Scalextric Sport Digital

I would say that groove depth is the key here. Do Ninco make an adaptor to SPORT track?

SCX and Classic track may not have a groove thats deep enough but there are adaptors.

Scalextric do say in their announcement that current cars are compatible but do guide blades need to be modified?

If not then fantastic. Everybody except for Carrera track owners should be able to join in the Digital fun!

However, remember that there is an element of circuit design in the Scalextric software so the NINCO track footprint may not be compatible. However, I am sure NINCO owners will have a work around for this.

And there will be some Carrera track owners who may well make up adaptors for SPORT track. There will certainly be a large market for these if Carrera track owners are unwilling to change to SPORT.

The other issue of course is the changing downforce on cars as they cross from one track type to another if track is mixed. This may not of course be an issue but something to think about none the less. Ultimately you cannot go wrong of course with SPORT track! That is the solution!

In fact this set up from Scalextric sounds like the video recorder equivalent of VHS!

Well done Scalextric!


Moped

Well its good to hear at last that folk are starting to believe that digital slot car could become mainstream.

And if folk believe that now is the case then I would agree that there may not be the need for a seperate digital forum after all.

Could I just suggest that as this is the case we simply include the word "DIGITAL" in the topic heading whenever a digital topic is raised. Folk who are not interested then do not need to read the thread. But is there anybody who is not interested?

So these are the type of themes to discuss:-

a) control
power
c) lap counting/timing
d) marshalling
e) track
f) compatibility
g) event/race organisation and preparation
h) other (to cover anything I have overlooked)

It has also occurred to me that if there is the potential to run 24 cars on a 4 lane circuit then what about liveries and car recognition from a driver viewpoint. I don't want to stick colored tape on my cars if I can help it and marshalls may possibly no longer need to work out which lane to put a car in.

Now which current SlotForum catagories do the themes above fit into?

Else Slotforum will end up having the longest news thread in the whole history of slot car message boards!


Moped

RMS has revolutionised slot car racing but I will discuss that elsewhere later.

When I say that we will be racing 24 cars it is because clubs normally have a minimum of 4 lanes. Now if they run digital in 2 X 2 lanes then that will be 24 cars maximum in total. 12 on the 2 closest lanes and 12 on the 2 furthest lanes.

The issue is who is going to track marshall?

However I suspect that clubs will grow rapidly if folk are not hanging around waiting for their turn and they get almost constant race action. That is a very big plus point for clubs.

The other point is the issue that Scott mentioned of getting 3 or more racers together. I have been thinking about that myself.

My view is that this makes slot car racing more of a matey/family event than it currently is and it will encourage more bonding sessions between family members and friends than we may have at the moment. Now in todays society that has to be a very good thing and Scalextric have just introduced just the product to help generate matiness among friends and family.

I think dad will be even more inclined to get of the couch and race his son/sons and their mates/his mates than they may do at the moment. Because the fun factor for dad and his mates has just multiplied many times.

And isn't what this is about at the end of the day?

Just think about how significant this all is for a moment.


Moped

Just to answer the 2 year compatibility thing with recent Scalextric cars Adrian did say earlier that for the last 2 years Scalextric cars have been designed with enough space to accomodate the coding chip required for digital.

That also suggests to me that this developement has taken at least 2 years and maybe longer.

In terms of club racing GRAH1 must be a member of a club with a smallish membership. Clubs who don't embrace the digital concept going forward may well start to loose membership to clubs that do. ( something to think about!)

For clubs who have 4 lane racing or more and who have 9 or more members who turn up regularly digital will be a godsend as it will permit far more racing action rather than sitting about action. And it will permit a lot more practice aswell as everybody can practice at the same time!

As such I would say that Scalextric should seriously consider an ability within their lane changeover design to permit switching from lane 2 to lane 3 of a 4 lane circuit.

It will be a major selling point to get this system into clubs, and will permit club membership to expand massively. (club memberes say to Moped!)

There is a natural point with every club where recruitment stops because members realise that there would be little racing action if membership expanded. This will no longer be the case.

Scalextric can go very heavy on promotion of "Club Membership" and joining a local club on the basis of this. Scalextric could include a list of "Digital Clubs" on a leaflet within the sets so BIG PROMOTION for digital clubs.

But the key is to permit digital racing with more than 2 lanes, which does require the switchover mentioned before.

As a marketing tool for slot car racing "think club" as they do a lot for slot car and Scalextric marketing. And I also suspect that a lot of new clubs will also form as folk will want to get together more often on the back of lots of guaranteed race action!

To conclude - LANE CHANGING FOR 4 LANES OR MORE IS ESSENTIAL for club racing. But I would agree not for home racing.

But of course what none of us know is how complex this may be for Scalextric to accomodate as there may be more to it than just a section of track!


Moped

Ultimately we are all going to have to try it aren't we boys (and girls?).

The only real racing reservation appears to be the shunting issue.

But surely that will add something to the challenge?

And isn't real racing like that?

And surely a true champion (the Michael Schumacher of slot racing) will win come what may?

It is the fear of the unknown that may be creating a "dinosaur" mentality among some folk? How did folk react to Orville and Wilbur Wright 100 years ago?

I suspect that somebody at some point in the future will come up with a routed track using the Scalextric control system and with Scalextric lane changeovers integrated into the circuit. Call me a visionary!


Moped

Just a quick reply to Wankel who posted at the same time as me.

If 24 people turn up at Oxford you will be able to have 12 racing at a time and 12 marshalling at a time. That means that folk are racing 50% of their club time which may be a higher ratio than now.

Also marshalling becomes easier so fewer marshalls are required.

And no colored stickers required on the cars or colored markers on the lanes.

Did slot car racing start in the home or the club first?

What folk do at home they inevitably want to do on a grander scale at a club.


Moped

Swissracer has made good points and brings some perspective back to the thread.

I apologise if I have taken it off at a tangent with the club racer thing.

This new Scalextric product is all about choice.

Have they said that they are ditching the current analogue set up?

No.

You don't have to have digital. But Scalextric appear to have given the great majority of slot car enthusiasts the flexiblity to ugrade if they want to and upgrade their favourite cars from a whole number of manufacturers including SCX and Carrera and Ninco it would appear.

Up until now that has been the biggest issue and at a stroke it is no longer with us!

Maybe some club racers here who are never going to have it at their club in a million years may at least try it at home.

We haven't seen the product yet in the flesh but from the brief specification that Scalextric issued with the press release most of us seem pretty excited.

And how is this product going to appeal to the newbie who has yet to even racer a slot car?

Lets think of the next generation of slot car racers aswell as the old hands.


Moped

It may be 6 cars per two lanes and I have missinterpreted the information. So that still gives you 12 cars on a 2 + 2 four lane circuit.

Fair point by Thomas about the capacity for the signal to get to the car.

mtucker666 has said that anybody contemplating setting up or expanding their club circuit should consider futureproofing the race experiance.

Remember folks that you can run digital like an analoge race and not lane swap. Just run 1 car per lane with no crossing over. If thats what you want to do. Digital brings a lot of benefits apart from multicar racing per lane and lane swapping.

Radio control racing is a non starter in the home. This may well bring RC enthusiasts to slot racing.

Remember also that Scalextric plan on launching a whole new range of tuning spares and accessories to go with their new modular chassis design so its not just about how good a racer you are, but also how good you are at setting your car up for a given race and ciruit.

There are a lot of folk out there who don't like slot car racing because it is too simple. Think of what this will mean for them. They may well outnumber the folk who like slot car racing for its simplicity.

In 5 years time folk who like the simple things may well be outnumbered by folk who like an experiance that is more involving.

Scalextric Digital will be developed because analogue slot car racing has reached a dead end. Simple. It has nowhere to go but sideways. Digital will move slot car racing forward.

In the same way that the jet engine revolutionised air travel.


Moped

QUOTE if it werent for analogue digital wouldnt have been invented

You could say the same about television!

Is there anybody here who is still watching analogue TV?

Digital has a history of improving all things analogue.

And there is absolutely nothing to stop folk continuing to carry their toolkit and spares to any race meeting. That is not going to change with digital so it is not an issue. In fact Scalextric are going to encourage that with the launch of their new tune up parts range for their modular chassis.


Moped

QUOTE Digital has nothing to do with the basic problem, which is that the lane changers WILL create more deslotting.

How do we know?

It all seemed to run very smoothly on that SCX promotion video.

If you run crash and burn you loose. So just drive carefully. Also crash and burn racers don't need track marshalls! "Short Circuits" is testimony to that.

So maybe its time for a rule change?


Moped

Mecocrop, why is this suddenly an issue?

The moderators here at Slotforum have declared their views when I made precisely that request.

The moderators at SCI have declared theirs under similar circumstances.

It is not appropriate to have seperate discussion board at Slotforum due to the negative views of so many of the moderators. The moderators at SCI view Scalextric Digital in a rather more positive way.

If you do change your mind and choose to have a seperate digital arena here then please make it brand specific to avoid any confusion as to which product we are taking about. Any other course may be seen as a negative action.


Moped

To answer Wankel's point.

Record how many new members sign up for Oxford for the first 9 months of 2004.

And then record how many new members sign up for Oxford in the first 9 months of 2005.

Digital may not be for everyone here but it will be for a lot of people who aren't!

Thats what makes digital exciting. It will draw more people in for the longer term.


Moped

The other thing about club racing is that digital will enable clubs who have do not have a permanent layout to assemble a circuit that allows 6 people to race 3 times quicker, which means much more racing time.

You will be surprised how many smaller clubs do not have permanent layouts and are limited to 2 or 4 lanes because of the need to assemble the circuit each club night.

Scalextic Digital will be of enourmous benefit to these type of clubs and may even encourage new clubs to form as the requirement to have a permanent home for your circuit will not be same.

So I would expect lots of new clubs to form using church halls and other meeting places once digital is available. It will become so much easier to set a club up and large Scalextric SPORT tracks for 6 car racing will be assembled in less than 15 minutes. This will be superb actually and I will almost certainly use my local church hall for a £10 rent per evening and just 400 yards up the road to start a local club in the area using Scalextric SPORT digital as the basis.

I can't wait so hurry up Scalextric, get a move on!

Scalextric Digital will make it much easier to bring Scalextric to the attention of the local community via all these new clubs in hired halls. Get them local yobbos off the streets and into the Scaley club. Give them something to do.

Of course Jonny S already does that!


Moped