Hello everyone, does anyone know about slot-it 1228c tyres? the material they are made of? and since when are these tires fitted to cars out of the box? Thank you for your answers...

   

This week's Digest features exclusive coverage from the glittering end of year SlotRacer Festive Awards.

Please feel free to disagree with my choices, or better still post your own choices here.

Now that the year is almost over, I was asking myself what my favourite slot car of 2020 is.
For me as a rally fan, the choice is limited, because not many rally slot cars have been launched this year.
Nevertheless, I have found one that's my favourite; the SRC Original version Lancia Delta S4.

What is your favourite slot car of 2020?

rallyhub

       
SRC Rallye Monte Carlo 1986 winning Lancia Delta S4, driven by Henri Toivonen and Sergio Cresto.

Hello,

I was just wondering what should be my first track piece additions to my carrera 132 digital track. I just have the standard 60 corners and basic straights and so wondered what pieces I should be looking to add to my set with first? Any suggestions would be grateful.

Hi!

The boy and I unboxed a new scalextric set (police chase) and a couple of new cars. After adjusting the contact on one controller (thanks for the tip!) we really got it rolling. The Ferarri 412 is awesome!

A brand new Mini Cooper made a few laps and then started groaning a bit. I took the top off and discovered the crown gear is all chewed up. 

1) Is this normal? I have to think "no"
2) How easy it is to replace?
3) How do I know what size, ratio, etc when shopping for replacements?

New F1 cars especially are difficult to calibrate. Even at lowest setting cars are going quite fast and unable to complete a lap at a safe speed. The Dodge Viper and Audi R8’s are fine. Can anyone help???

As we get to the big day tomorrow, lets put up what arrived in those unexpected (not always as we slot nuts always seem to help the uneducated to tell Santa what is needed) parcels!!

**Sadly the Jadlam blog posts are no more, but I have reconstructed them here on the SlotRacer forum**

Thank you to Jason for including a link to my Scalextric Tuning Tips in this week's SlotRacer Digest! They are posted on the new Jadlam blog and are an attempt to walk new racers through the basics of improving a Scalextric car by only using the parts that come in the box. It turns out the first five parts have been rather popular - five more parts will follow after Christmas.

   

I met Russ, the young director of Jadlam Toys & Models, at the London Toy Fair in January and we chatted about all sorts. We ending up with the idea of me  adding to the slot car info on the Jadlam website, sometime during the quieter retail months of the year. Of course, there have been no quiet months in 2020 for an online toy and hobby retailer... but there is a desperate need for some basic info to help out the thousands of new and returning Scalextric home racers. Jadlam decided on a starting blog to make this content available quickly and easily - with posts about Scalextric and model kits.

Browsing the UK Scalextric Facebook groups, there are incredible numbers of new people out there - many asking similar, basic questions. On the whole, the world has moved on from forums - although our forum has been busier than usual with new and returning enthusiasts joining and contributing. For all its wonderful immediacy and convenience, Facebook isn't perfect - especially for answering questions at length or offering detailed information that is permanent and searchable. That's why I like how our SlotRacer Facebook page and group link so well with the website and this forum. It's the best of both worlds - and I've frequently shared links to the SlotRacer's Manual and my ARC Pro guide over the past nine months.

When I was asked to plan and contribute the Scalextric content to the Jadlam blog, I absolutely didn't want to replicate what we have here on SlotRacer Online. I took things right back to basics and - using experience from the Facebook groups and the Scalextric forum - wrote a number of 'Getting Started' blog posts...

• Getting Started with a Scalextric Set - click  here
  
• Getting Started with Micro & My First Scalextric - click here
  
• Getting Started with Carrera Go! - click here
  
• Getting Started with Scalextric ARC Pro - click here
  
• Getting Started with Slot Car Racing - click here
  

A few additional posts fleshed out some of that info - and there's also a 'Getting Ready for Christmas' post here.

One thing that the Jadlam team were keen to cover was some basic tweaking and tuning. Jadlams grew out of Russ' teenage Scalextric hobby - the eBay business started by selling his excess track and then buying and splitting new sets. Jadlams is now one of the biggest retailers of Scalextric products anywhere. Racing standard cars at home is what the vast majority of Jadlam customers and most slot car enthusiasts do, yet much of the advice and information is geared at high-end performance cars and club racing. Some of that can be quite intimidating and there's sometimes an elitist uncurrent that suggests "if you're not doing it like us, you're just playing with kid's toys". For me, there is only one way of playing with slot cars - and that's what you enjoy.

   

On the basis that most of us who play with slot cars are using standard Scalextric cars, I sketched out a series of tuning posts that would focus on one new Scalextric model - the new Ford Mustang GT4. It's not a great performer out of the box - very loose at the back and with a higher centre of gravity than most GT cars. That made it ideal for my purposes!

   

Starting with a look at the outside and inside of the car - naming and explaining each of the parts - I then went on to test the car on my version of the Jadlam SL6 layout. I chose a standard layout for my test track so readers could easily replicate it on their living room floor and match their cars and tuning progress against mine.

   

What I've tried to do is show how to create a tuning and testing programme, rather than just be prescriptive. I've shown tweaks that have and haven't worked on the Mustang - each step creating a better or worse-handling car with quicker, slower or equal lap times. Each tweak has been followed by another test run and more hard data.

These are the first five blog posts in the Scalextric Tuning series...

Scalextric Tuning 1: Parts of a Car - click here
Scalextric Tuning 2: Tweaking a New Car - click here
Scalextric Tuning 3: Maintenance & Repairs - click here
Scalextric Tuning 4: Magnatraction - click here
Scalextric Tuning 5: Fixing Oversteer - click here

There's not much there that I haven't learned from other racers, although the magnatraction stuff does have elements of originality! It's also important to me that the tweaks I write about are things I routinely do on my home cars and the Scalextric cars I tune for racing at our WHO/digital club. I'm also using the basic tools, simple magnet-measure and DIY tyre-truer that I use. It's a personal story that I'm sharing - me, my hobby and the Mustang GT4 - not my take on the Slot Car Ten Commandments.

   

Coming up next is a look at the front end of the Mustang and understeer - then a proper look at modifying the car for more effective body roll. In part eight, I'll look at removing the traction magnet and then - in the penultimate part - preparing the Mustang for racing at WHO/digital. The final part is a wrap-up - pulling together the principles of a tuning and testing programme, the tool kit we've built up during the series and some ideas where to go next.

The plan I sketched out at the start has certainly changed quite a bit - influenced by the data from the first few steps with the Mustang and by some of the positive and encouraging feedback I've received. It is proving a fun and most interesting journey!

   

Don't get excited - that's a picture from our 2020 range launch coverage back in January. There won't be any visits to Covid-ravaged Margate this time...

However, there with be some coverage here on SlotRacer Online from around 3pm on Tuesday 5 January, as soon as the 2021 catalogue goes live on the Scalextric website. Indeed, our coverage has started at post #14 here: https://slotracer.online/community/showt...4#pid12604

What do we know? As always, the new range is kept under wraps until the moment it goes live on the website - even the retailers have to wait. This year, the Scalextric team have already announced one new car (available for pre-order) and have given us three teasers on the Scalextric Advent Calendar.

   

C4249 DeLorean 'Back to the Future Part 2'. RRP £45.99. Available Summer 2021.

The DeLorean from the first Back to the Future film was a big his this year and Scalextric have followed it up with a re-worked model of the car that appeared in the 1989 sequel. The rear of the car features a 'working' Mr Fusion Home Energy Reactor. Will we see the DeLorean from Part 3 in 2022?

The three teasers were a blurred image of a new car and close-ups of the bottoms of two others...

   

An Escort?


   

That's definitely a Jaguar.

   

And that's got to be a Porsche.

We'll have to wait a few more days to find out exactly what those new models are.

Scalextric have done a great job getting their ambitious 2020 range out to retailers and customers, despite the challenges of the pandemic and - more recently - pre-Brexit chaos. The last Hornby shipments before Christmas have been delayed due to UK ports being clogged-up and the ships diverting to Rotterdam, which became utterly overwhelmed.

One consignment seems to have got through before the Channel crossings were blocked due to the new Covid strain... so there are just five 2020 Scalextric releases yet to make it - the Colin Turkington BMW 330i, the Colin Chapman triple pack, the Martin Birrane Mustang Boss, Sam Posey Challenger and BBA McLaren F1 GTR. All were scheduled "Winter 2020-2021" - so not technically late - but I am sure a few of us were hoping for those three Lotus F1 cars to be under the Christmas tree...

What's on your wish list for 2021? As usual, I'm waiting to be surprised, shocked and delighted... Although I really wouldn't mind a couple more Capri Mk3 race cars. The Belga-sponsored Spa 24 hour car would be top of my list.

Just a reminder... Our coverage has started at post #14 here: https://slotracer.online/community/showt...4#pid12604

Team Slot have a new Lancia Delta and three X-Pack Escorts due to arrive in the UK next month. We only have pictures of the actual cars at the moment...

   

Team Slot 12906 Lancia Delta HF Martini - Winner Monte Carlo Rally 1987 - Miki Biasion / Tiziano Siviero. RRP £55.99. Expected January 2021

Another very desirable Martini-liveried car, this time the car that won on the Delta HF 4WD's WRC debut in the first rally of the post Group B era - Biasion leading home Kankunnen for a Lancia 1-2.

A new car for Team Slot is the Ford Escort RS2000 X-Pack. It's a new chassis and a new mould for the body - everything a little longer and wider than the 'standard' RS2000 to show off the authentic Zakspeed-inspired factory upgrade. First seen as the sensational UK-exclusive limited edition Jamie Gough Martini race car, these are the first three 'regular' releases, all expected to be available in the UK sometime during January.

   

Team Slot 13003 Ford Escort RS2000 X-Pack 'Diamond White'. Special edition racing version with lightweight interior, fast motor and alloy rear wheels. RRP £57.99. Expected January.

   

Team Slot 13002 Ford Escort RS2000 X-Pack 'Daytona Yellow'. RRP £49.99. Expected end of January.

   

Team Slot 13001 Ford Escort RS2000 X-Pack 'Venetian Red'. RRP £49.99. Expected January.

A big thank you - and a Merry Christmas - to Steve at Staffs Slot Cars UK, who provided photos and release details. I am looking forward to seeing more of Team Slot's plans for 2021 - and I am sure Steve will keep us up to date with all the news.