Your favourite brand ?

[Savage]

I have only just begun this hobby, and so far have just Scaley and Carrera cars, I must admit that I am dissapointed with the Carrera in comparison to the Scaley's, mainly in the way they run and a I think the detail/finish on the Scaleys is a shade better.
I will probably avoid buying them unless I can't get the particular car from another make.
I haven't yet tried, or seen close-up, any Fly, Ninco, SCX, Revell/Monogram or other cars, So what brand is your favourite for detail, and performance ?
In order of preference, which brands do you like to get ?

[Scaleymatt]

My Favourite

Ninco is my favourite because they are realy fun to drive and also work well non-magnet

Matt

[dr vanski]

nice cars

Don't totally give up on the Carrera cars. If you're running magnet cars make sure you get the newer two-mag chassis. The Scalextric cars will beat them on the track though.

So, my personal faves in order of preference:

• Slot.it - beautiful cars, easily tuned with interchangeable drivetrain components. Top drawer stuff for a reasonable price.
• Ninco Classics - cool vintage cars with no mag. Great lookers and a blast to drive.
• Scalextric - good looking cars, always great runners straight out of the box. The GT40's are among my faves.
• Monogram - some guys seem to hate these especially the wood track racers. I like them. Cool classics that nobody else makes, and more great models headed our way. Quiet runners that generally work great out of the box.
• Fly - great looking models though spotty performance and quality control issues out of the box. Some have been great with no work (Porsche 911/934). I've had new Fly cars throw a wheel, chew a crown gear, and generally be borderline undrivable out of the box. Their front motored cars are the least driveable in stock form with a few exceptions. With work Fly cars can be among the fastest cars though.
• SCX - Good cars, not the fastest in a straight line, but good on the curves. The adjustable mag helps with the handling. Great value for the money. My highest mileage car is an SCX Audi R8 Crocodile.
• Carrera - not the fastest as you have discovered, but some unique models that nobody else makes. Quiet runners, generally good out of the box. Newer cars from them have been getting better.
• Ninco - good looking cars though some details are toy-like. Some models need work to run well on my Sport track. Glue a NINCO motor in before you run the car too much, or it will pop out and chew a crown gear. Do not bother with the Pro-Shock cars.
• Pro-Slot - another way to spell crap. Great designs poorly executed with shoddy materials. Guaranteed to go poorly, if it goes at all.

Please bear in mind that I'm running my toy cars on Scalextric Sport track with a single stock wall wart per lane, and PM controllers. Different brands of track are...different. Wood is a whole other story. Mileage may vary.

[Savage]

Many thanks for that excellent report dr Vanski
I run Scaley sport track too so its especially relevant for me.

The Carrera's just seem to handle no-were near what the Scaleys I have do, ... straight line isnt much in it, but cornering seems unpredictable and that is on the 2 magnet models
I will try to avoid Fly and Pro-slot ... I like them to work well out of the box, more in-depth tweaking is reserved for any i build .... I have 2 PCS chassis sitting here .. waiting the delivery of the motor and resin body shells and I am looking forward to see-ing how these go

I also have an old 80's scaley TR7 on the way, that will be re-chassied with the PCS-32 if I like the way they work

[dr vanski]

Carrera on Sport

Hey Savage,

Have you trued the tires on your Carrera cars? This alone can make quite a difference. Larger and more elaborate models tend to be top-heavy and will tumble out of the slot rather than roll.

I think you will find the PCS goes pretty good. A fly bar magnet is an exact fit for the magnet pocket.

[Gordo Bond 007]

Waht Is Your Favorite Band?

I really like GREEN DAY! Blink 182 is pretty good too.

Gordo Bond 007

[Savage]

Yep .. all cars have the tyres trued before they hit the track

I got the magnets from the same place I got the chassis ... they were listed as pcs-32 chassis magnets, so I just assumed they were made by the same firm.
They seem pretty strong so its looking good.
I am still at a loss as to how you tell what tyres will fit which hubs, so I got a set of 10 Scaley Sierra cosworth rims and tyres for now .... I think the cateram minilites are what I should have for the bodies coming, but I don't know what tyres go with them or even if they will be the right size to fit the arches

Anyhow ...
Yes thats the problem I have ... the Carrera I have just fall out of the slot

[Savage]

I really like GREEN DAY! Blink 182 is pretty good too.

Gordo Bond 007

Slaps Gordo round the face with a wet trout

[Gordo Bond 007]

My Turn

Okay here is my two point three four eighth cents...

- Ninco - The funnest cars made today. A very forward thinking, inovative company, yet their cars are tough and simple and they work great.

- Fly - The most beautiful race cars available. Require a few minutes work to make them run great. Still the best cars made.

- Slot.it - beautiful cars, easily tuned with interchangeable drivetrain components. Top drawer stuff for a reasonable price.

- Autoart - Without a doubt THE MOST BEAUTIFUL and DETAILED slot cars ever made. Early models didn't perform all that well, but with some work, they did okay. Everycar they make is better than the one before. Look for them to dominate the slot car world some day. (That last part may be a little over the top )

- Carrera - Very nice cars. Getting better all the time.

- Scalextric - Best cars right out of the box. Unfortunately not much that you can do to them to improve them, so the get boring really quickly. The worst looking "toy like" looking bodies on the market. Unimaginative models.

- Monogram - started off with some really cool looking vintage classics. Performance was not to everyones liking.

- SCX - Kids cars mostly. Unfortunately they get very little respect. Noisy cars.

- Pro-Slot - no longer in buisness. Toyota's were toy like looking, but quite fast. Nice Ferrari and Porsche cars though.


So as you have can probably tell, I am not nearlly as open minded or politically correct as the good Dok Vanski. So take my advice, go with his recommendations, unless you want to buck the system, then follow my recommendations.

Later

Gordo Bond 007

[Wet Coast Racer]

Make that two wet trout and a mackerel

Savage, I seem to recall you being in the UK.

So you might want to keep your eye open for a rumoured new release from NSR, maker of aftermarket parts in the manner of Slot.it ...

Meanwhile, does anybody know anything about Proteus? Just imagine having a Pregunta in the Barcelona Football Team livery. No doubt Gordo has his Veyron on order already ...

[rando]

the best is the ones I own

The best brands are the ones I own. Not because of any particular reasons, but the fact that they are mine. I have three brands: Monogram, Scalextric, and Carrera. That is my order of preference, also. The monogram GS vettes are my favorites. When new, they seemed kinda slow and hard to handle, but with age and experience and a little work, they are my fastest, although I am still tuning on a cobra daytona that is fast at times. The details on the GS vettes are spot on compared to photos of prototypes.

The Scalextric cars are fast, fun and look very nice, but I wonder about how true to scale they are. That's about all I can say for the whole line up. I have t/a's, IRLs, & GT40s. The gulf GT40 is as fast with a cracked chassis as the other GT40. They are tough, but do tend to have lots of little bits to lose.

The Carreras are fun against other carreras, and occasionally other cars. I have the cuda/camaro set. It's fun to put either of these against my buddy;s HP roadrunner.

laterrr.......
rando

[dr vanski]

My favourite Brandy

I prefere Vodka and tonic with a twist of lime, but that's just me.

"Doctor Engines" has a great wheel and tire cross reference chart on their web site. Mods, please delete if it's uncool to post. Ortmann tires seem to work well on just about any surface and are sandable so they are my first choice for aftermarket tire should a car require it. What's cool about sandable tires is that in the course of sanding them, you reduce the diameter thus lowering the CG of the car, and getting the mag closer to the rails.

One thing about the Fly cars, and some of the other brands is that they will not be too happy with the stock Scalextric controller, or 1 wall wart feeding both lanes. It'll be more like an on-off switch rather than allow any degree of finesse in the mid-range of the controller movement.

Bear this in mind, and maybe save some money up for a pair of good electronic controllers and an extra wall wart so each lane can be independently powered.

[Gordo Bond 007]

"Meanwhile, does anybody know anything about Proteus? Just imagine having a Pregunta in the Barcelona Football Team livery. No doubt Gordo has his Veyron on order already ...

Wet Coast Racer "

Hey Wet Goat; I just got a Proteus Lamborghini Murcielago from our friends over at Port Angelas Raceway (Port Angelas Raceway "THE" best slot car store on the net! There I said it!) Anyway the car is really quite fast. Not the greatest brakes know to man, but all round, it's a great car to drive. Too bad they went under. I believe that they were bought out by Vanquish, which also went under so subsequently thier stuff has been bought out by MRRC.

As far as that "Pregunta" thing goes....yechhhhhhhhhh! MAn that thing is too nasty looking even for my Exotic tastes. Sorry dude, beatuy may only be skin deep, but ugly goes right to the bone!, and that thing is ugly!

Now Wet Goat, don't toy with me here! My sources tell me the Autoart is going to make the Veyron in the near future. What Veyron are you talking about dude?
Later

Gordo Bond 007

[dr vanski]

As far as that "Pregunta" thing goes....yechhhhhhhhhh!

Gordo,

You said the same thing about the Ferrari 512 BB LM. You do have a fickle trigger finger Mr. Bond.

[rwcooper]

Love 'em all

Hi,

I have good cars and not so good cars from many of the brands. Currently my favorite cars are the slot.it cars, partly due to the makes of cars they model, but mostly due to the performance. My fastest car is a slot.it Audi R8C with a slot.it boxer and small PPR tires. It is the only car that has done a lap under 6 seconds on my routed wooden track. Other fast cars, at least on clean wood using silicone tires, are the Fly Racer Porsche GT1-98 (with a slot.it boxer motor), the ProSlot Toyota GT-1 (with a slot.it V12 25,000 rpm), the Policar Porsche 911 (with a lot of slot.it parts). I've had trouble getting my Ninco cars to go as fast as these other cars even after making heavy modifications with the exception of the Ninco F1 cars, which really only need aluminum wheels and silicone tires (the standard NC-2 motor is fine). The Ninco F1s corner very fast on wood, the NC-2 motor brakes well, and has good acceleration.

The new Scaley Classic F1s are a blast. I find the Ninco F1s (older cars) and the Scaley F1 and IRL cars are fun (nothing like racing open wheel cars to improve your skills).

All my comments are based on running on a wooden track with no magnetic downforce.

Enjoy!
Randy