What's the fastest slot car?

 First off, disclaimers have to happen. I'm talking about off-the-shelf, out-of-box slot car. No modifications other than coming out of the box, getting lubed and getting on the track. I'm not talking about scratchbuilt cars, modifications or other stuff like that.

Is a fast car the one that gets down the straightaway the fastest? Or is it the car that runs the fastest lap? Is it the tight handler? Or the road eating sled? 

There has to be a combination of things that makes a great race car. Even if that car might be part of a group that all share the same specs, it'll ultimately come down to how the car is tuned and who is driving it. But it's also things like body shape, chassis shape and design, and measurements that contribute to the overall worthiness of a fast car. 

Thunderslot Lola T70 MKIII

What I have noticed over time is that a car that has a well-rounded approach, meaning it isn't better at straights than at curves and vice-versa, is a car that is a much better candidate for being fastest car. Something that is light, smooth and relatively quiet also has a good start. And for me, the body shape plays in a lot, even if it's mostly psychological. The Lola, above, checks all the boxes, and has an especially nice body shape for racing. There's practically nothing to it. It could easily be the fastest slot car.

But how do you tell? Every slot car should have an equal opportunity to be the fastest car. But they're not. For every fast, Lola-style car I have one that won't cut the mustard. A car that just wouldn't be able to tow it around fast enough to beat the field. 

Revoslot Ferrari 333 SP

The Ferrari above is a huge, massively massive ginormous car. The fact that it has a aluminum chassis adds to the weight, as well as the performance. And putting it up one-to-one against a car like the Lola will show exactly how different the two cars are. There's just no way this car can compete on my home track against the Lola. 

Check out these two cars. The Alfa [left] has a shorter wheelbase than the GT40 [right], as well as a shorter chassis, resulting in an overall shorter length. Helps with handling.
There's also this thing. It doesn't really have a name, but it's about two triangles. They are: the distance from the guide flag to the back wheels, and the distance from the guide flag to the front wheels. Lots of discussion about the benefits of the various types. Between the two, I'd call the GT40 a well-rounded car, where the Alfa is a shorter, technical racer. 

There are a lot of considerations going into something like trying to determine the fastest car. It's not an easy question to answer. It definitely has to be a well-made race car on top of all those other things. A 30 dollar slot car isn't going to have the tech to win it. 

For quite awhile it was understood that nothing was going to beat the NSR Mosler in club racing. It was all I read about. For whatever reason, I was thinking that I was going to find the answers from some genius on the internet. After awhile I realized that nobody knows the answer to what is the fastest slot car. Besides, what happens to you when you have raced all the cars and they are less than .01 of a second apart? Can you give the title definitively to one car? That's kind of why there are so many classes of racing. 

Why I Race

 When I was a kid, and I've told this story here before, I raced HO cars. AFX and Tyco specifically. My parents were divorced, and we lived with my mom. She was very poor, working as a single mom of 3 on a teacher's salary. Every year at xmas she would get us what we wanted, and every year I wanted a new race track. 

Needless to say, after a few years, netting that many kits can significantly increase your piece count. I would also save my allowance for cars, many of which wouldn't last a weekend. They were, however, on sale and affordable for a kid like me on a budget like mine. Magnum 440 I think they're called. G+. Had a couple of those. 

Then came the dark ages. Between my teenage years and my 40's, when other things took importance. I was also not in any position to take up and maintain any hobbies of significance back then. 

But upon my move here to Germany, that all changed. Opportunities arose, as indicated in this blog, and I was able to commit to the hobby finally like I wanted to. And while it's a much more well-known hobby over here than in the US, it's still a niche hobby. Either way, I was doing it. 

But what did I get out of it? I quickly found that I was going to do most of my racing alone, as my wife didn't share my passion for it [we had separate hobbies that we both enjoyed and pursued]. So racing became an escape for me. I became a dad....a stay-at-home dad, so I needed an outlet that was within reach and could give me a quick fix. Slot car racing was perfect for this. And I had an attic spot I could dedicate to doing just that. 

Over time, my marriage deteriorated. As that happened, which took a few years, I fell more into the hobby as an escape from what was happening. It wasn't to any obsessive level, but it was my preference of things to do when I had free time. As the marriage came closer to the end, I bought cars. Now it's over, and I'm at a new place, alone. I miss my daughter, but I get to see her quite often and we race a lot. 

So now it's no longer part of that escape, but a part of my existence. I set up and race at will, and don't have to move the track for anybody. I know it sounds like a dumb little thing, but it's not. It's all part of me getting my life back. These last few years have been very weird, I'm not going to lie. Giant gaps in my post timeline here are pretty indicative of other stuff going on that kept me away from doing what was fun. 

I've been sitting here for the past month or so, wondering who I am now. I think I have it figured out finally, but it's still a work in progress. Thankfully, whenever I need to break away and do something to distract myself or just to have some fun, I've got slot cars. 

Today's street find: slot car box

Today I was out walking with my daughter and someone left this curbside: 

I've been looking for something like this for the longest time, and I pretty much tripped over it today. 

It's plywood, and nicely crafted. It's one of those things that just seems like it'll last forever. It's probably just something from a DIY shop that's been painted. Anyhow, I've been keeping my eyes open for just this sort of thing.

In that configuration it'll hold 7 cars and all my tools, but I'm going to try some other stuff too. Maybe cram the tools in one of the double boxes and add more cars. Not sure yet. But I like this very much.