The NSR magnet locations can be a good place to add lead weights if you want to start tuning. I find putting one weight where the original magnet was fitted seems to improve grip.
Mike

 

Weight is the last thing that should be added to any car prior to running it and doing all your normal blueprinting things (glue and true, flatten, set ride heights, etc.) More weight is a slower car. It's just physics. But, if a car is misbehaving in some way, a tiny bit of weight, just a few grams, really, can help to counteract those motions in a varity of ways. Where to put the weight will depend on what the car is doing and what you want it to do.

I'm sure Mike's weight does exactly what he wants, and I'm not saying he shouldn't do what he did. The point I'm making is that tossing a chunk of weight into any given car in the same spot someone else did is no guarantee that it will have the same effect on your car as it did his, and that's not even taking into account differences in track surface, tire prep, and driving style.

 

I completely agree weight shouldn’t just be added for the sake of it. My suggestion here is that the magnet that’s been removed has reduced the weight on the motor mount below what the NSR designers intended, and that replacing it with an equivalent non-magnetic weight might be helpful.

I’ve found on a wood track, where the magnet has no magnetic effect, I still get a benefit from its weight, compared with running with the magnet removed. Complex subject, though, and there may be other things going on.

Mike

 

Welcome to no-mag.

Greg is correct as far as physics goes.
However, Mike is also correct that it's a complex subject.
If you drive on a twisty track with sections to punch the accelerator, a little weight can sometimes help you carry more speed in the corners because the car feels "planted". While it's technically slower in a straight line, the lap time might be faster as a result. If you run on a wide swoopy track with less extreme changes in speed, the lower weight is a benefit.

Some cars work quite well with no weight. We run a couple of classes using Fly Classics, and those cars run great with no added weight. Other cars work better with a touch of weight. That is part of the beauty of tuning, figuring out what works on each track you race on.

 

After a while you know if a car is too light without driving it. More weight isn't necessarily a slower car, yes Physics is always right and that's why a heavier car can corner faster than a lightweight one, as you say it's Physics.
...I prefer a heavy car to a lightweight car for that reason.

As with ANY tuning, everybody is right/wrong some/all the time, you'll find your own way.

 

Physics is always right and that's why a heavier car can corner faster than a lightweight one, as you say it's Physics.

A higher mass will give more pressure to the rear tires, giving them more traction. It does however also add more mass that needs to be accelerated, thus making the car want to slide out more.
In my experience on non-mag tracks this translates to worse corner entry, more or less equal mid-corner grip, and superior corner exits. Wether this translates to the heavier car "cornering faster" or not will be dependant on it's handling strengths and weaknesses before the ballast was added.

For magnet racing (which implies all racing on plastic or magnabraid tracks) all added weight will have the effect off "pulling" the magnets off the rails, reducing the overall cornering speeds.

 

At least for me the fastest car doesn't necessarily equate to the best driving experience. Sure if your goal is to beat everyone lap times dictate the experience. Doing such I found I didn't enjoy lapping the cars only the rare announcement from Trackmate stating I set a new track record. Eventually I found cars that were very controllable and detuned them (via the power supply/controller - acceleration and braking) to the point I was virtually behind the wheel. As in the car was smooth the entire lap and would perform exactly how I instructed. Gone was the instant braking before a curve and wheels spinning out of a corner. They were replaced with a rhythm that turned one lap into hundreds where one never stopped and the next never began.

 

Wow Charles, that's my goal too! Sounds like you have achieved Slot car Bliss.

 

The weight and laws of physics issues also vary comparing home tracks to 100 foot club wooden ones .

 

Ya I’m sure a club or commercial tracks are a whole other experience. Would love to give some of my cars a spin on one.

 

Glad you have seen the "dark side" of the hobby of magnet-less racing. To answer the magnet question, why? These are still toy cars and marketed to a wide range of ages and interests. Imagine what would happen if one buys a set (track & cars) for their young child and the cars do not stay on the track. Interest lost and gets banished to the back of a closet after spending a fair amount of money, not to mention an unhappy little one.

Enjoy the happiness of magnet-less racing and further down the rabbit hole of possibilities.

 

"Imagine what would happen if one buys a set (track & cars) for their young child and the cars do not stay on the track."
I already experienced exactly what you said . . . 2 years ago I brought my grandkids ages at the time 4-10 and it was a 470 Carrera Go set. What a piece of crapola (and those cheapo plunger type controllers 🤬). I mounted the track on a 5 x 4 sheet of plywood and they lost interest very quickly because none of us could keep these 1/43 cars on the track.

I don't know how they can even market those sets to young kids. I'd say those sets should have an option that locks the cars onto the tracks. And those cars were even magnatraction cars.

So I bought a used Scalectric analog set with the works and 43 sections of track and 9 cars. Still have all of it. Then I merged a Platinum Digital set with it and use the Arc Pro to run both platforms. And now upgraded to NSR cars. Clearly, no magnets make the NSR's seem to drive like real race cars now.

 

So I stand corrected on the removing all magnets. I did with my NSR cars. And they float around the track.
But when I removed the first magnet from one of my 4 month old digital cars . . . and it was surprisingly easy on these Scaley cars. I could apply presure from underneath in a slot under the magnet and with a small screwdriver I was able to pop it out from under the two tabs. It's my 20 year old cars that would be a bear to remvoe their magnets.

But, running this digital car without the magnet was almost totally uncontrollable. The rear would slide out with every turn. True, I have not sanded the tires on these 4 like I have the others yet. But I have cleaned them up with masking tape. Then I put the magnet back in and it was like night and day. These flat rectangular Scaley magnets are nowhere near as powerful as the NSR round magnets are anyway.

I'll sand the tires soon and probably try removing a magnet again. When I removed the magnet from an NSR car it damned near pulled my tool box over while in my hand . . . Just kidding, I'm such a kidder 😆

 

But, running this digital car without the magnet was almost totally uncontrollable. The rear would slide out with every turn. True, I have not sanded the tires on these 4 like I have the others yet. But I have cleaned them up with masking tape. Then I put the magnet back in and it was like night and day. These flat rectangular Scaley magnets are nowhere near as powerful as the NSR round magnets are anyway.

Non-magnet is where tyres really come into play. The NSR cars are decent without a magnet mostly down to the soft tyres. Most Scalextric tyres are far too hard to be any good without the magnet

 

Non-mag is all down to tyres.

 

You’d be surprised how much a change of tires and a little weight can make on those scalextric digital cars. I use Slot.it 1172G25 or 1171G25 tires on most of my cars with very little prep and have pretty good traction on all of them. This is where “tuning” makes a big difference. See “ Setting up my new Maseratis” on my “Road America Northwest “ YouTube channel for advice on how to use weight to balance cars for best handling. Just one method of many but it works for my Scalextric sport track.

Mike M.

 

Funny how experience can be so different. My first 1/43rd scale set was a Carrera Go Retro Racers set with a New Mini Cooper and Fiat 500. The thing that put me off was that it was almost impossible to de-slot the cars The Mini would de-slot if the turbo button was used but the Fiat would not de-slot even with the turbo button used. With the magnet removed the Fiat wouldn't even move on the track and just sat there wheels spinning.

First thing to do once you remove the magnet from your Scalextric cars it to replace the tyres with some after market rubber or Urethane. I would avoid silicone tyres unless you want to replace the NSR tyres with silicone as well.

 

And now you will begin to learn why a tire truing machine is a useful tool. Don't tell @Wankel Ickx

 

And now you will begin to learn why a tire truing machine is a useful tool. Don't tell @Wankel Ickx

Tsch! I was gluin' an a truin' in the last century, youngster! 🙄

It's part of the Stage 1, Race Tuning by Pedro™ process. 👍

 

I like to turn the magnets upside down so the car floats 1/8" inch off the track. If you plug a speaker in backwards. Will it listen?

So many questions...

 

If you plug a speaker in backwards. Will it listen?

Actually..
If you plug a speaker into a microphone jack, yes, it will listen. Poorly, but it will.

 

For all cars including the Scalextrics I would recommend Quickslicks Quick Slicks (By Tire #). You’ll find a handy chart that tells you what tyre goes with what car. There is no need to Glue and True so no expensive tyre truer required let alone learning the dark art of tyre truing. They last for absolutely ages - years - unlike the NSR tyres which I can burn through in about 3-4 months. They can be pulled off and put on multiple times so just grab a car put the tyres - tires - on and off you go. Finally they work really really well on plastic track.

Here in the UK they cost us around £20 -$25 - per pair as we have to pay shipping and sometimes import but they are still worth it. In the US your spoilt for choice.

I prefer the Firms but others I race with prefer the X Firms, but again being in the US just buy both for one car and see which you prefer before committing.

Good Luck

 

Thanks Tinkerer, great for me that Slot Car Corner carries them as I've used them for a number of purchases already. My grandkids love the lolly pops too. I'll probably start with slicks on my NSR cars once their tires wear out. I don't like the idea of sanding tires without using a machine for eveness especially using sandpaper taped to a track as 9 of my cars are 20 years old and that method puts great stress on their motors IMO. Don't like stressing new motors either.

Slicks sound a lot better. Even the shop where I just bought the NSR cars from . . . when I said I was surprised the condition NSR ships tires their tires in and the work they need he said they only use slicks there and he is a U.S. shop. Some say just use the NSR tires the way they are and they will break and true in on their own. The holes from the mold process are one thing as they are at least smooth, it is the lumps sticking out of some of the holes that are not going to break in on their own.
Sure, it's easy enough to slice them off with a razor blade and smooth them with an emory board, but then I've already tinkerer'd (get it😁) with the car and ethecially can't send it back for a swap if I'm unhappy with my purchase or a car has defect.

My point is NSR's advertising for me, a newbie their "race ready out of the box" is blatantly false!
The members here corrected me in that these next level up cars are sold mostly to slot aficionados that are in it for setting up each car their own way. That's fine. At least I understand it now.

But for a newbie having only been at this hobby 4 months I'm still surprised at how companies like NSR can't ship their cars with their rubber tires already glued and trued when they are charging $80 to 90 a car here in the U.S.
At least offer it has an option, I'd pay a small upcharge for that 🤔

I just had to buy a set of tires for both my cars. Cost me $1,400 for another set of Michelin Run Flats. I tow a boat during boating season and if I get a flat on the highway, I'd rather just be able to continue to drive to a tire shop or drive there the next day and have them repair the tire. Sure the tires ride a little firmer, but they get me out of dangerous situations. Past years low profile tires are the thing. They don't have a lot of meat on them anymore (tire companies love selling tires with less rubber). I've gotten 2 flats over the years. Run Flats saved me both times.

But I can't imagine seeing my new $1,400 Michelins with a hole in them and a glob of rubber hanging from the hole and then the dealer tells me "and you do realize that you first need to get these tires trued and glued before you can just drive around on them" 😱

I now know from the posters here that NSR tires are shipped that way as slot car owners enjoy the tweaking and set up process especially for pro track or club use.

Thanks for the tip Tinkerer on the slicks and the link. I've printed it to my tire file. I have watched Youtubes on the various tire choices.

Sounds like slicks are my cup of tea.

This is such a great hobby with all the variables and choices.

 

I keep a couple of older Scalextric high impact cars with magnets in them to use as pace-gost cars on my analogue Scalextric Sports track, I set a controller up with the trigger set so it will go as fast as possible without desloting with some tape or rubber bands and us it to chase around the track.
This is great for me as I'm a solo r racer most of the time and it's good to have another car on track for a challenge!
Cheers,
John.

 

I keep a couple of older Scalextric high impact cars with magnets in them to use as pace-gost cars on my analogue Scalextric Sports track, I set a controller up with the trigger set so it will go as fast as possible without desloting with some tape or rubber bands and us it to chase around the track.
This is great for me as I'm a solo r racer most of the time and it's good to have another car on track for a challenge!
Cheers,
John.

Same here for me John on the solo racer. I use a pace car with my Pro Arc digital set up with running digital cars. I've never tried the same with my analog cars. I'll check to see if it can do it with analog too. Digital has been cool because I can pass the pace car on the two switch tracks or get behind it on the same track waiting for my move.

 

No mags definitely the way to go , after that if your on Scalex track then painting the track surface is next on the list , I later switched to Urethane tyres as well 😊.

The above gave some nicely controllable cars , for the ultimate true the rear tyres and zero grip the fronts 😎👍🏼

 

We painted our main 3 lane track and one of the Rally stages with polyurethane floor paint (no grit type), it was a huge success and I may try it on my Scaley Sport test track at home.

 

Be aware that Quick Slicks are silicone and may spoil the grip for cars that use rubber or urethane tires. I believe that the Firm Quick Slicks have mostly been phased out in favor of the X Firm formulation. Firm tires are still available in some sizes however.

 

Good to know Rich, thanks. As my 20 year old cars have 20 year old rubber. I sanded them and for my needs and they still all run well.
But as I start adding different types of tires who knew that slicks would also effect my use of other tires 🙀

 

Thanks Ade, noted to my tire file. It will be fun changing various tires around. I purchase cars in sets of two, so I can race like models, drives and motors against each other. Be interesting to set up each car with different tires. Easy enough to switch around if I don't glue them on.

 

@Kevan So far I'm just running the NSR cars without magnets and will probably try one set of and leave the OEM rubber ones a pair of NSR GT3 AMG's, just to get a feel for the difference.

My next move is two get two more digital chipped GT3's, so I can race up to 6 cars at one time on my layout.

Not that I want anymore Scaley cars, but I can't easily chip any of my NSR cars.
I might just go for a bargain priced Scaley GT3 car with a chip door under the chassis off Amazon and get one more chip. I already have a spare chip that may be a faulty one or may not be.

So before I upgrade tires I want to put that money into bringing my digital fleet up to 6 cars.

I'm still learning how to handle these cars and it was only a day or two ago that I popped the maganets out of the NSR cars and immediatly realized what most have already said in that the first setup tweak is to remove the magnets and the next step is to glue and true the tires!

Yes, I was actually looking over again your truing machine a few days ago. Because it does two wheels at the same time as I'm not about to pull any hub off a plastic axle to do one wheel at a time. I also liked the way you supply so many spare parts for the money. I've already learned what having to buy one part with shipping costs 😱. And I really like the way you can just press the end of the sanding assembly to quickly cool a tire down before the rubber starts to ball up and then so easily let off some pressure and then easily resume the grinding.

I checked out the Hudy (way over priced) and others and wathced various Youtubes and I have to say feature wise and price point, you certainly tick off all the boxes.

It really should be a work bench staple for slot car enthusists IMO. I can see how useful it is just from my short experience with this hobby, especially after all the time I spent sanding 8 of my 20 year old cars with sandpaper taped on a piece of track after I first picked up the used set.

* And Kevan was so right about how you can tweak a Scaley car to make it very driveable. I had written off future Scaley purchases last week because of my experiences with some of my 20 year old cars and the two new Jags with axle design issues. . . but after driving "all" may various cars around my layout . . . I stand corrected as I have not even gotten to sand my 4 digital GT3 AMG's yet that came with my Platiunum Digital set and I must say they are pretty indestructible and even with the magnets still in them they handle pretty well now that I have the NSR's to compare too (taking into account using the NSR's on my small 4 x 8 layout) . No question NSR's are next level handling and a joy to drive sans magnets, but the Scaley's in the Slot World scheme of things and the only 3 brands that I've run on my layout so far . . . are pretty much holding their own (with their all plastic innards excluded 😖).

 

@MrFlippant Greg, thanks for the message that your tire truing machine that is available in complete kit form for $100.

When I saw your kit from researching these machines a few days ago, I thought that it was involved with 3D printing. You jus told me "nope", it's all there ready to assemble. And already includes a motor. I already own a variable 5 amp power supply brick.

I have 19 cars now and I'd like to mainly just lightly sand the tires after I assemble the kit. Kit should be no problem for me since I've had to learn microsurgery on several of my 20 year old slot cars.

No point in a deep truing, if I'll be changing out the some OEM tires on some cars. Don't know which ones yet.

And best part is if I get stuck with asssembly or have questions I know who to call 🤣🤣

And that's no joke. I'm sure with some other truing machines for any help, I'd be going back and forth with some broken English speaking house wife sitting in her kitchen in Bangladesh or CHYN NA (who says CHYN NA like that 😜).

I'm placing an order with 132Slots.com today for the kit.

* I have no affliation with this product or Greg Gaub (AKA Mr Flippant).

 

@MrFlippant Greg, thanks for the message that your tire truing machine that is available in complete kit form for $100.

When I saw your kit from researching these machines a few days ago, I thought that it was involved with 3D printing. You jus told me "nope", it's all there ready to assemble. And already includes a motor. I already own a variable 5 amp power supply brick.

I have 19 cars now and I'd like to mainly just lightly sand the tires after I assemble the kit. Kit should be no problem for me since I've had to learn microsurgery on several of my 20 year old slot cars.

No point in a deep truing, if I'll be changing out the some OEM tires on some cars. Don't know which ones yet.

And best part is if I get stuck with asssembly or have questions I know who to call 🤣🤣

And that's no joke. I'm sure with some other truing machines for any help, I'd be going back and forth with some broken English speaking house wife sitting in her kitchen in Bangladesh or CHYN NA (who says CHYN NA like that 😜).

I'm placing an order with 132Slots.com today for the kit.

* I have no affliation with this product or Greg Gaub (AKA Mr Flippant).

Just a note: I think the website is 132slotcar.us for the tire grinder. They have it assembled for $199.99 + $20 shipping
132slots.com is Slot Car Corner and they don’t seem to stock Greg’s tire grinder.
Mike

 

That's correct. The fully assembled and tested machine is sold exclusively through 132slotcar.us
I still sell kits and parts, but not assembled machines.
And, of course, the full set of 3d models and complete bill of materials with non-affiliate links for the more obscure parts can be found on www.printables.com/@MrFlippant