I too have come back from a long hiatus so to speak... I last raced in 1989 in Denver at a friends track and the Tyco 440X2's were the Rage... Most of us laughed at the slowcars (pancake motors) because we wanted faster... (insert Tim Allen here MORE POWER... argh, argh, argh... )
But having returned in January 2009 (nearly 20 years later) to the races and a Club of racers, I have found that the hobby has for lack of a better phrase grown somewhat and has splintered off into many groups. Because of this splintering, I believe we are having some trouble keeping in the mainstream as a hobby because there are too many splintered groups. Perhaps, that is what keeps it alive...Choices to appeal to larger audiences... who knows. I certainly dont. Surely there will be several bombastic opinions coming soon to a Forum board near you. :drunk:
You have the car types broken down into two areas mainly... Pancake Motor cars and Inline Motor Cars.
The pancakes by and large are the slowest group between the two and have (appears to me) a much larger following. Quite possibly because of the base age of the group as a whole. ( us older folks tend not to have a PSP or DS stuck in our faces 24/7 and can have a meaningful conversations without the use of l33t speak and Text Messaging... sorry had to say it... lol) Many of us remember the fun as kids and a good deal of those folks experience some form of nostalgia with the pancake motors. I will also say that they are much more technical to tune up to make a "competitive" car as well. I suspect this is another reason that pancakes are very popular.
Of the Pancake Motors, we find several nationally recognized groups that have rules and similarly there are splinter groups of them that make "subtle" changes in their rules to allow for some such change that typically is less important to the overall car (ie, does the car need a back window or not, or what is the weight of the car, can you balance and true the arm or just balance it...etc.) By and large hearing the Term "Fray Car" means you have a SuperStock version of a Tjet. There are many nuances of these cars but basically (Im certain there will be plenty out there that will correct me as soon as they read this), It has a 1:75-87 scale body and a 1:64 wheel width... they look kind of goofy because the tires stick way out but are a fantastic blast to drive. There are many other clubs and classes but by and large, they are specific to their club and groups. There are those that drive these exclusively and have nothing to do with Inlines... Im certain Im OVERSIMPLIFYING this some but I dont want to aggravate too many drivers here...lol
The inlines have been around for a VERY long time as well. Like I said the Tyco 440X2 was king in the mid/late eighties when I left the hobby but even back then, there were a few "well known" parts builders out there for the competitive driver that wanted only the best. Aside from the cars you get when you buy your track, as I understand it, 3 basic car companies still stand out. Wizzard, Slottech, BSRT come to mind. All three making very good cars based around the inline motor and traction magnets style. Two of them you will recognize immediately from the store-bought chassis they are based on. Slottech most reminds me of the 440X2 with super modifications. BSRT's line mostly mirrors the SuperG+ in my mind and Wizzard Storms seem to be different enough to almost appear as a hybrid. These inline drivers have several classes as well from box stock to Unlimited. They are undoubtedly the fastest of the cars in HO and also sort of crazed in their own way. One thing I believe is that the sacrifice for this type of racing is Modeling. They replace the "hardbodies" with lexan and with it goes the detail of the body...some even look like blobs. :tongue: They are Very fun to drive though keeping your eye on them is a little tough for me... there are those that drive these exclusively and have nothing to do with Pancakes... and vice versa...
Many competitive drivers I know usually spend anywhere from 50-135 on a Tjet that is raceworthy if you are starting from nothing... At least in Fray style cars. You can get them prebuilt from a couple of vendors for 75-115 depending on the builder.
Costs on inlines range 2.49 for a repop of the 440X2 appearing chassis all the way past 200.00 to even "call for price" pricing... (usually means you dont want to know in the first place...lol) Superstocks go for around 50-100 and Modifieds go for around 150 and anything above that is pure speculation as I have never bought a Restricted Open car or Unlimited (this is a "call for pricing" car... lol).
There are a few clubs out there that have several classes both inline and pancake and drive both. Ours is one such club. But even in those you will find drivers that are concerned not about the racing inasmuch as the type of racing that is important. They will only show up for Pancake or Inline but not both. It happens but it's why there is a choice... gives the club a chance to offer something for everyone and appeal to the largest audience.
Now there are several types of race tracks... You have Ovals, Road Courses, Drag Strips, and Model raceways (tracks with lots of scenery where more emphasis on modeling and less on racing) Probably more but I am drawing a blank.
These tracks come in all shapes and sizes and there are the sectional, routed and solid surface tracks. They are varied in costs and usually go up exponentially based on the quality of the track and ease of installation. Anyone who has put together a sectional and made it work well knows how much effort it can be as opposed to a routed. There are pro's and con's to each but many of those concern money and maintenance.
You also have the ongoing epic battle between the Drag racers. Among them are the battles between the Drag racers that want to relive the 60's and go all out on modeling moreso than "the fastest car wins" ideology and then there are the Drag racers that dont care about the looks of the body but the RACE is the thing. Fortunately, there are enough drivers from all schools of thought to complete a race now and again and it's all in good fun. They often drive both Pancake and Inlines... In some cases they do "proxy" races where you build your car and mail it to the race and someone at the race will race your car. However, all the drivers physically at the race cannot enter a car... There are a million ways to set up the rules.. or as many ways as we can come up with ideas.
As you no doubt have seen on here we are a varied bunch of folks that love our hobby but it has morphed WAY beyond what it was originally intended. I believe it has become so varied, we have gone beyond what many manufacturers are willing to accomodate and see us as a losing business proposition so in an effort to keep the hobby alive, many of us go out of our way to do business with vendors to support their efforts and some of us have even become vendors and manufacturers to keep the hobby alive.
So as you can see, the first thing I would/did do is get with your local club if you have one or find one and try to setup something that will appeal to both you and the group and then get together as often as possible and Race, Have fun, Make a few friends and talk smack about the races... Share building tips with everyone focusing on driving skills more and "fastest car" less as you will quickly find that if you are the only one with the fast car, you will soon be driving alone.
It's very rewarding and I have had the time of my hobbying life in the last year and can only wonder of the fun yet to happen.
If I have offended anyone reading, then I apologize. Understand this is from a single point of view and my experiences with attending 3 National Level Races (losing miserably in all of them and still had a BLAST) and about 15 club races in the last year.
This opinion is not sanctioned nor sponsored in anyway by anyone either real or imagined.
Sorry this came out like a manifesto... I really meant to answer your question and as you can see, there are so many variables, that I believe you could write an entire book on the evolution of the HO scale slot car...lol Oh yeah, there are a couple of books out there... Thanks for reading this far if you did...
Dan