Information AboutSlot Car |
|
Slot car racing is the hobby of racing electrically-powered Model Car s that are built to run on Track s with a groove or slot to guide the car. Users can run and race the cars with a hand-held controller or Throttle that regulates a small, Electric Motor hidden within the car; greater pressure on the throttle produces a greater speed. Each car runs on a separate lane, with its own slot. The challenge in racing slot cars comes in taking curves at the highest speed that will not cause the car to lose its grip on the track and spin sideways or 'deslot' and go flying spectacularly. Though many slot car racers prefer a racetrack unobstructed by scenery, some enthusiasts, much as in Rail Transport Modelling , will build elaborate tracks, sculpted to have the appearance of a real-life racecourse including model buildings, trees and people. Slot car racing has a smaller (though no less enthusiastic) following than model railroading. Most slot cars are models (more or less to scale) of actual automobiles, but some racers like to use purpose-designed or custom body styles. Most enthusiasts use commercially available slot cars (often modified for better performance), others motorize static models, and some "scratch-build" - create their own mechanisms and bodies from basic parts and materials. A marvelous online history of slot cars can be found at HO World , taken from the Louis H. Hertz book on model racing. HOW IT WORKS Left is a schematic diagram of the wiring of typical 1/24 and 1/32 scale slot car setups. The track is part of a circuit, and the voltage is varied by a resistor in the hand controller. Power is carried by metal strips next to the slot, and is picked up by contacts alongside the guide flag (a swiveling blade) under the front of the slot car, which take it to the car's motor. HO slot cars work on a similar principle. Two 'pickup shoes' carry current to the car's motor from raised metal rails on the track. A guide pin or swiveling guide flag located near the front of the car, rides in a groove in the track and steers the car. Today, in all scales, 'downforce' or 'traction' magnets are often used to help hold the car to the track at higher speeds, though some enthusiasts believe magnet-free racing provides greater driving challenge and enjoyment. COMMON SLOT CAR SCALES There are three common slotcar scales (sizes): 1/24 scale, 1/32 scale, and so-called HO size (1/87 to 1/64 scale). Usual pronunciation of the scale name is "one twenty-fourth," "one thirty-second," and so forth. Sometimes, model scales are written as 1:24, 1:32, 1:87, and pronounced "one to twenty-four," etc. - 1/24 scale cars are built so that 1 unit of length (such as an inch or millimeter) on the model equals 24 units on the actual car. Thus, a model of a Jaguar XK-E (185" or 4.7m overall length) would be 7.7" long (19.6 cm) in 1/24 scale. 1/24 cars require a course so large as to be impractical for many home enthusiasts, so most serious 1/24 racing is done at commercial or club tracks. - 1/32 scale cars are smaller and more suited to home-sized race courses but they are also widely raced on commercial tracks, in hobbyshops or in clubs. This scale is the most popular in Europe. Our Jaguar XK-E would be about 5.8" (14.7 cm) in 1/32 scale. - HO-sized cars vary in scale. The original small slot cars of the early 1960s were very close to 1/87 scale, because they were intended to function as accessories for HO (1/87) model trains (or OO-scale, 1/76, in Britain). As racing in this size evolved, the chassis (and therefore bodies) were enlarged to take more powerful motors, and today are closer to 1/64 in scale, but they still run on track of approximately the same width, and are generically referred to as HO slot cars. They are not always accurate scale models, since the proportions of the tiny bodies must often be stretched somewhat to accommodate a standard motor and mechanism. The E-Jaguar scales out to 2.1" (5.3 cm) in 1/87 and 2.9" (7.3 cm) in 1/64. Though there is HO racing on commercial and shop-tracks, probably most HO racing occurs on home racetracks. In addition, there has historically been some activity in the 1/48 to 1/43 range. 1/43 cars are generally marketed today (2006) as children's toys rather than hobby items, though of course there are some adult hobbyists working with this equipment. SLOTLESS AND DIGITAL RACING In the mid and late 1970s several manufacturers came out with primitive slotless racing systems that theoretically allowed cars to pass one another from the same lane. These included Aurora's XLerators, Lionel's Power Passers and Ideal's Total Control Racing (TCR). Most worked on a system of multiple rails that allowed one car to speed up momentarily and move to the outside to pass. Though briefly successful as toy products, none of these systems worked well enough to be taken up by serious hobbyists. In 2004, a number of traditional slot car manufacturers such as Scalextric, SCX and Carrera introduced ''Digital Slot Racing'' to the market. Digital slot racing promises to fundamentally change the way in which circuits are constructed and in which races are held, making them much more like real life. You can now race multiple cars on one lane, and change lanes to overtake. So far digital racing is the most popular in the U.K. and one of the best websites for information on digital slot racing can be found at: http://www.digitalslotcar.co.uk/ SLOT RACING ORGANIZATIONS HO Organizations There are two large HO racing organizations in the US: HOPRA and UFHORA . Each hosts a national competition annually, usually in July. There are many state-wide organizations running under HOPRA and/or UFHORA rule sets. The Fray In Ferndale boasts the largest turnout of any slot car race in the world, where the best show up to compete for top honors. The highly competitive race is held yearly, in February, and more than 100 individuals, and 16 teams, show up to race on 8 tables. This is the race that determines the direction that the hobby takes, regarding the venerable Aurora Thunderjet. The race has been held since 1997. Unlike 1/24th scale tracks, HO race tracks can be small enough to fit in common basements. As such, most state organizations run some, if not most, of their series on home tracks as opposed to hobby shop tracks. Additionally, home tracks are often used for national competition. 1/24th scale racing organizations There are many different local, regional, national, and international organizations for 1/24 scale slot cars. 1/24 scale is primarilarily raced at commercial slot car raceways. The largest USA organisation, holding 2 Divisional USA National Championship events every year, is the USRA United Slot Racers Association. The 2006 Division 1 (Wing) Nationals (or "Nats") will be held at Chicagoland Raceway in the Chicago suburb of LaGrange starting on July 27th and concluding on August 6th. All races will be run on the Mike Swiss designed and built American Raceways "Blue King" replica. The 2006 Division 2 (Scale) Nationals will be held at Slot Car Raceway in Rohnert Park, CA starting on April 18 and concluding on April 23rd. Coverage of the 2006 Division 2 Nats USRA 2006 Rules USRA 2006 Competition Rules including classes, event regulations and lists of approved parts for "group" racing classes. The 25th World Slot Car Championship (aka "The Worlds") will be held May 17-21 2006 in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil at Top Slot Raceways. It will be sanctioned by the NPRA which is a South American slot racing federation. More information can be found at: http://www.npra.com.br/ 1/32nd scale racing organizations In 2004, the True Scale Racing Federation was established by former pro 1/24 racer Phillipe de Lespinay (aka: PdL) with the goal being to establish a north American "true scale" 1/24 and 1/32 North American racing series. The TSRF concept is very similar to full-scale "spec" racing where only TSRF approved equipment can be used for competition. Although the TSRF-legal equipment has been available for some time, the racing series is still in its genesis, having mostly run points-races in the Buena Park, CA area. It is important to note that the TSRF racing series has attracted "name" racers such as Mike Steube, Paul Sterrett, and Mike Aguirre. COMPETITION TRACKS HO Scale competition tracks are typically between 60 and 100ft in legth and 4 lanes wide. 6 Lane tracks are also fairly common, however 8 lane tracks are rare. Competition tracks are most often laid out as road courses with many turns, though ovals and "tank tread" (trapezoidal) ovals are also fairly common. Each lane on the track is marked with a color to distinguish it from the others, this allows the "marshals" (a.k.a corner marshals, people who stand around the track and return cars that have spun off the track to the proper lane) to easily discern which lane a particular car belongs in (a colored sticker, often referred to as "lane tape" is attached to the car to identify which lane it belongs to). Many of the HO tracks used for competition are hand built from the original plastic track sections that are sold in race sets. Unmodified, these tracks often make a clicking noise as the car passes over the joints. For this reason they are often referred to as "clickety-clack tracks". Some tracks are extensively modified to improve their quality by gluing the segments together, filling the gaps between them, and tearing out all of the individual segments' rails, replacing them with one single continuous rail (both types are referred to as "plastic tracks"). Often such tracks are built with a dividing line down the center so that they may be taken apart and moved more easily. Commercial tracks and some home tracks often have all the slots cut into a single large panel of wood or other construction material to provide the smoothest racing surface (these are known as "routed tracks"). 1/24 Scale tracks used for competition are generally 6-8 lanes and the slot is routed in a wooden surface with either wooden or flexible plastic retaining walls (so called "soft walls"). The tracks are usually located in commercial or purpose built racing centres. Most of the tracks used in the USRA regional and national events are either original American Raceways (AMF) commercial tracks or copies of these designs made from original blueprints. The most popular type of 1/24 track is the "Blue King" (155 feet) which is the track that is recognized for "world records" in 1/24 racing. The current ultimate qualifying world record lap is held by Marcio Paschoalin 1.492 seconds set in Rio de Janeiro Brazil at the Brazilian "Nats" on 11/13/2005. The "King" track is somewhat unique in that the segments of track are "named" starting from the main straight in an anti-clock wise direction: bank, chute, deadman (corner), finger, back straight, 90 (corner), donut (corner), lead-on, and top-turn. Generally tracks used for regional or national competition have an epoxy or polymer painted surface with braided electrical contacts. In USRA division 1, the use of traction enhancing compounds on the racing surface ("glue") is allowed. The controllers or throttles are usually handheld and attached by plugs or clips to the terminals in the driver's station. Originally controlers used only two connections and a variable resistor to control power to their lane of the track. This had the disadvantage of requiring a different controller with a different range of resistance for different classes. Modern controllers are significantly more sophisticated utilizing transistors or diodes and a sensitivity adjustment to allow one controller to be used for all classes. Modern controllers usually require three connections - one to the power terminal (customarily white), one to the brake terminal (red), and one to the track terminal (black). Additionally, modern controllers usually feature an adjustable "brake", "coast", and "dial-out". Breaking works by temporarily cutting the power-source out of the circuit and connecting the rails together via a resistor; this converts the car's spinning motor into a generator, and the magnetic forces that turned the motor are now slowing it down. Coast allows a certain amount of power to continue to the track after the driver has "let-off" (which would normally disconnect the power to the car). A dial-out allows the driver to add resistance to the entire circuit in order to limit the maximum amount of power that can reach the car. Tracks are wired in one of two ways: with the power terminal connected to the power source positive and the brake terminal negative, or the other way around. The first configuration is known as "positive gate", and the second is known as "negative gate". Modern controllers typically must be wired accordingly or they will be damaged, thus most modern controllers feature a switch to configure them for either positive or negative gate. Most rule sets require tracks to provide voltage between 18.5 and 19.0 volts, and at least 5 amps per lane. Car betteries or high-end power supplies are used to achieve this, with the former being disqualified from use at national UFHORA events due to their inconsistent voltage. Generally, tracks for formal competition may have banked corners and may bridge one section over another, but may not otherwise use "trick" configurations. Home tracks, on the other hand, often include special features to increase the drama and/or challenge of racing, such as slots that wiggle or squeeze the lanes closer together, bumps, airborne jumps, or sections of uneven surfaces. Such tracks are typically called "toy" tracks and are not used for competition in "professional" organizations. COMPETITION CLASSES HO Racing Classes HOPRA and UFHORA run similar classes and similar rules for those classes. The follwing are brief explanations of some of those classes. General rules specify the size of the car and anything else that pertains to all classes. Superstock (HOPRA and UFHORA): Cars may have at most 4 magnets (2 to drive the motor and 2 "traction" magnets for additional downforce). All magnets must be ceramic. Motors must be stock, and may be balanced and/or trued (referred to as "hot-stock"). Modified (HOPRA): Also known as "ceramic modified" is the same as superstock above, but the motor is unrestricted and the chasis may be sanded. Modified (UFHORA): Cars may have at most 4 magnets (2 to drive the motor and 2 "traction" magnets for additional downforce). Motor magnets must be ceramic, traction magnets may be polymer. Motor is unrestricted. Polymer Modified (HOPRA)/Restricted Open (UFHORA): Cars may have at most 4 magnets (2 to drive the motor and 2 "traction" magnets for additional downforce). All magents may be polymer. Motor is unrestricted. Chasis may be sanded. Shunt wires may be used. Unlimited (UFHORA and HOPRA): No restrictions. Custom chasis permitted. Six Neodymium Magnets are usually employed. 1/24 Racing classes Most 1/24 racing series use some variation of the USRA rules. The USRA rules have their roots in the NCC rules of 1971 which were written with the goal of making a number of under-classes in slot racing to allow more diversity in competition. USRA Division 1: a) Spec-15: Amateur only b) GP-12: Amateur and Expert c) International 15 (15A): Amateur and Expert d) Cobalt 12/15: Amateur and Expert e) Group 27: Amateur and Expert f) Group 7 (open): Semi-Pro and Pro There is also a class in its genesis called "One Motor Only" that is similar to Group 7 with the difference being that motor changes after tech are not allowed. USRA Division 2: a) Group 10 Stock Car b) Production 4 1/2" Stock Car c) GTP d) GT-1 e) GT-12 f) C-12e g) Eurosport See the current edition of the USRA rules for technical specifications and approved parts for USRA "group" racing classes. Other international organisations such as the IMCA have their own classifications and techincal regulations. Contact the organisation directly for their latest rules and series schedule. COMPETITION FORMATS Several race formats are employed in competition as time allows. The quickest to run is called round robin, which can be run in either of two ways. The first (and least common) way is begin with one driver on one lane of the track, a segment usually consisting of 2 minutes is run in which the driver attempts to complete as many laps as he can. "Marshals" (or "corner marshals"), usually consisting of drivers waiting for their turn on the track, stand around the edge of the track and replace any car that falls off. The lanes are generally colour coded or numbered and each race car has a sticker indicating the lane colour or number that that car is racing in. This is to help the marshall properly replace the car in the correct lane if and when it should happen to come "out". When the segment time has elapsed, a small amount of time, usually one minute, is given for the driver to switch lanes, perform any necessary maintenance to his car, and return his car to its resting position (albeit in a different lane). At the same time, the next driver in the succession moves into the first lane, placing his car at the starting position. When a driver completes all the lanes, his total laps and final position are recorded. This continues until all drivers have completed all lanes. Lap totals are compared to determine placement. The second (and most common) way to run a round robin is to have four drivers (or as many as there are lanes) start at a time, and rotate through all the lanes, before being replaced by the next set of drivers. This is known as a "heat" or "consi". Often a small amount of practice time (usually 30 seconds) will be given to the drivers prior to the start of each heat. If there are an odd number of drivers such that they are not wholly divisible into the number of lanes, one of two measures is taken: either a heat is run with one or more positions unfilled, or a heat is run with extra drivers, with a "sit-out" position. After all drivers have run their heat, placement is determined by total laps completed. Often round robins are modified to include a "main" and sometimes also a "last-chance" heat. When run with a main, the round robin is run as normal, but at the end the top competitors (as many as there are lanes) run an extra heat. This heat is usually longer (3 to 5 minutes per segment, 1.5 "pit" time, and 1 minute practice before the heat). At the end the drivers are re-placed based on the new lap totals. Last-chance heats are similar to mains. The top competitors (number of lanes minus one) from the round robin move into the main, and the runners-up (as many as there are lanes) are moved into the last chance heat. The last chance heat is run before the main, and is usually run with the same time parameters as the other heats. At the end, the top competitors from the last-chance are re-placed based on their new lap totals (though never lower than a comptetitor that didn't make the last-chance), and the winner of the heat moves into the final position in the main. Most racing organisations allow a "track call" (where the power is turned off) for a situation where a race car is in the wrong lane. This is also referred to as a "rider" and is considered to be a dangerous and unfair situation. Track calls are also sometimes used in the event that a car flies off the table and cannot be located by a marshal. Bracketed formats are usually reserved for national events, and include qualifying, elimination consis, semifinals, and a main. HALL OF FAME John Ford has compiled a list of the greatest pro slot racers of all time; the web page containing the Hall of Fame listing is at: http://www.slotcars.org/hallofame/ MANUFACTURERS Producers of HO slot cars and tracks include:
Producers of 1/32 slot cars, accessories and tracks include:
Producers of 1/24 slot cars, accessories and tracks include: 2KK Carbon Fibre Chassis
EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|