I know that this is a long shot but was just wondering if anybody was into slot cars. I am considering buying a set for my boys and myself and had some questions.
Carrera is the best slotcar company, right now to buy from right now. there cars and track hold there price really well, and if you or your boy don't take to it, you can re-sell it very easy.
its a little more money .but you can add to it and they have everything under the sun,
and you can drive 1/32 and 1/24 scale cars of it.
if it not in your price range. look around EBay and see what theres a lot of out there.
The possibility are endless when it comes to Tracks and cars.
and you can drive any car on any track for the most part
everything is done in scale H.O. 1/43 1/32 and 1/24. i 1/32 is the most poplar,
and cars are kinda like. real cars like say Mazda to Ferrari
"Mazda" ->Artin, Scaltric, SCX Carrera, Fly and Slot it.<--"-Ferrari"
and every car is upgrade able. and most track are as well.
Carrera is the best slotcar company, right now to buy from right now. there cars and track hold there price really well, and if you or your boy don't take to it, you can re-sell it very easy.
its a little more money .but you can add to it and they have everything under the sun,
and you can drive 1/32 and 1/24 scale cars of it.
if it not in your price range. look around EBay and see what theres a lot of out there.
The possibility are endless when it comes to Tracks and cars.
and you can drive any car on any track for the most part
everything is done in scale H.O. 1/43 1/32 and 1/24. i 1/32 is the most poplar,
and cars are kinda like. real cars like say Mazda to Ferrari
"Mazda" ->Artin, Scaltric, SCX Carrera, Fly and Slot it.<--"-Ferrari"
and every car is upgrade able. and most track are as well.
Dead On Tony!!!...I was into it BADDDDDD what seems like a hundred years ago (Late 50's...60's)...In those days the tracks were 10 wide...Huge Tracks.....Tons of Fun!!!!...Surprising the tweaks that you could do with those cars...Motors..Brushes..Gearing..Tires..Wheels..Bodies..Controllers!!!....Became a smooth transition to video games when they came along!!
P.S. Still have the 1:24 Scale Cars (Corvettes..Etc.) in Basement!!!!
Thanks Tony. You answered my main question, which company is best. I think I want to go with HO scale just because we don't have a lot of room. I will check out that website also. Looks like a lot of good info there.
My buddy picked up a set last week, not sure the scale, he said cars are roughly 6" x 2.5"ish, digital slot track.
And he said I asked the first question he did. "Digital?"
Apparently the cars are "sync'd" to the controller and you can change lanes when you want, there's a pit lane, variable fuel and outs, etc...
Anyway, he says there's essentially three companys, one dominant in Uk, one in Spain(?) and one in the U.S. (which is Carrera I think?)
He has the one made in Spain, which boasts a separate power source for all peripherals which makes it easier to add "realism" ( think train hobby I guess). 18v and he's running three powerpacks as the voltage can't increase? SO this ups amperage without voltage, or so he says.
My attitude and his is if it doesn't add to the cars performance, who cares, hehe.
Anyway, going over tomorrow and gonna check it all out. He's already bought a "starter" set for adding on, cheaper than buying pieces, extra cars, controllers etc. and we are gonna look over his available space and see what we can do. Already want a large straight with more lanes for passing, and beyond that I was saying try to make the lanes somewhat equal in distance for time, etc, and honestly it would seem it doesn't matter as everyone can run the same line and then pass when able.
Anyway, I told him it all looks kinda cool, you know in a nerdly way, but hey I'm looking forward to it myself. Gonna take the camera and a tape measure for starters.
Without any prior knowledge I told him a 10x16 platform is easy enough to do, and then we'll see about stuffing it with track!
Okay he's on the 6x9 he bought off the guy, andi t's patched together, so minimum we're going up to 8 x 12 maybe 8 x16, not sure on that yet. Need some more large radius curves and maybe a few straights, maybe not. Couple more splitters so we can so some 4 lane straights!
Took a shot of what he had and what we tossed together with the extra pieces, and ran probably 6oo laps today figuring out the cars n such.
It's going to occupy one complete side of his two car garage, with some walk around room and wall shelving staying in place. The support there came with it from the previous owner and it's not too good.
Have plans to build a 2 x 4 frame, use the home made saw horses on each end and build a cross brace center set and 3 sheets of heavy plywood and expand it from 6x9 there to 8x12. Also kicking around a lip of some kind around the entire table to keep the cars off the floor. 1x6 or possible even baseboard trim if it's cheaper, but minimum 4" lip I think.
Also planning on setting up the controllers to up it to 6 possible on the track. with three on each side of the table.
It's an SCX set, the cars are 1:32 and the tracks amazing pliant, not brittle and quite easy to move around and test set ups. The lane changing is a combination of cross over track, a button on the back of the controller, and an activation "button" under the front of the car. The track monitors "fuel" usage and when the car gets low, the car power sputters and cuts out letting you know you need to pit IF you didn't pay attention to your fuel gauge on the pit tower. Fuel usage is programmable variable,and you can fill it or splash and out if it's convenient. I won a 70 lapper by running it right to the edge and making one less pit stop, had maybe 2 laps of fuel left!
A $300.00+ starter set was had on eBay for $160.00, this is what we used for our first expansion. The original set up bought was estimated at $700.00, and bought for $250.00. Have two pit boxes, an add on controller track (to expand from 3 to 6 racers), 6 controllers, lap time tower, which displays new fastest lap and fastest at end of race, 5 used cars starting out, two different styles of design/chassis, three NASCAR and two street, a Ferrari and a Corvette. We ended up running the street cars, as they were lighter and seemed quicker.
I was when I was around 12-13 and again when my son was around 10-11. I still have them in the garage. No tracks around here that I know of.
I'll see if I can get Tony to pop in here. I know he's got a few and still runs them.
Hery guys.
i should be able answer this.
Carrera is the best slotcar company, right now to buy from right now. there cars and track hold there price really well, and if you or your boy don't take to it, you can re-sell it very easy.
its a little more money .but you can add to it and they have everything under the sun,
and you can drive 1/32 and 1/24 scale cars of it.
if it not in your price range. look around EBay and see what theres a lot of out there.
The possibility are endless when it comes to Tracks and cars.
and you can drive any car on any track for the most part
everything is done in scale H.O. 1/43 1/32 and 1/24. i 1/32 is the most poplar,
and cars are kinda like. real cars like say Mazda to Ferrari
"Mazda" ->Artin, Scaltric, SCX Carrera, Fly and Slot it.<--"-Ferrari"
and every car is upgrade able. and most track are as well.
or you could look around Home Racing World. http://www.homeracingworld.us
there is mountains and mountain of data hear . and everyone is very nice and helpful.
i dont know if this helps but let me know and i'll try and awnser any question you have. =Tony Diamond
[URL=http://s120.photobucket.com/user/diamondodyssey/media/DSCF0151.jpg.html]...
Thanks Tony. You answered my main question, which company is best. I think I want to go with HO scale just because we don't have a lot of room. I will check out that website also. Looks like a lot of good info there.
Things have changed since I had one of these back in 67. But it was a ton of fun. Maybe that's why I like FM4 etc. http://youtu.be/jHzkDRJkGYc
The Awsome thing about Slots is you can go as small or Big as you wanna go. its a great hobby and a world of its own.
and like Sims Racing you can do it for the fun of it or be as compative as you want.
i'm in it for the hobby side of it. i'v met people from all over the world.some pros, and many normal people like me lol!
all great people. who wanna tinker with there hotrods and have a good laugh.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUX4j4w94wI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9QP7gie37I
Almost makes me want to pick it up again as a hobby. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=246osWYiaqQ&feature=share&list=UUQXcVe83bvJGhmr2T1SBJNQ And slotUSA's website. http://www.youtube.com/user/Slotmodsusa
My buddy picked up a set last week, not sure the scale, he said cars are roughly 6" x 2.5"ish, digital slot track.
And he said I asked the first question he did. "Digital?"
Apparently the cars are "sync'd" to the controller and you can change lanes when you want, there's a pit lane, variable fuel and outs, etc...
Anyway, he says there's essentially three companys, one dominant in Uk, one in Spain(?) and one in the U.S. (which is Carrera I think?)
He has the one made in Spain, which boasts a separate power source for all peripherals which makes it easier to add "realism" ( think train hobby I guess). 18v and he's running three powerpacks as the voltage can't increase? SO this ups amperage without voltage, or so he says.
My attitude and his is if it doesn't add to the cars performance, who cares, hehe.
Anyway, going over tomorrow and gonna check it all out. He's already bought a "starter" set for adding on, cheaper than buying pieces, extra cars, controllers etc. and we are gonna look over his available space and see what we can do. Already want a large straight with more lanes for passing, and beyond that I was saying try to make the lanes somewhat equal in distance for time, etc, and honestly it would seem it doesn't matter as everyone can run the same line and then pass when able.
Anyway, I told him it all looks kinda cool, you know in a nerdly way, but hey I'm looking forward to it myself. Gonna take the camera and a tape measure for starters.
Without any prior knowledge I told him a 10x16 platform is easy enough to do, and then we'll see about stuffing it with track!
I'm getting a little jazzed, the airbrush may come out...
Dang it. I had almost talked myself out of this. Now you got me looking again.
Okay he's on the 6x9 he bought off the guy, andi t's patched together, so minimum we're going up to 8 x 12 maybe 8 x16, not sure on that yet. Need some more large radius curves and maybe a few straights, maybe not. Couple more splitters so we can so some 4 lane straights!
Took a shot of what he had and what we tossed together with the extra pieces, and ran probably 6oo laps today figuring out the cars n such.
Started with this...
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/oldschoolsmart/9178173233/][img]http://farm...
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/oldschoolsmart/9178173233/]Boys 18th[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/oldschoolsmart/]Oldschoolsmart[/url], on Flickr
annd ended up with this temporarily...as evidenced by the cardboard railing andd such....but we had fun...
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/oldschoolsmart/9178173207/][img]http://farm...
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/oldschoolsmart/9178173207/]Boys 18th 279[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/oldschoolsmart/]Oldschoolsmart[/url], on Flickr
Man this is bringing up old memories of my Strombecker set. But if I jumped back into this I would be living in the garage with it.
It's going to occupy one complete side of his two car garage, with some walk around room and wall shelving staying in place. The support there came with it from the previous owner and it's not too good.
Have plans to build a 2 x 4 frame, use the home made saw horses on each end and build a cross brace center set and 3 sheets of heavy plywood and expand it from 6x9 there to 8x12. Also kicking around a lip of some kind around the entire table to keep the cars off the floor. 1x6 or possible even baseboard trim if it's cheaper, but minimum 4" lip I think.
Also planning on setting up the controllers to up it to 6 possible on the track. with three on each side of the table.
It's an SCX set, the cars are 1:32 and the tracks amazing pliant, not brittle and quite easy to move around and test set ups. The lane changing is a combination of cross over track, a button on the back of the controller, and an activation "button" under the front of the car. The track monitors "fuel" usage and when the car gets low, the car power sputters and cuts out letting you know you need to pit IF you didn't pay attention to your fuel gauge on the pit tower. Fuel usage is programmable variable,and you can fill it or splash and out if it's convenient. I won a 70 lapper by running it right to the edge and making one less pit stop, had maybe 2 laps of fuel left!
A $300.00+ starter set was had on eBay for $160.00, this is what we used for our first expansion. The original set up bought was estimated at $700.00, and bought for $250.00. Have two pit boxes, an add on controller track (to expand from 3 to 6 racers), 6 controllers, lap time tower, which displays new fastest lap and fastest at end of race, 5 used cars starting out, two different styles of design/chassis, three NASCAR and two street, a Ferrari and a Corvette. We ended up running the street cars, as they were lighter and seemed quicker.
Fast lap on the new set up is at 3.74 currently.