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A few friends and myself raced a variety of 1/32" cars (Scalextric, Slot-it, Pioneer, NSR, etc.) at a local hobby shop with a Scalextric track set-up. Unfortunately the hobby shop closed it doors a few months ago and the next closest track for all of us to meet logistically offers a commercial wooden/braided track.
Our cars were commonly prepped with upgraded motors, multiple magnets, Slot-it axles, gearing, wheels, silicones and some with upgraded flags.
The owner at the commercial wood track has a nice layout and welcomes our type of cars.
I am interested in knowing if I could get advise as to the necessary changes needed to make these cars to make them competitive on a wooden/braided track.
Thanks....

A good set of tires. That's about all I do to mine to run magless on plastic track. Never raced on wood but the guys I race with have and they do the same thing.

If the car was well prepared to run on plastic and not totally dependant on the magnets to keep it in the slot then I agree that most likely all that is needed is a good set of tires. You didn't mention though whether the track is normally glued or clean. My cars run well on my non glued mdf track using either Paul Gage tires or yellow dog urethanes. If the track is normally used by cars with silicones then probably supertires would work best.

If helpful to additional advise, the tires presently worn on the cars are either Indy Grips or Maxxtrac silicones. The track is clean/not glued.

Oldtimer,

Let's see, you were set up to run on a Scalextric plastic track, with magnets. Now you are going to run on a wood track without magnets?

The first thing that comes to my mind is the guide flag itself. The "slot" in Scalextric track is shallower than that found in routed wood. It is also wider. I would try it on one of your cars first - that is change out the guide flag to one of the Professor Motor wood track guides. They do make a difference on the car. Let's be honest here, if you don't have a full depth, full width guide flag, you are already losing the interface between your car and the track.

That is the part I would start with.

As to tires. The best tire is what the others are running at that new track. Ask some of the others that are racing there as to what type of tires they are running. Just because one type of tire works well in one application, does not mean it will work in all applications.

Let us know how you are progressing.