Why & When Slot Cars Fail

[4424ever]

Ok I’m going to kind of stay out of this because I enjoy my cars for what they are labeling them is irrelevant to me and I will do with them as I please no matter what anyone has to say :lol: eg I have a collection of street cars and I’ve heard comments in the past to the effect it’s stupid to convert a race car into a street car ( I never commented ) so what I like mine and will build more NANA NANA NA NA
PS where can I get those Little Debbie’s I never had them with special goo they sound yummy :lol:

[mattb]

Bottom line is racers can't get together without some kind of snacks and a break during a race nite. There can be a difference of opinion on everything else!!

[HomeRacingWorld]

[slothead]

For years I attended scientific conferences where researchers would argue over every detail and way of interpreting something. When I first saw this in graduate school I thought this meant they never got along, then I'd see them at dinner sharing wine and asking about families and friends. When people are passionate about something, and have an informed opinion, it's positive to have a place to share perspectives.

Today's RTR cars tend to look so good (if you're not a rivet counter as Harry says), that it's easy to think they are intended to be amazing miniature race cars too, straight out of the box. For most everyday uses they are. In comparison, the Strombecker cars that I had as a kid were pure crap, but I loved them and raced them for years. Those cars and sets met expectations in the sense they performed well enough for my needs. Today's brands do the same in my opinion, and with magnets make you feel like an accomplished racer given the speeds you can attain.

Somewhere an engineer was/is tasked with coming up with chassis, axle, and plastic wheel configurations that will meet a basic set of specs for the manufacturer's purposes. I imagine he/she isn't interested in racing and doesn't know anything about racing, all they need to do is engineer the fit so it works good enough given the torque of the stock motor, alignment of the chassis, plastic used for the wheels, and grip of the stock tires. And the solution needs to be cost effective (cheap). When we change parts, as we should to suit our purposes, we change things in the basic configuration the parts were designed for. The increased stresses will find their way to the weakest link and over time something may fail because it was asked to do more than it was designed to do.

Also, I have to add that for many of my friends growing up they didn't get full enjoyment out of a toy till they figured out how to break it. Making something a kid can abuse to the point of satisfaction he busted it is part of the equation. Keep jumping that Walmart RC monster truck over bigger and bigger things till you snap an axle, have a good laugh, high-five your friends, post the video, then go do something else and brag about it. Designing something that can't be busted would take the fun out of it for a lot of folks.

[ourwayband]

[BRS Hobbies]

I think track voltage and running the cars on other brands of slot car tracks are big factors in a slot car chassis failure.

Scalextric cars are first and foremost designed to run the best on Scalextric track which has a somewhat slippery track surface. I doubt the wheels are coming off regularly with a stock Scalextric slot car on a Scalextric track.

Take the same car and run it on a NINCO track at 18 volts and you may run into problems, since NINCO track has raised track rails and a grippy track surface. The Scalextric traction magnet is very strong which will really put a lot of stress on the car on a NINCO track. In this case, you would be much better off taking out the stock traction magnet and using a track voltage of 12 volts.

Every product has limits and some may be pushing the limits and not even realize it.

Best regards,
Brian