| Author | Message | ||
| Andreas Forrer (Tifosi12)
Advanced Member Username: Tifosi12 Post Number: 2656 Registered: 10-2002 |
Had some more bumps and adjustments of the track, but here is the layout:  Once I have cleared the final space in the apartment, I'll have to build the permanent version of the track. Got a bunch of Ferrari slot cars, but only a few of them are trully drivable. Some of them are just too old and finicky to stay on the track. I have to say, there is something good about the scalextrix magnets. Less hassle while playing... | ||
| Andreas Forrer (Tifosi12)
Intermediate Member Username: Tifosi12 Post Number: 2131 Registered: 10-2002 |
Finally I got my Scalextric track and some of the cars from ebay. Was able to put together a track that resembles the Fiorano one. Even figured out how to permanently install this eventually in my house. The cars I got so far are a yellow 512 S (like Rob's), a couple older F1 and two brand new Le Mans Lolas. The Lolas use magnets, what a difference that makes! The Ferrari and the F1 don't and I'm just learning how to control the power drift. Not easy, but fun. Now I'm waiting for the Challenge car to come out from Scalextric in Q4. That way I'll get somebody to practice with. | ||
| Dirk de Jager (Dj_dirk)
Member Username: Dj_dirk Post Number: 251 Registered: 2-2002 |
Andreas i use ebay a lot but i haven't used it for slotcars i like going into a store and snooping around and having the car in my hand before i buy it. | ||
| Andreas Forrer (Tifosi12)
Intermediate Member Username: Tifosi12 Post Number: 2103 Registered: 10-2002 |
Dirk, you have that store: www.ebay.com Search on 1/32 slot car returns over 190 cars. Of which 14 are Ferraris. Rob, I'm right behind you: Got my first Scalextric track off ebay with two miserly F1 cars. But they're good as beaters. Got some nice 250 GTO and a 333 SP on 'order' from ebay as well. What did I do before there was ebay? Dunno. | ||
| Dirk de Jager (Dj_dirk)
Junior Member Username: Dj_dirk Post Number: 250 Registered: 2-2002 |
Rob a store with 300-500 slot cars???????? WOW i wish i could find that here, if they have like 30-50 cars here, that that's a LOT. Jack i've seen those canams last week, they look pretty good, do you know if they go on a Ninco track? | ||
| thomas daniels (Castex)
Junior Member Username: Castex Post Number: 89 Registered: 6-2003 |
I managed to get hold of a 365BB shell from a chap in Texas. It's class. I painted just like my 1/1 and put it onto the chassis from a 512 (anyone want the body?), and it sort of fits okay. The current solution for fixing it on is -*blushes* - double-sided sticky tape. This collects hairs and all sorts of other crap from the track, and ends up sticking the car to the surface after a couple of hot laps. The GT40 just romps away, even in the hands of my wife...Has anyone got a better idea which won't tax a DIY no-hoper? Don't say jam blu-tack underneath the body, cos that doesn't work  Thanks. | ||
| Andreas Forrer (Tifosi12)
Intermediate Member Username: Tifosi12 Post Number: 2035 Registered: 10-2002 |
For the Chicagoans interested in this thread: The annual hobby show at the Rosemont is coming to town September 11-14. They always have a ton of these slot cars around and you can actually check them out playing. Anybody interested? I'm definitely going. | ||
| Jack Habits (Ferraristuff)
Member Username: Ferraristuff Post Number: 987 Registered: 4-2003 |
Hi Rick, I defenitely need to take an English course... :-( The stronger motor has such an increased RPM range (25,000 vs. some 16,000) that you would a straight of approx. 60 ft to fully exploit the rpm range with the original gearing hence the larger crownwheel. I have considered ball bearing but they become too large and add more weight than that they make up by running "lighter". Jack | ||
| Richard Muck (Mark_iv)
New member Username: Mark_iv Post Number: 5 Registered: 6-2003 |
Jack, The yellow gear is the "ring" or "crown" gear, the "pinion" gear is the gear mounted on the output shaft of the motor. Obviously the gear ratio ios a factor in the speed of the car-you gear for top speed on a long course with lots of straights and gear for acceleration on a short, tight course. Sorta like LeMans gearing vs. Monaco gearing! Ball bearings for the rear axle also increases speed due to reduced friction. Rick | ||
| Jack Habits (Ferraristuff)
Member Username: Ferraristuff Post Number: 981 Registered: 4-2003 |
This is the Audi R8 that I mentioned earlier on. It has a good number of racing miles under its belt and it shows but somehow I like "race worn" cars better than shiny ones... It defenitely needs a good cleaning after last night but it will show some of the "tricks" I told you guys about.  The car as it appears on track  A couple of the scars from letting the tail hang out and rub the barrier  Overall view of the chassis  Front axles components The yellow arrow points to one of the shims on the front axle to "lock it up" and reduce axial play (made out of lollypop stick!). Note how the front tires are chafed off to reduce the contact patch The rear tires are silicon and need re-seating after last night (especially note the one on the right in the picture).  Additional "stick-on" lead sheets to comply with the minimum weight rule. The lead is positioned so that it will actually enhance the controlability of the car. The motor is a beefy one which puts out 180 gramms/cm of torque at 25,000 rpm. The yellow pigneon is larger than standard to increase acceleration and take full advantage of the increased torque. The wheels are turned aluminum with plastic inserts to resemble (somewhat) the original wheels. The axle is turned and hardened and as close to "perfectly straight" as posible withinh the given tollerances. The rear axle runs in brass bearings and the wheels and pigneon are fully axially adjustable. That's it for today... :-D Jack | ||
| Jack Habits (Ferraristuff)
Member Username: Ferraristuff Post Number: 965 Registered: 4-2003 |
>>>What are the official racing rules when someone goes off? We would stop and wait for someone to put the car back on. As long as you have fun, don't worry about "official rules"... In a (quasi) official race, there are impartial marshals set at strategical points around the track who put the cars back on. Clubs number their lanes with paint on the track every foot or so and before the race, you put a little self-adhesive sticker on your car with your lane number so that the marshals can immediately put it back in the correct lane. Best thing is still... make sure you keep it on the track as I don't know of any races where the rest would wait for a car to be back in the running... In long distance races (everything is relative!) you'll find that when teams are pretty equally matched, the race is decided by the number of "offs" as they cost you a tremendous amount of time (you easily lose 4 seconds which in case of the track that you mentioned is a full lap). Jack | ||
| Rob Lay (Rob328gts)
Board Administrator Username: Rob328gts Post Number: 6117 Registered: 12-2000 |
Actually, the 2.6 seconds was on a oval with tight corners, our road course times were about 4 seconds. What are the official racing rules when someone goes off? We would stop and wait for someone to put the car back on. | ||
| Andreas Forrer (Tifosi12)
Intermediate Member Username: Tifosi12 Post Number: 1997 Registered: 10-2002 |
Because the cars go off easily, the design of the track is so important: I'm trying to put something together where both players ideally can reach out for their cars without running around too much. So the far away corner will have to be banked and the tricky stuff has to be near the drivers. Fiorano suits well as it has a cross over, therefore uses little real estate. I guess Suzuka would work well too. | ||
| Jack Habits (Ferraristuff)
Member Username: Ferraristuff Post Number: 963 Registered: 4-2003 |
Hi Rob, that is exactly what I meant with "no magnets is more fun" as it makes the cars more equal. Judging by the lap time, my guess is that it was only a 30 ft track or so? It is VERY easy to overdo it in the corners as the temptation is there to just squeeze the "throttle" and the power-to-weight ratio on these cars makes a 1/1 scale Enzo look like an under-powered, overweight grandma.... Once you get the hang of it, you will find that just setting it at the speed of the slowest corner is NOT the fastest way to lap the track. Starter sets are not THAT expensive and you can probably find them very cheap on Ebay and laying out a 50 - 60 ft track is only a couple of minutes work. Best advice is still to remove the magnet so that you get the feel for what squeezing the throttle does with the car and learn to bring it to the limit and still be able to control it. I must honestly admit that the very short, twisty tracks are less fun as how much "subtlety" can you bring into a laptime of 2.6 seconds? Jack | ||
| Rob Lay (Rob328gts)
Board Administrator Username: Rob328gts Post Number: 6115 Registered: 12-2000 |
Last night was my first time racing these. It was a good time. Not sure if I'm really hooked though. Frustrating how many times the cars go off track. Part of it was we had a really small track and you really didn't have time to modulate the throttle. We did 20-50 lap races and it worked out better to find the speed that wouldn't kick it off in the slowest turn and just leave it at that speed the entire time. When trying to modulate the speed no one could keep it on track for too many laps. My two cars were some of the worst there. We had about 10 cars total and the Le Mans MG's were the fastest mainly because they had the strongest magnet. I set the lap record at 2.6. My 512 S could only go 3.3 and the F1 was really slow. The 512 S seems like it had great power. You can peel the tires out! However, I need to work with the magnets I guess for these small tracks. | ||
| Jack Habits (Ferraristuff)
Member Username: Ferraristuff Post Number: 962 Registered: 4-2003 |
Since I live FAR too far away to be enjoying your future meetings I'll ignore you guys' winterplans and ramble on a little about car technology... ;-) This is the latest in 1/32nd scale: McLaren M8D, Can-AM champion 1970. Apart from being HUGELY detailed, it also features a working differential....      It is not REALLY faster and the differential tends to melt if you run the cars too fast for too long but who cares? IT'S FUN! Jack | ||
| Jack (Gilles27)
Intermediate Member Username: Gilles27 Post Number: 1359 Registered: 3-2002 |
Andreas--needless to say, the quality of racing diminished significantly through the later rounds! My original dream was to be able to re-create the different circuits, ideally as each race approached. The plus side to that would be keeping it "fresh", but the down side obviously would mean you couldn't really add much terrain, etc. | ||
| Andreas Forrer (Tifosi12)
Intermediate Member Username: Tifosi12 Post Number: 1995 Registered: 10-2002 |
Jack 'Gilles', sounds like a meeting of the minds. I'm pretty sure I'll build my track over the next winter. I'm trying to mimick the Fiorano track. So when it is complete, you'll be the first invited over for some action. 4 lanes in a pub? That most have been a blast! | ||
| Jack (Gilles27)
Intermediate Member Username: Gilles27 Post Number: 1354 Registered: 3-2002 |
Andreas, I've had this in the back of my mind for years! Same space issue. When I was in college, one of the bars had slot-car night every week where they would lay out a huge 4-lane track over 4 pool tables and hold an all-night tournament. Lots of fun. Anyway, I was almost considering building a setup in my garage, using a platform that I could hoist up to the ceiling when not in use. Could be a good winter project... | ||
| Jim E (Jimpo1)
Intermediate Member Username: Jimpo1 Post Number: 2469 Registered: 7-2001 |
Rob, if you build it (the track), we will come. | ||
| Jack Habits (Ferraristuff)
Member Username: Ferraristuff Post Number: 954 Registered: 4-2003 |
BLAST! I forgot something.... There is: 1) The Car 2) The Driver 3) The Track and... 4) THE CONTROLLER !!! The standard track kits come with very simple controllers, often without a brake, sometime with a brake. This is my controller:  Not visible in the picture is the rear on which there are 9 variable resistors which give a total of some 40,000 (!) possible settings... Things that you can "tune" (or as often is the case with me, screw-up) are: Braking point on the lever (actually reversed current) Braking power Acceleration point of the leaver Accelleration curve And so on... It's about a 150.00 to 200.00 $ affair but a lot of fun and it DOES make a difference... Jack | ||
| Andreas Forrer (Tifosi12)
Intermediate Member Username: Tifosi12 Post Number: 1979 Registered: 10-2002 |
Whoa Jack, those are phantastic shots! Absolutely gorgeous. And thanks to your comments I got a few more ideas for making my own track. Hmm. I did think about the track on the ceiling, but in my case that's where I already have some screens for the projection PC sims hanging. You're quite right about the smashing of cars. I'd like to get some nice Ferrari car for 'concours' racing, but for flat out speed, get some cheap beater car. | ||
| Jack Habits (Ferraristuff)
Member Username: Ferraristuff Post Number: 953 Registered: 4-2003 |
Andreas, Carrera just released the Enzo. Jack | ||
| Jack Habits (Ferraristuff)
Member Username: Ferraristuff Post Number: 952 Registered: 4-2003 |
Rob, when the serious racing begins (especially when you're beginner, I am no expert racer either, I like the "tuning" though) count on writing off the 512 as a "displayable model".... First things to go are the rearview mirror, windscreen wiper and rear spoiler.... The F1 will loose the front and rear spoilers after a couple of shunts... Here are some before and after shots of my 360 Modena.   There is only a couple of hours between the two pictures but you can see that the windscreen wiper is gone (photo-etched part... :-( ) obviously the right front suspension broke and that the Pirelli script is gone from the rear tire from the tail hanging out and bashing the guardrail. Andreas & Anthony, Preferred tracks overhere are either self-made or made out of Fleischmann track sections which are impregnated for improved grip. On the track where I somes go, you can actually see the braking points on the track as there is simply more rubber there, just like in scale 1/1. You can make your own track, using thick gauge board in which you make the slot and sticking self-adhesive copper tape next to the slot for the power. Paint the board with "schoolboard" paint and you will get a "like real" finish (maybe mix a little "white" into it so it gets a little more of a grey-tone) which also offer excellent grip. There is an array of cars available, most of them in scale 1/32, the most popular. Out-of-the-box cars usally run well but to be a winner, it simply requires what it also requires in the real world, have a better car than your opponents and if they run similar cars, do as listed below in my earlier post. I sometime race at a club and they also have a rally track, single lane, mountains, water splashes, mud and snow, night racing etc... GRINNNNNNNNNNNN Here are some pics:   Here is a short movie of some cars in action. The "snow" is actually flower from the kitchen and mud is cacoa powder... :-D http://home.hccnet.nl/o.roselaar/rijden.wmv To keep things fair & square, they race in different classes; front wheel drive, rear wheel drive, all wheel drive, vintage & classics etc. GREAT fun! Andreas, space is the biggest problem for most people... A friend of mine designed a track on a large board with he secured to the ceiling with cables attached to a garagedoor opener... Press the button and the whole track is lowered to a convenient height, another press and it is out of the way again. Best, Jack | ||
| Andreas Forrer (Tifosi12)
Intermediate Member Username: Tifosi12 Post Number: 1977 Registered: 10-2002 |
Just went onto the German ebay (www.ebay.de) and found about 30 Ferrari slot cars. Totally amazing, as well as the prices (a Euro is just a tad more than a buck). Dunno, whether they would work on Scalextric, but if nothing else one should be able to transfer the body. Everything is there, various F1 cars as well as all current production Ferraris, even the Enzo! | ||
| Andreas Forrer (Tifosi12)
Intermediate Member Username: Tifosi12 Post Number: 1973 Registered: 10-2002 |
Anthony, you're absolutely right. Once those bones and joints get older it is really hard to get up from the floor (trashed my Japanese bed a long time ago). Actually finding a table design, that works in my given place, offers the most track and is fair to both players to reach their cars when spun off, is IMHO the hardest part. I think I'll end up with some banked turns in areas where neither player can reach the cars and the tricky turns will be right where you stand. Anthony, having seen thos pics from your Italian home, I think a slot car track is the least of your concerns...but ultimately a great place to do that. | ||
| Anthony_Ferrari (Anthony_ferrari)
Member Username: Anthony_ferrari Post Number: 375 Registered: 11-2002 |
Wow! I thought these were toys! I remember taping a penny to the side of an F40 to make the back end really slide! I also remember Scalextric drag racing where my friend and I would take the body, front wheels and any other parts that could be removed off our cars. We would then switch the power off and line our cars up at one end of a long straight with our fingers giving full throttle! One of us would flick the power back on and the winner was the first car to hit the wall! I have quite a lot of Scalextric track and I have the idea in the back of my head that I might build a big track at our house in Italy. Andreas, if you build a track it needs to be table height rather than on the floor. All that crawling around is for the younger kids! | ||
| Andreas Forrer (Tifosi12)
Intermediate Member Username: Tifosi12 Post Number: 1962 Registered: 10-2002 |
Whoa Jack, I had no idea either! Printed your recommendations out, goes straight into my 'racing' folder. Any word on Scalectrix vs Carrera? I remember when living in Europe Carrera was the pinnacle of slot car racing (although too expensive for me at the time). Here in the US Scalectrix seems to be the way to go. Not even sure whether Carrera is avail in the US. Aside from all that, my biggest problem is finding space for the track. When you live in an apartment as opposed to a house with a huge basement, these things tend to get in the way. I'm thinking about a permanent structure, that can be folded up: Do they have some sort of flexible track pieces for where the board folds? | ||
| Rob Lay (Rob328gts)
Board Administrator Username: Rob328gts Post Number: 6076 Registered: 12-2000 |
Dang, wow, never knew there was that much to it! Hmm, wrecked your 360? You mean I can wreck my new $60 512? Urgh, maybe this isn't a cheap hobby. | ||
| Jack Habits (Ferraristuff)
Member Username: Ferraristuff Post Number: 950 Registered: 4-2003 |
Rob, Slotcar racing can be as easy as having a fun outing on a kart track or as complicated as racing at Le Mans... Most slot cars have magnets built into the chassis (Your F1 does for sure have a strong one, the 512 S probably only has a mild one). Although they increase roadholding by simply "sucking" the cars to the track, they can also be a burden... The stronger the magnet, the more difficult the car becomes to control on the limit as it will almost become an "on/off" switch, it either sticks or it flicks... I have always had most fun with slotcars when everybody removed the magnet so you are really driving on mechanical grip (gives some beautiful powerslides too!). Some cars have adjustable magnets, but try to master the skill with no magnet and you will be amazingly quick WITH magnet. Unfortunately I wrecked my 360 a couple of months ago but still have my tweaked Gulf Audi R8 (more powerful motor, shorter gearing for improved accelleration, turned & hardened axles (straighter thus more efficicient), turned aluminum wheels (better balance = faster but also easier to control) and last, but defenitely not least.... silicon tires which stick like glue.... :-D If you have the time, run the car stationary with the rear tires removed and see how the wheels are out of whack... Fine sanding paper can correct that (using it when the motor is running so you get perfectly round wheels. Getting into the finer art of tuning, you can loosen the screws that attach the bodywork to the chassis... Sounds weird but this will allow the chassis to flex more thus increasing roadholdong in turns. Experiment with different settings on track and you will notice the difference. The 512 will be less suited for this than the F1. Going even further... if you haven't run the car yet, remove the motor, connect it to a suitable powersource, fill a glass with gasoline, add a squirt of very light oil (oil for sewing machines is perfect) emerge the motor in it and allow it to "break in" in that mixture (NO short circuiting will happen, not even in water). Run it at about half the voltage that the track will use (normal tracks are 12V) for some 6 hours. This will allow the brushes to seat themselves perfectly onto the rotor surface, allow the bearings to break in and when done well, will increase the output of the motor by up to 10%. More? Eliminate front axles play (axial) by closing up the axles by adding "shims" made out of hollow lollypop stick... Decrease the front tire surface by chafing them of, leaving only a TINY ridge on the outer edges(they have no steering to do so the less surface touches the track, the faster the car runs). Make sure the chassis is perfectly flat and that the axles are perfectly straight. Also make sure everything is lubricated well but don't overdo it... ONE (only ONE) tiny drop on the bearing of the motor before the race, tiny drops on the axles bearings and some teflon grease on the crownwheel will work wonders. Pfewwww.... Still al lot to do before the race.... Most importantly, even if you can have the fastest car on the track, try to get some track time and get a feel for the limits of the car(s). Good 1/1 scale racing drivers are usually also damn good slotcar racers (Jan Lammers is a master at it...). Have fun! Best regards, Jack | ||
| Andreas Forrer (Tifosi12)
Intermediate Member Username: Tifosi12 Post Number: 1961 Registered: 10-2002 |
Here is an example of a georgeous (however not terribly interesting) track: A replica of the Goodwood hill climb. Presented by Scalextrix themselves. Note if the middle section of the track has the famous brick wall. One of this year's feature cars (GT40) is on it. They had timed runs and everybody could try to get the fastest time.  Jay Kai (sp?), the British singer with the black Enzo held the Scalectrix lap record. PS: Maybe I should practice again for my next trip to Dallas... | ||
| Andreas Forrer (Tifosi12)
Intermediate Member Username: Tifosi12 Post Number: 1960 Registered: 10-2002 |
Yeah, that's roughly about it. Since they're electric they stop very quickly, so no need for brakes. It sounds simple, but you'll see, that there are better and less good 'drivers'. Some people will always throw their cars off in the turns. The cool thing about slot cars is, that once you get the hang of it, you're likely to be good at any slot car race you participate. Kinda like video games. Slot car racing is of course most fun when done with friends. However in order to practice seriously you might want to get some timing device for best laps and also some 'robot' cars to race against. Those can just moving obstacles you have drive around or some fairly clever cars controlled by a computer to really get you going. Also fun is of course building a cool track, ideally with some cross overs etc. I used to modify all my slot cars and tinker with them, trying to make the faster etc. | ||
| Rob Lay (Rob328gts)
Board Administrator Username: Rob328gts Post Number: 6069 Registered: 12-2000 |
So Andreas, what is the skill or strategy with slot car racing? I guess you can't go full throttle because they will fly off the track. Do you just learn where on the track to gas on and gas off like hitting braking points on a real race track? | ||
| Andreas Forrer (Tifosi12)
Intermediate Member Username: Tifosi12 Post Number: 1959 Registered: 10-2002 |
Love that 512S, beautiful. I used to slot car race and learned fast, that it is always your prettiest car, that flies off the fastest straight into the wall...  I take it the lights on the 512S work in darkness? The modeller in me feels like changing those ugly stripes on the F1 into scaled Marlboro stickers. | ||
| Rob Lay (Rob328gts)
Board Administrator Username: Rob328gts Post Number: 6068 Registered: 12-2000 |
Well, this guy I race with is always having wild parties at his house every few months. Last time we were racing little micro remote control machines. This time around he bought a Scalextric track set and wants everyone coming over to bring their own cars. At lunch I went to this huge hobby store in Irving that had 300-500 various 1/32 slot cars. Really cool cars, but not many Ferraris. I did buy a 512 S and F1...   I don't know much of anything about slot car racing yet, but I'm trying to learn as the party is Sunday. I've posted some questions to a slot racing message board. Just another hobby to add to the list, luckily this one is a little less expensive. |