I'm a long-time HO racer and really love them. Have a large scenic track that I've been building over recent months (pictures can be seen by clicking the "My Pictures" link under my profile).

I'd like to step up to 1/32 and am finding the array of products a little confusing. Here's what I'm hoping for: smooth operation, track that stays together and is not brittle, decent variety of additional track sections (hairpins, banked curves, ability for 4 lanes, etc.), but especially, cars that behave realistically (smooth accelaration, drifting, etc.) This will be played with only by adults (although my wife would challenge that statement).

I'm not interested in digital and would hope to spend less than $200 for a decent starter set. I guess it comes down to SCX and Carerra? Is there a strong reason to prefer one over the other.

Any insights will be appreciated. Thanks.

I just had to say that is a beautyfull track you have!

I'm a long-time HO racer and really love them. Have a large scenic track that I've been building over recent months (pictures can be seen by clicking the "My Pictures" link under my profile).

I'd like to step up to 1/32 and am finding the array of products a little confusing. Here's what I'm hoping for: smooth operation, track that stays together and is not brittle, decent variety of additional track sections (hairpins, banked curves, ability for 4 lanes, etc.), but especially, cars that behave realistically (smooth accelaration, drifting, etc.) This will be played with only by adults (although my wife would challenge that statement).

I'm not interested in digital and would hope to spend less than $200 for a decent starter set. I guess it comes down to SCX and Carerra? Is there a strong reason to prefer one over the other.

Any insights will be appreciated. Thanks.

Hi Peacefield!

From a track perspective, Carerra will get you the ability for 1/24 scale as well as 1/32 scale from the track - so its going to take up a lot more room than the other tracks. I have very little experience with SCX track, but, they are usually similar to Scalextric - I own a Scalextric T2 LeMans setup. While it does not have a ton of exciting turns and setups straight out of the box, they do offer a variety of track additions, including track timers and different sections that include squeeze and switch up sections, and criss cross intersections. The thing I like about Scalextric (and this may be the same for SCX too) is the track is definitely not brittle, but very plyable. If the track starts to kind of take the shape of whatever its rest on, you can remove the track section and hand bend the track back to a more flat state. In fact, when I bought mine, the LHS guy told me that if I planned on building and tearing down a lot, out of the Ninco, Carerra, and Scalextric tracks, Scalextric was the best to take this "abuse" so to speak. I have yet to have a connecting tab break and the connectivity has been great.

The other thing that you will hear commonly is that the track surfaces are all different. For instance, Ninco has the best traction for track surface, but the reality is that its not always the best to learn on if you are running at a local wood track or other track, because you will setup your cars to a high-traction track and may race on a no-traction track. The Scalextric track has about a medium traction setup - not smooth, but not high on traction either. Carerra, if I recall correctly, is a smooth surface track, so its kind of the "ditch on the other side of the road" as far as surface goes.

As far as cars behaving realistically, that will totally depend on the car and the controller used on the track. The stock controllers that come with all of these tracks are high-ohm setups and of course have high steps in the resistor. Some cars respond to these stock controllers differently than others. For instance, the Scalextric cars with the Scalextric controllers seem to respond in a slower response curve than say Slot.It and especially Ninco cars. But, you can purchase Professor Motor and/or Parma home track replacement controllers that some what normalize this. The normal home recommended controllers are 25-45 ohm, depending on how fast you want the cars to go. But again, this is only half the equation. The 1/32 scale cars come with motors that range from 18K RPM up to 32K plus RPM - those are stock motors in most cases! So, as you can tell, you will get different responses as far as car handling on your track. If all you plan on doing is sticking to the cars that come with the track as well as sticking with the stock controllers, almost all of the tracks have been setup such that the cars handle very well with their own tracks. But as soon as you start to venture into other cars, you will notice a bit of a difference.

I hope some, if not all of this, helps you out. Feel free to post up more questions if you have them!

Good luck in your search for a 1/32 track!
PD2:thumbsup:

Thanks, TJet for the compliments; part of the charm of HO is how much you can fit in a space and the room it leaves for landscaping and scenery.

Thanks, also, PD2 for your insights. It's a real help. As is so often the case, no one offers everything someone would want. I think I'm attracted to Carrera because of their magnatraction (to use an HO term) approach. I'm finding out that their track has a higher nickel content which makes it less grabby and that the cars' magnets are also adjustable (I need to better understand which Carrera cars, the extent of the effect, etc.) so this all really appeals to me. But I'd like to do inclines, etc., and the softer vinyl track would probably create a smoother quieter surface.

Ah, the choices, choices.

Thanks.

I'm discovering just now, though, that Carerra doesn't offer a tight hairpin which I think would be a lot of fun. I may need to go another brand for the track but I think I like Carrera's cars with the ability to adjust the downforce.

I'm glad my input and suggestions helped ya! And yeah, it's weighing and deciding which feature is more important.

Good luck!

PD2:thumbsup:

YES I think CARRERA is best because it is 1/24 scale track and 1/32 cars run great on it and you can run 1/24 IF you want to..... Also most all brands of 1/32 cars run well on Carrera track.....I have had trouble running Carrera cars on Scalextric track, But if space is a problem Carrera turns are wide and they make outer turns but no inner turns...If you want any hairpin turns go with Scalextric or SCX.............JOE

The SCX cars are designed so you can raise and lower the stock traction magnet which adjusts the magnetic downforce. Ninco cars come with a magnet pocket and you can either use a shim to raise the stock traction magnet or install a thinner magnet to reduce the magnetic downforce.

Best regards,
Brian

I would recommend Carrera or Scalextric Sport track. I use older Scalextric classic/SCX track because that was all that was available at the time. It works fairly well but if I was starting from scratch now with the options available I would go Carrera, Scalextric Sport or consider routing my own track. I have recently tried a couple of home routed tracks with copper tape and they were great to run on. If you are building a permanent setup and are at all handy with power tools routed is a great way to go.
Here are some pictures of some tracks in my area:
http://www.slotracersontario.com/ourtracks.htm
With the copper tape there is no magnetic downforce but the cars power slide a lot which is great fun. I have to say I prefer it to magnet car racing on sectional track.