[woodcote]

I have to say that I am very happy with my experience of standard 'mass-market' equipment with some after-market hardware and software add-ons. There's always peer-pressure to go with 'better and faster' (and more expensive), but I'm not sure that always works with digital. It is true that the direct controller to car connection offered by Scorpius and oXigen (essentially radio-controlled cars running in slots) is a technically superior concept to the digital command via the rails of Carrera and Scalextric (essentially a DCC model railroad with race cars). However, my experience of racing both Scalextric and Carrera in home and club settings has been much more of a blast - because I think it's more important what you do with the gear than the gear itself. For me, it's about simulating real racing on two-lane tracks with overtaking, software simulations, pitstops and strategy - I think Carrera and SmartRace have the edge there.

You made a brief reference to 4-lane digital tracks. My feeling is that they don't look right and the digital gameplay is diminished. If digital is about realism, then I don't know any real tracks with 4 parallel racing lines! Practically, four lanes almost always means you end up only using a couple of lanes to race - or you end up with more of an analogue-style race-track with minimum lane-changing. The only time more lanes can work is if you have a designated 'slow lane' on a big, fast layout (eg an oval) to pit from or for ailing cars. If you stick to two 'realistic' lanes, you'll never need a controller with up/down lane change buttons.

As for controllers... Carrera D132 and D124 - when paired with the SmartRace app - allows you to alter braking force via the Tuning menu, plus a maximum power setting (called 'Speed') that acts like a choke on a high-end analogue controller. Although there's no feature to change the throttle curve in the app or on the Control Unit, you do have that option with the Frankenslot after-market controllers or a more simple and accessible 'adjustable sensitivity' on the Truspeed Carrera-D IV. You can also use most of the functions of the Slot.it SCP controllers (not brakes), when fitted with a suitable digital module and Carrera connector. The Ramjet-X controller doesn't have any adjustments, but offers a significant upgrade in quality from the standard Carrera controllers. All three have a more familiar trigger layout.

When the focus is on the gameplay (overtaking, strategy, pit stops etc) having a high-end, multi-function, analogue-style controller is much less important. It was that gameplay the won me over to digital racing - and that was using standard set controllers... in my case the awful Scalextric ones! Using Truspeed controllers has certainly refined that experience in recent years, but has never been essential to my enjoyment.  Likewise, we've learned that standard Scalextric and Carrera cars - with magnets removed and racing tyres added - are much more fun to race digitally than any high-performance brand. A little less speed means more time to execute overtaking moves, plan strategy etc - and that means much more realistic racing. 

It's the same with number of cars - six is plenty, even on a massive 150-foot track. More than that and the racing quickly becomes too conjested and less 'real'. Sure, most grids are larger than six - but most real tracks are much bigger than 0.7 of a mile that the 150-foot track scales up to in 1:24 scale (or 0.9 of a mile in 1:32 scale). Our club gets round that limitation by utilising team and pairs race formats - so our regular attendances of 18-24 can race together. If anything, it adds to the realism - the driver concentrates on driving and team mates crunch the data from the screen and plan strategy ready for the next pit stop and driver-change.