Paper or Plastic? What's Your Favorite?

[Florida_Slotter]

Okay, so a track made from MDF is not really paper, but if we didn't need the MDF, we could have more paper! Both materials come from the same raw material.

At our club, we have added another track. We call it "Palm Bay" as that is where the track was prior to purchasing it and moving it to it's current location. The move cause some problems, but we have them all behind us now and the track is up and running in the 'practice mode'. That is we need to save our pennies to cover the cost of adding a timing system. But we are using the track and having a whole lot of FUN in the process.

I have heard from a lot of folks that MDF is better then plastic for a slot car track. I have also heard from a lot of folks that plastic makes a better slot car track. Personally, I like them both. Each of them has it's own unique merits and I do believe it is up to the user to decide which track material they like.

Me, I totally enjoy either of them. Going back to 1962, I can remember slot car racing on some form of wood material for many years. Prior to that, I had raced on plastic at home. Both were fun and I enjoyed my experience of both forms of track surfaces. This same thinking coninues today. While totally different in nature, the bottom line is that plastic racing or wood racing, at least to me, gives me a whole lot of FUN and a constant source of enjoyment.

Now that I have the two track to compare, I find both of them are a hoot and slot car racing is slot car racing regardless of what the racing surface is made of. Enjoying your racing and having FUN is just so important.

I know I am having a blast.

[Guildman]

Marty,
I am also a Double 60s racer!! I first attended an Open Meeting in 1964 at a local fancy Grammar School. It was a four lane Scalextric model of Brands Hatch. The cars were amazing hand made Lotus 25/33s with Pitmann 196Bs squeezed in and full suspension detail. Several of those racing were to become the top British slot racers of the day. The next time I went slot racing I'd joined the local club and their track was home made, wooden, winched down from the roof of the guy's garage.
The main difference being that we never had track joint problems and we could use deeper guides. In those days all wooden tracks had a surface of an exterior stone paint called Sandtex matt. We used MRRC and Supershells tyres and towards the ends of my time there we were using Revell SP 510X kits, which were great fun.
What I remember most is that kit built or hand made, it was always fun. And the only RTR that was worth using was the VIP ClubSpecial. Everything else was pushing your luck. Scalextric were laughed at, though Airfix cars could run well if you didn't have the Wells brothers in the same race!
My son has a Scalextric test track in his spare room and a jigsawed (not routed) hardboard track in his loft.
Like you say, slot racing is slot racing, one way or another.

Cheers,
Martin

[Dangermouse]

I prefer a wood or MDF track, I like the smoothness of the track more than anything and I like the sound of the board tracks it has a different sound to plastic.
I also like the extra width I can have over set track - with out the need to buy or make boarders.
I race on a mixture of board and plastic tracks.
I recently acquire a digital scalextric track - which is fun to run on, but I wouldn't invest in plastic track if I went digital I would go routed digital

cheers
DM

[Guildman]

Oh, I have enough trouble wiring standard tracks! Digital is out for me.
But I do prefer a wooden track for the smoothness, definitely.
But FUN is the key word.

Martin

[Ember]

Plastic, being easily re-configurable does have the ability to discover what features you want in a track before taking the plunge and routing. Of course, that's assuming you ever do go the routed way.

Me? I'm happy with my plastic track currently, because I have no hope of doing it any other way at the moment. Should circumstances change? Sure I'll go for a routed track. If I can find room somewhere for a rally track I'd be routing one tomorrow. Race track might take me a bit more time to work up to.

Wood certainly allows for freedom of expression for the track builder.

But for me? Any track is better than no track at all.

[buspor63]

Other than AF/X, I've only had wood. I like the smoothness of wood. My brother has plastic with borders and it's fun, but it clacks some. Plastic seems to need silicon tires to get the same level of grip I get with urethane tires. Another difference is rail height. The raised rails seem to monkey with the handling of some of my cars when run on his track.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

My first plastic track was in 1962- a TJet Aurora Sterling Moss figure 8. As time went by, the styrene hard track TJets used gave way to softer material, and by the time I first ran on Scalextric Sport track, there had been a complete transformation of every design feature. I only ran on wood at the local hobby shops and one basement home track in the 1960s. Later, there were many more wood tracks in my life. When the time came that I would have a permanent track at home, I never considered plastic. With long experience in both mediums, there was no hesitation. Wood is what I want. When I have a car with magnets in it, its an accident or they were too much bother to get out.

[ListerStormGT]

[RazorJon]

Lee that is to funny

I have plastic, but I enjoy racing on Harry's track's that are wood, when I was a kid all I needed was a dirt pile and a few tonka trucks and I was
building road tracks all day :D

[frank9129]

Once you get wood, you hardly ever go back. :banana-rock: :banana-rock: :banana-rock: :banana-rock: