Few Questions about my first Slot.It car

701 Views 42 Replies 7 Participants Last post by jraggio, 46 m ago

jraggio

Discussion Starter · 5 d ago

Picked up this PORSCHE 962C LH 1988 - Le Mans / #18 - B. Wollek, V. Schuppan, S.V.d. Merwe and am really liking it so far. I installed the chip and turned a few laps during lunch and like the feel of it. My track is kind of dusty so it was sliding a bit after a few laps picking up some dust ;-(. Until now I've only had the starter set Ginettas and two other Scalextric branded cars. I wanted to give a third party a try and have always like the 962 from AFX HO days.

Some questions:

1) The "ferrite man" components are not needed with this car, correct? My understanding that it may be needed with alternate motors that don't already have a board or circuit to suppress motor electrical noise? Seems to work fine so far with the lane changers etc.

2) What are the parts in the other bag used for? Is that some kind of conversion kit for a different guide blade, perhaps for different track types or something like that?

3) How does one change the braids in this kind of car? It doesn't use the quick-change style discs found on my other cars. The braids look to be integrated into the guide blade itself. Speaking of, the guide blade looks to be a snap-in type vs screw-in found on my other cars.

Any other pointers or links would be appreciated.

Vehicle Material property Font Motor vehicle Automotive lighting

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MrFlippant

· #2 · 5 d ago

1) Not so long as the car is behaving itself, especially if the motor already has an EMI filtering board on it, as recent slot.it cars do. But, if the motor is without that PCB, and/or the car behaves erratically, it's best to install the ferrite man, paying close attention to the proper way to install them (as seen on Scalextric cars). There are plenty of cars out there that run fine without them, because they have relatively clean running motors. As long as you remember that a given car does not have it, and are prepared to install it should the car misbehave, you can leave them off. Personally, I install them on any car without the PCB as a matter of course, so I don't have to deal with it later.

2) The plastic bit is part of the clip to help hold the chip in. The hex wrench/key is for adjusting set screws on the car, such as those that hold the wheels and gear on the rear axle, or that set the ride height of the front axle... or in some cases, that hold the braid/wire into the guide.

3. If the guide has set screws in the top of it, just unscrew those. You can then pull the wire out, and pull the worn braid out to replace it. You'll want to pick up a meter of braid. Lean toward thinner/lighter braid if you have a choice. Put the new braid in, put the wire in, and re-install the set screw. Some cars will have an eyelet on the end of the wire that just presses into the top of the guide, and this pressure is what keeps the braid in place. The first few times you do it will be challenging, but you'll get better at it.

As for your final question... read lots of posts.

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beardy56

· #3 · 5 d ago

1) can't help as don't do digital.

2) The plastic parts are to hold the digital chip in place, the screw holes should match up with those in front of the pod.

3) The wires are held in to the guide by grub screws and the standard car guide is as you say a snap in item, Slot.It sell screw fixed ones as an optional extra.

Have a look here at the FAQ page.

edit, posted same time as Greg.

Reactions: 3

jraggio

Discussion Starter · #4 · 5 d ago

MrFlippant said:
1) Not so long as the car is behaving itself, especially if the motor already has an EMI filtering board on it, as recent slot.it cars do. But, if the motor is without that PCB, and/or the car behaves erratically, it's best to install the ferrite man, paying close attention to the proper way to install them (as seen on Scalextric cars). There are plenty of cars out there that run fine without them, because they have relatively clean running motors. As long as you remember that a given car does not have it, and are prepared to install it should the car misbehave, you can leave them off. Personally, I install them on any car without the PCB as a matter of course, so I don't have to deal with it later.

2) The plastic bit is part of the clip to help hold the chip in. The hex wrench/key is for adjusting set screws on the car, such as those that hold the wheels and gear on the rear axle, or that set the ride height of the front axle... or in some cases, that hold the braid/wire into the guide.

3. If the guide has set screws in the top of it, just unscrew those. You can then pull the wire out, and pull the worn braid out to replace it. You'll want to pick up a meter of braid. Lean toward thinner/lighter braid if you have a choice. Put the new braid in, put the wire in, and re-install the set screw. Some cars will have an eyelet on the end of the wire that just presses into the top of the guide, and this pressure is what keeps the braid in place. The first few times you do it will be challenging, but you'll get better at it.

As for your final question... read lots of posts.

Thanks for the replies, guys. I didn't realize that piece was to hold the chip in. The instructions didn't mention that and I saw others using glue tack. I used a small piece of command strip used for a hook. Seems to work fine thus far. I was a little disappointed to find the car didn't have working lights. Is that common with Slot.It cars? The chip looked to have a connector. Is that for lights?

GRUNZ

· #5 · 5 d ago

7

As far as I know, none of the hobby-grade cars have lights installed. This because is it up to the user to install them as for their needs.
Yes, that 3 pin connector is for lights. You will need a slot.it light kit or make your own one. You will need also leds and wires.
Lights is all another part of the hobby. Usually pre installed lights are not that great. You can get plenty of different size LEDs on ebay or ALiexpress type of sites for not too much these days.
You will need some soldering skills (when I started in this hobby I had zero soldering skills) and read a lot of the posts on here.

Just to scare you off:

Below pic is of a scalex AMG Evo: I do not use the stock chassis and lights but I install my own lights:

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LMP

· #6 · 5 d ago

Out of the many brands in 1:32 slot car racing, only Scalextric cars come with lights as standard. Carrera Digital do, but not their standard range (ironically named Evolution).

The Policar BRZ has lights, not sure about the Impreza or their earlier F40s.

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jraggio

Discussion Starter · #7 · 4 d ago

I’m scared. Lol. Impressive work. The AMG with the strips in the window looked cool.

What makes a car “hobby class”? Are the first party cars like Scalextric and Carrera not considered hobby cars? Are these labeled toys? Not looking to debate, but just want to understand. They seem pretty similar. The pricing is in the same ballpark. More than anything I’m trying to figure what I want to buy moving forward and understand why.

MrFlippant

· #8 · 4 d ago

I'll beat Gary to it...

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jraggio

Discussion Starter · #9 · 4 d ago

MrFlippant said:
I'll beat Gary to it...

Thanks Greg. I’ll watch at lunch today. He even calls them “professional”. Whoa. The toys I have seen pretty fast as well.

. Which brand do you prefer?

MrFlippant

· #10 · 4 d ago

jraggio said:
Thanks Greg. I’ll watch at lunch today. He even calls them “professional”. Whoa. The toys I have seen pretty fast as well. . Which brand do you prefer?

As with just about any question in this hobby... it depends.

If I were given the choice between brands, in a situation where every single brand offered the exact same car (body and livery) and so my choice was purely from a performance standpoint... cost/value being entirely aside... I'd probably go with NSR. Tying in a really close second would be Thunderslot, ScaleAuto, RevoSlot, and MR Slotcar, with slot.it being a close third.

They're all great cars, but in my experience, NSR have been the closest to race ready out of the box with little to no need for any fettling while still being relatively robust and straightforward, no overcomplicated chassis and pod to make things more challenging. Pretty much the only thing they need right out of the box, for me, is front axle setting. They come floppy and loose out of the box because they're designed to run on NINCO track, which tends to be fairly bumpy, so fixing the front axle in place can be problematic, while on a more flat/smooth track like practically everything else, it's beneficial to set it at a fixed height.

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jraggio

Discussion Starter · #11 · 4 d ago

MrFlippant said:
As with just about any question in this hobby... it depends.

If I were given the choice between brands, in a situation where every single brand offered the exact same car (body and livery) and so my choice was purely from a performance standpoint... cost/value being entirely aside... I'd probably go with NSR. Tying in a really close second would be Thunderslot, ScaleAuto, RevoSlot, and MR Slotcar, with slot.it being a close third.

They're all great cars, but in my experience, NSR have been the closest to race ready out of the box with little to no need for any fettling while still being relatively robust and straightforward, no overcomplicated chassis and pod to make things more challenging. Pretty much the only thing they need right out of the box, for me, is front axle setting. They come floppy and loose out of the box because they're designed to run on NINCO track, which tends to be fairly bumpy, so fixing the front axle in place can be problematic, while on a more flat/smooth track like practically everything else, it's beneficial to set it at a fixed height.

Thanks as always for your time and insights. I run digital Scalextric and am too lazy to solder. I like the easy fit chips for DPR. The plug in chip for Slot.It was also pretty easy. I assume the others you mention are harder to chip?

Is it fair to say that pro/hobby cars are better suited for larger tracks found in racing centers, or are they beneficial even at smaller home plastic tracks?

LMP

· #12 · 4 d ago

Calling them “Professional” baits the angry comments. As you can see from the views, it’s worked rather well.

Pro cars are better in every possible situation, apart from maybe the monthly budget review with your other half. But as the video will show, that’s not always true either!

We all have fun here

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MrFlippant

· #13 · 4 d ago

Yes, those cars tend to be more challenging to chip, and pretty much all require you to desolder/solder to the motor.
As Gary said, they're great in all situations. I race primarily on home/garage tracks.

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beardy56

· #14 · 4 d ago

Most of the hobbyist class of cars don't come with a fast motor, it may be more powerful but not that much if at all faster. What you do get are better quality parts, metal instead of plastic, grub screws in place of press on. You also get an easier upgrade path when you feel like doing that. That being said with the availability of so many 3D printed chassis for the 'toy' brands even they are easy to upgrade if you want to go that way.

I club race on a wood track and hobbyist cars are almost a must but I'm running some Scalextric, Revell/Monogram, Fly and Ninco with 3D chassis. However for my home track, which is Policar at the moment, I buy cars that I like, no matter the brand, some stay as they are, some just get new tyres and some will end up with a 3D chassis but probable most of the original running gear. Of course some get the full treatment and become club cars.

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GRUNZ

· #15 · 4 d ago

The hobby grade cars are also easier to take a part for fine tuning. You can change wheels and gears without destroying them.
You can put different axles and motors, etc.
Whilst I appreciate the plug-and-play-ability of the DPR chips, it also tends to have a messy wiring. You have this huge blob of wires on top of the plug that need to be routed properly to avoid rubbing against the front axle.
Soldering your own wires helps in making things tidier and avoid wasting precious space inside the car.

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jraggio

Discussion Starter · #16 · 3 d ago

Enjoying my first Slot.It and considering another. I'm drawn to the Gulf livery on the "SLOT.IT CA20D FORD GT40 NO. 1" and think it looks slick. I'm a little confused though by the following photo. It looks to have the easy connections for a chip, but doesn't look like there is room for one, nor a hole for the sensor. Is this plug and play like the Porsche above? Does the chip go in the gray motor mount? Looks like there are holes there. Wasn't sure if they were too far behind the guide blade.

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MrFlippant

· #17 · 3 d ago

The chip can fit in there longitudinally, which will be fine for Scalextric Digital or oXigen. For Carrera Digital, you'll need to put an LED on wires in order to put it off to the side. It won't be as plug and play as the Porsche, no.

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Charles R

· #18 · 3 d ago

I've tried most of the major manufacturers and my take... for smaller layouts Slot.it cars are great. Plenty of speed and handling with great detail on their bodies. Once you get to a larger layout they feel underpowered and NSR comes into its own. More torque, faster top end with as good or better handling. Suited for even larger layouts but if you are wanting something old school RevoSlot won't disappoint. Their all metal chassis is something to look at and appreciate. It won't turn the fastest lap but it might well be the most entertaining. Grounded and can be pushed well beyond its limits without fear... worse case you lose your slide.

Now the others not so mainstream (Scaleauto, Thunderslot, etc) often will approach or exceed NSR. However you need to match them up to what type of layout you are running. As an example a Scaleauto GT3 I had did nothing but spin its tires (even on replacement tires) on my Carrera track. Even the NSR Mosler was unruly however once I switched to Policar its additional traction brought it under complete control... close to or breaking the track record.

Bottom line without knowing the layout and what you are looking for who knows what might be your favorite.

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jraggio

Discussion Starter · #19 · 3 d ago

2

Charles R said:
I've tried most of the major manufacturers and my take... for smaller layouts Slot.it cars are great. Plenty of speed and handling with great detail on their bodies. Once you get to a larger layout they feel underpowered and NSR comes into its own. More torque, faster top end with as good or better handling. Suited for even larger layouts but if you are wanting something old school RevoSlot won't disappoint. Their all metal chassis is something to look at and appreciate. It won't turn the fastest lap but it might well be the most entertaining. Grounded and can be pushed well beyond its limits without fear... worse case you lose your slide.

Now the others not so mainstream (Scaleauto, Thunderslot, etc) often will approach or exceed NSR. However you need to match them up to what type of layout you are running. As an example a Scaleauto GT3 I had did nothing but spin its tires (even on replacement tires) on my Carrera track. Even the NSR Mosler was unruly however once I switched to Policar its additional traction brought it under complete control... close to or breaking the track record.

Bottom line without knowing the layout and what you are looking for who knows what might be your favorite.

Totally fair point. Liking the Slot.It so far compared to the Scalextric cars I have. I have 2 starter cars and 2 others. The starter cars don't seem as nice, but run pretty good.

My current layout is 53 ft. with a pretty long straight. It's a temp setup as my wife won't appreciate a full time layout. This also lets me tinker and try new layouts. Have to add at least another lane changer now that I got much more track.

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Charles R

· #20 · 3 d ago

Without shoulders you aren't racing.

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