Why I Chose 1:32 Scale for Slot Cars

I got my first track when I was six years old. It was a Tyco HO set. After a short stint I switched to AFX and kept building on it by asking for the same thing every year for xmas. Eventually I had a whole box of track and enough cars to do plenty of stuff with.
When I was twelve, I stayed the night at a friend's house, and we raced on his dad's track. I had never experienced it before, as the cars were much larger and more realistic than what I was used to. It took some time as these monsters would slip and slide all over the track with hardly any effort. They didn't go a million miles an hour, but you sure felt something when they got sideways in the curves.

Fast-forward to my late-20's. I was out one weekend, killing time, and I stepped into a hobby store. There was a Carrera Exclusive [1:24] track there which had, if I remember correctly, a bathtub Porsche as one of the cars. I couldn't take my eyes off it, and had the money out ready to buy it when I stopped myself. It was probably a smart decision at the time because I really couldn't afford to do it then.

And now present-day. I'm 52. I've been playing music all my adult life and have spent most of my fun money keeping my drums fresh. But now I teach more than I play in bands, so I don't need to constantly upkeep my kits anymore. Aside from that, I have purchased all I needed and then some, so money isn't a factor in it like it used to be.

In the back of my head it nags at me. Always there. Race cars. Build a track. Now's the time. I am in need of a hobby, and my wife not only likes the idea and has already okayed me taking up space for a track, but she has ordered a few cars for me as holiday gifts.

A few years ago, she bought me a Carrera GO set for xmas. I set it up with my nephew [9], and within 20 minutes both cars were broken. The scale speed was so fast it took everything I didn't like about HO and amplified it. These "F1" bullets flew off the track and shattered spectacularly. Wings, noses, wheels...they all broke off within minutes. The following Monday I took the kit back to the store and upgraded to a Carrera Evolution [analog] kit. I never looked back.

Everything is more expensive than GO, but then 1:32 is really where the meat of the hobby is. There are so many manufacturers of everything needed to completely immerse one's self into racing. A seeming endless array of parts, upgrades, systems and designs; not unlike real life. Add to that a rather large online fan base. Lots of information can be found, and it's mostly in a handful of forums online.

The Benefits:

• Availability. Easy to find and plentiful. Lots of parts from different manufacturers. Online purchases are easy, although there aren't as many brick-and-mortar stores in the U.S. and UK like there used to be. In Germany, however, Carrera can be purchased at most well-stocked toy stores.
• Easier scale for maintenance. I found HO too small for my liking, and wanted something that would be a little easier to work with. 1:43 had potential, but still was not at the level I wanted for the sake of my enjoyment of the hobby.
• More realistic speed. There's nothing that screams "TOY" than an HO car going 800 scale MPH around a track. I can still jump on one and have fun, and can even see why guys would still want to race it, it's just not for me. 
• Quality and Workmanship. There are some beautiful cars and tracks out there. I think 1:32 scale provides a lot of possibilities for not only buying great cars, but making beautiful scenic track layouts. Not that you can't do this in HO or 1:43. I've seen great tracks there as well, but it just doesn't have the same feel, and there isn't the same variety of stuff available. 

The Drawbacks:

• Price. You can get started in the 1:32 hobby for around 100 bucks for a kit with track and two cars. Cars seem to go for between $30-$50 or so for the more standard cars up to $250 or so for the detailed, ready-to-race cars. Knowing that each car you buy will cost you around fifty bucks makes car purchases more than just "yeah, I'll take that." Add another $20 or so to make it competitive to race [or purchase the out-of-box competitive cars] and you're up to almost $70 for a chance at the podium....if that's your thing. [I've found Slot.it cars for 40 euro compared to NSR cars for 67 euro]
• Size. A benefit and a drawback? Yes, but only because the overall footprint of a 1:32 track is so large. HO has loads more room to work with in the same space. This means that there's always the possibility it will be difficult to find room to put a 1:32 track up. And with Carrera, it's actually a 1:24 track, so it's got an even bigger footprint than say a Ninco or Scalextric track. 
• With the good comes the bad. As with any hobby, especially one that's been around for so many years with so few technological changes, it's bound to get inundated with stuff to buy, and there is no lack of poorly designed and manufactured slot cars out there. At first every car seems like it would be so much fun [and many might]. But then I read reviews, opinions and see prices of used cars and understand...there are just a lot of lousy cars out there. There is also a lot of good, however, and it's easy to buy a reasonably priced slot car that is a mere tuneup away from setting great lap times. 

So 1:32 it is. Actually it's 1:24. Having that option is pretty great, as there are some cool, highly-detailed cars in that scale. And they'll fit and run on Carrera track [w/borders]. The compromise I have made to stay in 1:32 scale is to put a premium on car purchases. If they were 20 bucks it would be perfect. Since they're 40, I'll buy less, but be much more thorough in my research before purchasing. This will make me a bit more particular, at least at first, and I'm okay with that. I'll eventually step into the used market for purchasing, but right now new cars are at pretty good prices. This isn't a cheap hobby, and there's plenty to do. I've got time.