Easy Ways to Pimp Your Scalextric Cars
Scalextric Chatsworth Land Speed Record
Slot car racing with Scalextric is a hobby that continues to grow in popularity. Like any racing hobby, enthusiasts soon start to think about ways to enhance the performance of their vehicles. 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 install a more powerful engine, optimise the tires and lower the weight. Optimising Scalextric cars can be very educational.
Let’s first think about the Scalextric cars engine. Your Scalextric cars don’t use petrol engines, they use little electric motors that are very easy to swap out. 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. Changing the motor will immediately give you a significant 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. You can help your car to stay on the track with an appropriately positioned 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.
A further enhancement is to fit a new set of tires. Improving grip will improve traction and increase overall speed.
So now you have a pimped up Scalextric car capable of incredible speeds. But what about your Scalextric track? There are a few simple tweaks that can make all the difference. I suggest that you try this on just one of your two tracks first so that you can compare with the unmodified track.
Start by cleaning the Scalextric track. Dust and grease will lower the traction and result in wheel spin. The next thing to do is thoroughly clean your slot. The slots in your track will inevitabley gather dust and dirt. Inevitably this will slow your car down. Keeping your slots free of dust and debris will make major improvements to your system.
Don’t overlook your electrical system as ensuring all your connections are as good as they can be will bring performance enhancements. Clean all the contacts and make sure the connectors on your car are ultra clean.
Your car should now be flying around the track. Now’s the time to find a challenger for a race.
