The aim was to get a fast circuit as was possible into a confined space which could easily be packed away, taking up minimal room in storage. Hence there being no “figure of eight” or bridges and lane lengths are marginally different.


A total area of 12’ x 6’ (3.65m x1.8m) it breaks up into three 6’ x 4’ (1.8m x 1.22m) in 15 minutes and when stacked on top of each other is 12” (0.30m) deep The latter dimension is the reason  for no buildings and minimal foliage, plus the boards flex when being manhandled. In storage it is designed to stand on it’s 4’ (1.22m) side on rubber door stops keeping it off the ground.


All tracks are parallel wired underneath at multiple points to avoid bad joint issues and minimise power loss. Lap counting and timing is achieved with optocouplers and a homebrewed circuits and programme.
   


There is also the opportunity, should the track move to a larger room (dream on), to insert an as yet unbuilt, additional sections of track!


The whole thing sits on two sets of Lidl’s folding decorating tables and seems stable until you bump into it. Making it a perfect test environment to develop cars which race during fracking .

Although I'm a big fan of ARC Pro and how it works out of the box, we still use the older C7042 Advanced 6 Car Powerbase (APB) at our WHO/digital club...

   

On its own, the APB is not that easy to use and is expensive. What you get for £165.99 is the powerbase and an LCD tower...

       

To that has to be added:

• P9300 Power Supplies - one for up to three cars, two power supplies for four to six cars. They are £44.99 each.
  
• C7002 Digital Hand Controllers. £16.99 each.
  

That compares to £137.99 for the C8435 ARC Pro Powerbase Upgrade kit which includes one P9300 power supply and two ARC Wireless Hand Controllers. When you have the APB up and running, it offers only some basic race mode functionality, adjustable power settings, a Ghost Car feature and analogue mode - all requiring navigation through the hieroglyphics of the LCD tower menu. The first time I raced with Scalextric digital was with the APB and LCD tower - I wasn't impressed. Adding the Pit Lane Game was a fun improvement.

What won me over to digital racing - and what transforms the APB - is the expansion potential of the small RJ-connector socket on the left hand side. This allows the APB to be connected to the USB port of a Windows computer and to interact with digital race management software in imaginative and highly-detailed ways - more detailed than the two ARC Pro apps currently offer.

The special APB to USB cable that links APB to computer can be found on Riko Rocket's website (www.rikorocket.co.uk/products/usb-to-c7042-apb)  or search "USB cable for Scalextric C7042 6 car digital powerbase" on eBay. The cable costs £30.

The first thing to do with your new cable is to take good care of it. Only ever plug it into the APB when the powerbase is switched off. Plugging the cable in when the powerbase is on risks damaging the cable. I have a big note to remind me - even after six years of using the APB with the cable. At WHO/digital we have the two APB power supplies plugged into a separate extension lead which can be switched on and off via a big switch on the race control table.

The second thing to do is to update the firmware on the APB from the factory-set v0.85 to the latest v1.09. Instructions on how to do this can be found on the SSDC website: ssdc.jackaments.com/firmware

Before I go on to look at software options, there is another piece of hardware that is recommended - pit lane sensors. Although not essential - ARC Pro does not have them and that's not the end of the world for me - they do add an extra feature to the APB digital racing experience. With the sensors, the digital race management programs can sense when a specific car is in the pit lane, slow that car to the pit lane speed limit and open the pit menu automatically (if this feature is chosen).

There are two options for Scalextric Sport Digital pit sensors, Riko Rocket's Pit Pro Deluxe (and the original Pit Pro) that is based on a highly-modified Pit Lane Game; and the Smartracing Smartsensor. Pit Pro Deluxe is available from Riko's website (www.rikorocket.co.uk/products/pit-pro-deluxe) and costs £100. Smartsensor costs 75 Euros and is available from smartracing.dk in Denmark. We use Pit Pro at WHO/digital...

   

You can see the pit-entry sensor located at the yellow line by the Pit Lane Game tower on the right of the picture. If you follow the pit lane round, you will see the yellow line to indicate the pit-exit sensor. Not only do the sensors add to the detail of the digital simulations, most software programs offer some excellent pit lane sound effects!

Next, I'll look at some of the software options.

Hi people.

Thanks for looking, and any questions feel free to PM :)

I noticed NSR were doing this one. Loved that livery and  and remembered an old birthday card I received back in the day:
   

         

PCS have certainly gone quirky with the second of their new kits. The Bond Bug has exactly half as many wheels at their Tyrrell P34 - and surely no-one else was going to release a three-wheel slot car this year... Oh well, at least it has something to race against. The Only Fools and Horses Reliant van is cheesy, whereas the Bond Bug is pure 1970s cool. I certainly wanted one when I was a kid and treasured my Corgi die-cast version.

       

       

The Bond Bug was designed for parent company Reliant by Tom Karen - who would go on to design Luke Skywalker's land speeder for the first Star Wars film. The Bug had its own chassis, but shared some of the Reliant Regal's running gear. The car was tiny, as is the PCS kit...

       

The Bug was fitted with a 700cc Reliant four-cylinder motor based on the Austin 7 engine. It produced 29bhp (later increased to 31bhp), which gave the car a top speed of 76mph - enough to get a ticket on the motorway - and identical to the top speed of a 1968 Lotus 7. The low seating position made it feel like driving a go-kart...

         

The tangerine paint scheme was the only one offered during the short 1970-74 production run, although six white cars were delivered to Rothmans for a promotional campaign. So that's six white cars and 2,264 tangerine versions that rolled off the production lines in Preston and Tamworth.

   

The full PCS kit contains everything you need to build a 1/32 scale Bond Bug. The body - plus detailing parts and decals - is available on its own for £27 and all the running gear for another £31.99. That means the full car is £58.99.

       

This is how the 3D printed chassis and running gear fits together...

       

       

The motor is a small Mabuchi can found in many HO slot cars, the Scalextric Go-Karts and is widely used by 1/43 scale scratch-builders. The front wheel assembly is very clever, the wheel is attached to the top of the guide, so steers with the car. Certainly a more detailed and imaginative solution than that employed on the Scalextric Reliant van and rather cute too.

         

Not surprisingly, the first run of PCS Bond Bugs sold out very quickly. There are now more in stock at Pendle Slot Racing. Full details of the kit and the build instructions are here: www.pendleslotracing.co.uk/pcs-bond-bug-kit

Many thanks to Neil at Pendle Slot Racing for the fabulous pictures of the assembled and painted kit.

   

Pendle Slot Racing and Andi Rowland have been working long and hard to produce this fabulous PCS Tyrrell P34 six-wheeler kit, only for Scalextric to announce their own P34 in the 2020 catalogue. Of course, the Scalextric model is the 1976 car and the PCS version is from 1977. Also, the PCS car is a thoroughbred racer - a lightweight resin body matched with a 3D printed Andi Rowland chassis, aluminium wheels (six of them) and the tried-and-tested Policar motor and gearbox assembly. All those components are the classic F1 racer's gold standard. On track, there will be no contest. Although at just shy of £93 for the full kit, you could buy the Scalextric P34 twin-pack and have a few quid change.

However, feast your eyes for a moment on what you get in the kit...

       

       

       

       

       

       

       


Enough? The racer in you knows which P34 you need to buy. Those Scalextric cars will look great on the shelf, but it's the PCS kit that will be thrashing round the track.

When you buy the kit, you need to chose decals for the Patrick Depaiiler (#4) or Ronnie Peterson (#3) car. The body itself is £27.95 - the full kit (including Policar motor, pod and gearbox) is an extra £64.95. You can pre-order via Pendles now, with more stock due very soon.

Full details and the build instructions are here: www.pendleslotracing.co.uk/pcs-tyrrell-p34-f1-six-wheeler-kit

Many thanks to Neil at Pendle Slot Racing for sending us the photos and details.

Hi. Just joined the forum and thought it was time to come out of the pits.


Started slot racing in the early sixties when Scalextric track was rubber, the cars had nylon pins for guides and kneeling on metal track clips was part of the experience.


In the late sixties hand cut my own four lane hardboard track, so the straights were a notional rather than a reality and EvoSticking copper tape in a confined space was a mind awakening experience! Lap counters made from ex GPO unit counters, powered by a 12v lorry battery, occasionally smoked when locked up, and the surface painted with Imstone external wall paint, could Surform a knuckle in one encounter. Character building.


At the same time I was a member of Stowmarket ICI slot car club; a four lane hardboard track with a magnificent large radius curve.


With the introduction of lexan bodies, tyre goop and an increase in hormones, I rejoined mankind and spectated at full size motorsport, and contributed to the increase in world population.


Then; fifty years later in the middle of 2019 with hormones depleted, I relapsed and became a member of Presto Park near Norwich. Great circuit, racing and the agreeable company of gentlemen of a similar antiquity with similarly failing faculties.


Just built a two lane MDF track in the garage which breaks up into three sections. The track is for sanctertorial purposes, testing and seeking to regain lost pace. The search continues….. 

   

The Bathurst 12 hours takes place this weekend and for European fans, it means staying up all night for one of the GT racing highlights of the year.

The entire race is streamed live and free for international viewers on the Bathurst website: www.bathurst12hour.com.au/streams-tv/international-streaming

The race starts at 5.45am local time on Sunday morning - 6.45pm Saturday evening UK time. The race lasts 12 hours, so ends at 6.45am Sunday morning UK time.

Not surprisingly, the weather is rather hot at Mount Panorama, but despite the bush fires nearby, the race goes ahead. Full details and up-to-date news can be found here: www.bathurst12hour.com.au

I have posed a similar question on another thread, but thought it might be better to ask here... 

So I have read every single tuning thread so have got a vague idea of all the theory. So I think I can glue and true the tyres and get my car into a reasonable set up on the work bench. 

My question is...once I put the car onto my (plastic) test track, in what order should I be looking to race tune it? 

For example, if it oversteers round corners, should I be added weight or fitting softer tyres as a first step? Or should I concentrate on front end stability first? Or should I be adding rear weight first to eliminate wheel spin out of corners? Am I explaining myself very well? 

Thanks in anticipation...

January is a very busy time with all the big slot car brands announcing their new products and hogging the limelight. Aside from the hype and the razzmatazz, slot car artisan extraordinaire George Turner has let it be known what new kits he is planning to bring us this year...

1. ERA re-release, with a few slight modifications to bring it up to date
   
2. Ecurie Ecosse 1954 D-Type, Reims
   
3. Ecurie Ecosse 1956 D-Type, Le Mans
   
4. Mazda RX7 1981 BTCC
   
5. MK II Lotus Cortina
   
6. Vauxhall Firenza Droop Snoot
   
7. Ford C100 Truck 1981
   
8. 1907 GP Renault
   
9. 1907 GP Fiat
   
10. Group 44 Triumph Spitfire
    
11. Cobra GT
    
12. Austin Healey 3000 Rally
    
13. Ecurie Ecosse transporter
    
14. Atkinson transporter
    

Maybe not all of these will happen, but it's a great list. And there will probably be other kits that George adds that he hasn't thought of yet.

The first to break cover - and it is only January - is the reworked ERA kit. A very fine model to have back in the catalogue...


       

       

All George Turner's models are supplied as resin kits and include a resin chassis, detailing parts and a decal sheet...

   

I can testify that George offers very good customer service if things go wrong with the building of his kits and is always good for an entertaining natter at swapmeets.

You can find - and buy - all of George's kits on his website: www.georgeturnermodels.com