Slotspeed

Nice job getting it set up so quickly to test your layout. I've also been on the lookout for used Carrera track, still impressed with the acquisition, it dosen't come up all that often. Having seen other guys on forums and on facebook who have recently built scenic layouts and then later wanted to try going magless and found out that they can't do much without hitting the scenery, I still think you should consider leaving some room for borders before you start on planning your scenery. Once you've built up your scenery to the track it will be too late to go back. Even with super sticky tyres you will need at least 40mm extra width for comfortable racing with self made MDF borders, ideal 50mm for 1/32. The 60mm factory borders will be far too expensive to buy the quantity required for your layout! But I can see with such a layout it will be a lot of fun for a while before you start to want to try running without magnets. So up to you of course.

Wondered the same thing myself. Maybe its something he found that works somehow to make it interesting. I also wonder why people put chicanes and crossovers in, the little wiggly stuff annoys me!

The two most recent replies are good advice, but since I promised to provide a layout of a large track, here it is. This is taken from a facebook post by Bruce Yingling (shared here with his permission), there is an old video of his layout on youtube , but its different now. (Think the video was made by then president of Carrera Toys USA, Dave Kennedy) To be honest, I like curves, but not too many wiggles that people put into the middle of straights, but again, you can never tell until you drive it! This is what Bruce said about his recent modification regarding a lane changer position: "Made a change to my layout today. When I switched to the overpass track a couple of years ago, I didn't realize how awkward the placement of the lane changer area in the middle of the track was going to be when racing. Tricky to drive and still take the lane change. Punch coming down the hill, release, punch, release, punch and squeeze the button as you release going into the turn...phew!!! It couldn't be done well with most cars. The elevated, sloping lane changer was also problematic, especially with heavier cars. The return lever would slip to a jammed position and have to be freed with a screwdriver. So now there's a single decreasing radius turn and the lane changer lays flat. I only drove a few laps tonight, and only with one car, but I think it will be a welcome change." Here is the slightly older version: (not the old-old track I spoke of earlier) And here is his latest (It just highlights how even an experienced layout designer will find things wrong with their design after running it for a while) And here is just one method for raising the track for overpasses... I would do it a bit different but here is something that can be reconfigured fairly easily. If you plan on having overpasses, get your mitre block and a sharp (yes, I mean it) tenon saw ready. Maybe hot glue the supports in place until you know its how you want it to stay. No idea who took this photo, I pinched it off you tube. Steve.

Hi Tim, wow, that is a lot of Carrera track. I second the idea of setting it up temporarily and trying it out. Plastic track lends itelf to all sorts of possibilities and what looks/seems good on a plan can drive completely differently to how you anticipated. A lot of people set out a track without borders and regret it later, so leaving room is not a bad idea. Leaving room for a longer pitlane (with at least one extra straight section) might be an idea as well. Very technical sections need to be tested by driving because they can become frustrating if they don't drive well and its impossible to tell until you do. I see you like overpasses, they can be fun but a bit of work to build (depending on whether you have the plastic factory risers or if you build from wood) so find a simple way to make lots of them with as little effort as possible so that changing things around does not become a problem. (I will look for pictures of what I am talking about. I built a bit of a longer overpass construction that was not easy to modify later on) Is that softybahnplaner that you are using? Its pretty cool hey. Also if you want to look at a large but well thought out Carrera layout, I will try to find you some pictures of Bruce Yingling's layout, he's developed it over the last 10 years, he's from the US, and is on a different slot car forum.

As an old school broadcast tech I totally appreciate this. A bit of caution saves a station from going off air, same for a forum it seems.

You know what they say, happy wife happy life, but it always hurts when she beats you at racing! Mine is still rubbing it in at every opportunity that she beat me by 0.2 seconds at the North circuit at Eastern Creek (in different cars on different days)

Yes, I didn't mean to use a personal or important email address, since its going to end up full of all sorts of useless junk, possibly malicious. Better play it safe!

Just an idea, but maybe post a sticky with an email address for newcomers to make contact with in order to establish a new membership request?

Hey there Kommandant! Nice to meet you. (That name brings back memories of Police Academy!) Yes, looks like my links are broken, there were issues with Postimages website, my images have probably been migrated to another web hosting address, will have to see if I can find them. I was restricted on the width, my final layout approx 4.5 feet wide. Sounds like you have quite a nice Scalextric layout. If I was to start over, I think I would go the Scalextric route, plainly because you can buy so much used stuff for quite reasonable cost. I still haven't got the digital side happening, I am having too much fun with analog. I would love to build a three lane routed track one day, I can't see myself needing more than three lanes at home. Here is the final layout, which I am still using now, but with a bunch of home made borders now (not in the photo) Cheers, Steve.

I hope proxy racing has a healthy future as I am thinking of building something, hoping to have something built by 2019. Have been reading a bit about the Tasman series, sounds like a perfect formula for someone who likes to build and tinker with mechanical things, especially tinkering with slot cars. As a parent with young kids and unable to get out to race at a club I can empathise with ZeGas.

Interesting!

Seems to make sense. Has a moving vane type airflow sensor. Slightly odd EFI system. Things interact with the fuel map that you wouldn't expect to. e.g. turning the interior heater fan on one click turns up the idle about 150rpm when the engine is cold. When I figure out why my timing light isn't working I'm going to try advancing the timing a few degrees. Its completely box stock, but has been off the road for 6 years until about 6 weeks ago. Have been ironing out the bumps in the tune, pretty happy now, but part of me feels it has a little more in it. Hahahaha very funny.

Maybe I should find out what the standard compression ratio is. A lot of people on MX5 forums report slight increase in performance by increasing the static ignition timing by a few degrees. Most report no issues with pre ignition or pinging. Maybe the heads and ports just flow well and keep the mixture cool enough to run standard fuel without issues.

'89 1600 EFI MX5 seems to be running better on regular Mobil unleaded (no, not E10) than on any premium 95 or 98. Funny that on car forums a comment like this would start a war. Hope that wouldn't happen here, but does anyone have any plausible reasons as to why that may be the case? This experience took me by surprise, was not expecting it to run better on this fuel. This is also against the advice of my mechanic and not what we normally do. The servo didn't have 95 or 98 which is why I tried the regular. Second tankful of regular unleaded and its still running sweet. Maybe I should add that I've got some experience (many years ago) with tuning other cars for the track. Not with dyno, but road-testing, timed track testing, swapping out needles, taking out dizzy and getting it re-mapped, checking ignition timing and know how to check advance is working etc. So I have a little bit of tuning experience and not a noob, also know what octane means, I used to run a BP100 blend many years ago.

Thanks, that natsoft results link was perfect. Cheers!

Anywhere I can go online to find full race results? Can only find the top 3 placings. Supercars website seems pretty useless, more of a tool for selling tickets. Cheers. Steve.

One of the turns on my humble layout reminds me of Craven A at Catalina park, which existed in Katoomba NSW until about 2000. Wondering if anyone has built tributes to any of the lost circuits of Australia? Oran Park, Catalina, King Edward Park, Amaroo, Silverdale, Mount Druitt, Gnoo Blas, and many others? I've seen a video of the Bathurst slot car circuit but not any other Aussie tracks. Kind of sad that the three tracks I actually competed on in a 1:1 car (club level) no longer exist.

Hey Munter, yes, the one with the little horrible stub axles. I cannot see an easy way to change it without re-engineering the whole front end of the car. Just have to keep them lubricated and hope they don't get too wobbly over time. As they are inherently pretty wobbly already. (Edit: Munter, wondering if you were about to suggest tubing the front end? I just had another look at it, it might be possible to carve a bit of the guide assembly away to make way for a front axle. I don't think a tube would fit though. I wonder if that would stabilise the car a bit more, as it has been tricky to get it to stay down at the front) Have taken a side view of the chassis. (Photo with different wheels and not the final setup) Note position of digital board which causes handling problems due to the weight. Was tempted to remove some of the solder but thought better of it. I have also just put a new pair of Policar F1 rear wheels on car #35. They are very close in dimensions to the modified original wheels on the Gulf car #1 Its now running nearly perfectly. It would be perfect if I could remove the digital board (4.5grams) and tweak the weight balance a bit, perhaps reduce the weight over all by a couple of grams to reduce the rear grip slightly. But I want to keep the digital option open. I'm very happy and wasn't expecting it to handle this well with the board still inside. Fastest lap 5.09 seconds. Almost as fast as it did with the Sideways 17.3mm GT3 wheels (5.04s) which are back on the Lambo now. Another thing I noticed was that de-braiding the brushes just the right amount helped keep the guide deeper in the slot. Helped a bit. Just another note... Mark suggested skinnier wheels and tyres and noted that I seemed to be a bit fixated on the F1 tyres. Well with the right combo of wheel and tyre, I got a fitted OD that was perfect, and the width ended up 12mm fitted which is the same as the original tyre and is a bit skinnier than if they were on the intended wheel for that tyre. The Sideways 17.3mm low profile Hurracan wheel and tyre handled just as well but I didn't like the look. I knew the NSR F1 tyre would work as it was perfect on my Gulf #1. Was just difficult finding an off the shelf wheel that stretched it out just the right amount.

Nah, more clearance than I'd like with the original axle.

Have taken some photos, but will take some more and post. Took digital board out and weighed it. around 4.5grams. Quite heavy since the whole car weight is 86grams. The centre of gravity of the digital board would be about in line with the axles, slightly forward of centre of car from front to back. Took it out and ran the car. Very different. No two slot cars are the same and in theory this one should be close to it's twin, but its very different on the track. It actually seems a lot faster but deslots more easily without the digital board, I guess because of the extra weight. Have to brake LOTS earlier and I am not sure if there is any dynamic braking at all without the digital board. All in all, without the board, the car is faster, handles better, but still deslots too easily. The Gulf twin of this car hardly ever deslots at all. The tyres came from the same packet so should be the same, but the Gulf car has a lot less rear end grip, perhaps its more sensitive to counter weight than I thought. Currently anlalog Gulf car has about 1.5 grams ballast under the rear axle, the (ex) digital car has about 2 grams, plus digital car has an extra 2.5 grams of weight in the Slot.it crown wheel over the orignal, so about 3 grams more! No other major differences between the cars, except gulf car has rear bushings araldyted in, perhaps I should do this again to the digital car as well. (Was glued earlier but since tried a few things including an axle assembly swap) Maybe I should take a gram or two out and see what happens! Edit: Removed about 1.5 grams from the added weight which was sitting under the axle. Then put the digital board back in. It seems to be at the tipping point as far as weight tuning goes. It appears to be going very fast, cornering much better, the weight of the digital board seems to be keeping the guide in the slot. Arranged the wiring inside a bit better so the cables and connectors sit lower in the chassis. I think if I put an original crownwheel back in (Saving about 2.5 grams over the Slot.it brass one), and put a little bit more weight back under the axle, that would sort it. It's always going to be heavier and handle differently to the other car that does not have a digital board, but I can see some nice improvement, so I'm happy.

You may be right. Its just that the other nearly identical car has the NSR F1 tyre and it handles perfectly for my use. Width was 12mm fitted to rim, 10.7mm tread. Obviously minor car differences (mostly the weight of the digital chip) are causing this one not to handle at all like it. I just love driving the first car that I fitted up and wanted the second one to handle like it.

What is wearing with regards to the rails? The joins? Or are they getting bent up a bit from changing the track around? They are a stainless alloy, so I am surprised to hear of wear. The one thing that annoys me about Carrera is the raised rails. I think its supposed to be about 0.3mm above the height of the plastic (that's what my old 2010/2011 bits of track are) but my newer track pieces vary from 0.3mm to 0.7mm. This is most annoying but I live with it. It definitely causes the occasional deslot when one of the cars gets very sideways and hits the rail on the outer lane. And calls for a certain driving style that would otherwise not have been called for if the rails were flush when getting sideways sometimes. I think the raised rails are supposed to be for better magnetic attraction to the standard magnet cars.

I kinda liked the rant, it did kind of read like some kind of poetry. There are many many grumpy or complainey posts all over forums, but that last post by Peter Gunn kind of read like the slot car version of "We didn't start the fire" more than "I can't Get no Satisfaction" I thought. Hilarious for me and slightly tounge in cheek or drink in glass, I'm not sure which! Poor fella has a lot of built up dissatisfaction

Hi Mark, If I had access to a lathe, no problem. I am a qualified fitter and machinist. But am reduced to using bush machinist tools at home. Have found a wheel and tyre combo that I think will work well. Just waiting for enough other items to order to justify an order from Pendle's as no local stockists have the Policar wheel that I want to try. It's 14mm inner tyre bead diameter, 15.8 overall diameter from memory, nominal size was 16mm I think, 11.5mm wide. I have a feeling you would suggest a narrower tyre, but my other Carrera 917k handles really nicely on a 13.2 inner diameter, 16.00mm outer and 12mm width wheel with NSR Supergrips on it. It is the stock wheel machined down in diameter with makeshift machining methods, but just handles really well. The extra profile of the tyre seems to make up for the rest of the car. I will be running Slot.it axle with original crown wheel Tried Slot.it crownwheel already, but its a bit heavy as its made of brass and some kind of plastic or composite material for the gear itself. Have glued an original crownwheel onto a Slot.it axle and it performs or outperforms the Slot.it crown, probably due to the weight advantage. Have also compared the original Carrera and Slot.it aftermarket bushes, the Carrera original bush is in fact perfect on a 2.38mm shaft. I can push a 2.38mm shaft into it but not a 2.40mm shaft so that says it's spot on. Might be 0.01mm bigger inner diameter than the Slot.it bushing. The Slot.it bushing looks to be made of Bronze, but the Carrera looks to be made of brass, so obviously the Slot.it is going to be better in the long run, but the Carrera bush is not as bad as you may think it would be. The OD of the Slot.it bush I think is about 0.2mm bigger (I measured it but am going from memory here) and fits very tightly into the chassis but may negate the need for glue to help with the chassis flex issue as it is very tight. Hope to be able to update with some actual testing soon, but still deciding what else to add to the OS order. For the time being I'm back onto the 17mm wheel and Slot.it axle with a 10mm wide tyre but the car kind of needs the extra flex or damping of the higher profile tyre. Edit: Just an added anecdote, The chassis I am working on has a digital board which I think weighs about 3g. As a result, the car is more top heavy than my analog 917k. So it tends to roll rather than slide, compared to the other car. It does have fantastic brakes though, as the active braking is effected on the board itself when the car is running in analog mode. I assume there is a FET switching across the motor when braking. I have cut as much weight out of the bodyshell as I dare. Original body weight was... 25g. After an hour or so of cutting off anything that looked like it wasn't needed, and feeling a bit like a team Lotus mechanic after taking the washers off the cylinder heads, the weight was measured at... 25g. Yep, no measurable difference. But I did try moving some ballast around the chassis and did manage to reduce a deslot problem by putting a bit of weight up front. I guess I should have called this topic something else like Carrera digital 917k handling improvement rather than what it is currently called. Cheers, Steve.

Tried F22 and they were nothing like what I wanted. TBH I can't remember what it was that I didn't like, but probably too much grip and perhaps not very pliable. guess I should have kept notes! The Carrera car I am looking to match it to is obviously not a racing machine (and no pod of course) and I guess its a bit hit n miss as to what tyre will work. I The thing I like about Supergrips is that they are very forgiving. On my Carrera Porsche 917k they are high profile F1 tyres and they are just perfect for that car. The Ultragrips are OK but of course they pick up crap really quickly and before you know it they are driving like Supergrips anyway. But still a great tyre if you keep the track perfectly clean. The Supergrips casings seem to have less symmetry flaws also. Thanks for the tip GAS41T, I think thats what the charts say. Perhaps I should consider trying them.