March 10, 2010

Enjoying Car Racing With Slot Cars

All over the world slot car racing has grown to be a popular hobby for many enthusiasts.  These small but fast toy cars run along tracks with slots where cars are powered by electric current.  Slot cars have metallic blades which fit to the bottom of these slots.  The majority of slot car hobbyists carry out races with other enthusiasts on more than one occasion but there are a few of those who focus their attention to construct scenic layouts, modeling roads and highways, and simulating urban and rural traffic.

Hobbyists of slot cars that are new to the idea begin with commercially-offered cars that are made with regular specifications.  Commercialy-made slot cars are made for improved performance on standard tracks.  Those who have been around with slot cars for a long time regularly assemble cars from scratch or transform their collection and have them customized to make aerodynamic frameworks and be balanced on the racetrack.

Besides racing, slot car hobbyists get their kicks with their collection by customizing their favorite cars.  Just like real cars, slot cars also have replaceable rubber tires and electric motors and chassis can also be modified to make them more faster and make them more stylish.  The maximum speed of which slot cars can reach can be from 1000 to 1800 revolutions per minute (rpm). 

A single-handed controller is what a slot car “driver” use to drive his slot car and the controller’s function is to control the voltage of the electric motor inside the car.  The evolution of slot car racing has generally been with the model cars and controllers but the track virtually remained the same ever since the 1950s.  Slot car tracks originally separate cars by the slots but new developments have made it feasible for cars to share lanes throughout a race.  The technique in racing slot cars comes on the curved sections where the controller’s trigger should be given the correct pressure to avoid de-slotting or lose momentum that will be the losing factor for racers.

The other closest form of hobby to slot cars are model trains.  Model train hobbyists and slot car hobbyists form the range of their tracks, make sceneries which consist of trees and minuscule structures.  The only variance is model trains are significantly slower than slot cars and more people can participate in slot cars compared to the essentially solo operation of model trains.

In some instances, slot cars can also use other vehicle models such as motorcycles, trucks and other types of vehicles.  Also, like other model vehicles, slot cars sizes come in several scales but the most common are 1:24, 1:32 and H0, which is the most popular scale size in the US and other parts of the globe. 

A good number of slot cars nowadays are fitted with traction magnets which enable cars to stay on their respective slots even on curves and high speeds.  Even with the added safety feature of traction magnets, some enthusiasts prefer to race without them.  Traction magnet-less slot cars have a propensity to drift and de-slotting could happen more which plenty of racers choose to have for added amusement.

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