[JEXY1]

Hi all HO Fans.

I'll start by saying that in truth i know very little (OK nothing) about HO cars and buying them.

My only experience so far was racing on the excellent track at the NSCC 25th Anniversary and SlotRallyGB event several years ago and buying some HO rally cars for my collection.

So - my sister called me to say - can you get soem cars please - we have just been given a big Tyco Racing set ("Grand Prix" - with Nigel on the box art!).

I need to buy some cars for the kids - F1, Sallon, Rally, etc - probably about 8 in total.

Can you recomend some and where to buy them - thanks in advance.

They dont need to be mint/boxed, but do need to be complete and run with mags.

Gareth

 

[montoya1]

Do you have a budget for the 8 cars Gareth, or a timescale in which to get them?

There are a couple of sources to avoid, I will PM you, and probably some cars that will not suit, but without some specifics it is hard to advice you properly.

 

[JEXY1]

Hi Deane

No specific budget, but these are for my nephews to play with and probably trash so no collectables or rare etc.

Timeline - a couple of weeks?

Gareth

 

[JEXY1]

OK so again - showing my complete lack of knowledge - do Scalextric Micro cars work on Tyco?

 

[montoya1]

The obvious starting point would be Micro Scalextric from a point of view obtaining them easily, HO isn't really a 'high street' product you see.

However, I don't know if the braids 'play nice' with the rail on Tyco track. Hopefully others will chip in on that.

One thing that will almost certainly be worth doing is getting a second terminal track and power supply to stop those annoying surges when one car crashes.

 

[Gareth]

Hi Gareth,

As Deane says an additional power supply and terminal block is a good idea. No one likes to go flying off the road just because the other car has crashed!

The simplest rule in terms of what will and what won't run is:

Matchbox Powertrack 6 volt doesn't play with anything else. Wrong pickup width and voltage.

Everything else is pretty interchangeable.

Micro Scalextric are a great way to get some saloon cars for the track and rally cars. There are a number of very nice looking cars in the range as well and best of all, the bodies aren't going to end up in pieces mostly!!

I would avoid Micro Scalextric for F1 cars. The most recent ones they've produced are hideous to look at. They've not even done the front wings as a wing but as right angles extending down from the nose on each side. The older ones are better but you are likely to run into racers and collectors trying to buy them and the price will get expensive.

The Autoworld X-tractions are a good and affordable range to pick up. The Ultra G versions have a single neo magnet which increases the grip to levels suitable for younger drivers. They also do lots of colourful Carfitti bodies which I think will appeal to younger eyes.

For F1 and open wheelers then the Tyco 440 x2s, Tomy Turbos and Tomy SG+ are all good bets. The Turbo has the least grip (but is a lightning bolt in a straight line), then the Tyco and then the SG+ depending on the set up.

There is also the Tomy Mega G which is a low profile chassis which means you get amazing looking Champ Car bodies and GT40s and Daytonas.

LifeLike produce a lot of Nascars if you want them as well. The M Chassis has less grip and slides in the corners, the T Chassis sticks like glue and is very fast indeed.

Hope that all helps. Let me know if you need anymore. I'm sure Deane has already explained the best places to shop.

Cheers

Gareth

 

[slowracer]

I would go with Tomy or Tyco, the braids on Micro are a headache to keep in good contact with the lower rail height on tomy or tyco track compared to the MS track.

 

[montoya1]

It would appear that is fairly easily fixable, judging by how fast they go down at the Worthing Club, which uses Tomy AFX track.

The big plus with MS is that Gareth will be able to approach them directly I would imagine, at least to some level.

 

[slowracer]

As the ages of the chidren are on the younger side, the ability to just replace the car on the track and go is most important, without having to re-adjust and shape the braids frequently!

For youngsters it has to be shoes over braids every time.

 

[montoya1]

Changing shoes is much harder, but happens far less often.

I'd avoid Tyco and choose between AFX and Micro Scalex.

Gareth, do your nephews have any particular type of car or race series they might be 'into'?

 

[slowracer]

Setting the Micro braid plate and braids is not so easy to get right either, until you are used to it.

We ran Micro as the second class at the SF1 meeting without any major problems, just needed to tweak the braids after nearly every off.

By comparison at the DHORC 4hr Enduro only 1 pick-up shoe was needed in four hours of continuous racing and no tweaking needed either.

 

[woodcote]

I have Tyco track and pretty much everything works well on it, including Micro-Scalextric. I don't remember having to re-adjust the braids very often.

One thing that makes HO much more kid-friendly is to be able to reduce the voltage until they've really learned the ropes.

The standard power supplies are 18V, so something that does 12V upwards would be ideal. And about 1 Amp per lane.

I am a fan of the current Life Life cars for youngsters to drive on 12-15V. They are only available from the US - Buds HO and Lucky Bobs are good places to go.

The AFX Mega-G cars are also really good if you start them on the lower voltage.

Good luck

 

[slowracer]

QUOTE (woodcote @ 12 Mar 2012, 17:30) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I don't remember having to re-adjust the braids very often.

You probably don't have many off's as a 4/5 y.o. may have, or indeed as we did.

 

[diesel]

Micro Scalextric are the most forgiving cars I know on less than perfect track (electrically). They will happily sail round a Tomy track where a a Turbo or 440x2 will stop in it's tracks. However, without lowering the power or replacing the tyres they may be a bit frustrating for trigger happy kids.