Compatability

[Timbo7]

Son-in-law has just bought an analogue set Scalextric for my grandson. (I would have gone digital but may upgrade later). Anyway, despite that, I recently went racing at Scalextrics Spalding (Wedtern Hills I think), brilliant! Loved it, got the buz. Whilst there we were told Carrera 1/32 Digital cars were brilliant and best. My question is this, If I shell out for a couple of Digital Carrera cars (1/32) can I run them on Scalextric Analogue track (new type) without modification. Will I need to disable the digital chip? I know I’ll have to change the pick ups but they come in the box for Scalextric? Any help appreciated.

[woodcote]

Hi Timbo7 - welcome the forum!

 

Carrera 1/32 analogue 'Evolution' cars will work on Scalextric track with only the change of guide blade (the spare red one that comes in the box with a new Carrera car). If your grandson has an ARC One or ARC Air set, then the red guide will not trigger the lap counter - you will need to either paint the red guide black, trim down the original guide to the same proportions as the red one, or buy a BRM S-126 Guide Blade 'Carrera' (shallow blade) from Pendle Slot Racing.

 

Carrera Digital132 cars do work on Carrera analogue 'Evolution' track - you put the car on track, blip the throttle three times and the flip the switch under the car. In theory, that should also work on Scalextric analogue track, but I haven't tried it... You'd also need the shallow blade. The Carrera Digital132 cars are not compatible with the Scalextric digital systems, including ARC Pro - the electronics are completely different.

 

Unless you are planning on using the cars on a Carrera Digital132 layout, I would choose the analogue 'Evolution' range over Digital132 - the cars are much cheaper for starters! If you choose to upgrade to a Scalextric digital system in the future, you can add a Scalextric C7005 retro fit digital chip to the Evolution cars to run on Scalextric track.

 

I do like the Carrera cars. I don't know about being 'the best', but they are on a similar performance level as the Scalextric cars and a similar price too. I enjoy racing both makes - although I do have far more Scalextric cars than Carrera :-)

 

I hope that helps.

[Andy P.]

Yes there is no point in buying a digital car if you are going to race analog only.

If the car is only available as digital maybe it is worth it otherwise it is dead weight.

I get the impression the magnetic force of Carrera cars is higher on Sport track but that could be me....

If you can't get the red guides to work on ARC after painting them you can shave 2-3 mm off the bottom of a black one.

Also the longer blade might make it impossible to navigate an R1 curve.

[Bri26]

A Carrera DIGITAL 132 slot car will work on a Scalextric analog track with a guide blade change as mentioned above. One advantage of going with the digital version is that it comes with working lights. The Carrera Evolution slot cars don't have any lights.