Getting started

[Darren-359546]

Hi All,

Back in the 1970s my dad got me an Airfix slot car racing set. I think we had the Monte Carlo one with he red and white minis and another one with a Lotus cortina and a Vauxhall Viva. I absolutely loved racing those sets.

Moving on a few years to the late 1980s, I had a Saturday job at Beatties in West London and I bought a set which I think was called Mighty Metros. That was my last experience with Scalextric

I left the UK in 2012 and now I live in North Carolina with my wife and young son. I'd like to get my son into Scalextric and I have been looking for a set for him but things have changed a lot it seems. I was going to go for the British Touring cars set but that is no longer available so now maybe the new James Bond set with the DB5 and Vantage.

I've also been looking at these ARC sets, I read the blurb for the ARC pro set and I am not sure i like the sound of, It sounds more like a video game than a scalextric. I also looked at the ARC air and I have no clue what that is and there seem to be few details about.

I am going off to look at some Youtube video about ARC and see if it something that interest me. My question here though is - If you were to re-enter the world of Scalextric with the hope to get your young son/daughter into the hobby, Which set would you buy?

Thanks,

[Andy P.]

Hi Darren,

I personally think this page explains things pretty well:

https://uk.scalextric.com/community/advice/app-race-control

It's a subset of this page which also has a ton of info:

https://uk.scalextric.com/community/advice

Since you live in the US your "home" brands are AFX and other H0 scale track. I never understood why the US with its large houses and space concentrates on the smallest scale slot cars... :-)

If you go for the most common size (1/32) your main choices are Scalextric or Carrera.

I will admit Carrera has the advantage of allowing 1/24 scale cars to race.

Personally though I have Scalextric (I am not an employee, I do the moderation out of the goodness of my heart) because I live in Germany (even though I am American) where space is at a premium and Carrera track is wider. I also like that the Scalextric track looks more realistic.

Regarding ARC:

I am not sure what you have read but in my opinion ARC filled a gap that has been needed for a long time to make slot racing something more than a Christmas activity that is forgotten for most of the year:

1. Lap counting
2. Lap timing
3. Pit stops
4. Statistics for comparison
5. etc

Being more like a video game is not necessarily a bad thing. Thanks to ARC you can improve your skills and improve your cars. Your standard analog lap counters can't provide you with that.

ARC AIR is a great start (see the link above for what it entails). ARC PRO is more expensive but allows you to expand to digital racing later (which allows up to 6 cars on a 2-lane layout) as well as analog.

I would not worry too much about what set you buy. Get a set that has cars you like and then has the types of track you want. The second market like Bay of E and others is very active and there are swap meets and events that you can get stuff very cheap.

Hope that helps!

[Paul-346202]

Darren, I would think Carrera is cheaper in the states. Carrera GO or 1:32 is a good option. In the UK it makes more sense to go with Scalextric as it is cheap and Carrera is harder to get hold of.

Policar is a more expensive and more hobby focused option. Of you do go with Scalextric then ARC air is a great option if you want to stay analogue.

I would get some Scalextric start cars which you can take the magnets out of and tune. They are crash resistant too and very cheap so great to start with. Unfortunately the price of new Scalextric cars is very high for a toy car.

If you want a hobby level experience there are other options. Scalextric have some fantastic detailed cars if your looking to just keep them on a shelf or collect.

[Andy P.]

Carrera Gi! cars are roughly 1/43 scale and run lovely on Scalextric Sport track. You have to shave the guide pin though as it is a bit "pear shaped" and will bind in curves.

Nothing a few flicks of a hobby knife can't fix...