(14th-Aug-20, 09:18 PM)agsang84 Wrote: Any suggestions would be appriciated, even if they are not Scaley Cars. I have looked a little at Slot.It cars.
Once you've got the set, the "what shall I buy next?" question is a big one...
A lot of what I was going to say, I've already written here:
https://slotracer.online/arc-pro-guide/slot-it.html
I think - certainly for digital racing on Scalextric Sport track - that Scalextric cars with the C8515 digital plug are ideal. If you have younger or inexperienced drivers, then the Supercars that come in the Sunset Speedway set are perfect - robust, handle well and great to look at. There are more models available in this 'super-resistant' range, including several liveries on that Lamborghini Centenario. These might remain the ideal cars for your kids.
What you go for next depends on what 'real cars' you like. You've picked up a couple of muscle cars - and I really like Scalextric range of Trans-Am racing cars and road versions. Yes, they are tanks compared to the super cars - but so are the real cars! I also like the recent 80s stock cars (Monte Carlo & T-Bird) and the IROC Camaros - however, the Monte Carlo doesn't work too well with ARC Pro (see
here).
One thing you might want to think about is experimenting with running without traction magnets - this slows the cars down a bit, gives you more 'feel' and allows you to drive the car more through the corners. I would say it a more satisfying driving experience and also gives you more time for "race craft", which can make digital racing much more exciting. That's not to say I don't enjoy racing cars with magnets - and our digital evenings at home have always had a combination of magnet and non-magnet racing - for example a GT3 race with magnets, a Trans-Am race without. I can also say that the non-magnet cars get far less damage...
As Brian points out in his recent review of the Scalextric Sierra (
here), simply taking the magnet out of a Scalextric car - or running it on a non-magnetic wood track - does not give you a great handling car. To get a Scalextric car running well 'non-mag' requires quite a lot of tweaking - ballast in the right places, truing the wheels, gluing the bearings and using suitable racing tyres (eg Slot.it P6 or Paul Gage XPG are ideal on Sport track). I quite enjoy these 'dark arts', but it can be very frustrating.
That's why I think getting a Slot.it car at some point would be a fun step. These are cars are set up to work with ARC Pro - black guide, easy to convert to digital with the SP15B chip, not too powerful and fitted with the C-compound tyres that work fine on Sport track. They come fitted with a traction magnet, but they are designed to race without magnets, so there is no setting up required - apart from pushing the magnet out. They are $15 more than a Scalextric car - but that is well worth it for the extra quality.
But which Slot.it car? I'd suggest starting with a car fitted with a standard short-can motor - these are easier to control and will run fine with just the one power supply on ARC Pro (using two supplies is always better). The cars you are looking at are the 80s & 90s Group C and IMSA cars, the 90s German Touring Cars (Alfa, Mercedes and Opel), the 60s and 70s sport prototypes (Chaparral, Ford GT, Matra, Alfa, McLaren) and also the Policar-branded Ferrari F40 and 312P. The SP15B digital chip should fit perfectly into all these with just two wires requiring soldering - some retailers may fit the chip for you. Some of the older cars will need a hole drilled for the chip's LED to poke through.
A Slot.it car can be tuned and there is a wide range of spares and tune-up parts available - that's why I think it's the ideal platform to learn about how slot cars work and how much fun they can be to drive. What you learn can also be used on improving the Scalextric cars - and to consider other brands that won't be so easy to chip and may need some parts changed to work with ARC Pro.
By the way... An option I thought of suggesting was the new Policar Subaru BRZ - it's a fabulous little budget-priced car with many Slot.it components and looks ideal for digital racing. However, it is designed to use the new Slot.it C-type digital chip, which is more expensive and quite complex to set up - worth thinking about for the future, but not as the all-important 'next step'.
I hope that helps.
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