10 replies to this topic

[dragin70s]

OK, new to the world of slot cars. And, obviously, this stuff goes to much higher levels than this. That being said, the new John Force drag strip set is a blast. I added two 15" track pieces which made the start to finish length 13', which seems to me about the minimum. The cars look great, though not blazing fast, which is actually good for the visual in that short distance. My boy used his LifeLike NASCARs for a few runs, and they are considerably faster. Anyway, the sportsman and pro tree options on the Christmas are great, and of course the win light is a must and is great. What's great about this set from my point of view comes with the tinkering with the chassis and the modeling of other bodies to add to the set. AutoWorld put out five FCs and three pro stockers, but you can find other FC bodies online, and of course and endless choice of chassis.

So, just throwin' out a short review and commentary on the set. I think its great. And, it has turned my son on to drag racing a bit. Its not cost prohibitive at a little over a hundred bucks, but you will have to purchase something to set it up on, I used two eight foot lengths of a surfaced particle board type material so I can store them inside and then just lay them end to end to put the track on. Set up and take down take five minutes.
Now, just have to figure out how to scale down all of my Slixx 1/24 scale FC decals.

[ra7c7er]

It's nice to see someone enjoying that set. When it first came out there was some talk of it being a mistake by Autoworld but I have messed around with it some to and think it is really fun. I don't like that the drag racing cars are slower than there track racing counterparts but I know the reasoning for it. It is hard to see the cars at full speeds in a straight line so they slowed the drag cars down for more visual racing instead of just blue blur and yellow blur.

[Len Woodruff]

I bought this set for my grandkids but the power strip doesn't work. I called and requested a replacement on 12/28 but haven't gotten it yet.

[dragin70s]

I agree" ra7c7er", the slower speeds are better for the visual. Even those LifeLike NASCARs are a blur. I like the speed of 4 Gear cars included and that cutting a good light is a must. I ordered the NAPA FC to add and also the Summit prostock body and I'll try a different chassis under it.

Being a 1/24 FC modeler, this does make me want to get into that scale, but simply no place near here to do it.

"Len Woodruff": That's a pain about the power strip. No issues with mine. The battery compartments are a little more challenging that most kids will like with those small screws, though. Hope they come through, heck you might even have a little fun with it.

[ra7c7er]

Just wanted to let you know that I think your 13' of track is pretty close to 1/8th mile. I didn't know if you did the calculation yourself yet or not. Rounded 15' and an inch or so is right at 1/8th mile. So if you can cram in another section or two of straight you should be able to get there. If you want to get really ambitious you could go for the full 1/2 mile track but I doubt you have 30 clear feet anywhere in your house, lol.

Also let your son bring some of his friends over and play with it. They will bring their dads, who will then buy their own cars, and before you know it you will wind up having a whole drag club.

[dragin70s]

Just wanted to let you know that I think your 13' of track is pretty close to 1/8th mile. I didn't know if you did the calculation yourself yet or not. Rounded 15' and an inch or so is right at 1/8th mile. So if you can cram in another section or two of straight you should be able to get there. If you want to get really ambitious you could go for the full 1/2 mile track but I doubt you have 30 clear feet anywhere in your house, lol.

Also let your son bring some of his friends over and play with it. They will bring their dads, who will then buy their own cars, and before you know it you will wind up having a whole drag club.

I hadn't gotten around to doing those calculations. The limitations of the play room pretty much set the max track length. With the full track set up with the area before the start line and the shut down, it is a couple inches over 16'that leaves me about two feet at each end before you're into the wall, so no real room for expansion. Of course, there is a 25' hallway that leads into the playroom, soooo....... But if I set that up much it wouldn't matter anymore because I probably wouldn't be living there anymore.

So, looks like 1/8 mile it is. And, you're right, with some of the guys I know it would spiral out of control quickly, and of course the engineer types would kill the rest of us with tech upgrades to the cars. The 'speed is just about right so you can still see the cars' would quickly turn into 'how freakin' fast can I make this thing go.'

[ra7c7er]

I hadn't gotten around to doing those calculations. The limitations of the play room pretty much set the max track length. With the full track set up with the area before the start line and the shut down, it is a couple inches over 16'that leaves me about two feet at each end before you're into the wall, so no real room for expansion. Of course, there is a 25' hallway that leads into the playroom, soooo....... But if I set that up much it wouldn't matter anymore because I probably wouldn't be living there anymore.

So, looks like 1/8 mile it is. And, you're right, with some of the guys I know it would spiral out of control quickly, and of course the engineer types would kill the rest of us with tech upgrades to the cars. The 'speed is just about right so you can still see the cars' would quickly turn into 'how freakin' fast can I make this thing go.'

Just let the crazies fly there cars into the wall. I have seen some really interesting bracket racing. Rarely does the fastest car win. and to keep the fast guys honest put a little hump in the middle of the track once they lose a couple races they will tone it back. Sadly the 1/24 and 1/32 club and track I used to race at had a bunch of cheaters so I have learned how to weed them out. Foam from a pillow will allow you to move the end track section further back while still maintaining a enough cushion to stop the cars from getting damaged.

Sorry to keep bugging you with stuff but slot cars are more of a passion than model building. I am to far away from a club or anything and my current living situation doesn't allow me to set up my track.

[dragin70s]

Hey man, not bugging me. Its fun to have somebody to go back and forth with about this stuff. It's new to me so I'm open to suggestions and thoughts.

I was all excited about ordering some '70s FC resin HO scale bodies from the Mead brothers when I saw that they were put out of business.

The AW NAPA FC and the Summit pro stock body came today. Looks like the pro stock body will fit a couple of different chassis that I have so I know what to get. I have a Tyco Curvehugger Mustang FC from when I was a kid (the orange one with yellow flames) still in really nice shape (along with the Petty Charger I had as a kid). Both still run, pulled them out of a box a year or two ago after they had been in there probably thirty years. But, both need tires. Need to order some tires from somewhere and see how it does just for fun.

There is an anitque (well, more accurately a Junk) store here that I went in one time and they had a box of loose slot track. I need to run over there and see if I can get some more cheap. If nothing else, I can get turns and enough straight to make a return lane real cheap.

Some nice 1/24 slot stuff on ebay. Expensive, probably good I don't have a track near here.

[ra7c7er]

Hey man, not bugging me. Its fun to have somebody to go back and forth with about this stuff. It's new to me so I'm open to suggestions and thoughts.

I was all excited about ordering some '70s FC resin HO scale bodies from the Mead brothers when I saw that they were put out of business.

The AW NAPA FC and the Summit pro stock body came today. Looks like the pro stock body will fit a couple of different chassis that I have so I know what to get. I have a Tyco Curvehugger Mustang FC from when I was a kid (the orange one with yellow flames) still in really nice shape (along with the Petty Charger I had as a kid). Both still run, pulled them out of a box a year or two ago after they had been in there probably thirty years. But, both need tires. Need to order some tires from somewhere and see how it does just for fun.

There is an anitque (well, more accurately a Junk) store here that I went in one time and they had a box of loose slot track. I need to run over there and see if I can get some more cheap. If nothing else, I can get turns and enough straight to make a return lane real cheap.

Some nice 1/24 slot stuff on ebay. Expensive, probably good I don't have a track near here.

I saw that it can have a return lane but from the two people I talked to they never come any more than half way back and they run a 20 ft track What they did was wire up the return track with two AA batteries so they could flip a switch and the cars would come the rest of the way back automatically.

1/24 is expensive I got lucky and made friends with an old guy that was leaving the hobby so I got a bunch of stuff cheap to start and from there I would trade away to get newer stuff. I never was very good at the drag racing my best finish was quarter finals but drag racing is fun when nobody is cheating. That's why I like bracket racing so much it doesn't matter if you are cheating or not. as for the track racing that was a blast I didn't care where I finished just being there was fun. 1/32 scale was probably my favorite in that.

You might want to try craigslist for slot car track you would be surprised what people will pull out of there attic for a few bucks you might even be able to get some cars and things too.

[dragin70s]

Interesting about the return lane.

Our local hobby shop has a 1/32 road track, but I've never done it. Its a haul over there. It looks like great fun, I always look at the cars they have when I'm there picking up modeling stuff.

Never done craigslist before, have to take a look at that. Would be nice to run into a group of stuff cheap. .

[ra7c7er]

Craigslist and flea markets are great for old ho stuff. Honestly so are estate sales.

I used Craigslist once to find a old junk ping pong table to put a track on and the lady asked me what it was for when I told her she said hold on and came back with no joke 9 boxes of track from the 60s and about a hundred chassis and more bodies than I ever cared to count. I asked her how much more it would cost and she told me to just take it all. I bought a 10 dollar ping pong table and got about $1,500 in slot car stuff. Sometimes you just get lucky.