Excessive De-Sotting During Races? FRUSTRATING!!!

Hafa Adai Slot Car Friends!

Are you experiencing excessive de-slotting during races? especially with new drivers? This really puts a damper on races. We'll, my club has worked out a solution that works great in minimising driver de-slotting. Every time a driver calls a yellow flag by pushing the call button, he receives a crystal, i.e. small glass button like an odd shaped marble; you can use anything.  Then at the end of the heat the crystals are added up and deducted from that driver's lap count.  I tell you this has been a race-saver.  Prior, a 4-heat race with 3:00 minute heats took close to 30 minutes to complete.  Last Friday night, entire races lasted just over 15 minutes! Things went so smooth, and everyone seemed to enjoy the racing better, it also improved the drivers skill levels immensely.  New record laps were made.  I hope this helps you that may be experiencing the same.

Este,

Rob

Slot Cars 101 - Back on Track!

Hafa Adai Slot Car Friends!


It's on again!.  My e-book titled "Slot Cars 101" is scheduled to be released in the upcoming month or two. I hope to finish it sooner, but we may be looking at "Guam Time" here, which means priorities like going to the beach, the fiesta at uncle Lings house, fishing with dynamite, checking my friend, and BBqing at the ranch, all come first. oh yeah wait, haf to feed my pig first. "Uncle Roke where's the pig slop!" Aye boy, I duno, check fan your nino.

This will be an ongoing series that will progress from the beginner level - "getting started", to the expert levels with tips on car tuning, tire selection, gear ratios, track layout, etc..  The theme throughout the series will remain the same "Written by the Pros".  What better knowledge can we obtain than by those who have been there - successful, and  at the top of their game!  I have several contributors form the forums, manufacturers and slot car shop owners that will be contributing invaluable information, including "Secrets from the Pros" and "what they do to win!"  So keep checking back, and as things progress I will keep you updated. Also, the Slot Car Beacon will be back on line very soon, and will have more information on "Slot Cars 101". Thank you for checking in again!

Best Slotting, - laters!

Rob

Latte Heights Raceway Now Completed!

Hafa Adai Slot Car Friends!

The Latte Heights Raceway is now completed and undergoing testing with  Trackmate and Race Coordinator software programs.  Looks like tonight will be the first unofficial races.  I'll post photos soon.

Happy Slotting!

Rob

Super Tires From Frank the Racer - They are Super!

Hafa Adai Slot Car Friends!

I just have to share this with you all.  You may already know about Frank the Racer.  Actually I found out about him about a year ago, and now he's got a new web site.

The reason I'm making a such big deal about this is that, for 1, he's got a great product; I think right now he's only selling tires for HO cars, but it looks like that he will be selling 1/32 tires in the near future; and 2, I haven't seen better prices, and he even offers discounts for clubs and bulk purchases; and 3, great service.  It's all there, what more can you ask for.  So log onto his site and check em out!  www.franktheracer.com

Si Yu'us Ma'ase

Rob

P.S. I'm not getting paid to post any of this, just thought I'd share something good with my friends!

Cheap Slot Cars?

Hafa Adai Slot Car Friends!

Just thought I'd share an invaluable tip that I discovered recently.  You however, have probably thought of this already and may have capitalized on it also.

How many of us Slot Car junkies are looking for our favorite Slot Cars at cheap prices?  Personally, I like  AFX, Tomy, Wizzard cars, and have found them to be moderately to higher priced, but they are good cars.  Instead of paying full price for these, I've found that purchasing "Lots" on e-bay and other sites have proven very profitable.  Even if you purchase a junk yard lot, or parts lot, you can usually put together a few good cars from each lot, or even by combining lots.   You'll mostly come across lots with chassis, motors and axels, which is great, because you can purchase bodies for dirt cheap, and then you usually have a ton of bodies to choose from, because dealers usually stock a wide variety of bodies.   I recently came across a lot of 30 cars on one of the auction sites that ended up selling for just over $5.00 per car, all had working chassis too, so you can see the savings.  You may not run into deals like this every day, but even if you purchase a Mega G; Super G+ for $10.00, and add $6.00 to $8.00, or even less, you have a great car for less than $20.00.  The AFX Mega G line sells between $25.00 and $35.00 per car!

So, what I suggest, is keep a regular stock of parts like pick-up shoes; springs; brushes; posts, or what ever parts are typically replaced frequently on your favorite brands, because these are usually the parts that are lacking when you purchase a lots.

Si Yu'os Ma'ase Friends!

Rob

Slot Car Tires? Rubber? Silicone? or Urethane?

Hafa Adai Slot Car Friends!

Tires can make a world of a difference, but if you're like I was, I had no idea what I should use or why.  When I set up my first layout I was so excited to get it up and going, and was racing around the track and de-slotting like crazy, and didn't even care - at least for the first hour.

I didn't even think  whether there was anything I could do about all the de-slotting.  I then I discovered that cleaning them with a little bit of alcohol made a huge difference, and was off racing again.  Then I discovered sanding or truing the tires to give them a nice smooth finish, this made even a bigger difference.

Then I discovered SILICONES!  Wow, I was amazed, but not too long after they seemed to have failed.  Actually, they really didn't fail at all, it was that I was running cars with both silicone tires and rubber tires on the same track.  Silicones are picky, they get jealous if you run rubber tires on their track.  If you run silicone tires, then your track has to be squeeky clean in order for them to perform well.

THEN.... I discovered Urethane tires!  Wow!  They don't mind if the rubber tires run on the same track with them.  They are awesome, of course you have to clean then every now and then, but overall if you're running rubber tires also, they work great!

I did discover though, for my HO cars, that silicones work the best even if I'm running rubber tires on the same track.  I'm not sure why, but this is my theory:  The HO cars are small and very light as compared with 1/32 cars. The rubber residue doesn't rub off on to the track as easily, so you don't get as much rubber build-up.  I would think that over time it would build up, but would probably take a lot of racing before you get a layer of rubber on your track.

Sponge Tires - Let me get back to you on these, I'd like to test them out and give you my first-hand experience.

Until next time - Si Yu'os Ma'ase my Friends!

Rob

Slot Car Track Layouts for Pace Car Racing

Hafa Adai Slot Car Friends!

Just thought I'd share a few of my more successful pace car layouts for home racing that I've created.  These layouts are great for pace car racing.  There are no R-1 curves, so car speed can be set at competitive levels.  These layouts will also increase your skill level tremendously.  It's like in music, particularly drumming.  If you practice every day with a metronome, you will not only increase speed, but agility and smoothness also, this is where effectiveness comes in.  These pace car tracks will do just that.

What I do is I take one of my more sticky cars, that hug the track like none other.  Personally, I like the Slot.it cars for this.  I set the pace car settings as fast as possible without deslotting, then I get one of my favorite and more competitive hopped up magless, or even magneted cars, and race against the pace car.  Many times the pace car will be set too fast, so I adjust it down to a more competitive level with the car I'm practicing with.  As my skill level increases, I increase the pace car speed.gradually..  You'll be amazed at the results when racing in an event; your lap times will increase incredibly!  Have fun!

Si Yu'os Ma'ase Magachongs!

Rob