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1966 Ford GT40 MKII #5
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| This car, like all of the Slot.it cars on this page, came great right out of the box. This company really knows their slot cars, and there's care and quality in each one. This one in particular is from the catalog a few years ago [although fresh out of the box for me], yet still is in great condition and runs like a champ. Detail is nicely done, with cool additions like the front tow hooks at a lighted motor housing that can be seen through the back window. |
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| For a slot car, the GT40 has a nice balance. It's long enough so it doesn't get too squirrelly in the corners, yet not so long as to take the fun out of driving it. It tends to be a pretty forgiving race car for the driver who may not get much time on the track. This car in particular runs smoothest out of the three, likely because it's newer, and runs currently with no added parts. It comes with, according to the catalog, stock C1 tires. I find these tires to be different than the other stock C1's on the other Fords, but I could be imagining things. Either way, this is a very nice, clean, easy racer, and if you can get over the color [I have], you'll love it if not for the price alone. Pick one up. They're cheap. |
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| Tuning Notes: Sanded stock C1 rubber tires, rebuilt front end so the front tires are on the track, removed front suspension, lubed/oiled gears/axles, added gaskets to pod, adjusted pod [med] and body [med] float. |
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| I run in Linear mode and tend to leave the Power Trim and Min Speed % settings the same on all the cars. Those affect the feel of the trigger and how sensitive it is, which is more of a me thing than it is a car thing. The primary adjustments happen to Brake and Curve/Max. Curve/Max is the percentage of total power you allow your car. Brake is brake. Some cars use it, some don't. This car in particular doesn't like braking, and prefers to coast into the corners and accelerate out. Curve/Max, strangely enough, is at its lowest setting with this car at about 35% total power. |
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1985 Porsche 962C Leyton House
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| This car was one I was waiting for...my first Group C car. I knew it would drive differently than the other cars, due to its design, length and structure, and it does. And while it hasn't won any races yet, once you get the hang of driving it, it's the fastest car I have. |
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| Group C cars come with an Inline motor. Since the motor sits in the middle of the car, there's a more even distribution of grip than with a Sidewinder. However, this car is sensitive when too much gas is applied in the corners. It has, however, an ability to run through the corners at a higher speed when driven properly. Overall the car is a bit noisy, but I expect that to settle down a bit as I open it more often. |
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| Tuning Notes: Sanded stock C1 rubber tires, rebuilt front end so the front tires are on the track, removed front suspension and O-clips, lubed/oiled gears/axles, added gaskets to pod, adjusted pod [light] and body [tight] float. |
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| No Brakes for this hot rod, as the front pulls the back around the corners. Also, it can really take the power, with Curve/Max set for this car to 50%. It's got such a dramatic power band you can really control it all the way through the throttle. |
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1968 Ford GT40 #8
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| This has been pretty much my favorite car in my collection up until the last two above came. You'd think all three Fords I own would drive the same, but they don't. Not quite. While identical in length, width, etc., each is different. This car feels the lightest, even though is isn't, runs on the quiet side and has aged well over the two years I've had it. It's also one of my most photogenic cars, and that's always fun. |
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| I did a lot to this car to get it in the shape it's in. It didn't have all the screws for the pod when I got it, and had an issue with the spur gear. It also had vibration noise early on that got settled. Now it is a lean, mean, drifting machine. It's one of the few cars that respond to Brakes, so I use them a bit to help get this beast through the technical hill climb. Probably my best overall car. |
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| Tuning Notes: Removed magnets, Sanded Paul Gage urethane tires, rebuilt front end so the front tires are on the track, replaced front suspension with grub screws, body edges trimmed to prevent vibration, added motor screws, lubed/oiled gears/axles, added gaskets to pod and body, adjusted pod [med] and body [soft] float, flipped spur gear to inside for better contact with the pinion. |
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| This is what I would consider my standard setting for the smaller tracks I was running on. For whatever reason, it's the best for the #8 car. 40% Curve/Max is pretty damn respectable around here. |
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Alfa Romeo Targa Florio #2
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| My lovely sweet Alfa Romeo. I love this car. It runs so well on small tracks that it's practically unbeatable. But now that I have a large track, it's starting to feel the pressure. |
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| Is your head tilting slightly to the left while looking at this picture? That's not by design. That car is leaning. Apparently this particular model of Slot.it race car, the Alfa Romeo #2, had a warped chassis. I didn't know it when I bought it, but I've learned to live with it. It'll eventually be replaced by another Alfa, but not just yet. What does it mean that it leans? Well, for one it means it's not properly balanced. That'll give you all sorts of problems, depending on the direction of the curve you're going through. And it always fishtails a little bit more on one side than it should. |
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| Tuning Notes: Removed magnets, Sanded Paul Gage urethane tires, rebuilt front end so the front tires are on the track, replaced front suspension with grub screws, body edges trimmed to prevent vibration, added motor screws, lubed/oiled gears/axles, added gaskets to pod and body, adjusted pod [med] and body [med] float. |
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| Identical settings to the #8. That's why I called it the standard. What is standard on your own track is what is standard if you race only there. |
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1967 Ford GT40 #11
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| The third car I ever got, and it's actually one my wife picked out for herself. It also happens to be, the real-life 1:1 car, that is, the most successful car in my collection, as it actually won a race. Wrapped in the rare dark blue Gulf colors, this car was the first one to dominate, regularly beating the #2 and #8 in the early races. |
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| Once I bought a couple pair of urethane tires [which went on the #2 and #8], this car struggled to keep up on the stock C1 rubber tires. The urethanes were much faster on the small tracks. Now that it's running on a larger track, it's got a much better chance. |
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| Tuning Notes: Removed magnets, sanded stock C1 rubber tires, rebuilt front end, lubed/oiled gears/axles, added gaskets to pod, adjusted pod [light] and body [med] float. |
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| Almost standard, except with no Brakes. The rubber tires tends to get twitchy when Brakes are applied. |
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Controller Notes:
The Slot.it SCP-1 controller is obviously different than a stock Carrera controller. Being able to control these settings adds a much deeper level of involvement. You can really custom set each car. Digital versions of it can be bought as well.
I always run my controller on Linear as opposed to Curve, because although my track is large, it's not that large. Curve really has a lot of power at the high end. Dangerous power.
I'll be including controller settings on each individual car in the future.
And here is a video of some of them going through their paces:
Overall Tuning Notes:
Rebuilding the front end includes removing the axle blocks.
Rotating or removing the oval-shaped holder [discussed halfway down this article].
Information on the flipped spur gear here.
Other tuning info here.
Upcoming Season Notes:
I've been thinking more of the upcoming season and how to do it. I'm going to want to run more endurance races, since it'll be on the same layout all the time. It makes no sense to keep running the same 5-minute heat races.
I'm thinking of having races between 100 and 500 laps, and possibly even longer. It would take about 50 minutes for a car to run 500 laps. Ultimately I'd like each car to be able to make the trip and do well.
With 5 cars I need to be more careful to get each of them quality garage time before racing. Each car needs special attention, and I have to be on the ball or they'll suffer for it.
Also, since there has been no clear advantage regarding types of tires [at least none that has showed up yet], I'm going to hold off on buying new tires for now and go with what's on the cars. There are now enough cars to keep it interesting every race.
Speaking of every race, I'll have to change the points system. Before it was 5 for first, 3 for second and 1 for third. Now I think I can go 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, although that's really not very much points separation when you think of it. I might go for a larger number in order to get a larger spread. No incentive to come in first if there's no bonus. Maybe a 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 system would be better. It'll reward those who do well. We'll see.
I'll have all the details sorted....how many races, lengths, etc, soonish. This season also might be smaller with longer races.
The Slot.it SCP-1 controller is obviously different than a stock Carrera controller. Being able to control these settings adds a much deeper level of involvement. You can really custom set each car. Digital versions of it can be bought as well.
I always run my controller on Linear as opposed to Curve, because although my track is large, it's not that large. Curve really has a lot of power at the high end. Dangerous power.
I'll be including controller settings on each individual car in the future.
And here is a video of some of them going through their paces:
Overall Tuning Notes:
Rebuilding the front end includes removing the axle blocks.
Rotating or removing the oval-shaped holder [discussed halfway down this article].
Information on the flipped spur gear here.
Other tuning info here.
Upcoming Season Notes:
I've been thinking more of the upcoming season and how to do it. I'm going to want to run more endurance races, since it'll be on the same layout all the time. It makes no sense to keep running the same 5-minute heat races.
I'm thinking of having races between 100 and 500 laps, and possibly even longer. It would take about 50 minutes for a car to run 500 laps. Ultimately I'd like each car to be able to make the trip and do well.
With 5 cars I need to be more careful to get each of them quality garage time before racing. Each car needs special attention, and I have to be on the ball or they'll suffer for it.
Also, since there has been no clear advantage regarding types of tires [at least none that has showed up yet], I'm going to hold off on buying new tires for now and go with what's on the cars. There are now enough cars to keep it interesting every race.
Speaking of every race, I'll have to change the points system. Before it was 5 for first, 3 for second and 1 for third. Now I think I can go 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, although that's really not very much points separation when you think of it. I might go for a larger number in order to get a larger spread. No incentive to come in first if there's no bonus. Maybe a 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 system would be better. It'll reward those who do well. We'll see.
I'll have all the details sorted....how many races, lengths, etc, soonish. This season also might be smaller with longer races.
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