Hafa Adai Slot Car Friends!
Here is a topic that I've seen tossed around quite a bit, and would like to share my experiences. First off, I like both magnet and magless racing.
Magnet racing is a good place to start because it doesn't require a lot of racing skill in the beginning. It's also cool to see the cars fly around the track, and challenging to lower your lap times again and again. There is skill needed in racing with magnets, especially if your racing 1/32 scale, you tend to be more careful because of possible damage to the cars, and deslotting of course.
I find magnet racing challenging, in that you not only have to drive skillfully, but tweaking the performance of the cars also can be a challenge. Finding the right tires, tire size, track surface, track cleaning, gear ratios and more. So, there is some skill here that many people don't think about.
Magless racing can be a whole new venture. This is where it gets challenging. Some cars race great out of the box without magnets, but most require some tweaking, and adjusting to get them to stay on the track. First of all, TIRES; sand and clean them first, a lot of the time this will work wonders, even on your stock rubber tires. second, replace them with either silicone, urethane or sponge type, depending on your track surface, racing styles etc.. Check the forums for the different types of tires, and their performance levels, but for starters I think it's safe to use silicone's you'll get great results from these.
Weights - thirdly, add weights. This can get tricky, you'll want to observe how your car drives magless, especially around the curves, and places where it tends to deslot. Depending on the weight distribution of your car, this is where you'll need to off-set it by adding weight. For example:
If your car fish-tails excessively, try adding weight to the rear either to the inside ceiling of the body, or the chassis itself. Experiment to see which placement works better.
If your car seems to deslot quite a bit, you may want to place the weight in the front of the car; same places either chassis or body.
OR, you can place weights on the sides of the cars about where the doors are located, inside of the chassis. Placement all depends on the weight distribution of the car when it's running, and how it deslots.
How Much Weight: I've asked this question quite a bit, and found that some of the pros use no more than the equivalency of a nickle. You don't want too much weight or you'll put a drag on your car, and end up overheating your motor. I use small pieces of sheet lead that I got from Hotslots 1/32. I also monitor the overall weight of the car. I try not to add more than a few grams overall.
Magless Racing: I love magless racing! There's a lot more skill involved here, especially if you have penalties for those that deslot. You'll notice a big difference in the mannerism of your fellow racers when penalties are put in place, especially with magless racing. This is where the fun starts.
So, I hope I've touched on some important aspects of magless racing, and of course this short blog can in no way cover all aspects of magless racing. I suggest checking out our slotting cousins on SCI and the Slot Forum, for more on magless racing.
Adios my Friends!
rob
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