Easy tips to make your Carrera slot car go fast out of the box

[@jjnxyz4368]

On top of greasing the gear you can add a tiny amount of hobby oil to the bushings that the axles run on. Remember less of both oil and grease is more... And never oil the nylon... Grease only!

[@jdjohn4360]

Great how too video. One question is when running in the motor what rpm is recommended? To vary the speed or a low rpm for the 1/2 hour of break in? Tks Mate 💪👍

[@Bowl_of_roses]

Another thing you might mention in choosing a car to buy, as the length between the guide and the rear axle - the longer it is, the more stable the car is in corners (plus all the other stuff you mentioned!).

[@thatslotcarguy]

Ahhh yes great little tip mate... really good.

[@briansmale5457]

I've actually found the opposite, i have 4 V8 supercars @ 100mm between the rear axle & front of pickup that are very stable entering & exiting the corners, i have 1 car with a 115mm distance & it is unstable exiting the corners & also sometimes entering bends with a bit of speed. I have installed good tyres & even added a bit of weight, but it still isn't as good as the shorter length cars, it's pretty close but just not the same.

[@wjspade]

@@briansmale5457 You have to think of it as a triangle as opposed to just linear wheelbase. Picture a triangle that goes from the pivot point of the guide/flag/keel back to the outside of each rear tire. The closer that triangle is to equilateral, the more stable the car will be, which results in better handling. A wider car can be longer, but if you get too long, body roll will become an issue. That being said, a top heavy car with a stable base will still handle terribly.

[@briansmale5457]

@@wjspade I know about the triangle & this seems to be relevant to the wheel base, my track has 1 - 3mtr & 1- 1.8mtr straight, 4 -180, 3- 90, 3-75 degree turns & a good length S section & some very short straights. The long wheel base drifts out when exiting a bend into a short straight, when entering the 75 degree bend off the long straight plus in the S section, the shorter wheel base cars hardly move :) I'm going to make the straight 5.1 mtrs long but i want to keep some tight corners & the S section, i don't mind the drifting, it does make racing exciting, but the car loses a fraction of a second compare to the shorter wheel base cars. It basically comes down to the design of the track, if i had mainly straights with some sweeping bends it wouldn't be an issue, i like to have a couple of straights with a combination of corners & S's which means you use more throttle control .

[@wjspade]

@@briansmale5457 On my track, the start finish straight is the longest one and is about 16ft (4.8m) long. It runs into a 210° uphill turn that tightens from R4, to R3 and ends in a pair of R2s. With shorter cars, it almost seems like Turn 1 is just part of the straight. You usually don’t have to let off at all until you’re almost to the R2s. Most longer cars will roll as they get about halfway through the R3 part of the turn, then oversteer and drift through the R2s. If you feather the throttle slightly, you can “feel” the longer cars get into neutral steer and they’ll fly around it no problem. If done right, longer cars can actually get the power down quicker than shorter cars. Going through the esses, shorter cars always seem to be more planted, but drifting longer cars through them is a blast. I have a Laguna Seca Corkscrew-style downhill chicane. Longer cars actually seem to handle that better than shorter ones. 🤷🏻‍♂️ All that being said, I have a few “identical” cars that handle completely different from one another. With all of them, I ran in the motors, polished the axles, lapped the gears, and lubed them exactly the same. They all have the same Paul Gage tires. They’re as identical as I can make them, but one is almost in a different class from the others. I’m convinced that every car has its own character and part of the fun is learning the strengths weaknesses of each one. Throttle control always has and always will be the most important aspect for slot car racers. Keep it in the slot! 👍🏼

[@SlotCarHooligan]

Loved the vid, Trav!! Thank you for sharing!! I never thought of sanding the axles under the bushings/bearings oddly enough. You can never stop learning! Take care buddy!

[@thatslotcarguy]

I'm learning everyday 😂

[@alejandromorales5698]

I like to keep my slot cars as original as possible but I like to make some minor improvements like changing tyres (back and front), removing the magnet, changing the braids and grease the moving parts.

[@DerbyHORacingClub]

great tips

[@dhgmllcshea5038]

Great list of tips, hats off to ya mate! Thanks for sharing your know how.

[@stevesweeney7892]

CARRERA SPORTSCAR is on tap for next rotation. Which one is most responsive to tuning? Which one fast off trailer(box)? 😅

[@_Dave_S]

Great video and info Travis! First thing I do with my Carrera GT cars is replace the rear tires with NSR 5208 EVO rubber tires, much better grip than the stock tires. Other than that I remove the magnets, grease & oil then I have fun, which is the important thing! I don't belong to a club, just personal use on my home track, so I don't have to worry about club rules lol. Cheers!

[@thatslotcarguy]

Some great tips there...I do recommend every club to run a box stock

[@klyddkross]

That slotted display base you have car on.... do you sell them?

[@kenayre8554]

have a ? what type of grease is used for the gear set. any special oil needed for the motor shafts and wheel bearing. .. thx for viewing my inquiry

[@DrDixonBhD]

Travis truly great out of the box go faster tips‼️♥️🏎️🏁🏆👍🏾

[@stevesweeney7892]

Paul Gage tires are mandatory. Run any guide WE wish on Carrera track this rotation. Most times on wood. Slotinvasion for me?

[@thatslotcarguy]

Those upgrades are good but this class was to keep the car as stock as possible

[@houston3483]

yup the PGs are MUCH better

[@SlotCarLeagueOfChampions]

Good stuff, great work champion. SCFL!

[@stevesweeney7892]

Align and glue/epoxy bushings? Zero grip or floorshine/nail hardenerPolish? Add weight?

[@thatslotcarguy]

Had to keep it as stock as possible

[@stevesweeney7892]

Roger that

[@HughesGarageSCA]

Great video, heaps of useful tips. I learned heaps! 😎👍🏁

[@thatslotcarguy]

Thanks mate

[@terrymcguirk7863]

I am a new-comer to slot car racing and have spent 2 years purchasing new and used 1/32 digital track and some evolution track. Now confident enough to start building track. Started with several Carrera GO sets for my grandchildren - 10 year old loves to race, but need some tips on GO cars. They are tough to hold track with loops leading to corners. It appears your tips should work for GO cars so I will take a shot with all your tips and tricks. Really appreciate those comments from other subscribers - any help reduces learning curve. Keep your information coming. I want my grandkids to have hands-on hobbies vs sedentary video games which have little to do with life applications. Thanks we can glean from your experience and comments sectoin.

[@robertmartin6035]

Trav …. Polishing axles with emery cloth , and sanding to true your tires . Sanding the axles can give one the ‘wrong’ idea. Great job with your videos Thanks

[@thatslotcarguy]

But I did sand them?

[@Davidculshaw70]

How do you stop them from sliding off the track any tips?

[@Charlvdwalt073]

Great thank you really Apriciate 🎉🎉🎉🎉 video

[@tonybovard9639]

This greatly comes down to each club's definition of stock out of the box. Many would consider trimming the body or chassis for increased body float not box stock if allowed ok.... If allowed, pull the braids forward to make one long braid - not 2 short ones... oil the axle bearings! Use JB Weld instead of hot glue for the motor - it's heavier (better C.O.G) and wont soften with motor heat...

[@bomamo9620]

This Porsche is pretty tail happy and you are definetly right, the tires need to be grinded. Than, it goes well. I got the Mentos and Red livery. You had the rear-axxle wrong in it! The Gear Wheel needs to sit at the right side! ;-) Carrera Motors are not necessarly to be runned in. You can run them in, while racing it. If you want to run it in, use Batteries (4 x 1,5V connected in row) 6Volts in total and connect the poles to the braids. Let it run in for one and a half our, or a 9V one and run it in for an hour. But those cheap Motors by Carrera really don`t need that much hassle. Just let it run in on the track. ;-)

[@thatslotcarguy]

The run in made a big difference on track

[@bomamo9620]

@@thatslotcarguy I believe so, but did you notice, you snapped the rear-axxle wrong in, Ferdinand? 🙂

[@thatslotcarguy]

@@bomamo9620 just a video mate

[@dhgmllcshea5038]

@bomamo9620 Thx for the batteries tip. Just used it! I don't have a track... I am lucky enough to run on "johnnie hobby" 's track!

[@jamieangus9849]

Thanks for the tips ill try this

[@CarreraTrackOntheFloor]

Nice break-in tips.

[@jeffreyhickman3871]

I was meaning to tell ya to go for a Mockingbird drag racing motor. I just saw 1️⃣ on eBay. It blows the 🔝 off the competition of 15000 RPM motors. The Mockingbird leaves all other motors in the dust, at 65000 RPM. THATS VERY FAST!! As long as the Mockingbird motor isn’t too much, as far as speed, I’d go with it!! Again, your friend, Jeff!!

[@zeldadiecastracing]

Thanks for sharing bro

[@vpugliese33]

Thanks for the tips!

[@allscalerc]

Great information. I just subscribed to your channel. 👍👍👍👍

[@thatslotcarguy]

Cheers legend

[@SCALE_SLOTCARS_AND_RC]

No removal or adjustments of Magnets ? ...is the hot glue removable later ...ive never used it 😊

[@thatslotcarguy]

The hot glue is easily removed

[@bomamo9620]

Hi Harry, Like I mentioned to you before, I hate it to be slick sometimes. Carrera Cars are Toys. Period! The magnets in them are in there for a reason. Without the magnets, they are often hard to handle and the only reason, why they should not stay inside is, that they will overheat the motor, if runned, in a very long session. But this specificly goes for the 1/32`s. The 1`24 `s are a total different ball-game. To take the magnets out makes sense here, because they behave different, compared to the 1/32`s. It is a matter of size here and weight. Means they are way better to handle, if extra-weight is installed, where the magnets were in. Also one can try out and put the extra-weight onto the side of the chassis. In the case of this Porsche 935 GT, one should at least leave the rear-magnet inside, because this car is very tail happy. Everyone can do what ever he/she wants with the slotcars, but the discussion, magnets, or no magnets is in the case of Carrera 1/32`s, senseless, like I mentioned before. They are Toys. In the 1/34 scale by Carrera Go!!, the magnet are very important. One can throw them out, but they definetly need extra weight. Otherwise they are no fun to drive. I have mounted an extrea stronger megnet into on of my Ferrari`s 488, because it is so fast, that if I run it with a friend, he won`t have a chance. Plus I deslot more often with it. The scattering in Carrera Cars is often imense! In all of them, each scale. Do not take this personal, but going with many others, saying magnets are no good inside a slotcar, only matters on non Carrera 1/32`s. Besides, the Carrera Cars can be runned way faster with the magnets inside. Try it out yourself and gain experience with the different Carrera Cars, but I know already, that what I discribed is true from my own experience and I also discussed this many times in Forums and here on YT. Don`t compare apples with oranges. In terms of the plastic glue, this is an item, every slotcar owner should have. You can use the plastic glue, to fix the light cables in the Carrera Cars for instance, so they won`t get in contact with rotating parts, like the axxles, or the motor and gear wheels. It won`t cause damage, to put plastic-glue into the Carrera Cars at all. Positive side effect, you give them a little extra weight with it. Not much, just a little and you can always remove that plastic, without doing harm to the plastic chassis, or body. You could also use it for decorations, like trees and what not. In this Porsche, it makes sense to reduce the woobling motor. There is another candidate by Carrera, who needs this to be done. The 1/32 Corvette C8R! Sometimes Carrera produces Cars, that are faulty made in the production line. It is made in China! The wobbling causes the motor and the rear-axxle gear wheel to not stay in position. This effect mainly happens in the curves. The faster you run through them, the more the pinion and the gear wheel will come off position. This will damage both parts in the worst case very fast. One could also drill two holes into the plastic of the Carrera motor and the motor holder. It won`t cause any damage if drilled not to deep in the motor-plastic cover. Than you can fix the motor tight to the holder with two screws. No glue need than.The C8R also has another production failure. Read my comment on it, in one of Rahul`s clips, about the Corvette C8R Pace Car. This would get too long here now, to explain it. Like I said, don`t be ignorant, insisting on taking the magnets out of the 1/32`s, by Carrera. Nothing personal. just objective facts. 🙂

[@smokeater271]

​@@bomamo9620n😊

[@SCALE_SLOTCARS_AND_RC]

​@bomamo9620 hey Bo, that's a long reply 😅But I have to say I love the Carreras without the magnets ,we get super tail out slides and much more realistic handling magnet free .the magnets make the car grip the track unrealistically and almost boringly. If the carrera are strictly toy cars then in that case you might as well add scx ...fly....ninco...scalextric and many others to the list ,really zi think the fun is taken away by magnets. If a person can't have fun without the magnets then I think it's the drivers lack of control skills...One carrera against another magnet free with good controllers is a joy 🤗🙂🙂

[@SCALE_SLOTCARS_AND_RC]

Thanks for the reply Travis ...i must buy a hot glue set 👍​@@thatslotcarguy

[@ajc6740]

Great video mate - My Pink Pig Porsche's spolier snapped clean off after 30 laps :(

[@IrrerasCarrera]

The only thing I do differently from what you showcased is I add some rubber absorbers for vibration. This video is great and I'm glad to see I'm not the only one sanding the axles. Great video dude. Thanks alot!

[@thatslotcarguy]

Where do you add the rubber

[@IrrerasCarrera]

@@thatslotcarguy wherever they fit lol. Sometimes over the magnet area, sometimes underneath the body. Depends the car. Still experimenting.

[@josephstanczak4340]

Is that rear axle assembly flipped? Or is it that way because you are down under and everything rotates the "wrong" way? :D Just kidding (about the "wrong way"). Very excellent video.

[@thatslotcarguy]

Flipped

[@timothywaterworth8649]

glue gun wires and connectors sitting low and flush to body. Lowers car cg. Not so top heavy and roll over happy. Less glue is best. Also keep wires from rubbing axle as you show in video but not mention.

[@ChaosLordBrandon]

Postal theft is a big thing. They research addresses and names, then plot theft from the inside.

[@bomamo9620]

Hi Ledg, sadly this was parallel to Track Fans footage of Gaydon Winter Show. Go check that out! Tara`s painted figures are outstanding. But x-rated ;-)

[@toxlaximus3297]

Oiling the motor will burn it out and probably take out the digital decoder with it, you'll know when its gone wrong when the CU blurts out a short circuit warning. (All cars stop and the CU flashes and beeps like crazy)

[@ThinkScalextric]

Travis open with car 🤣

[@jeffreyhickman3871]

A “stickier” (softer) set of rear tires, an 🆙grade to a higher RPM motor (i.e., 35000 RPM), should provide a dramatic speed increase. Don’t forget the crown 👑 and pinion gears, as part of the tuneup. The braids on the front underside of your car should be fine. I was a slot car fanatic, but I didn’t know much about the care of slot cars, this, being Christmas 🎅 of 1982. Never run your slot cars full bore, such as right out of the box, or after a tuneup. Instead, to break in your 🆕 motor, hold your rear wheels up off of the track, while applying a little power from your controller, until the wheels begin to spin. Again, do not just ram it full bore, instead, start out at a slow speed, and increase it gradually. The break in period should take about a half an hour. If this isn’t your idea, just run the cars around the track for several half hour increments. Ramming a new motor at full bore could lead to shorter motor life. I’ve never heard of truing a slot car until yesterday. Oil the motor bearings every so often, and grease the gears. Use ONLY hobby grade oil and grease. Only oil the motor bearings at regular service intervals, do NOT over oil. Also, don’t use too much grease on the gears. This is a waste, and the centrifugal force will sling the excess grease all over the car chassis, and possibly inside of the slot car. One MAJOR service mistake has been brought to my attention when I was at the hobby shop, whether it’s slot cars or electric trains. DO NOT clean around the motor with steel wool, when cleaning 🧹 is necessary. If ya do, the metal “fuzz” from the steel wool will become attracted to the magnets in the motor and ruin it. Yes, now that I recall, I did see this on the package of each slot car I bought. It was 1983. Sorry about the long comment, but as the years went by, I’ve learned more and more. Like 👍 a brand 🆕 car, take time breaking in the engine before driving at higher speeds. Very interesting 🧐 video. Your friend, Jeff.

[@dhgmllcshea5038]

UPDATE: Carrera 132 Audi R8 came Out of Box with white grease on gears and all 4 wheel bearings! I just picked up the yellow R8 LMS GT3 in Mann Filter No.28 (31027) and noticed this Apparently they are listening over there in Carreraland! Has anyone else seen this????

[@thatslotcarguy]

I think they are listening 😉 wonder why lol

[@jamesdickey5407]

Deep cals

[@MelvinWillikers]

To pronounce the car try saying it with an italian accent first, or just call it a panther.

[@thatslotcarguy]

Done Italian accent will be coming to the channel lol

[@ungurdani8346]

Salut my friend super car... super video subscribe subscribe

[@Lews_SlotCarTesting]

Very nice video! I agree with @josephstanczak4340 straight across expecially with BobKat tires as they perform immediately for us with no trueing needed. However we race stock only also besides changing the tires and oil and grease.

[@thatslotcarguy]

Would love to add on all the other options but box stock racing for this event and tips

[@franciscojaviervaldeonpaez9864]

Nice video, I only drive at my home Ninco track. All my carrera cars I modify the drift guide blade so it moves more free and put single braids, some oil and grease and lose a little bit the screws. In some I install cero grip low profile tyres and more gripy tyres in the back. That make a huge difference 😅. I take from you the sanding of the axles, that's a good one, thanks bro.👏🏁💨👌

[@stevesweeney7892]

DaFingers1