[Sandsmin]

So have Scalextric stopped making Digital Cars now..... ie is everything DPR so that if you buy a car you have to buy a plug?

Havent seen any digital cars in the local model shop recently and if you go to the Scalextric website and go Shop > Cars > Digital, then there is only the audi TT and handcontroller.

 

[zarko]

The reason behind DPR cars is that you can have one DPR chip which you simply take out and change between different cars instead of having to manaully chip each invidual car. For me, it is certainly a positive move by Scalextric as I would hate to have to buy digital chip for all my cars. I have 6 DPR chips and simply swap between the cars I want to race without any difficulty.

 

[MrFlippant]

I think that's pretty much the idea. Well, not so much what Zarko does, as Scalextric would LOVE for him to buy chips for every car. The idea is more that they only have to make ONE kind of each car. It's sold as an analog car with the DPR option. SSD lovers need only put a chip into it to make it digital, without even taking the car apart. It's up to the customer if they want to get 6 chips and swap them between cars, or a chip for every car, or whatever. Even better for the eventual digital club racers who would only need a chip and a spare, no matter what class of car they're racing.

But yes, it seems Scalextric is no longer making cars that are digital only. Even the sets come with DPR cars now.

 

[sealevel]

But the real questions is WHY does Scalextric make any analogue ONLY cars? Would it not make more sense to make all of them DPR?

I am thinking of the "Classic" cars that need a solder-in chip like the Mercedes 722 set I just bought.

I actually wish ALL cars were DPR.

Comments?
Cheers!

 

[MrFlippant]

The answer is that those are the cars that were designed prior to DPR being invented. They can easily change the paint scheme and sell a new version of the same mold, but they can't as easily change the mold to make them into DPR cars. Being able to make more cars with the same mold SAVES money, so they'll do it as long as they can. Completely new cars, however, appear to be primarily DPR. Even the MGB, tiny as it is, is DPR. There are exceptions, of course, such as that James Bond car with all the gimmicks.

 

[Robb]

QUOTE (sealevel @ 15 Jul 2011, 22:28) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>But the real questions is WHY does Scalextric make any analogue ONLY cars? Would it not make more sense to make all of them DPR?
Yes, ideally they would all be DPR, but due to the design of some of the cars, it is physically impossibly to have the rectangular plate in the centre of the chassis, or as said, some of the cars were designed before digital was around.

They make all (or as many as possible) the cars DPR Ready now so they can be either digital or analogue, but I agree, this still throws people, and makes some very uncertain when they say I need a digital car and you present them with a car that "can be made digital".
They stopped making straight forward digital cars about 3 years ago.

 

[Ade]

hi
yes from memory the last one's produced were a few F1 livery's.I have one of the J.Button honda's with the earth livery(honda)

 

[richardtheforth]

And of course if you're searching on ebay for Scalextric cars looking for 'Digital' you get all of the cars with 'Digital' Plug Ready in the title/description, which is quite unhelpful.

On the plus side, I have bought a couple of cars over the last year that just happened to have a digital plug in them. Bonus!
Cheers,
Richard

 

[sealevel]

Yup, got the Mercedes SLR 722 ... not DPR,... the Fangio 722 ... not DPR .... and my "me to me Xmas gift" (that is what the wife says)... the James Bond Aston Martin... not DPR.

My take is that if it comes as a box set, it is NOT DPR.... reuse molds, repackage items with new livery, and charge more.... not kind to the real supporters of Scalextric.

In fact the spec sheet for the Mercedes SLR, whether the 722, the F1 Safety, or other ALL do not show any DPR accommodation... but we know they have room in side to chip them!

Cheers!

 

[Robb]

QUOTE (sealevel @ 29 Jul 2011, 06:32) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>My take is that if it comes as a box set, it is NOT DPR.... reuse molds, repackage items with new livery, and charge more.... not kind to the real supporters of Scalextric.
No, thats not correct.

There are cars in box sets that are DPR ready, and new mouldings.

QUOTE (sealevel @ 29 Jul 2011, 06:32) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>In fact the spec sheet for the Mercedes SLR, whether the 722, the F1 Safety, or other ALL do not show any DPR accommodation... but we know they have room in side to chip them!
No, they do not have room for DPR chips

They are in line motor chassis, that do not have any space for a DPR chip.
I think you are getting confused between 'digital plug ready' and digital 'conversion microprocessors'.