Scalextric Mercedes CLK LM Upgrades?, Urgent help required Options

[steve r]

Hi,

My friends and I have set ourselves a challenge to improve the performance of 3 Scalextric Mercedes CLK LM cars that I had going spare.

Can anyone on here help me with some advice on what to do to the car?

At the moment the car is quite slow and skids of the track very easily when compared to other newer basic Scalextric cars such as this orange lambo. CLK 5.2 sec vs Lambo 3.2 around the track we had set up today.



This is the car as it stands:





We have agreed that bodywork must stay the same but we can change tyres, motor, magnet, gearing etc

The Wheels measure 13.9mm x 9.8mm, what tyres are good ones to go for?

Higher revving / more powerful motor?

Wider magnet as the small round one currently fitted is no good once the back steps out slightly.

We are due to race each other this Saturday so time is a bit tight.

Any advice on what to buy and where from appreciated.

Thanks

Steve

[BenRiverLaw]

Are you trying to tune the car to go as fast as possible or match its performance to the lambo? Also, what kind of track do you use?

[steve r]

match or out perform the Lambo and beat my friends but I don't know what they will be doing.

Track is the Scalextric Le Mans that the cars came in.



We used the loop on the right of the layout pictures and added 2 straight sections top and bottom to make the lap a little longer.

Thanks

[steve r]

I have found that the tyres from my Flying Lizard 911 GT3 C2731 fit which i believe are W8528 so may order some of those unless someone can recommend any better options?

The magnet the 911 uses looks to be W8475 so maybe one or more of those fitted into the CLK in place of the small round one?

Not too sure on motor sizes / spec, current motor is about 26mm long and 18,000 rpm?

[Michael363672]

First off take it all apart and clean it all out

On that track a motor upgrade is pretty pointless if you are using standard scaley psu's

I would fit silicones to the rears and try to lower the front a little

Make sure the rear axle is spaced so it hardly moves side to side

You could add a bar magnet as close to under the rear axle as you can
But the more magnet he faster the car will corner but the slower in a straight line it will go


If you do want to change the motor you would be best off going for one with a high torque rating over high rpm
Also a lower gearing wil give you more acceleration as that track is no where near bigger enough to top out most motors

Michael

[BenRiverLaw]

I wouldn't use silicons for the rears as unless your track is spotlessly clean they will pick up dust and lose grip. Slot it and NSR both make good rubber tyres - NSR ultragrips and slot it f22s are both supposed to be good, although I haven't tried them myself.

[snurfen]

make sure the rear wheels are round - ever so gently sand them if they are a bit wobbly (the actual wheels with no tyres on, that is) - or if money no object, stick some alloy ones on. Glue the tyres to the rim with super glue, it stops them flaring when you accelerate.

Go for the NSR super grips, ultragrips may be a bit over the top here, and tape the motor to the chasis so it doesnt rock about. Dab of superglue or hot gun glue on the rear plastic bushings to stop them rotating on the axle. clean the fron tyres and coat them with superglue or clear nail varnish to make sure they dont dig in on the bends. Make sure the front axle rotates freely.

Make sure your braids are clean and not matted or frayed too badly. Clean the braids with lighter fuel. do the same with the rear tyres just before you race.

dont go mental with the magnets, the thing wont get up speed on the straights if you over do it. These things can fishtail like mad, so a middle set magnet will suit it well.

I've done all this with mine (except I took the magnet out) and it runs very nicely. I took the mag out as I like this particular car having a mad waggy tail. Goes like manure off a shovel.

The club racers can make their cars go like absolute hot-snot, I'm still trying to learn the ropes there, but my tips above will make a huge improvement on the scaley car.

Good luck and have fun.

[steve r]

Thanks for all the advice, will get some parts ordered.

Steve

[steve r]

How do the tyre sizes work?

The plastic wheels measure 9.75mm wide 10.65mm at the highest point and 13.9mm of visible wheel when the tyre is fitted.

With tyres fitted the sizes are 20.1mm x 9.7mm.

Thanks

[zendragon]

Pointless excersice really just upgrade to the ninco one a far better car and wil eat the rest
Zen

[Mr Modifier]

Zendragon,

As the rules of the challenge are to keep the original bodywork the Ninco upgrade is not an option. I have a friend who owns the supposedly identical Ninco CLK LM and when we put it alongside my Scalextric CLK LM they are significantly different in scale and some minor body variations. The Ninco is shorter and wider so putting the Scaley body on the Ninco chassis would be tricky.

Steve R,

The advice so far has been good. If you do put in a more powerful motor and stronger magnet at the rear and better tyres you might want to consider a little weight in the nose - at our club we find that upgraded power and grip often leads to cars wheelying out of the slot (harsh acceleration lifting the nose enough to lift the guide out of the slot). This is especially an issue accelerating too early out of corners or accelerating into corners when you realised you braked a little early.

Either weight up front or that little magnet you will be taking out of the rear - relocated to the front.

There is such a thing as too much power and too much acceleration - especially on short plastic tracks.

[Screwneck]

Avoid more power. Too many people think that 'upgrading' automatically equates to more rpm and electrical consumption. Forget that as it's often a waste of time if the model can't transfer power to the track. Most cars need better grip and better gear ratio work. Work on new hubs and gears and wheels and use NSR tyres. Get more grip. 5g of weight in the middle and 5g up front is good if you can squeeze it in.

But these do force you to work quite a bit for very little reward and for quite a bit of cost.

Ninco Prorace 3/32 15" wheels and NSR Ultragrip tryes are the best place to start. Then a new axlegear and axle. New 10t pinion to add some brakes and acceleration? That's £35 spent already. Worth it?

Topslots'n'trains have all the pictures and tyre dimensions and axlgear diameters/teeth details you need.

[steve r]

Thanks for all the info, i've gathered quite a few parts and carried out some of the mods suggested, initial testing has gone well.

Race day tomorrow

[GregK]

Good luck ......