[Tropi]

Well . . . they look . . . er . . . interesting!
They also look a bit EXPENSIVE!
One of the most obvious practical problems remains - the lane changer on a straight is too short to be practical, effectively only one straight section in length, making very violent lane changes
When a car is overtaking on a long straight, we would expect it to be at maximum speed. It's very hard to overtake when forced to first slow down in order to do so!

 

[Tropi]

QUOTE the LC track pieces are passive and simple things, the same as standard non digital cross-overs, so shouldn't be too pricey...
Good point!
I withdraw that comment!
(Though they still cost more than a standard track section, so a BIT expensive)

QUOTE As for the speeds - if they are the first piece after a curve, then a car will NOT have reached max speed; if they are the last piece before a curve, if the car is going flat out it will crash on the curve anyway!
In which cases, it would be much better to have the lane changers ON the curve to avoid two of the three changes of direction created by what are effectively 'S' bend track pieces. It will be interesting to see if SCX do emulate the Scalextric curved lane changes at some time (and whether Scalextric try a straight (ok an 'S' or 'X' one!)

BTW, Theobald, thank you for posting those great pics!

 

[Tropi]

Some excellent points being made!
There are good and bad things about both systems and, as Fergy said, it would be nice to have the choice of both curved and straight LCs in one system.

On balance, if I had to choose, I would prefer them on the straights, for reasons mentioned above. But, even the new SCX pieces still limit the whole lane change to only a little more than just one section length instead of the previous slightly more than half section length. Although this is a definite improvement, I would prefer to see the change over two whole track lengths, to enable the highest possible speeds. But then it would still be good to have the opportunity to steal a position on the bends too!

I imagine that we haven't seen the last of the options and that they will continue to evolve over time in response to customer demand, if any.

 

[Tropi]

QUOTE no doubt in time as we are all converted to the digital mode of operation
Not in our lifetimes though, Mop!
(unless you are an immortal of course)

 

[Tropi]

It seems a few people are confused about my attitude to digital and lane changing.
So I pop something like this in every few months.

Personally, I find digital fascinating and might even move towards it, one day.
For that reason I follow its progress avidly, where and whenever I can.
The other side of the coin is that I don't think many other people will, OR they will and then forget about it.
Either way it will lose a few companies quite a few quid as it becomes obsolete.

At the moment it's a fad that might, in time, become a niche market.