Posted by John on
November 3, 2008
Ok, here are some pics of the pool table layout I had up for the last couple of weeks.
It was a combination of the original Carrera Go Police Chase set that I bought along with the Carrera Go Nascar set I picked up at Toys R Us a couple of weeks ago.
Here’s the plan:
I didn’t think I would like the loop before I bought it (one of the reasons I bought the police chase set to start - no toy pieces), but it carried some novelty for a while. It basically acts to lengthen the straight, which I like because I’m pretty space-limited at the moment, especially in my build space for these Carrera Go layouts - my bar-size pool table.
But after running this layout for a while, it is a bit gimmicky. I’d prefer they included some different radius turns instead. More on that in a few.
Here’s a shot of the assembled layout:
The track actually ends up being fairly technical. The banked crossovers can be a real challenge at speed and the significant elevation changes make for some interesting and varied racing. If you have this pair of sets or similar, I’d give it a try. You will need some books or something to support the turn on the backside of the loop, unless you’re also building on a pool table 
Further impressions on the Carrera Go track system
After spending a couple of weeks messing with it, I’m still pretty happy with Carrera Go track. I’ve had a couple of the little track connectors break, but the sets come with a dozen or so extra so it’s not too big of a deal. But, I’d prefer it were engineered to not break at all, and it does seem sometimes that on the joints where they’re needed most they pop out.
The only other issue I’ve seen is some cars having minor issues with the inside lane of the banked turn, but usually tweaking the braids a bit will get over this (as long as you carry a little momentum through them).
The lack of turn variety is the biggest thing that will keep me from really getting into this scale. Yeah, it seems that there is ONE larger turn radius, but they are hard to come by. There are a few sets that have 180 degrees worth, but I haven’t seen them in the US, and I’ve only found one or two places that stock add-on packs of them (and I don’t know the vendors).
I’ve also looked a bit at the SCX product (but haven’t bought any of their track … yet!). They seem to be taking an approach that will please the enthusiasts a bit more, with no loops or wall-climb pieces. And they have a set that features more of the larger radius turns, but they have the same problem - 2 sizes of turns and that’s it.
I haven’t tried no magnet on this scale yet, but I’ll probably dump the magnets on the Nascars at some point and see how they slide.
You sure can’t beat the price. For less than $150 bucks, I’ve got enough track to create a bunch of different layouts and a few new cars to play with. It’s definitely a smaller investment than 1/32 and 1/24 and still can provide a ton of fun.
Technorati Tags: 1/43, carrera go, carrera go layouts, carrera go track plans, carrera set, carrera slot car, slot sets, slot track
Posted by John on
October 7, 2008
I’ve been wanting to check out the Carrera 1/43 scale slot car system, so I just ordered a little starter set - the Carrera Go Police Chase
set!
It should arrive by this weekend, so I’ll let you know what I think next week. I’m curious to see how the Carrera quality carries over into the smaller scale.
If you want to try it out yourself, it’s only $47 on Amazon.
Technorati Tags: 1/43, carrera set, carrera slot car, slot sets, slot track
Posted by John on
October 3, 2008
Over at HO Slot Car Racing it looks like they’re working on a cool project - a HUGE outdoor Carrera slots layout.
Check out all the details and more great photos after the jump - I especially like the gnomes!
Outdoor Racing On The Parkmoor Garden Raceway
Technorati Tags: carrera set, carrera slot track, carrera slots, outdoors, slot track, slot tracks
Posted by John on
October 1, 2008
I want one! If you know where I can get one of these very limited (1 of 1000) sets for a reasonable price in the U.S. please shoot me a note.
I’ve found one in Australia and one in Germany… both end up being over $700 shipped.
This looks like the ultimate digital 1/24 slot car set at the moment, although there are a couple of new ones set to ship in the next month or two that might give it a run for it’s money. I want some digital 1/24 Carrera Slots.
Here’s a link to the German site for this slot car set pumped through the Google translator. I’m trying to learn German so I can do a good job on this site, but it might take me a couple of weeks (right!), so in the meantime I’ll be relying on the Google brain.
Carrera Exclusive Digital Limited Edition
Technorati Tags: carrera exclusive digital, carrera slot car, carrera slots, slot track
Posted by John on
September 20, 2008
I first started enjoying slot cars as a young kid. My uncle had a HO slot track set that he used to set up on my grandma’s kitchen table. Back then I wasn’t allowed to play much. I think he let me try a few times but at about 6 years old I hadn’t quite learned not to jump the cars off the table.
A couple of years later, by dad surprised me on Christmas morning. He had built a permanent slot track in our garage on a 4×8 foot sheet of plywood. I loved that slot set and enjoyed the HO scale racing until we broke it down many years later when I moved out.
I discovered larger format 1/24 and 1/32 scale racing years later, when I decided to get rid of all of the HO scale stuff I still had gathering dust in my garage. I succeeded in getting rid of it (and thanks to eBay it fetched way more than I thought it was worth), but I ended up spending all of the proceeds and a whole bunch more on a new Scalextric track and compatible cars from Carrera and Fly.
Well, it’s been another couple of years and a move or two, and my Scalextrics track has now been gathering dust in a closet for a while. I’ve always wanted to get into the highest-end of prefab slot car track, so I’m starting this blog to cover the world of Carrera sets.
Carrera is a Spanish word that means “race.” Carrera slot track is the highest quality available (opinion, of course! no flames from Scalextric fans please), and they have a lot of new products recently released and on the horizon. In future articles, I’ll examine and review their current offerings and write a bit about Carrera slot car history.
Have fun, and I’ll see you at the track!
Technorati Tags: carrera set, carrera slot car, slot sets, slot track
Posted by John on
August 27, 2008
One mile is 5280 feet
A quarter Mile = 1320 feet
1/24th of 1320 is 55.
So a slot car track needs to be 55 feet long plus whatever length you need to come to a stop at the end and a little extra before the starting line.
Technorati Tags: 1/24, drag race, slot track
