SlotCarsForever.com

Tecno Slot Review – 1/43 Scale Chassis Kit

Slot Car Scientist — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 03:02:01 +0000

Space for a decent size slot car track is an issue for most people and has been that way for decades. Although HO or more accurately, 1/64 scale cars have been the annual Christmas gift of choice in the slot genre, they are really different. A serious slot car does not have magnets holding it down to the metal rails of a track.

This has become the norm for 1/32 scale racing as well. Magnets change how a car reacts. Anyone who has driven a professional quality car that relies on gravity and chassis design to stay in the slot, knows what I am saying.

Back to the issue of space. For those of us with poor eyesight, an HO, even if it is a gravity T Jet (the last fun HO ever produced) these tiny cars are hard to see.

If only they were a little bigger. Well there has always been a scale that is a little bigger and that is 1/43 scale. The problem is, very few manufacturers have produced this scale in the past 50 years. I have an aurora pickup truck from ’66. It ran on an standard HO track.

Carrera makes a few today. Unfortunately these are magnet cars. They do run on the 1/32 tracks.

Enter the new chassis from Tecno Slot. It is a kit that you adapt your favorite 1/43 model body to. In the US there aren’t many models in this scale but 99 cent store toys are a source for bodies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lt11cb7hfZ8

The Tecno Slot chassis allows two setups (see Downloads menu on the site):

with magnet effect
without magnet effect (The one I insist on}

Sergi Bolea of Tecno Slot has tested the chassis on different tracks like: Carrera, Ninco, Scalextric and wood tracks like pros run on.

“Our philosophy/intention with this product is:”

Adaptable to any body static car (1:43 scale is available around the world) to slot,
Now anyone can make a 1/43 car of their choice,
Building a kit is always more gratifying than an RTR,
and, of course, to enjoy driving it !

The kit includes foam as an easy way to mount your body

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-mj8q_peoM

It sort of reminds me of a 1965 DynoCharger chassis. Or a K&B challenger. This is strictly for the non- scratch-builder who are few and far between. As a class this could be really fun.

I am tempted to fire up my router and make a killer layout on a 4′ x 8′ sheet of particle board designed just for this scale!

Incoming search:

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tecno slot

Avoiding Slot Car Auction Fraud

Slot Car Scientist — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 03:22:21 +0000

I have been collecting slot cars since the early 1970′s when I was just a kid. I visit ebay everyday to keep track of the slot car auctions and current valuations of collectables.

I need more slot cars like I need another hole in my head. But being involved in this hobby for over 40 years, much of it professionally, I enjoy seeing all the old stuff emerge from the rafters across the country.

What disturbs me is the way some sellers are deliberately trying to rip off the uneducated slot car investor. Expert evaluators like Phillippe de Lespinay, and myself have been around so long and know what the cars looked like new, so we can tell rare from common and original from reproduction.

I want to give you a few tips on buying from slot car auctions, most notably on ebay.

Now with modern wing cars costing hundreds of dollars and losing 60% of that value the minute they leave the raceway, a collectable slot car at $100 to $800 is not a bad investment. There will never be any more made.

Lancer was the best producer of clear bodies. Today, many of the molds are being used to pull new bodies out of lexan. These are packaged on purple cards/ plastic bags. Original bodies were pulled from butyrate and came in a white and blue box. Today I see a new lancer body being sold as vintage. This body is not old, it is not vintage. The mold is vintage. The era of the car is vintage. The new body pulled off the mold is not vintage.

Scratch built cars have sold for over $300. They are more impressive than todays nothing lightweight things, but they can be faked. I have seen many scratch built cars up for sale as vintage, which were made that month. A few vintage components, but they will have modern wires and guideflags. The chassis design isn’t right. This car may be worth $300 if it were build nicely but to sell it as vintage is fraud.

Dynamic made magnesium chassis pieces for any motor you can think of. Cars made with these pieces are vintage but they will never have any value. They weren’t impressive and they are very common.

Cox cars are the most desirable. The Cucaracha was a very common car because it was a great handling car. I enjoyed running one for fun on the original American hillclimb at Bellflower raceway in 1989. It was a true vintage experience. There is no harder track to drive and that Cuc made great lap times.

The Chaparral cuc is the most valuable. The Supercuc is almost as desirable. Then there is the Cheetahracha.

The mag chassis cars cannot be reproduced even if the casting molds existed. Too expensive. If a body is painted it reduces the value by about 70%. It is difficult to strip the paint off and polish the body out to stock condition. If you buy a mint in the box or nearly mint, you can never build it or you will reduce the value by 60%. most people just want a vintage car they can put on a track and experience what it was like when slot cars were truly model cars. Then a beat up body with a decent chassis is well worth $100.

Too many sellers are listing Cox in the title and description of their listing because they know everyone wants Cox. This annoys me when nothing on the car is Cox.

I will talk more about brands and values in a future post.

Incoming search:

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la cucaracha slot car

Falcon Slot Car Motors

Slot Car Scientist — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 00:17:10 +0000

Falcon slot car motors and an interview with Todd Radke.

The Falcon slot car motor is now in it’s 7th version with incremental improvements from each batch.

At first glance these motors do not look like much more than toy motors. I was skeptical about using them in a real slot car back when team zombie created the vintage F1 class (which later morphed into D3) and rented the king track at Buena Park to run them. The motor choice was the Falcon II. Surprisingly, they were really quick.

Later on we decided to make the Parma Deathstar 16D legal also. Stuebe and myself decided to experiment with the heavier motor. Faster down the strait but terrible in the turns due to the weight, the car could do no better than 2nd in its only outing. All future F1 slot cars used the Falcon.

I tore down the motors to see what made then tick. I was surprised to see wiper arms instead of brushes and real springs. This is usually a terrible idea, as the wiper arms get hot, lose all tension and the insulator bracket melts down. Not so with the Falcon slot car motors, so this means the amp draw is very low and efficient. This is due mainly to some excellent magnets. These little wonders are very strong and not what one would expect in a $10 motor. Falcon 7 is the best yet.

In the past this motor has been retailed by TSRF and JK Products. That is changing as on this month Top Line will now be the brand name you see in the case retailing the Falcon.

I had a chance to talk with the manufacturer of the Falcon, Mr Todd Radke.

SCF

Welcome. Tell us a little about yourself and why you decided to make the Falcon.

I have been an avid slot racer since 1958. Several years ago on another forum some racers were complaining about the impending discontinuation of Plafit Cheetah (FK) motors. I bought a couple to analyze at the Chico Slot Car Club. I decided this type of lightweight, inexpensive, sealed motor had great potential as an entry level motor for slot car racing. I hoped it would level the playing field and give beginning racers a better chance to compete and win thereby increasing the number of people participating in our sport. Believe it or not the project was driven more by a desire to give something back to the sport that had given me such joy over the years than to make a profit.

SCF

There is some confusion to who owns this motor. Most people think this is a JK product.

Since my hardware business takes me to China often, I decided to see if I could find a factory in China to duplicate the Plafit FK type motors. After many months of testing various motors from different factories I choose one factory and paid them $8000 to build tooling to produce motors for me. My first customer was Philippe at TSR. He required a particular motor specification for his new TSR cars. My second and third customers were Fantasy World and JK Products respectively. I sold them both a different spec than the TSR motor. I decided to name the motors I sold to Fantasy World and JK the Falcon. I assigned a part number to it of JKI to help my factory avoid mixing up motors during production, packing etc. The use of a part number including JK was my creation and my decision just as TSR1 was for the motors I sold to Philippe and violates no trademark whatsoever. I do own the tooling and have a trademark on slot car motors with the name Falcon.

Later I found out the Plafit motor was not originally designed for slot cars. I have been told it was for some type of appliance. The mfrs. of a CD player do not care if the disc tray opens .2 seconds slower or faster but slot racers care a lot. So after the initial TSR1 and Falcon 1, I decided to make the Falcon be all it could be.

SCF

But it wasn’t just that easy was it?

It took multiple generations to get it “right” with one (Falcon II) disaster. This professional motor factory with over 1000 workers wound 10,000 armatures backwards despite having signed approved and correct drawings.

SCF

You are going to switch retailer from JK to Topline, why the change?

My decision to discontinue sales of Falcon motors to JK Products. In my hardware business I have many distributors throughout the US and Canada. I require them to sell only my products in that particular product and price niche. With the introduction of the Hawk 7 motors, something that was done completely without my knowledge, JK has become my competitor despite the claim on their website that the Hawk 7 “is not a replacement for the Falcon 7. It simply makes no business sense for me to work with a competitor.

This decision is not about making me more profit. The MSRP will remain the same. This has not been done to punish JK. JK made a business decision to become my competitor and I responded with a business decision of my own. Why JK made this decision I cannot really understand but I am sure the rumors will fly.

I have decided to sell motors to Topline Inc. to service this segment of the market. I am confident that Topline Inc. will provide a high level of service and will maintain enough stock so there is no shortage of Falcon motors in the future.

SCF

Will have to submit this motor for approval again?

Falcon motors now sold by Top Line are from the same factory, the same tooling and the same spec as previous shipments of Falcon VII motors. I take issue with those that might say the Falcon needs to be re-approved by various racing organizations. It is no different than buying a new Ford truck from Dealer A or Dealer B. The basic product is EXACTLY the same. The only thing JK added was the packaging.

SCF

China is known to have delivery issues, has this been a problem for you?

I sincerely regret any present or past shortages of Falcon motors. The factory I use has a minimum production lead time of 60 days. The combined on the water transit time + Customs clearances + 911 security impounds from the factory door in China to the West Coast of the USA ranges from 17 to 25 days. My customers have been informed of this. I depend on my customers to inform me of their stocking levels and how many motors they will need and when. However if I get this information late then it means there will be shortages. I usually keep a small stock of motors in Chico for fill-in orders but even this has not been enough sometimes. Last Spring one order was 3 weeks late due to severe labor shortages in southern China.

SCF

Top Line is owned by one of the legends of our sport. Will you be working on any other products for Top Line?

I expect you will be seeing additional products resulting from my association with Top Line in the near future. Thank you all for your business.

SCF That is good hear. The falcon slot car motors are a true success, I am sure future products are going to do very well.

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1 24 Slot Cars

Slot Car Scientist — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 01:41:46 +0000

Your options for 1 24 slot cars

From the early 1960′s until the late 1990′s, 1 24 scale slot cars were by far the most popular. They were substantial when held in your hand. They could be seen easily on the huge 220′ speedway commercial tracks. Because they were wide they handled better which means they could coner faster. Overall lap times are significantly better than1/32 scale slot cars.

I am not going to discuss the vintage 1 24 slot cars in this article. I will instead discuss what you can buy today. Pictures for this article are currently being taken so check back.

First and foremost is the bread and butter of any commercial racing program, the stamped steel production car or in slang terms, the flexis. The term flexi comes from the Parma produced flexi car which was the first of this style produced and is currently in it’s 5th design. By far the most successful of all 1 24 slot cars in history.

Because of the popularity of these production 1 24 slot cars, a slew of competitors have poped up over the years. The first of which was from Champion. They produced a chassis that was more attractive, stronger and handled better than the flexi1. They called it the Astro.

The flexi 1 had some very serious problems. The front axle was made of 1/16” piano wire that also doubled as the hinge for the pans to plumber on the center section. The center section did not include winged front bumpers although they would later produce an addon piece to correct that. Because the pans and front wheels had no protection from a wall blast, it was never long and the front axle would bend. Now the bent axle would rotate the front wheel down and the car would de- slot. It became instantly un-driveable. Parma has a patent on the way this chassis assembles, so you will not see any other competitors chassis like the flexi. This has resulted in some very creative attempts to make a two piece chassis without infringing on Parma s patent.

The downside of this situation was that misguided track owners would not allow any soldering in this production class. Although their motives were good, to protect the kids who couldn’t get a soldering iron, in fact they made the racing experience frustrating because motors would always vibrate loose, front axles would always rotate, and oilite bushings would tend to bind or get lost when changing tires on these particular 1 24 slot cars.

The issues with the flexi 1 could be easily fixed by soldering in a brace to lock the front axle in place to the center section. When this was done and the motor was braced in place and the oilites were glued or soldered in place, the flexis could defeat the Astro on larger faster tracks. This is was because the flexi chassis was lighter. In fact it is the lightest of all flexi chassis. It was not ideal for the older tracks with bumps. But today if properly modified 20 year old flexi 1 1 24 slot cars will outrun anything available today. Todays are so smooth that this lightweight chassis is ideal.

The Astro chassis was ideal for the old bumpy tracks with its almost solid center section and bigger pads. It was designed to pivot in a slot under the front axle with no contact or reliance on the front axle at all. This design was rock solid. Instead of the 5/8” front wheels that came on the Parma, Champion used their cool looking deep dish 1/2” fronts that were legal. The design had a distinctive “clacking sound as it cornered and the pans moved. This is why we called it it affectionately the clacker. Very successful chassis in the history of 1 24 slot cars.

In the mid 90′s Champion designed a new chassis called the Turbo flex. It was more attractive than Astro with longer pans and a shiny zinc plating. Parma wasn’t resting on the flexi 1 however. The Flexi 2 was much stronger and much heavier than version 1. It was also zinc plated and had an additional motor bracket that kept the motor from moving. The bushings in the chassis were now square so they couldn’t rotate. The pan upstops were now a tandem duo instead of one in the center. This was thought to be a way to tune for right and left turns independently. Flexi 2 1 24 slot cars seemed to have it all figured out but it did not sell as well as the flexi 1, which continued to be sold along side the flexi 2.

Parma acquired Champion a few years back and still sells both the Astro and Turbo flex.

Other manufacturers that have attempted to compete in the 1 24 slot cars flexi format. These include Ferret, Racer, JK, and Trinity under the slotworks moniker.

The ferret chassis shown below from our tutorial section, used rivets to attach the two pieces. The bottom rivet violated the 1/16” clearance requirement that virtually all rule sets mandated. As a track owner I made an exception for the rivet because it did nothing in the way of being any CG advantage.

Slotworks from the legendary Trinity, was an interesting looking chassis. It was long, had long pans with many cutouts and it had a bar circling in front of the guide. Unfortunately, the steel they used was too thing and too soft. The chassis would bend very easily. The front bar that was meant to protect was stamped into the pans so it got hit and everything would go wonky.

The JK offering floated the pan section below the center section. Very creative since there weren’t many ideas left. Unfortunately, that type of design was not good in terms of high center of gravity. JK today has a much better design.

The winged 1 24 slot cars

Next lets talk about the 1 24 slot cars that aren’t cars at all. Thats right – wing cars. Now it is common to put wing bodies on flexi cars. The flexi 1 with a wing body can really turn some low lap times. But I wasn’t to talk about purpose built wing cars made light for all out speed.

There are basically two types of wing cars. The entry level kind use larger, cheaper ceramic magnet motors. The second kind is the high dollar, state of the art wing car. I won’t engage in the wing car history here. I am talking in terms of now.

The entry level winged 1 24 slot cars started out being called box stock. They used a domestically produced C can motor in with either group 15, group 12 or group 20 armatures. The chassis were brass and wire that were produced in Asia. These chassis were mass produced not with hands and soldering irons, buy parts laid in jigs and run through an oven where low temp solder would melt and solder the parts together. These were mandated to retail for only $16. The trick to winning races was to rebuild these chassis with silver solder after straitening the parts. This was legal because there was no way to prove a rebuild.

The high end group 27 and open classes of winged 1 24 slot cars use very small cobalt motors. They started out using edm computer cut spring steel perimeter chassis, but today the quest for speed has Koford make a chassis out of high grade hardened aircraft aluminum that is then plated so it can be soldered to. Because the ability to make edm chassis is so cheap and easy these days many manufactures including Camen, Koford, DRS, Slick 7 and many others. Because of this, entry level wing cars now use these spring steel perimeter chassis instead of the low quality brass and wire imports.

With very few 1 24 slot car tracks in the US or even worldwide, it is definitely a cottage industry. But it is a very special hobby. It has a long history for a reason. Hobbies are never a wise way to invest money, so just decide this is a spice of life. If you have the opportunity to race 1 24 slot cars, take the opportunity especially if you are a father and son.

Incoming search:

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HOW TO MAKE AN I/R SENSOR CABLE

Jeff B — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 02:54:23 +0000

HOW TO MAKE AN I/R SENSOR CABLE FOR YOUR 4 LANE LAP COUNTER

Most lap timer suppliers will sell you a pre-wired I/R sensor cable for about $40 plus shipping. This article will show you how to make your own for less than $15 using an old printer cable. This sensor cable will work with Trackmate, LapTimer 2000 and UR30 lap counters.

You will need up to 4 – I/R sensors from Radio Shack, part number 276-145. You will also need an old printer cable with a DB25 male coupling on one end. Some small plastic heat shrink tubing is helpful, but not mandatory; electrical tape may be substituted.

You will need the following tools: a vise or a clamp, soldering iron, solder, rosin flux, wire strippers, xacto knife, and an ohm meter.

The first step is to cut off the end of the printer cable that normally plugs into the printer. This leaves you with a cable with a DB25 male connector on one end. Using an Xacto knife, slice the insulation length-wise in the cable for about one foot. Then peel back the insulation and trim it off. You should see a bunch of color-coded wires and an un-insulated wire and perhaps some foil shielding. Trim off the foil shielding and the bare wire.

Next you need to identify which of the color-coded wires are to be used. Using the wire strippers, remove about ½ inch of insulation from each wire. Using a vise or a clamp, secure the DB25 male connector to your work bench so that you can easily gets to the male pins. Use the diagram below to identify pins 10-13. Now using an ohm meter, place one of the meter’s leads on one of the wires, then touch the other lead to the pins on the printer cable. Check each pin until you determine which one the wire is connected to. The goal is to find which wires connect to pins 10-13 and which ones connect to the ground pins(18-25). Once you have identified the wires that connect to pins 10-13 and four or more ground wires, trim back the unused wires. (NOTE: it is a good idea to have extra ground wires identified just in case one doesn’t work properly)

If you are using heat shrink tubing for insulation; then cut your tubing to about 1/4” longer than the leads on the I/R sensors. Take the wire for pin #10 and slide the tubing over it. Next, solder the wire to the short lead of one of the I/R sensors. Now take one of the ground wires and slide the tubing over it, and solder the ground wire to the long lead of the sensor. Slide the tubes over the solder joints until the bare leads are completely covered. Repeat this process for the three remaining sensors and you are ready to test your sensor cable.

Download LapTimer 2000 and install it on your computer. In the setup select LPT1 port and I/R sensor. Select the TrakMate setting for the sensor. With four lanes displayed on the screen, you should be able to generate a lap for each lane by flashing a light across your sensors. If one does not work properly, then try a different ground wire on that sensor.

Once you are satisfied that all four sensors work properly, you can apply some heat to the tubing to shrink it around the connections, and you are ready to install the sensors in your track.

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Slot Car Motors

Slot Car Scientist — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 01:46:54 +0000

The various types of slot car motors.

There are many brands of the basic categories of motors below. Find out what works best at your local track before you buy.

The TSRF, Slick 7 or JK falcon slot car motors have replaced the 16D as the entry level motor. Made in Japan originally for printers, this motor has proven to be almost as reliable as the 16D, but slightly faster due to it’s significant weight advantage. Price $9 – $12

The 16D has been the entry level motor for 3 decades. It is big and heavy but it is also reliable and costs about $12. Made in China.

The cobalt group 27 slot car motors are the second fastest motor available. The stacks of the armature are full length and it is wound with 38 turns of 27 gauge wire. These motors are very reliable and very powerful. $335

The unlimited open slot car motors used in professional group 7 and eurosport semiscale racing. The can is hard steel, the endbell is anodized aluminum. Magnets are cobalt. The armatures are short and typically .480″ in diameter. Winds for these range from 15t of 24 gauge to 26t of 26 gauge wire. price $280 – $415

.

Great slot car motors are essential for winning slot cars these days so get the best available.

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Slot Cars – Then and Now

Slot Car Scientist — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 01:27:13 +0000

Slot cars have been around for over 50 years.

We think of slot cars as having a guide flag that rides inside a slot cut into the track surface. The first slot cars were just the opposite. The slot was a channel in the car and it fit over a rail. Below are early examples of when the slot cars concept was very new. The very earliest we can trace it is back to 1912 when Lionel produced a set of two cars and a rail guide.

Lets jump to 1963. Slot cars by this time had some buzz and commercial raceways with 6 and 8 lane custom built wood tracks were starting to appear. Revell entered the market with, first with 1/32 scale cars and sets featuring the Corvette and Ferrari 250. They then fed an eager racing crowd with 1/24 scale F1 cars like the Lotus and BRM of that year. Right on their tails was Cox, Monogram, K&B and then all the rest you know of. 1964 saw and explosion of popularity in slot cars.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y655Ha6aNjE

Sonic Needle "Thingie"

The next big transition came in 1968, when the need for speed sold better than the scale aspect of slot cars. What I mean is, slot cars were conceived to be exact miniature replicas of actual full size race cars. It wasn’t long before the slot car version of concept cars brought about what were referred to as “Thingies” Non scale wield looking slot cars that were more aerodynamic that something scale. Lower, smaller wheels, colored tires, sleeker lines. Kids especially liked these. The Cox LaCucaracha is a classic case of speed over scale. There was no such real car. A real person would not have room to sit in such a car to drive it.

This was when technology entered into slot cars. The motors switched from the popular and cheap imported Mabuchi to purpose built domestic motors. Every component was significantly better in these motors. In fact. By 1970, motor theory reached it’s peak. The physics principals understood and produced were amazing. Even today, those secrets have not been relearned. At least I have not seen anything produced today that convinces me anyone knows what I am talking about.

Chassis were hand built. They were made of brass and steel. The designs were innovative and complex. The slot car tracks of the day were not produced to help speed like they are today. Tracks back then were designed to be challenging so as to require extensive participation by the slot car driver. Track owners liked it to as they sold lots of profitable track time since practice was essential for racing success.

Because these tacks were bumpy and had dropoffs in the straitaways, heavy cars with powerful motors to pull them were the way to get slot cars to use gravity as their ally to get through the rough parts without slowing to much.

Once the scale aspect was history and speed took over, the popularity of slot cars took a huge hit. By 1972, the hobby was almost dead. With speed comes a high price tag. Fads always wane and technology always advances too quickly for those with limited budgets.

The most significant changes in the 1970′s were first a switch from the large size D can motor to the more compact C can motors from Mura and Champion primarily. The second was the advent of air control. This is the addition of a front spoiler, a rear diaplane, and two clear sheets of mylar attached to each side of the slot cars body. This trapped air above the top of the body and caused a massive amount of downforce.

In the 1080′s, motors got smaller and lighter still. Trinity brought polymer magnets to market that had cobalt particles in them. Not only were they light but they has more than twice the strength of ceramic magnets of the day. Next up was the Proslot cube cobalt motor. These really allowed chassis to get lighter and lap times to drop. The early issue with these motors was that the cobalts would tend to find and suck up any pin or metal debris on the slot car track resulting in it seizing up and frying. Basically, everyone, especially track owners would have to be more aware of losing metal bits.

But another significant change was in the tracks Hasse Nilsson came to the states and started building smoother more banked versions of the famous American Blue King. Sad to say this spelled the demise of the beautiful formica sided tracks as they are mostly in landfills today. Lap times dropped again.

This cycle of lighter slot cars and smoother tracks continued and we have about peaked in performance today. A very light car, with air dams or without easily stays on todays swoopy cradle tracks. The advantage can only be gained in motor and car prep, not in driving ability. This means very high prices, even for stock beginner classes.

But here we are. Slot cars have survived even through the worst of economies. Today there is a diversity of offerings. There is extreme scale slot cars out of Europe. There is blinding speed air control “wing cars”. There are semi scale, non wing cars that almost resemble cars much like the LaCucaracha.

Slot cars today come in 4 different scales

H.O. Or 1/64 scale. OK I am well aware HO is not 1/64 scale it is 1/87 scale. But in terms of slot cars what is called HO is 1/64. These do have a professional commercial element with companies like BSRT but it is truly unknown to most. HO is mostly relegated to wacky sets that climb wall that kids get for Christmas. These are technically slot cars, but because the use magnetism instead of gravity, I will ignore them on slotcarsforever.com for the most part.

1964

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csc6FendZlE

Today

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuBXJViwuJw

1/43 slot cars are about 3” long. These are what most stores sell as a slot car set. Made in China, these are usually powered by 4 D alkaline batteries. They are toys, but they are definitely slot cars. If you think I sound unimpressed, I have to make the point that without these sets introducing 6 year olds to the hobby, slot cars in general would take a big hit. We need these sets in every store.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SO16pIe34O8

1/32 slot cars have taken up the scale mantle. Carrera, Scalextric, Ninco, Slot it and Fly are all out of Europe. These slot cars have decent motors, hard plastic molded bodies and are more scale accurate than anything from the early 1960′s. Computer controlled graphics application to the bodies and modern factory technology, allow these truly scale slot cars to be sold in America imported for $50 to $80. These are more toys than commercial, and they do use magnets because of crude one piece plastic chassis. However they dominate slot cars as a hobby today in rec rooms and garages across the country. Organized series are common among home track owners. We will be covering some of these.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pH5pwceYvvE

Parma has been producing metal chassis, lexan bodied 1 32 slot cars for 4 decades. They continue today to produce the best selling ever womp womp. Now it is hard to say this is a scale slot, they are all semi scale. But this is the slot car that kids can still likely afford. All remaining raceways should always have a womp racing program. Unlike the plastic magnet cars out of Europe which can’t run on a King track, these are made for it. Champion was making a similar car called the Thumper but Parma has since acquired Champion. JK is another manufacturer that makes a semiscale 1 32 slot car for big tracks. It is an anglewinder and a bit more expensive.

1/24 slot cars are what gives this hobby excitement. This is where all the technological development takes place. The big commercial tracks run many classes of these. There are too many variants to list so I will just talk about the root of each class.

Wing Cars – these are the blindingly fast air dam equipped racers built for speed. Absolutely no illusion of scale. They range in price from $100 for the low tech beginner cars to $700 for the latest super lightweight open car the professionals race. All wing cars are very easy to drive. With the application of a tacky petroleum substance nicknamed “glue” these slot cars can be dialed in to not require any modulation of the hand help controller at all. Most though will have to “blip” the controller a couple times per lap at the tight turns. Most wing cars require several motors to be used per race. Motors can cost $400 each. The motors must be reconditioned after each race to remain competitive. This is high dollar racing and is the equivalent of F1 in auto racing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPslO_JuxzQ

Production Cars – these slot cars are commonly nicknamed “flexis” after the flexicar that Parma first made popular. These characteristically have a 2 piece soft steel chassis with the pan section floating on top of the center section. Many manufacturers produce a version of this type chassis and offer ready to run car. These use semiscale Lexan bodies of about any type of car you can imagine. NASCAR, American Lemans, street cars, high downforce wedge, or F1/Indy. Bodies are available in thicknesses .007, .010, and sometimes .015, .020 or ,040 for rental bodies. All are lighter than injected molded plastic bodies. These are the bread and butter of slot car racing. They are still affordable, and simple enough to work on for most.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RueJ0vQgMqo

Eurosport/semiscale open – these are essentially wing cars without the side dams that use high downforce wedge bodies. The chassis are spring steel, and have a little movement. Nothing like the articulated masterpieces of the late 60′s. These two are very fast and require a budget similar to that of open wing cars.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSBiCBUs89U

Hardbody – This type of slot car can be found running at most raceways. You have to custom make the chassis and buy a model to have one of these. Or buy one from someone who can build. The other option is to fit a model body to some commercially available chassis that require some adaptation. Spectators enjoy watching these because they look much more like cars and are slow enough to actually watch race. Drivers enjoy racing these because even on todays easy tracks, a hardbody slot car must be drive in every turn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jf2XCbcEb0

That is a very basic overview of slot cars then and now. It is impossible to cover all that has happened and all that exists and is raced worldwide over 5 decades, or even this past year. At slotcarsforever.com we will write about the most interesting things in the world of slot cars.

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MOST EXPENSIVE SLOT CAR

Koford Slot Cars

Slot Car Scientist — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 01:26:11 +0000

What is the deal with Koford slot cars?

Koford slot cars, does not offer a ready to run slot car for beginners, only because of the companies status as the best professional equipment manufacturer. They hold almost every record and win almost every major race. This is not an endorsement, just the current reality.

No company has been more dedicated to testing and developing to advance the need for speed race. The Koford slot car you see to the left is similar to the world record holding wing car, in the open group 7 class. That car traversed a 155′ king track in 1.5 seconds. That is over 70 mph.

The chassis is plated aluminum. The motor is a $415 lightweight cobalt beast. Every part of the car is manufactured by Koford except the guide flag.

Koford slot cars can be assembled by purchasing all the parts separately. Kofors parts are found in most fast slot cars.

UPDATE: You can now buy ready assembled Group27 Koford slot cars

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koford slot cars

Slot Car Tracks

Slot Car Scientist — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 01:05:17 +0000

Slot car tracks vary and depend on what type of racing you want to do.

If you are looking for commercial slot car tracks then go to our 1 24 slot car tracks page.

Plastic Tracks:

Some great layouts can be made with plastic slot car tracks. Downside is, competition slot cars that work on a big slot car tracks, don’t work on these even with a battery as the power source. Sponge tires won’t grip the plastic. If you add goop, it is hard to clean up because any solvent you use will attack the plastic. The rails are steel. SlotCarsForever.com always recommends taking the traction magnet out of any car. We will repeat this throughout the website. Fishtailing (slide) is the single most important element of fun in driving a slot car. Lack of it, is why slot car racing is dying.

CARRERA – Spain import – 1 32 slot car track

SCALEXTRIC slot car set – 1 32 slot car track

Commercial quality home tracks – 1 32 or 1 24

The Earl

This is used for parties.

50 feet
2 or 4 lanes
Portable
1 24 slot car track

The Challenger

6 lanes
65 feet
1 24 slot car track

The Big Commercial Raceway Tracks

This is a King sometimes called a blue. The King is by far the most popular track layout in all of slot car history. Most raceways will have a King as their primary track.

Popular with track owners for it’s compact size, this track is called a HillClimb. Hillclimbs are usually the “other” track besides the main track.

This track is an Engelman named after the first designer. This is usually the largest slot car track found anywhere today. It is a primary track and very fast.

Please support your local slot car tracks

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1 24 Slot Car Tracks Raceway Directory

Slot Car Scientist — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 00:37:11 +0000

local 1 24 slot car tracks raceway directory

Attn Track Owners – If you would like your commercial slot car tracks listed here,contact us. You have a hard enough time keeping your doors open, it costs nothing to get your raceway listed here. email your information

Slot City Dragway – 700 1st St., Childersburg, AL 35044 (256) 455-1321 May be Gone

Arkansas

Dee Cee Raceway – 105 E. Park St, Suite A (Hwy 70) Carlisle, Arkansas 72024 (870) 552-1163

Arizona

Downforce Hobbies Slot Cars – 3460 East Southern Ave. Ste # 107 and 108 Mesa, Arizona 85204

Midtown Slot Raceway – 320 Arizona St., Bisbee AZ 85203 (520) 432-4990

California

BP Raceway

Buena Park Raceway – 6161 Lincoln Ave. Buena Park, Ca. 90620 (714) 827- 9979
Fast Track Hobbies – 6831 Lonetree Blvd Ste E102, Rocklin, CA 95765 (916) 784-1722
Nomad Slot Racing – 2590 Pioneer Avenue Suite A, Vista, CA 92081-8427 (760) 492-4619
PCH Parts Express – 828 Wagon Wheel Rd., Oxnard, CA 93036 (800) 258-7441
Slotcar Raceway – 305 Southwest Blvd., Rohnert CA 94928 (707) 954-4156
ANDYS Slot Cars Unlimited – 14918 Camden Ave – San Jose 95124 (408) 377-3771

Rainbow Curve Raceway – 521 Lone Pine Drive, Estes Park CO, 80517 (970) 586-8360 email

Ponemah Mill Raceway (Inside D&M) 509 Norwich Ave., Taftville, CT 06360 (860) 237-8150

Rapid Raceways – 161 Woodford Avenue, Unit 55, Plainville, CT 06062 (860) 793-1888 email

IL 1 24 slot car tracks

Rock River Raceway – 107S. Peoria Ave., Dixon, IL 61021 (815) 973-0699

Hot Slots – 1/32 Slot Cars Shop 605 N. Neil St., Champaign, IL 61820 (217) 355-2277

Woodstock Hobbies – 124 Cass Street, Unit #1, Woodstock, IL 60098 (815) 337-8770 – 105’ Hill Climb

Mid-America Raceway – 2035 63rd Street, Downers Grove, IL 60516 (630) 484-8574

Florida

ASR IndoorMotorSports – 600 N. 17-92, Suites 100-106, Longwood, Florida 32750 (321) 972-8507

Georgia

Cordle Model Speedway (CMS Hobbies) Canton Road, Marietta, GA (404) 502-5655

MA 1 24 slot car tracks

Modelville Hobby – 58 Union St.- Ashland, MA 01721 (508) 881-7616

Cool Games Slot Raceway

Michigan

Lightning Speedway – 32104 Plymouth Road, Livonia, MI 48150 (734) 462-4226 Professor Motor

Korbinski’s East Bay Hobbies – 365 W Houghton Lake Dr., Prudenville, MI (989) 302-1079

Dave’s HO Raceway (517) 523-3950

T.S.S. Hobbies – 2055 Rawsonville Rd. Bellville, Michigan 48111 (734) 487-8410

MO 1 24 slot car tracks

The Burg Model Raceway – 51 E. First St., Newburg, MO 65550 (573) 762-2425

Big Dog Motor Speedway – 15801 County Road 8140, Rolla, MO 65401 (573) 341-3422

Raytown International Raceway – 6133 Blue Ridge Blvd, Raytown, Missouri, 64133 (816) 353-SLOT

Scale Model Supplies – 458 North Lexington Parkway St. Paul, Mn. (651) 646-0441 email

North Carolina

A And H Hobbies – 2500 Neudorf Rd, Suite A – Clemmons, North Carolina 27012 (336) 499-4163

Pit Stop Raceway & Hobby Shop – 4891 S. Depot Street, Claremont, NC 28610 (828) 459-0076

Slot Shots Raceway & Hobby Shop – 3528 Charles Raper Jonas Hwy. Stanley, NC 28164 (704) 472-3810

Monaco Grand Prix – 201 E. Meadow Rd. Suite 124 (at Eden Mall) Eden, NC 27288 (336) 552-7999

NH 1 24 slot car tracks

Smith Scale Speedway – Charleston NH 03603 (603) 862-4242

NJ 1 24 slot car tracks

Zeppelin Hobbies & Raceway – 1530 Route 23, Wayne, NJ 07470 (973) 872-0400

The Race Place - 1151 Route 33, Farmingdale NJ 07727 (732) 938-5215

Slot Racing Revival – 410 Rt 94, Columbia, NJ/ Warren 07832 (908) 496-4422

NJ Slot Spot – 2040 route 33, Neptune City NJ 07753 (732) 455-3660

SpeedZone NJ – 201 Pine St, Mount Holly NJ, 08060 (609) 702-0146

Frogg Ocean Speedway – 137 Frog Ocean Road. Salem, NJ 08079 (856) 935-1299

Dom’s Raceway – 118 Jonathan Holmes Road, Cream Ridge NJ, 08514

Sonny’s Fastlane – 501 Atlantic City Blvd. Beachwood, NJ 08722 (732) 818-0411

Time Zone Gaming – 430 New Brunswick Ave, Fords, NJ 08863 (732) 738-5111 (HO / 1/32 Tracks)

New York

Elmsford Group Slot Raceways (914) 592-5375

Port Jefferson Slot Raceway (631) 696-7721

Fantasy Raceways – 3787 Dewey Avenue Rochester, NY 14616-2513 – (585) 621-1373

Slots A Lot Raceway – 1100 Hempstead Turnpike, Franklin Square, NY 11010 (516) 616-7075

Buzz-a-rama Raceway – 1800 Church Ave. Brooklyn (718) 853-1800 – 4 American Tracks Sat 2-7 / Sun 2-6

H&R Raceway – 2343 Middle Country Rd, Centereach NY (631) 676-3777

Ohio

J & B Raceways – 2215 N. Fifth St., Fremont, Ohio 43420 (419) 334-2100

Rt 93 Slot Raceway – 2211 Manchester Rd., 44314 (330-861-5000)

HMS Speedways- 125 East Main St. Bellevue, Ohio 44811 (567) 266-3620

Start Your Engines – 2500 West State Street (Inside Carnation Mall) Alliance, Ohio 44601 (330) 680-4300

Speedway Slots & Hobbies – 46400 Telegraph Rd.(RT 113) South Amherst, OH 44001 (440) 986-2298

Tom Thumb Hobbies – 460 N Wilson Rd, Columbus OH 43204 (614) 274-5150

Fast Tracks & Hobbies – 1780 S Main St., Bechtelsville PA 19505 (484) 415-0660 HO, 1/32, 1/24, Drag

BIG T’s SPEEDWAY – 4580 Greentree Rd. Reading, PA. 19606 (610) 370 -1204 HO Dirt Modifieds

TKO Raceway – 4686 State Route 209, Elizabethville, PA 17023 (717) 905-2097 HO, 1/32, 1/24, Drag

Keystone Slot Raceway – 2701 Horeshoe Pike, Palmyra PA 17078 (717) 832-3170

NEPA Xtreme Speedway – 22 Forrest St., Wilkes-Barre PA 18702 570-903-9182

Trains & Lanes – 3825 Northwood Avenue, Easton PA, 18045 (610) 657-7690

RI 1 24 slot car tracks

Slot Car Emporium Raceway – 704 East Ave, Warwick RI (401) 822-4114

South Carolina

The Planet Hobbys – 2511 Whitehall, Anderson, SC 29621 (864) 222-6879

Slot Spot Raceway – 772 Madison Square, Madison, TN 37115 (615) 865-2296 email

Central TN Raceway – 208 Old Nashville Highway Lavergne, TN 37086 email

Texas

Corpus Christi Slotcar Speedway – 1/24 Portable Track Terry (361) 877-8944

Washington

FunTime Slotcars & Raceway 3919 77th Ave CT NW, Gig Harbor WA 98335, (253) 649-0243

Fantasy World Hobbies – 1909 South 72nd St. Suite A-12 Tacoma, WA 98408 1-877-318-7144

Pacific Slot Car Raceways – 2908 Meridian Ave. E. Edgewood WA 98371 (253) 642-SLOT

WI 1 24 slot car tracks

N.E.W. Hobby – 1234 S. Military Ave. Green Bay, WI 54304 (920) 498-2025

RCSlot.com – 5012 W. Ashland Way, Rear Franklin, WI 53132 (414) 421-3305 (1/24 Tri-Oval)

May Be Gone Raceday Hobby – 17000 W. Capitol Drive Brookfield, WI 53072 (262) 264-0235

This is a volatile list. Tracks open and close all the time unfortunately. We will update it as we get word of new 1 24 slot car tracks.

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