[Jordan23]

The Scalextri 4WD Ford Focus is a cool looking car but when you put it on the track its a very different story

It slides every where and is almost impossible to drive

I had no idea hat the cause of this could be so off comes the body......
I don't have a photo so ill describe it best I can.

The motor is mounted at the front of the chassis (side winder stile motor) with a belt running to the rear axel. As curious as I am I left the body off and on the track it goes.... Dramatic improvement, WTH! I lifted the body and realised the centre of gravity is way to high. But get this, I have a Scalextric Seat Leon with the exact same problem!
For the Seat I put a spacer on the rear axel removing all side to side play, this kinda helped but its still loose at the rear.

Can any one help me please! If you can it would be very helpful

 

[mattcrackers]

If your running with magnets as I am the easiest fix I found was the replace the magnet with a neodymium magnet which is quite a bit stronger than the stock scaly magnet. As you have said the cars high centre of gravity causes this car to tip and deslot very easily and the setup of the front mounted motor and the belt is really not the best. You can get 10 of the neo mags off the bay pretty cheap. I have 2 of the Subaru 4WD cars which look great but and the c.o.g is lower and I have left the stock mag in place but removed the guide spring which has helped to keep the car lower in the slot. With these 4wd cars all the weight is at the front so if you are running without mags you will definately need to add some weight down the back, and then theres also the problem with the belt slipping, I have seen a fix for this here on the forum but have found that after adding the stronger mag to the Focus the 3 4WD's I have are now quite similar in lap times so I left the belts alone. Hope this helps.

Matt

 

[Jordan23]

Hi Matt
Thanks this helps alot! I decided to try running the car without the belt, Useless it just sat there wheel spinning I guess this is because there isnt enough weight on the pickup?

Cheers
Jordan

 

[Julian_Boolean]

The easiest way to make the Scalextric Focus into something decent is to use a lot of Ninco parts - wheels, motor, axles, guide, gears, chassis and body.

 

[SplitRim]

QUOTE (Julian_Boolean @ 23 Oct 2011, 16:59) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>The easiest way to make the Scalextric Focus into something decent is to use a lot of Ninco parts - wheels, motor, axles, guide, gears, chassis and body.

By the time you've done that you'd be better buying a Ninco.

Jordan, are you happy that the tyres are soft and grippy? This could be part of the problem. Check out the tuning tips on this forum. Use the search box to find what you need to know.

Also try putting bits of weight inside the car on the chassis. Imagine the triangle between the guide and the rear wheels, put "ballast" within that area

If the guide spring keeps the tyres off, fit a new one, take it out of a ballpoint pen and snip short to match the original. Most that I've come across are "softer"than the original one so let the tyres touch but still help keep it in the slot.

Simon

 

[Julian_Boolean]

QUOTE (SplitRim @ 24 Oct 2011, 09:36) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>By the time you've done that you'd be better buying a Ninco.

That was my point, you can get a brand new Ninco Focus for under £20, why waste time and money on the awful Scalextric version?

 

[Jordan23]

Hi Simon
The cars almost new out of the box so the tyres arnt to bad.
Your advise is really helpfull everyone, Julian Im not to keen on anything other than scalexric as in NZ its the really the only brand

Cheers
Jordan