Analogue, never tried digital.

 

I've had both for a considerable period of time and can understand the draw for each. I see digital enhancing the "home layout" experience where analog embraces the commercial track vibe. My goal is a mini commercial layout with as many lanes as possible, sweeping curves and alligator clips. When I want to switch lanes I want to pick up the car and place it in the next lane. Now if I had more drivers than lanes or only two to keep me entertained it would be another story. I see the experiences more different than better or worse.

 

We originally planned for our track to be digital. We bought an SSD system, but after a while we realised we were only two driving, and never actually running the track digital, because we found better feel running analouge with two old parma controllers. This would also eliminate 80% of the issues we were going to be facing when making the permanent routed wood track.
The chipped cars also drove like **** on any analouge track, so there´s another bonus in not going down that road.

 

I flip flop. I have loads of old vintage cars that I enjoy running round the track. But for real races I go digital.

 

I have built seasonal tracks since 2006, so 17 years now. The first years it was a 4 lane analogue track, until in 2013 I purchased scorpius wireless digital and modified my vintage track to go digital. Since then it was a digital track every winter holiday season.
This year for a change (and for simplicity) I built an analogue track again. I enjoy both very much: analogue for the ease of building and no chipped cars necessary- just put it on the track and off you go. Analogue can provide great racing flow.
I love scorpius wireless digital for the game play it offers: traffic in your lane, overtaking, pit stops, refueling, negotiating hectic traffic while trying to make those laps. Great fun.
So ideally I have two tracks - if I had the room.

 

Analogue can provide great racing flow.

I've often wondered about that, not having tried digital. Good to know, because I also agree that flow is an important part of learning a layout and getting the maximum out of it. Once you focus on your car and zone out the other cars you can get into a great flow and it's just you racing the track.

 

I use to be Scalextric digital, but as time went on the connectivity issues of a track that was used once a week at best for a limited time started to bug me.
I then decided to change to new Policar track and analogue, much more enjoyable as any car runs fine on it with better grip than my previous painted Scalextric track, I may go digital again but will be Policar and Oxygen I would think.

 

Digital Scorpius Wireless for me. On a wooden routed semi BLST style of track. BUT all the added features of digital add complexity and cost. Digital is NOT and easy road but offers so much more once you get there.
Heard there was issues with connectivity for systems receiving the digital data via the rails (after all it is a sliding loose connection) so I never considered anything other than wireless car control.

 

Heard there was issues with connectivity for systems receiving the digital data via the rails (after all it is a sliding loose connection) so I never considered anything other than wireless car control.

Not as big a deal as it was before @Billy_Cart discovered how well INOX MX3 works as a rail conditioner. That, plus proper braid formation for the track in use, and it's just as good as wireless systems. But, you can't drive more than 6 cars until you go full wireless.

Per the topic... my track started as digital, and I added full analog later on. Most of my racing is with the analog club and cars, but I prefer digital racing, so really need to clean up my garage and get the gang back together.

 

What is it you particularly enjoy about Digital, Greg?

I’m restarting after half a century and believe Analog will keep me amused but am interested to hear other opinions 🙂

 

What is it you particularly enjoy about Digital, Greg?

The actual racing. I got back into the hobby through my boys and I getting a Scalextric Digital set. The three of us were able to run on the same 2 lane track, and being able to change lanes is really cool. As things progressed, I got more into the software race management that added strategic elements such as fuel stops, and even simulating the change in a car's performance based on how full the tank is. By this time, I was racing with a great group of guys that liked it as much as I did, and apart from having fun with my kids, I was having fun with the challenge and strategy of "long" (realistic length, not sprints like analog racing) races with fuel, tire simulation, weather simulation, and actually having to navigate a field of cars on a track that felt more natural because it wasn't confined to a 4+ lane geometry. Catching up to, changing lanes, passing, and getting back into the racing line cleanly during a digital slot car race is a sublime thing to see and feel. It's like making a clean pass in analog times ten.

 

If digital was as plug and play as analogue then it would be a winner overnight.
The Scalextric DPR is great but the system it runs on is more fraught with problems.
Some of the developments with Scorpius are looking amazing but wether it becomes mainstream enough to be easy as plug & play is another matter.

 

If digital was as plug and play as analogue then it would be a winner overnight.

My experience with Carrera was flawless.

 

Would you say that the cars drive more fluidly in analogue rather than digital?

 

I never noticed any real difference. And I went from digital wireless to wired analog. Was there a difference? I'm sure. To my thinking the controller's sensitivity and brake settings play a much larger role.

 

For me it was a change of system was needed, Sport track for me was not the Scalextric track of my youth so I painted it for more grip but the inconsistency of the connection made me look for something else. Policar fitted the bill better grip, better electrical connection.

 

Till now it`s both (Carrera Dual) but it is getting more and more analog.

 

Thanks for taking the time to explain, Greg - you sell it very well!

 

I like both but prefer digital. I like that digital has built-in timing & scoring, pit stops, lane changing, a car can jump to the other lane without disrupting the race and simulations (damage, tire wear, weather, etc.).

One drawback is car selection is a little more limited unless you want to modify some analog cars to accept a digital chip. Also, analog is generally more suited for racing with beginner drivers since they can drive as slow as they want without getting in the way of other drivers.

 

I like that digital has built-in timing & scoring, pit stops, lane changing, a car can jump to the other lane without disrupting the race and simulations (damage, tire wear, weather, etc.).

I will give you SmartRace along with Check Lane(s). They alone sell digital to a large degree. Looking for an analog replacement I couldn't find anything close for my use case. Most everything is centered around a race (or series) where with SmatRace you keep accumulated records for cars, drivers, tracks and even lanes.

 

I forgot to mention that with a long 2 lane scorpius digital track I can race with 6 participants at the same time. More is possible but I only have 6 wireless scorpius controllers. A lot of traffic creates great racing fun, and as Greg said it’s simply a joy to follow a car, set up an overtake opportunity, pass and go back to the ideal racing lane.
With digital racing with 4 or 6 cars every lap is interesting and different, you can use the whole road so almost every lap there’s a reason to take a different lane / route.
With analogue that one lane is exclusively mine; i can come into a Zen-like flow, almost hypnotizing to see the car go lap after lap, trying to make that one perfect lap.
So it’s totally different ways of racing, and I love both.

 

With analogue that one lane is exclusively mine; i can come into a Zen-like flow, almost hypnotizing to see the car go lap after lap, trying to make that one perfect lap.

Close. For me it's a rhythm. The car, mind and controller becomes one, effortlessly gliding from one braking point to the next slowing and accelerating at precisely the right moment. One perfect curve turns into the next.

 

Leaving aside the differences in cost and complexity of the two systems it really comes down to how many people regularly race on your track. Digital is very good but really needs a minimum of 4 contestants and preferably 6 or more to make it worthwhile. My track room only has enough space for 2 to race at any one time so digital would be a waste of time and money.

 

Chipping cars is why I always suggest a digital system with an analog mode, or DIY. I used to chip every car, but aside from the expense, it just wasn't necessary. I'm not going to race all my cars digitally. I built up sets of cars that would race together, and those are all chipped, but for just any random car I got and want to run some laps with, or maybe test and tune for racing with my analog club, it doesn't make sense to chip it.

 

Chipping cars is why I always suggest a digital system with an analog mode, or DIY.

Makes sense. That's why when I had Carrera digital I tried TEK-Slots. Not true analog but it did allow me to run analog cars but then again it didn't support any of the digital features. So for my use case I couldn't "combine" analog and digital into the same experience. I either had to chip everyone or no one and the decision was easy for me.

 

I've done my time on scaley digital. Was good with all my kids and myself racing. Downside was I always seemed to spend a lot of time cleaning and preparing the track.
These days, Between moving house, kids have grown up and only me lapping the track, I've gone ninco analog. Seemed like a smart move with far less maintenance and simplicity.
Both have their good points, as others have mentioned. Just depends what's best suited for you

 

Analogue at club racing on large 6 lane wooden track.
Scaley Digital at home for all the race strategy stuff articulated by Mr Flippant.
I find 1/24 Analogue racing almost as fun as digital.
Kids grown up now so waiting on the grand kids to come of racing age and reboot track.
With digital when racing alone I enjoy competing against my variable speed pace cars.
My main attraction to digital is the racing simulation, during COVID I setup a racing SIM rig and split my race car hobby.

I'm currently building (trying to build) a SIM version of my slot car track to get the ultimte driver eye view of my layout 😎

 

I think most of the reasons for digital and for analog racing have been on point and fair. If your dedicated, digital has a lot more added extras and if you've picked the right system (digital with analog mode) you'll get the best of both worlds in one. But at a cost of effort.... I opted for quick and simple 😁😂
Got basic lap counting/timing so I'm happy enough. Got somewhere to run all my cars. OK with ninco track, I've had to cut of the bumps underneath the crown gears so cars don't beach themselves on the rails, but it's a minor issue compared to a complete track clean and or problem solving lol

 

Hello, mine is Carrera Analog and Digital. Same track. I like to run both.

 

Some very interesting points.
I got into the hobby in 2014 and I went straight to SSD/RCS64 because of the simulations and strategy.
After a couple of years I also joined an analog group racing on wood and copper tape.
It was a huge learning curve but I learned a lot on how to tune a car. Wood and copper are brutal to poorly tuned cars. Everything has to be perfect if you want to be competitive.
Since 2019 (changed house, more responsibility at work) I have stopped racing analog unfortunately but some how continued with my digital ssd club.
But that year, RCSO2 was released and this accelerates the club switching to oXigen and we have not looked back since.

My track can be converted into a pure analog one and sometime I enjoy doing some laps in analog with cars that I have not chipped.
However, I do not see anytime soon converting my track for pure analog racing.

Costs and debugging issue are definitely a factor that can put people off.
However, in both SSD and oXigen I have never had to cancel a race event because of a technical issue.

 

i started with carrera digital track ,but as time went by i started to buy anolog cars ,cos i liked them
i was going to make my track dual mode by toggle switches ,but instead bought a tekslot box ,so i could run my anolog cars .
after having the tekslot box i found myself using the anolog mode all the time as i was running by myself ( i eventually sold the tekslot box )
tried ghost cars in digital ( with magnets ) and raced like that for a very short time now and then
found it different and no where near as challenging for me
so back i went to laps in anolog
NOW i am in the process of turning my track into a 3 lane track ( one in mdf ) combined with the carrera
i will be making it a 3 lane anolog track but also the inner 2 lanes will also be able to run in digital
if/when i get other racers ,we will have the option of running 3 car anolog OR up to 6 digital
until i am regularly racing with others digitally then i would say anolog is my best form of enjoyment

 

For rallying there is only analogue for me - running timed stages in narrow rural lanes (two-lanes into single lane with extended loops at each end). No more digital for me (unless Policar comes up with something special).

 

exactly, though I have two lane racing with my Policar track I do miss my one lane rally track so I do plan to build a dedicated rally/raid track as well

 

I absolutely love digital. For all the reasons Greg (Mr. Flippant)has already given and more. A pass perfectly executed between 2 cars from lane to lane has no analog equal. The simulations make the competition more than just “fastest finger and builder wins”. All the elements of real racing are there except the danger. Fuel, pit stops, passing slower cars, lapping cars, which tires, damage from crashes, weather, etc are all there if you want them. I race 1/24 scale analog 3 times a month. Once a month with a larger group (15-20) in 3 different classes. In analogue there aren’t many surprises about who’s winning. The same 3 or 4 guys are always there. In digital the playing field is much more level. You have to think and plan and keep up your concentration on a much higher level. Any one of us can win on a given night. In analog you just have to worry about staying on the track, getting your laps in, and keeping from getting knocked off by the guy next to you. And you get a rest while changing lanes. In digital you have all of those things plus fuel level, brakes and power that changes with fuel load, tires that go off, the pace cars that are in the way, and weather that changes grip level with the only break being when someone deslots. Both the guys that I race with have said (and other racers have expressed) that their analog racing has gotten better as a result of racing digital. It’s “horses for courses” but I’ll take digital every time. Just my 2 cents.

Mike M.

 

I absolutely love digital.

I think you highlight fantastic features of digital. So many features that it's impossible to compare to analog. And why I was surprised analog "won" the poll by three to one. I wonder why it isn't supported more?

 

because most guys are more like you than us. ;-)