I had a great time running some larger scale cars over the weekend. I'm an HO guy myself but would like to buy a couple of the larger scale cars. I was wandering if ya'll could give me a little info on the different types of cars such as fly, scalextric, carrera, etc. and tell me what makes them different or do they match up with the different cars.

I know we ran one type of car didn't have any magnets to hold it to the track and would slide like crazy. They actually looked like a smaller scale but then again i'm not sure. I really like them but again don't know what kind it was. Any help would be great.

Chris

Chris, I'm new to 1/32 scale myself and I'm still figuring out a few things. Here's what I've found for myself, it may be different with others but this is my personal opinion.

Cost doesn't make a car great. I started off with the higher end SCX cars because that's what are carried locally. I started buying a few used cars off the 'bay, and found that Carrera cars are really good and somewhat cheaper. So far I have 10 cars, 6 are SCX, 3 are Carrera and 1 Ninco. I ahve driven AutoArt cars and have been told that they hare about the best looking but take some work to make them dependable, particularly in the gearing.

Now some cars types will be better than others. My Rally cars won't stay up with my sports cars without magnets, but with magnets the AWD cars are just as fast. My non-mag SCX 2003 Focus WRC has silicones and a hotter motor but it top heavy, and my non-mag SCX Ferrari 360 GTC will run off and leave it on a tight short course. This is because the 360 is lower and has a lower CG. Motor placement makes a big difference too, this is what I'm looking at next.

I tell ya going from HO paying $10-$20 to 1/32 paying $40-$50 its kinda overwhelming. I will definetly be low budget. I bought one of those H&R Slider Chassis (love it by the way) and built a model and put it on there. Now wondering what brand would be my next best investment.

Cagee,

Are you sure you were running 1/32 cars? You state something about them being larger scale, but looked like a smaller scale. Wonder if you were running 1/43 cars? These are getting more easily available with Target carrying Carerra's Go 1/43 line and then of course there is the old Artin's. Now, if you check pricing on these, they will be a little more in-line and scale to a step up price as well as scale from where you are with the HO's.

1/32 cars will vary and generally speaking, depending on if you are racing or not, you will get different opinions. For example, and no offense Pete, about the only SCX I'd buy right now for me to race (not just run and have fun with) would be the Pro Audi R8. That car is well setup and comes with a lot of the racing gear already in the RTR car. Does that mean its great right out of the box? Not necessarily, but for what I do (race) I could make the necessary tuning adjustments to get the car where I want it for racing with non-magnets.

As a further example, we race in different classes - GT1, GT2, LeMans, F1, and NASCAR. In each of these classes I have my favorites and its not one brand over another. GT1/GT2 is predominantly NINCO cars for me, but I'm trying out a Spirit and a FLY car in this class that are racing setups to see how they do. LeMans has always been Slot.It cars for me, although I am trying out a Spirit Sport Reynard, which is another car that is a racing setup. F1 and NASCAR are Scalextric cars mainly because NASCAR cars only choices are SCX or Scalextric, and for me, SCX's are just a lot heavier and well, the lesser of the two.

It just boils down to do you plan to race it, if so, what kind of track will you race it on, or would you rather have fun and just enjoy collecting the cars you want? If its the latter of the two, just grab yourself a 1/32 Scalextric, NINCO or Carerra (all non-digital) track set, that already has a car, controllers, and power, and have fun! As you see a car you like, grab it and go have more fun.

Regardless, just have fun as you do with the HO scales. These large scales are not only nice to look at, but will definitely give you some AWESOME scale speeds too.

Enjoy!
PD2:thumbsup:

I know most of the cars were 1/32 or 1/24 but not sure about 1/43. Can they run on 1/32 track? I ran some cars with the guys from www.homeracingworld.com they called SEMO Fall Classic in their forum. Had a great time with them and hope to get started into that scale.

No offence taken PD, the SCX Pro cars are the top of the line for the brand. I started with SCX because that's what was available retail wise locally. Some of the AutoArt cars you can get for around $20, ther Artin stockers are about $25. I've been beat by cars much cheaper than the one I was racing as well. I just won an auction for two Scalextric TVR's, one new and one used for a total of $30. It all depends on where you buy from. Like PD says, it depends on if you want to collect or race as to what you may want to buy.

SCX cars are nice but in non-digital format, over rated. Fly right now makes about the best IMHO but they're very limited on subjects. Best bang for the buck is still Carrera and they have a great selection of parts to make them better.

does the carrera and the scalextric do the run about the same i mean speed and handling wise.

I know most of the cars were 1/32 or 1/24 but not sure about 1/43. Can they run on 1/32 track? I ran some cars with the guys from www.homeracingworld.com (http://www.homeracingworld.com/) they called SEMO Fall Classic in their forum. Had a great time with them and hope to get started into that scale.

They are predominantly 1/32, so it may not have been 1/43. And 1/24 is so large that you would have noticed the size difference - those kits are usually $100 and over for RTR and complete kits.

does the carrera and the scalextric do the run about the same i mean speed and handling wise.

Again, this goes back to it depending on the cars you are looking at and the track you will run on. There are some cars that I listed that if you are running on a plastic track (and even more specifically, a specific manufacturer's track like Scalextric, Carerra, NINCO etc.) that a car chosen will handle and perform differently than if you are running on a routed track (and yes, even the routed tracks are each different and unique - wood, MDF with paint, MDF with chalkboard paint, etc.). For me, both of them run about the same on my Scalextric plastic track. For someone else, that might not be the case. More times than not, if you are racing some place like a local hobby shop, go hang out and see what people are racing that are running really good. But then ask them if the car is box stock, modified, etc. Cause as Martin says, almost all of them can be tweaked with aftermarket parts to make the stock car better. If your local track rules allow it, then its a no brainer to just buy whatever you can afford and like, and begin upgrading and tweaking with quality racing parts from third part manufacturers or that manufacturers upgrades. For me, our local track does not allow you to do that till you get to the Master's League - till then its run what came stock out of the box.

Hope that helps!
PD2:thumbsup:

Hope that helps!
PD2:thumbsup:

Sure did thanks.

I will post pics of a few 1/32 cars I need to sell.
Chris

My track is SCX and has a really rough (textured) surface. One of the things I noticed on times was that stock tires and silicones had close to the same times with magnets. Without magnets the silicones were faster but right now we're mostly running with the traction magnets in place. When talking about the differences between cars even within mfg's. you have to consider how the motor is oriented to the axle, how the body sits on the chassis and of course tires.

And open wheel cars tend to be faster than full body cars. The SCX F1 car I just sold is significantly faster than my A1GP car. Why? Well, the SCX car has steering on the front wheels, and the CG is lower. But in races when the SCX F1 car "experiences" the barriers as sometimes happens that front suspension can pop out, as happend twice in one event.