[dvd3500]

Thanks for the first thoughts guys.
I ran my first ever event last year where I had kids I am guessing 5 -13 non-stop at the track.
It was an ARC PRO running both the Magic and the official app.

I had 6 cars running most of the time.
I had started with simulations on but soon turned them all off.
No-one seemed to be able to race and pay attention at the same time. Mind you it was loud and not a lot of space.

I ended up reducing the power to like 20% because they pretty much just slammed the trigger down all the time and only a handful grasped that you needed to lanechange to get around traffic.

There was one little bästärd that would not let others have a turn and was constantly complaining that other cars were faster when he was in the lead most of the time.

After nearly 12 hours of being there I was exhausted and we didn't get a single person signed up to the club or come back as a guest for any type of racing.

The experience did show though that you are absolutely right that things have to work all the time and in the end I wasn't doing myself any favors by using the most complex system in the most challenging of environments.

I would do it again but only under very different conditions.

One thing at our club is that the cars are not cheap. They are all scratchbuilt and I would guess the sink 200-300€ in each one. The controllers also start at 150€.
They argue that other hobbies are more expensive (radio controlled airplanes for example) but I think that cost might be a problem for some.

Another thing was until I became a full-fledged member (paying monthly dues) they were not super forthcoming with information. That might be a  German thing though as I have also had problems getting info out of people.

While I agree the breadth of the hobby is what makes it great, I am also thinking it might be TOO broad.

The very concept is hard for some to understand and when you add in all the various types of cars from ones that look like toys to the floppy lexan wing cars people don't get it.
As I said, the concept of digital also flummoxed some...

Finally, I also find the jargon tough on outsiders. Being a form of motorsport it shares a lot of vocabulary with other hobbies, not least of which radio controlled cars and real motor-racing.
Searching in google is almost useless so you have to go into forums and even then, when people start using jargon it is tough to understand what is going on.
Maybe I am especially thick (very possible...)

Keep the thoughts coming folks...