[meecrob111]

Hello, I'm new to the slot car racing hobby just recently picking up the AFX Super International set. I had a slot car set WAY WAY back, but this is the first I've had since then. I live in Austin and since Forumla 1 is on its way here the thought of building the Circuit of Americas track sparked me to take the plunge back into the hobby.

I have a couple of questions I hope you will be able to answer.

I've found the Formula 1 car bodies induce cars to come out of the slots. From what I've seen a car passing another on the inside will come off the track most of the time on a turn. I beleive this is due to the front fin on the Formula 1 body hitting the car in front. When running without the car bodies a pass rarely induces a car to come off the track. I would think this is a major design flaw. I can't imagine I'm the first to see this, I am thinking of cutting down the front fin. Do you have any ideas how to rectify this issue?

My second question is of slot car racing rules? Are there any rules posted out on the web?

thanks....

 

[beast1624]

Meecrob
Welcome aboard! A group of us in north TX are in the middle of a series (race about once a month at different tracks in the area). I know what you are talking about, this seems to apply mainly to the 1.7 Mega G chassis with the F1 bodies running on the Tomy track. On my home track (4 lane Tomy) all the inside curves are 15" and the outside 18" radius. I see that your set has a lot of the 6" and 9" turns. This is where I have seen most of the problems you describe with the 1.7 F1 cars. On the custom tracks we run (Maxx Trak/Wizzard/Bowman) the lane spacing is a little wider so we don't see the problems there.

If you were to switch to the 1.5 short chassis you would probably not see the same problem. As for rules here's a link to the rules for our Mega-G and our T-Jet Trans Am class for the current series. They are pretty much stock with only a few modifications allowed.

http://excoboard.com/TexasSlotCars/148725/1842708

Then again, if you are racing on your own or if you have a group of guys you can allow anything that suits your needs. Cutting the front fins would probably solve your problems.

 

[NTxSlotCars]

First of all, welcome back to slot cars, and welcome to Hobbytalk!!!
The current AFX track uses the same lane spacing as the previous Tjet track.
The cars produced now are a larger scale (64th). This makes it a close fit to even pass
on the straights, but the cars are designed with this in mind. The International set is a
great starter set to get back into the hobby with, however it comes with alot of 6 inch
radius turns. This, coupled with the 1.7 long wheel base chassis, can cause the problem
you see passing in the turns. Someone here figured out that the 6 inch turn radius
scaled up is equal to doing a u turn in a grocery store from one isle to the other.
I'd hate to sacrifice the body detail for a 6 inch radius turn. I really like these cars.
I'm glad to see another Texan on HT. I have friends going to that race in November.
Browse around here, you'll find good info, and good folks.

Rich

 

[hojoe]

Hey meecrob, glad you found the sight and signed right up. welcome aboard!I'm sure you'll find all the info you need here.
hojoe

 

[Grandcheapskate]

The current AFX track uses the same lane spacing as the previous Tjet track. The cars produced now are a larger scale (64th). This makes it a close fit to even pass on the straights...

Rich

The Super International set is a great starter set from everything I have ever read. However, as Rich points out, Tomy track (and the track made currently by Auto World) uses the lane spacing carried over from the Aurora days. This puts the lanes closer together than you will find on track which uses "even" lane spacing, like Tyco/Mattel and Lifelike. "Even spacing" means when you put together a four lane track, all the lanes are evenly spaced. With Tomy, there is more space between lanes 2-3 than between 1-2 or 3-4.

In today's environment, Tomy is probably the track to get if you are starting out unless the lane spacing is really a big problem. Mattel (the track I prefer) no longer produces anything of consequence and track selection for Lifelike is very limited. So, as others have pointed out, there may be some issues in the curves with some cars.

Thanks...Joe

 

[slotking]

if you incorporate some Ben Hur racing, then your all set!:thumbsup:

I read somewhere before about solutions about the issue your having.

they may include the 1.7 indy/f1 bodies may have to have the front wings shorten or moves back.


The 1.5 gtp bodies work pretty well

 

[neorules]

MeecroB111--- You can find rules online at HOPRA .net.





http://www.hopra.net/

 

[meecrob111]

Thanks...

Hojoe....thanks for sending me to this site..

Thanks everyone for the replies.

I'm actually pretty peeved that this set and cars have this problem. I can't beleive they would just sell it like that. I don't think I would have bought the set if I knew it had that problem. As it is marketed, it is pretty much unusable for a race.

So fixes.....
Stay away from the 6" and 9" turns.
Move to the 1.5 gtp bodies (What does gtp stand for)
Cut the fins.

I've been searching online for other complains about this and have only found one with no suggestions on how to correct the issue.

To cut the fins down, am I looking at using an Exacto knife?

 

[slotcarman12078]

All this time I've been on this board, and this is the first I've heard of this issue...

Now, if you should happen to have a "Red Bull" car, DO NOT cut it!!! Very short production run of that body, and it's worth way more than the other cars!!!

 

[meecrob111]

All this time I've been on this board, and this is the first I've heard of this issue...

Now, if you should happen to have a "Red Bull" car, DO NOT cut it!!! Very short production run of that body, and it's worth way more than the other cars!!!

I'm on about 2 hours now looking at different websites for info on this and still only found that one post. Very strange. The Mega G 1.7 seems to been out for a while, you would think there were more people complaining about this.

Maybe trading these cars for the 1.5 length cars would be a better idea.

 

[Bubba 123]

I'm on about 2 hours now looking at different websites for info on this and still only found that one post. Very strange. The Mega G 1.7 seems to been out for a while, you would think there were more people complaining about this.


hi,

"....Maybe trading these cars for the 1.5 length cars would be a better idea... ????.....) yep, that's the way i'ld go....

i have a few NOS (New Old Stock) F-1's of various brands.....
not pushing, but would be willing 2 trade.....
not sure exactly what u r looking 4 (??) or have (??) (pics)...
email me @;

[email protected]

if i can help.... i'm abit green on the tech.-stuff.....
but i can post pics of w/ U maybe interrested in (after emails..)
so the More-Tech-Savoy, can give u a "Yeay" or "Nay" on your choices/brands.... :freak:

Bubba 123 :wave:

join us in "Chat" nightly..
(..in gold bar, near top of all screens on HT, just a Tad 2 right, of center..)

(7:30 + CDT) either in "Cooler" or "Slot-Room"...
NO invitation required :thumbsup:

 

[Gareth]

Hi,

Welcome to HobbyTalk.

The issue with the long Champcars and the tight corners has been experienced a lot in the UK racing scene and two solutions were developed.

The first was to cut the front wing and make it narrower and fit Wizzard o-ring front tyres. This is obviously less than optimal as it means you are chopping up your car bodies.

The second and more permanent solution was to develop a new guide pin for the Mega G which moved the pivot point of the chassis forward. This eliminates the problem and means you no longer have collisions or chopped down front wings.

If you are interested in getting some of these, PM me and I shall put you in touch with the guy developing these guide pins. It is then a simple job to pop out the old pin and fit the new.

Cheers
Gareth

 

[22tall]

Now, if you should happen to have a "Red Bull" car, DO NOT cut it!!! Very short production run of that body, and it's worth way more than the other cars!!!

Too late

 

[cwbam]

so that's a flying gas tank

Too late

back to original starting topic.

Super International set, F1

just a guess, most people on hobbytalk are old school,
TJET, Tyco , AFX,

for F1 indy style cars
TOMY SG+ , turbo SRT, are the cars for this set. (a few years ago these cars are what was in box.
(maybe some LifeLike AMrac Rokar)

Here's a few sources

http://www.scaleauto.com/tomy/turbos.htm
http://www.scaleauto.com/tomy/srt_cars.htm
http://www.jaghobbies.com/ho_slot_cars/tomyhocars_cart.htm
www.jaghobbies.com/ho_slot_cars/tomyhocars_cart.htm
http://www.lucky-bobs-slot-cars.com/tomy-srt-cars.html
http://afxracing.com/t/categories/cars/srt

 

[copperhead71]

Nice work 22tall!!!!

 

[slotcarman12078]

After thinking about this, one thought did occur to me. In certain instances in real racing, you wouldn't attempt passing another car. This interference can be looked at kind of the same way as intentionally routing lanes closer on certain curves on a routed track. It keeps you from passing at certain points during a race. Granted the Super Int'l set is loaded with 6" and 9" curves, so it would seem like overkill. I would also assume this was part of the reason the last set Tomy released had mostly big curves in it, because the set cars interfered with each other on smaller curves.

 

[meecrob111]

The suggestions all sound good. I'm going to need to try the pin, and then think about making larger corners.

What bugs me is that I am a beginner and I bought a package that I thought would be good out of the box. I happen to have a 6x5 foot table which is probably larger than most people have who just want to try out slot cars. I'm sold this box that says it has everything and I'll be racing in hours, and now I'm on day three of no racing, hours of searching on the internet, having to get some special part from England, and considering spending mucho money on cars and larger track just to get this product to work without me having to re-slot the cars every lap. Personally I think the makers/company is in the wrong here. I'm probably not your typical person buying one of these sets. I'll go the extra mile to get it right. But the Father who buys this set for his child on Christmas, sets it up, then figures out it doesn't work is getting robbed. I'm quite appalled that this set is sold this way. I think it does disjustice to the hobby.

I've tested the 9" turns and they also have the same problem. The chance to de-slot is much lower than the 6' track, but it still happens. I'm now looking at the setup of the Japan track that is featured on the box. Practically every turn has some 6" turns in it. I would imagine every lap in a race you would have a de-slot. I don't consider that a good product. It blows my mind that this hasn't been rectified.

I hope these pins are the answer. And if they are I hope Tomy incorporates them into the set.

 

[thunderjetgene]

Well, it's not really a design flaw or defect of any kind. It's more of the nature of open-wheel racing - it's just racing contact. Driver skill comes into play here. With the same chassis and a closed wheel body, you're not going to see the same problem, or at least not as bad, as racing contact can cause spinouts and deslotting no matter what body you're running. Just as in real-life 1:1 racing, F1 cars need to stay away from each other in corners, and tight corners offer far more opportunity for contact. You're just looking at it the wrong way - more practice and more racing with other drivers will improve that. I would definitely look into getting some larger radius curves and just changing the layout to suit your preference and driving style.

 

[Grandcheapskate]

Well, it's not really a design flaw or defect of any kind. It's more of the nature of open-wheel racing - it's just racing contact.

Gene,
I gotta disagree with you here. Tomy had the opportunity to go to even lane spacing but decided to keep the original Aurora spacing. Knowing that the cars had gotten slightly larger, the Aurora spacing, which was fine for T-Jets, might be an issue for the post T-Jet era.

Once Tomy came up with their own track joining system, you had to have an adapter track to go between Aurora and Tomy anyway, so changing the lane spacing would not have caused an additional hardship to the buyer. The only guys affected by a lane spacing change would be those who make their own adapters by cutting and glueing Aurora/Tomy tracks together. At the point in time Tomy took over for Aurora, the days of production T-Jets was long over - the larger size HO car was now the norm.

HO can never mimick real racing. The speeds we achieve are far out of proportion to the racing surface. Straights on most home tracks, and certainly as they come in sets, are far too short to offer sufficient passing opportunities if you take away passing on curves.

I know there are a LOT of Tomy hobbiests who will say there is no issue with the lane spacing. And some will say there is an issue. Obviously, the initial poster is having a known issue. So overall, one would have to say there is a problem which is usually only discovered once you experiance it.

You've got to realize that buying this set (or other slot products) may be someone's first exposure to the hobby. If the experiance is unsatisfactory, probably 99% of them will simply walk away and we lose another potential hobbiest. Someone just starting out is going to want a fun experiance, not a set where passing on a curve causes an almost certain deslot. Especially when the straights aren't that long. As you're in the hobby longer, maybe you want the challenge of no passing in the curves, but to do that right out of the box, or make it mandatory, is a bad idea.

On the flip side, I use Tyco/Mattel track with even lane spacing. This causes the lanes to be slightly farther apart, and brings each lane closer to the edge of the track. I have found I cannot use the standard plastic guardrails because the tires hit them even on straights. This is something I did not experiance on my old Aurora track. But as a trade off, I will take losing the guardrails over the problem of lanes being too close.

Joe

 

[meecrob111]

Say I wanted to setup the track I just bought and have three friends over to do some 4 lane racing. With the available track in the set that has many 6" and 9" turns and the 1.7 cars, we wouldn't be doing much racing. I think my friends would more likely think the set was a piece of junk. it would probably be called de-slotting instead of racing. From my test racing while cars are on lanes 1 and 2 or three and 4, there is no tension, no drama, only picking up de-slotted cars.

The track I setup using almost all the straight track in the set has 9 turns. All but 1 has a 6" turn in it.
This is what is in the Super International.
•(1) - 15" Radius 1/8 Circle Turn
•(6) - 12" Radius 1/8 Circle Turns
•(12) - 9" Radius 1/4 Circle Turns
•(9) - 9" Radius 1/8 Circle Turns
•(28) - 6" Radius 1/8 Circle Turns

Tonight with me and another person I tried not passing on the corners. I would say that if you can't pass on the corners on this size track, with this many corners, you are at a major dissadvantage. You would have to have super timing to pull off a pass if it is possible at all.

My new race track set doesn't allow people to compete on tracks 1 and 2 together, or 3 and 4 together without it being a de-slot fest.

I would have a serious hard time recommending someone to purchase this set. Currently the modified pin is not readily available. I think I would have to steer people into either buying seperate pieces of track not including the 6" turns, and purchasing the smaller 1.5 cars. Or looking into aquiring larger laned track such as those suggested.

Again, If I weren't the kind of person to look online and didn't have past history with slot car racing so that I know that there shouldn't be so many de-slots, this track would be shelved after a few days and probably never brought out again, maybe possibly hitting ebay so I could get my money back.