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What is the difference between a plastic guide and one for a routed track?
Can you use a wood guide on a plastic track and get the same performance and can you use a plastic on a wood track and get the same performance?
Thanks.

Nothing much.

Commercial track wood guides are just larger and have different mounting. Mostly they are deeper and need a slot at least 1/4 inch or deeper.

Plastic tracks like Carrera accept "wood guides" as well as other brands, but sometimes the require some trimming.

Using other guides like Slot.it and Sloting plus are the best options for plastic. They need little if any trimming or sanding.

Keep in mind that if you have VERY tight radius corners or are using older track systems like SCX/Scalextric classic, most of them are too deep. Once you sand them you might as well left the old ones in place.

The main benefit of changing the guide is eliminating the "slop" or freeplay most RTR models have. A deeper and longer blade is of course an improvement, but having it stable is the key to better operation.

Thanks Harry and nhdungeonracer so the main thing is to eliminate the wobble in the post.
Dose anyone have a pictorial of how to do this.

Thanks for the info.

Just a quick addition to what's been said above. Scalex Sport plastic track slot is a little over 7mm deep. The slots in SCX and Scalex Classic tracks are a little under. I've had little problem with any guide other than Carrera on my Scaley Sport track. The only problems with the Carrera guides (even the change out ones for Scaley track) tend to be more about the length of the guide than the depth.

Less slop in the guide post can be achieved by inserting some brass tube in the guide mount to snug the fit a little. I had to do this with a Team Slot Celica so that I could neatly fit a Ninco guide. Amazing the difference in behaviour of the car. I'll grab some photos of it later when I'm out in the toy room.

Like Ember said. I inserted a brass sleeve in my Scalextric Davols Cup Proxy entry last year and installed a screw top Slot.it guide. It worked great.I used the standard size guide rather than the wood guide because the cars raced on all types of track both wood and plastic. The great thing about the screw top guides is that once you install the provided flat washer on top and snug the screw down as far as you can without making it bind, often you can make even a sloppy guide fit not tip sideways through a turn. It may slide back and forth in the hole a bit but it won't tip sideways. I used to be sold on the big wood guides, but lately I figured that the standard size screw tops are good 'nuff.