Slot cars! SCX Compact 1:43 scale. Anyone into it?

[lokiju]

Last week Woot had This Slot Car deal and after a bit of reading it seemed like a pretty great deal at $20 per set. So I got 2 of them and they were delivered this past Friday.

I used to have these way back in the day in the 80's and my brother and I used to have a blast playing with them.

I have a son now that's almost 3 and figured it'd be fun for he and I to play with them.

I played a lot with changing around the track layout and all that but could never get a layout that allowed for holding down the trigger all the way non stop without flying off the track at some point. Only reason I'm trying to accomplish this is because my son isn't old enough to understand the finer points of throttle control.

It got me to wondering though... I was out a local indoor outlet mall called Discovery Mills Mall (north of Atlanta) a few months ago and they actually have a store dedicated to slot car racing and have a huge track in there where people can I assume rent or bring their own slot cars and race others. I recall seeing one kid that never once flipped his car and was just flying around the track and nonstop lapping everyone else.

It made me wonder if this kid was just all skill or if there are slot cars that actually hold onto the track really well compared to the average cars?

Is anyone into these things that can chime in?

 

[Squisher]

Back in the early 60s my dad and I used to go to places to race our 1/24th scale cars.

The tracks and the controllers looked just like this, but the cars were a little bigger and could fishtail: http://www.wimp.com/slotcars/

Also, we went about 1/3 as fast, that video is crazy.

 

[leeland]

waiting to get mine from the woot deal...hope to not be disappointed...

I figure I will give it a week before my kids break it :0

 

[zokudu]

I know nothing about slot cars but theoretically wouldn't a car with more downforce by being either heavier or built to push air upwards hold onto the track better? I don't think its exactly related to the slot part but regular air physics just like in real live racing.

 

[gorcorps]

I need to check out Woot more... I would have bought 3 of those.

I loved slot cars when I was a kid, and looking at the local hobby shop they've gotten damn advanced. The Woot deal isn't as fancy, but the sets at the shop were all wireless controllers. The larger scale cars even had "fuel" and you changed lanes pretty much at will with a 2nd button on the controller. To refuel you had to change lanes into the pit and stop, then your fuel gauge will fill and you'll go full speed again. You can adjust how fast it refills, how fast it uses the fuel, etc.

Ridiculous...

 

[lxskllr]

I had a slot car set when I was little that I think was from the 50s. That's going from a distant memory, but it was old when I had it in the early 70s. I'd love to have that set today, but I don't know what happened to it. It probably got thrown out :^(

 

[d4a2n0k]

I have a place by me that has indoor slot car racing. I was into it about 15-20 years ago. One of my cars went over 100 mph, not scale speed but true speed. The larger slot cars actually have bodies that create downforce. They were 6-8" long so probably 1/32 scale or 1/24 scale.

They sold different parts for them. You can change the body, gear ratio and tires. More sticky tires=better grip but they wore out quick. They were fast as hell, 0-100 mph in 2-3 seconds. Of course the ones they offer for rent are crap but I remember spending over 300 bucks for one of my cars. Not cheap.....