator]

I've got the Ninco Master Track, had it about 3 months. Very impressed with the track and all accessories are top notch, the power lane will allow for the attatchment of a second tranformer to smooth out the power demand. It is the analog but can be converted to digital with a little extra cash.
I like the scaletrix cars best for the durability, like the earlier poster my F1 were junk after a few days of crashing/racing. The revell cars are fast but not as well built and have broken faster than they should have.
The set up is on a 4x8 and has 37 feet of racing. I got mine online for about 350. I will attach it to the board eventually to allow it to fold up to the wall to get it out of the way.
My 7 y/o daughter is gotten pretty good at it. Enjoy.