[Olsen]

We want to buy more cars. But they should perform close to the ones we already got. Does anyone have a list of different digital car classes in scalextric Digital?

We got six Porsche 997, one Audi TT and one Aston Martin DBR9. All Scalextric Digital. They seem to perform at three different levels, but what are the names of the classes that they are catagorised in and what other digital cars are in their classes?

 

[MrFlippant]

Digital or analog, the car classes are usually the same, and based on full size racing car classes, such as GT, LMP, DTM, Can-Am, Group C, Group 5, classic GT, NASCAR, classic NASCAR, etc. Yours are all kind of in the GT class, though the Audi TT is more of a touring car or road car than a race car. I would take a look at the cars that are out there and see which ones you like. You might end up just having a couple classes of GT cars, such as a stock set of crash resistant ones for the newbies and practice racing, and a magless set of high detail ones run at a lower speed for a little more challenge, and a different feel to the cars.
LMP cars are a lot of fun, but they're crazy fast and very stuck down if you keep them with magnets. Slot.it makes a lot of fantastic Group C cars, as well as modern GT/LMP, and of course their Classics. I'm just finishing up a set of 6 Group C cars today, with the new Mazda Renown car.

 

[Olsen]

Thanks for the overview of the classes - nice to hear that they are like the real life ones, although I do not know them either

Have searched the net for classes, but it gets rather confusing, because there is a lot of cars in each class. Is there a tread or website where I can see the cars that Scalextric have made for in each classes - or at least in some classes - or at least what cars people are driving against each other?

The Aston Martin DBR9 seems to having a far better grip than the Porsche 997, but the Porsches are quicker in acceleration, so are they really in the same class - also in scalextric digital tournaments?

We ran a six car Porsche 997 Race Sunday and they the cars performance are very close to each other but there are some small differences in acceleration and grip even though they are scalextric copies of each other. The newest ones have better grip than the oldest ones. Maybe there is little variation in the magnet - we think but it is hard to measure with your fingers. Maybe it is because of the tires?

 

[Coldblood]

Have you glued and trued all the tyres? As this will make a difference to the handling of all your cars. Its amazing how some wheels and tyres aren't actually true and some are.

Hope this helps even the field out for you.

Regards

Gaz

 

[Olsen]

I have not glued the tyres. What dues trued means? We have used tape for cleaning the tyres.

 

[Olsen]

Have searched and seached... what Scalextric cars are available in the classes of GT, LMP, DTM, Can-Am, Group C, Group 5, classic GT, NASCAR ?
Some kind of a list would be helpful.

 

[Grunt]

have you looked at the scalextric website itself ?

 

[Mr Modifier]

Hi Olsen,

I have no seen a definitive list of cars grouped into class although if you research each real life class you will find information on cars falling into that category.

You need to be thinking more about the physical nature of the cars you are racing.

The Porsche 997's use the standard Scalextric Sports Car tyres but they use the narrow front version on the rear as well.

The Aston Martin, along with Nissan GT-R, Ferrari F430 etc use the same front tyres but use the wider version for the rears - meaning more grip.

Even with supposedly identical motors you will find the manufacturing tolerances are wide so the motors may vary in power by as much as + 5% or - 5% so a bad motor and a good motor could be 10% apart even though they are supposed to be identical. Magnets are also subject to variation by a considerable amount.

Gluing and truing tyres is the process of making the tyres round and flat - to stop the tyres bouncing at speed (meaning less tyre contact with the track) and to make sure the entire width of the tyres makes contact. You need to glue the tyres to the wheels (try to use a glue that can be removed for when you replace the tyres). Gluing the tyres stops them slipping round on the wheels - this is important because the next step is to true the tyres.

Tyre truing machines exist and are expensive. Alternatively you simply power the car and gently lower the spinning tyres onto sandpaper to make them flat and round. DO NOT PRESS DOWN or you will end up with flat but oval tyres so the tyres will still bounce at speed. I true my tyres by using an old powerbase and fix sandpaper in place (flat on the track), then I let the spinning tyres down gently and move the car from side to side.

Avoid too much heat build up or you could melt your tyres!

You can also treat your tyres - search the forum to find out more.

Other things to consider are motor placement - on Sport Track a standard Scalextric sidewinder car with magnet will outperform an in-line car with magnet. On wooden tracks with copper tape (magnets have no effect) the in-line car may do better than the sidewinder as it has better balance.

When I put together classes for my raceway I pick cars for a class that:
1) use the same tyres in exactly the same configuration
2) use the same motor in the same position in the car
3) are very similar in weight
4) are very similar in size
5) look similar (i.e. they look as if they should be racing against each other)

My classes are therefore:
1) Transits (all based on the same chassis so they are as identical as possible and only differ in the way they are decorated)
2) GTs (Ferrari F430, Nissan GT-R, Lamborghini Gallardo)
3) LMPs (digitised and illuminated Start Endurance cars with custom decals to tell them apart and a colour-coded LED to show what controller they are tied to and help identify cars when night racing)
4) NASCARs (Ford Taurus with in-line motor, no magnets and custom decals with a colour bias to show what controller they are tied to).

All Scalextric for now but we may also introduce Slot.It group C at some stage (in-line, no magnets).

Hope that helps.

 

[MrFlippant]

all around excellent advice from Mr Modifier, there.

If it helps any, here's a link to a thread with photos of my IROC sets.
http://www.slotforum.com/forums/index.php?...st&p=556319

Since the photos there, I've added the Taka-Q Toyota and the Renown Mazda to my slot.it Group C set, Scalextric Fiat 500s to the Mini set, and a Scalextric high detail GT set with no magnets and glued and trued stock tires with a little oil for added traction. I also have 4 chipped Moto GP bikes, but one had the chip go out, and that still needs replacement. I'd have done it already, but it was such a beeyotch to install in the first place, I'm not keen on the replacement process.

I've also got a couple pages on my site for car and track tips that you might find helpful. It's not the complete resource you get from forums like this one, but it's a good starting place.

 

[SJW]

Here's a some pictures of digital classes we run. The cars are grouped by their real race class which also have "similar" performance as slot cars.

One of the hardest things I've done is try to get even the exact same car to perform equally. If you're running magents you will need to adjust the magnetic downforce between cars to compensate for the wide variance in magnet strength....and motors and tire grip

The 1970 Camaro's and Pioneer are DPR, I used a Saloon chip in the Mustangs.

GT CARS
Scalextric also makes a Audi R8 that could run in this class.

The BMW M3 is a SCX body on Scalextric 320i chassis, the Ferrari 458 is a Carrera body on a Scaley Ferrari 430 chassis. This let's me use DPR chips for all the cars in this group and matches the performance of the other Scalextric cars more.

We also like to run mixed classes with GT and protoypes running together to have some speed differential between cars. With digital it creates more passing opportunities.

Le Mans late 70's/early 80's - Slot.it Group C and Fly Porsche 934/935, BMW M1

ALMS LP and GT2

 

[woodcote]

You could always add your own classes

And the Pendle site is a good one for info on the Scalextric ranges.

One of our HO club racers - mikefi - has gradually won me over to digital. A big factor was the amount of thought he's put into the classes he runs at his place.

Some are single-make classes where differences in performance are only going to due to manufacturing tolerances. And with some careful tweaking, those can be evened out.

Other classes are more traditional and allow different cars within a theme, including from different manufacturers. Each handles differently and will suit different people's driving styles.

What I like about digital is that it is not just car performance that comes into play. With all the SSDC bells and whistles, cunning pit stop strategy (and hence fuel burn rates) can put a dog of a car and an average driver into victory lane. I've done it

Starting out with the bare bones and a few old analogue cars to convert, I am looking at these three classes to run at my place as I piece together my digital set-up:

Porsche Cup: high-impact Porsche 997s

Nascar: (mag or no-mag??) Inline Scaley Ford Taurus and Pontiac Grand Prix

Goodwood Whitsun Trophy: No-Mag Sports Prototypes 1964-67 (includes GT40s, Ferrari 330 P3s)

Essentially, these are 1:1 classes I enjoy and ones that I know go well with digital. And no shelf queens

 

[Grunt]

Classes are pretty much what you want to make up yourself and stick to.
A lot of clubs have different classes and rules for those classes that are different to the next club.

You already have created a class for racing yourself with the 6 porsche 997's you have what rules you stick to for those cars to keep it as a class is up to you.

The audi tt could be raced against other audi tt cars as a class also or you could mix it up with porsche boxters to make class for racing. Again with your own class rules for racing.

The aston Martin DBR 9 could race in it's own GT class or in a mix of GT 1,2,3 class cars or just against other DBR 9 cars and all cars tuned to your own rules you create for the classes.

Basically slot car classes are whatever you choose it to be with whatever rules you deem fit for the class you create whether it follows real life car classes or manufacturer specific or just cars that you like and look good racing together it's up to you.

If you want already defined classes and rules to adhere to then check out your local slot club and see what they race as classes and what rules the have for those classes.

 

[Olsen]

A lot of good views on classes. Thank you. It could be fun to make a GT class with a group of cars similar to the Aston Martin DBR9. Are there any scalextric cars performing close to the Aston Martin DBR9? In my experience the DBR9 have a pretty good grip, but it's top speed is not as fast as the Porsche 997

 

[Mr Modifier]

See post #8 in this thread.

Speed difference is often down to manufacturing tolerances in motors and magnets.

The DBR9 and 997 should be similar in top speed. I will bet other DBR9's will be faster or slower than the one you have.

If you are running digital with software you can compensate by adjusting power levels for the cars anyway.

I use SSDC and if a car is too fast I will knock power down by a few percent until they are more closely matched.