woodcote

Having the LED too far back from the guide certainly causes problems with the ARC Pro lap sensors. Anything more than an inch (25mm) from the trailing edge of the guide blade and lap counting won't happen. If that's the case with the LED on your car, try and re-locate it. The other issues might be a non-black guide or the LED in front of the guide. Neither will trigger laps. And you have to be very careful setting up the cars in the app. Have a read here: slotracer.online/arc-pro-guide/preparation

Don't know about the VW panel van, but I am sure some clever enthusiast will miniaturise the time machine mechanism for the DeLorean... The DeLorean does look sensational - there are some pictures of all the pre-production models and prototypes over on SlotRacer Online: https://slotracer.online/community/showthread.php?tid=994

You're very welcome!

Hi Vazmuten - no, none of those this year. There are three accessory packs, which is a good sign. I fully expect more accessory packs in 2021 with new track pieces. This year looks like a strong consolidation of the new system (still only six months old). I've summed up the 2020 Micro product range, with exclusive pictures from Margate, here: https://slotracer.online/community/showthread.php?tid=995

Lots more pics of the cars, prototypes etc here: slotracer.online/community/showthread.php?tid=994 My favourites... The Capri Mk3, the new Aston Martin Vantage GT3s, Mustang GT4s, Wynne's Ford GTE, Sam Posey Challenger, the Buffom Escort Mk1, the Arrow Head Monte Carlo, that fabulous Brumos VW van, the Lotus Cortina, plus the very very tasty Lotus triple pack. And I love the James Bond Micro Scalextric set too. To be honest, nothing I'd say 'no' to this year.

Without seeing a picture of the breakage, it is difficult to advise. If the underpan breaks in such a high-stress area, it is difficult to achieve a satisfactory fix - it is likely to break again, especially if there is an issue in your track that caused the original breakages. As I suggested in your other thread, contact Scalextric Customer Services with full details and pictures - and maybe post pictures of the breakages and the pieces of track where you think the guide was sticking. Where Customer Services should sort you out, us enthusiasts on the forum could help you understand what happened and make sure it doesn't happen again. I hope that helps.

Hi Monkey Magic. I was assuming you had the ARC Pro Le Mans 24 hour set with the two Ginettas - is that right? When you say the guides are getting stuck on "drift corners" I'm not sure what you mean. On Scalextric Sport track, the guides should pass through without sticking. However, with the older (1960s - 2000) 'classic' track system (also produced by SCX/Scalextric in Spain), the guide on the Ginettas will rub on the bottom of the slot - although I have never seen any breakages as you describe... The fix there is to trim the guide. I still suggest you contact Scalextric Customer Services a detailed description of what set, track and cars you have been using, photos of the breakages and how they happened. Scalextric need to know if their cars are breaking with normal use so they can investigate - and offer you a replacement, if appropriate. I hope that helps.

Hi Andre. I've never done a proper test of battery length. Using Energizer Alkaline Power AAs, I probably ran 50+ hours over the first few months after ARC Pro was released and I didn't change batteries. The first change I remember was one controller went glitchy three hours into a six hour public ARC Air event (on top of those 50+ hours) - I now fit new ones before any important event! I have noticed that the charge holds very well if the controllers are switched off, but I did leave one on for a few weeks (on sleep mode) and the batteries lasted okay afterwards - although they did need changing before those in the other controllers.

Hello H Dog - welcome to the forum! The BRM S-126 blade is designed as a direct swap - a black version of the Carrera red shallow guide. If you have any full 180-degree Radius One hairpins, you might need to trim 2-3mm from the rear end of the guide, but that is the same for the Carrera red guide - it is just a little longer than the Scalextric guides. One or two 45-degree Radius One pieces seem fine. If you have any of the older digital curved lane chargers, I'd recommend sanding the front edge of the guide to more of a point, otherwise the leading edge can catch on the lane changer flipper. I've needed to do this with the red Carrera guide, but not noticed an issue with the BRM ones. I hope that helps!

Hi Mark - welcome to the forum! You're right, the track fixing clips have not been available for a while. There might be some out there somewhere in a retailer's dusty spares box, but I imagine most have been rooted out by now. I have no idea if there are plans to reintroduce them in the future - although the new catalogue is unveiled on Monday. Another way of attaching Scalextric track to a base board is to use a small amount of silicone sealant (silicone 'caulk' in north America). Run along the bottom edges of the assembled track, it is secure and flexible (which allows for a small amount of flexing caused by temperature changes) and can easily be removed by running a knife between track and board. Works for the borders and barriers too. I hope that helps.

Hello Monkey magic - welcome to the forum! Scalextric have not produced spares like chassis for some time. It is best to contact Customer Services (link to contact details right or below) and see what they can do for you. Good luck!

Hi Teddy60 - welcome to the forum! It's not something easy to do online, especially without photos. I believe that the Set 60 was produced for just one year (1964) and was produced in the UK and in France. Depending on the condition of the box and the contents, it will only be worth what someone is prepared to pay... A look at Ebay (current and past listings via Google) can be a place to start, but the prices there must be taken with a large pinch of salt - an item is only worth anything when it is sold. French Set 60s do appear on eBay for high prices (£500 - £2,000), but there is no evidence that they sold at these prices. I haven't seen any UK Set 60s listed, although there are some DB4s and Ferraris for a few pounds to £75-100 depending on condition, colours etc. That might suggest the cars are worth more than the set. Most certainly a better way to find the value of your set is to contact a Scalextric dealer such as Phil Smith or Scale Models who would do a proper valuation. There is also the National Scalextric Collectors Club (NSCC) who could offer advice. Good luck!

Hello Captain - welcome to the forum! I presume from what you say that you have an ARC Pro set? Maybe the Sunset Speedway that has three cars. The most common reason for Scalextric digital sets to have all three cars being run by the same controller is that they are all connected (or 'programmed') to the same colour on the powerbase. This can happen if all the cars were on the track when connecting a car (page 10 of the ARC Pro Quick Start Guide) - every car on track will become connected to that colour. I would try connecting the cars - one on track at a time - to the colours you want them connected to, closely following the instructions on page 10 of the Quick Start Guide. If you have three cars, I would strongly recommend connected them (and the controllers) to red, green and blue. This makes using the app a lot easier. Another way it could happen is if the powerbase is mistakenly turn to 'analogue mode' - which gives traditional one-car-per-lane racing. If all three cars are on the same lane, one controller will drive them all. There is a small switch on the left side of the powerbase which toggles between analogue and digital modes. Analogue is the position closest to the track, digital is the position furthest away. You will also notice the app displays the silver 'ARC Air' logo in the top right of the screen when in analogue mode and the red 'ARC Pro' logo when in digital mode. I can't see any way of the app causing this problem, but one way to make sure is to run the cars without the app connected. If you still have the problem, then it is definitely not the app. I have written up a Guide to racing with the app, which may be useful to you, but probably not with this problem. You can find it here: slotracer.online/arc-pro-guide Do let us know how you get on and if any of those ideas fix them problem. If not, I am sure some more problem-solving is possible - do tell us what set you have. Good luck!

Hi Alan 1) Wireless vs wired. My personal preference is wireless controllers because you are not tied to the powerbase. That's probably more important if you are racing with other people, rather than racing alone. I like the ARC controllers and they are very good value and can be customised within the ARC app (see here). The new wireless Slot.it SCP3 controller will be an upgrade for the ARC controllers. The wireless options for the C7042 are excellent quality, but expensive. 2) C7042 vs ARC Pro. Potentially, the C7042 + USB cable + Windows computer + race management software + pit lane sensors + wireless controller/receiver system has more features than ARC Pro + a smart device + ARC or Magic app. The C7042 + all the add-ons is also more complex, with a lot more to learn and - potentially a lot more to go wrong. The most important questions to answer are "what features do I want?" and "how much do I want to spend?". If you will be racing with friends and family, then ARC Pro does everything the full "deluxe" version of the C7042 + add-ons offers, although the simulations (fuel consumption, tyre wear, weather etc) are less detailed and can't be customised to the same extent. If someone was used to racing with RCS64 and couldn't accept anything less, then the ARC app would be mildly disappointing to some (but not all). The Magic app offers more customisation to the race formats and simulations and there are plenty of ex-C7042 racers who enjoy it. I have produced a guide to racing with the ARC app here: slotracer.online/arc-pro-guide/index If you will be running on your own against pace cars, then RCS64 offers fabulous pace car features. In comparison, ARC Pro is very simple (one pace car, single speed setting). If pace cars are what you want, the C7042 would be the best choice - and you won't be spending much on controllers. With ARC Pro, the Magic app offers a more complex pace car option, but not as fully-featured as RCS64. One final things to say on the ARC Pro vs C7042 question - ARC Pro is still very new and is in the early stages of its development process. There is likely to be more hardware and software developed by enthusiasts - and there may be more upgrades from Scalextric too. The C7042 is most probably at the end of its development process - third-party hardware or software have not been updated for some years. What we have is very good, but it won't be improved or added to. 3) Big screens. The Scalextric ARC app can only be run on a smart device. The Magic app also has a Windows Bluetooth option. Phones and tablets can be easily linked to monitors and projectors, so the apps can be also viewed on a big screen. The Scalextric ARC app displays in a vertical (portrait) orientation, which is trickier than you might imagine to display neatly. I find a 9.7" tablet screen is perfectly fine for four racers (thanks to the controller rumble prompts) - larger tablets are available. If I were to use a big screen, I would choose a digital projector displaying onto a projector screen or a white wall. This is one of the things I look at in my ARC Pro Guide here: slotracer.online/arc-pro-guide/sharing I hope that helps.

Hi Alan The Truspeed/SCS system simply plugs into the C7042 powerbase. The receiver has six cables and each plugs into a controller port on the powerbase. The Truspeed controllers communicate by wireless radio with the receiver. This means the system works with the powerbase alone, with the Scalextric display tower attached or the powerbase to USB computer cable linked to a Windows computer running any of the race management programs (SSDC, RCS64 etc) that will work the standard Scalextric digital controllers. In other words, this wireless system is a direct replacement for the standard Scalextric digital controllers. I've only used the Scorpius controllers with the C7042 on one occasion. These connect to a Scorpius wireless receiver dongle plugged into a USB port on a Windows PC. This means that the C7042 powerbase must be connected to the Windows computer and be running a suitable race management program for the Scorpius controllers to be able to drive the cars. I know that SSDC and RCS64 can both run with the Scorpius controllers and I understand that they should work with most other programs too. I did read that there are problems connecting Scorpius controllers to two of the car IDs, but that may have been fixed - and four controllers may be more than enough for your purposes anyway. If you Google "Truspeed slot car controllers" and "Scorpius Wireless" then you will be able to find out more and contact Steve and Rick who have developed the two systems. The ARC wireless controllers will not work with either the Truspeed/SCS receiver box or the Scorpius receiver dongle. I hope that helps.

I think a Windows version of the ARC app is unlikely... but that's only my opinion and I am always happy to be proved wrong. As for future thinking... any company in a competitive marketplace will keep that sort of information very close to their chests - I am sure Scalextric's competitors would love to know all their future plans even more than we do! However, the 2020 Scalextric range is unveiled on Monday (6 January) - so their plans for the next 12 months will be there for all to see. And if we read between the lines, we might be able to make some guesses about the direction Scalextric are heading in the next few years? Happy New Year!

Hi Andre - Some of my ARC controllers have had a lot of heavy use and they are still working fine (apart from an occasional battery change). If I was having issues, I might look at opening up the controller and spraying the slider with a little contact cleaner. The only other controller-specific issue I have come across is batteries - when they run low, the controller can start to behave very oddly. I always use good quality AA alkalines (Energizer). I have heard some ARC users struggle with cheap AA single-use batteries and rechargeables. You may have done this already, but the sure-fire way of seeing if it is a controller issue is to connect the Red controller to Green on the powerbase and see if the power drop moves with the controller. If it moved to Green, then there is something that needs cleaning or replacing on that controller. If it doesn't move, then test again by connecting the original Green controller to Red - if the power drop has stayed on Red, then there is a powerbase or software issue. By the way, does this happen in both digital and analogue mode, or just one? And this is your new powerbase from the Le Mans set with the latest PIC firmware?

Hi Sam - the ends of the Scalextric axles are roughed up (knurled) to hold the plastic wheels. That makes them less than good for fitting decent racing wheels (either aluminium or plastic). The new Scalextric wheels are the same size as most racing wheels, so I would experiment with what you have and start by trying some racing tyres. The alternative is to replace the entire rear axle assembly - the correct length Slot.it axle, an inline Slot.it spur gear, bronze or brass bushings (to fit Scalextric - eg Slot.it PA68) and then wheels of your choice. Most racing wheels are either 8mm or 10mm wide. Choose one with the same diameter as the Scalextric wheels and choose similar wheel insert to make them look nice - and tyres. Aluminium wheels are preferable - you will need an Allen key or screwdriver to fit the Slot.it grub screws on the wheels and the spur gear. A good place in the UK to buy the tune-up parts is Pendle Slot Racing. They will be very helpful in making sure you get what you need. They may suggest a new pinion gear on the motor, for which you'll need a simple pinion tool. Although there are 12mm wheels and tyres available, these are F1 wheels and will probably be too high for the Mercedes and its bodywork. I do think you'll find the extra grip you are looking for with the standard wheels and Slot.it 10mm wide tyres. A change of rear axle, gear, bushings and aluminium wheels (+ inserts) should give you a smoother ride, but at a price (about £16-20 vs £5.40 for two pairs of tyres). Happy New Year!

Hi Alan - No, the ARC controllers won't work with the C7042 powerbase. It is possible to set-up a wireless controller system with the C7042, but it does get expensive. We bought Truspeed SSD IV controllers and SCS receiver box for the club in Worthing. The controllers were £50 each and the box £75. Neither seem available at the moment, but you could try contacting Steve at Truspeed. A more expensive wireless alternative are the Scorpius controllers that link to a USB dongle on the PC. We are talking in excess of £100 per controller, plus the dongle... You can see how Scalextric have done a great job with ARC Pro, packing a lot of great features into a very reasonably-priced system. If the only thing ARC Pro is lacking for you is the pit lane sensors, I think you'd do okay just to enforce the "do pit work outside the pit lane and you're disqualified" rule - it works for me. Happy New Year!

Hi ru4_it - welcome to the forum! That sounds very much like a compatibility issue with your device. What device are you running the ARC app on? As a rule of thumb, Apple (iOS) devices should connect and the Legacy app should work reliably with even 8-year-old models such as the iPhone 4s. Some features of the current ARC app (eg Pace Car) may not work with these really old devices. The 2015-17 Amazon Fire tablets work well with the Fire OS version of the ARC app and the Legacy app. The latest models (2019) can have problems with the current app (I understand the developer are working on this), but should work fine with the Legacy app. I recommend using Fire tablets running Fire OS and the Fire OS version of the app. Users have reported disappointing results running the Android version of the ARC app after installing Google Play Store on their Fire tablet. Android devices can be hit and miss, especially for older models - and this is true for both the Legacy and current app. It is important that GPS/location features are switched on and all permissions are granted for the ARC app. However, some Android phones and tablets are simply not compatible with the ARC app. There is discussion on this thread: www.scalextric.com/uk-en/forum/arc-app-device-compatibility Sometimes, the issue can be a faulty install that requires a fresh download of the app. There are some compatibility and faulty-install trouble-shooting tips here: slotracer.online/arc-pro-guide/problems I would suggest that you try all of those tips and see if you can get the app to work with your ARC Air on your device. If you have no success, the next step is to borrow as many different compatible devices as you can (a mix of Android, iOS and Amazon - using the current app and the Legacy app) and see if you can get the app and powerbase working with at least some of those. If you find no devices will connect or run the app features as you would expect, that would suggest there is a fault with the powerbase and you will need a replacement - either from the retailer or by contacting Scalextric Customer Services (details below or right). However, unless you try other devices and identify the powerbase as the issue, a replacement will probably behave in exactly the same way. I hope that helps and you are enjoying ARC Air as soon as possible.

Hi SamG - welcome to the forum! The service sheets stopped several years ago when Scalextric decided to stop stocking and selling spare parts for new cars. The last cars to have service sheets were the BMW Z4, Aston Martin Vantage, BMW 125i and the Honda Civic Type R - although hardly any spares were ever available for these cars. As for the Mercedes-AMG GT3, this is one of the best-handling GT3 cars produced by Scalextric. The Scalextric AMG is nice and wide with a rear track width of 61mm. The recent Scalextric GT and touring cars share a common wheels size, which are compatible with performance brands such as Slot.it. This means racing tyres from Slot.it will fit the Scalextric wheels. If you are after a little extra width and a more grippy compound, you could look at either the C1 or P6 compounds for use with Scalextric Sport track. I use the Slot.it P24 tyre (P6 compound) and that works very well on my GT3 and BTCC cars which I race without traction magnets on Scalextric Sport track. The width of these tyres is 10mm. I hope that helps.

Hi Carlos - welcome to the forum! I think the best thing to do is to contact Scalextric Customer Service (contact details right or below) and ask their advice. Good luck!

Hi Steven - thanks for the reply. The Digital Super GT set (with a Porsche 911, Aston DBR9 and Dodge Viper) came with the 4-car powerbase and a 15 volt 4 amp power supply. That powerbase had a power issue with four cars, but two or three cars should work fine. Has the set worked okay in the past? If it's new to you, please do check the power supply is 15V and 4 amps (it should be marked on the underside of the 'brick') - that would explain the problem. If the set has worked okay in the past with 2 or 3 cars and has recently developed this fault, I would check if it is either the track or the powerbase. First remove the powerbase track from the rest of the circuit. Plug it in and then run the cars just on the powerbase track (with their rear wheels in the air - you might need an extra pair of hands for this!). If the cars behave in the same way - one car good, two cars a power drop - then I think you have a faulty powerbase (or possibly power supply). You'll be looking at buying a replacement, although you could contact Scalextric Customer Services and ask nicely if they could help... If the cars work fine on the powerbase piece, it suggests that some maintenance on the track is required - especially tightening the tabs under the track. Have a look at these tips here: www.scalextric.com/uk-en/support/track-maintenance You should also look at car maintenance too. I'm pretty sure that's not the cause, but clean and smooth-running cars will need less power: www.scalextric.com/uk-en/support/car-maintenance I hope that helps.

Hi Steven - welcome to the forum! It sounds like the powerbase is not delivering enough power to the track, which is unusual with just two cars - unless you have the incorrect power supply. Can you let us know what digital powerbase you have (eg ARC Pro, 4-car powerbase, C7042 Advanced 6-car powerbase etc) and the reference number on the power supply (eg P9300, C7024, C7004, C7033 etc) - or the output rating in volts and amps if it is not a Scalextric or Hornby unit. Also, does this happen whatever combination of the three cars you use? Thanks

Hi Alan - for the C7042 six-car Advanced Powerbase only, there are these third-party upgrade options: USB to C7042 APB cable & PitPro Deluxe (pit lane sensor). Both available from RikoRocket here.Alternative pit lane sensors - SmartSensor from SmartRacing here.Scalextric Sport Digital Console (SSDC) software here. A free 30-day trial is available.Race Control Systems 64 (RCS64) software here. A free 30-day trial is available. These are all products I have used and enjoy. You will also need a Windows PC or laptop with at least two USB ports and meeting the system requirements of your chosen software package. Apart from SSDC and RCS64, there are other race management systems (eg PCLapCounter, Race Co-ordinator Digital etc) available. A firmware upgrade for the C7042 Advanced Powerbase is necessary to run the various software packages. This requires the APB-to-USB cable, plus a firmware update tool - all the instructions are on the SSDC site here. None of these hardware or software options will work with ARC Pro. The only third-party option currenty available for ARC Pro is the Magic app here. There is also a guide to racing with ARC Pro using the Scalextric ARC app here.