Pimp Your Scalextric for Staggering Speeds
Racing Scalextric cars is growing in popularity as each new generation discovers the fun and excitement of slot car racing. Scalextric and slot car hobbyists soon start to look for ways to get the most speed from their systems. Here I will outline a few simple techniques that you can use to make your Scalextric cars literally fly around the track.
The principles that apply to slot cars are the same as those that apply to real life F1 racing cars and rally cars. To get more speed you can improve the engine, use more appropriate tires to get better traction and adjust the weight and weight distribution. Optimising Scalextric cars can be very educational.
Let’s first think about the Scalextric cars engine. Of course they don’t use petrol engines they use tiny little motors and these can be replaced. You can readily find high performance Scalextric car motors that provide higher revs per minute (rpm) than those that are fitted as standard in most cars. Upgrading your cars motor will give you an immediate improvement in speed.
Increasing your speed means that it is more likely that your car will fly off the track when it gets to a bend. Your car is held on the track using a magnet. Most scalextric cars are fitted with magnets but you can upgrade to a stronger one that will help to keep your car on the track.
Another simple improvement is to fit a new set of tires. Improving grip will help your car to attain greater speeds.
So your Scalextric car is fully pimped and ready to break the world land speed record. But what about the track? There are a few simple tweaks that can make all the difference. I recommend that you try this on just one of your two tracks so that you can make a comparison.
Start by cleaning the Scalextric track. Dirt, dust and moisture on the track will inevitably result in low friction and maybe even some wheel spin. And the next thing to do is to clean dust and debris from your slot. The slots in your Scalextric track will inevitably become clogged with dust and dirt. This will obviously slow the progress of your car. Ensuring your slots are free from dust and debris will bring significant performance improvements.
The final aspect of your system that would benefit from some attention is all the electrical connections. Clean all the electrical connectors, the slotted track and the contacts on your car.
Your car should now be flying around the track. Time to challenge someone to a race.
