Tuning a New Slot Car (for Non-Slot Car Nerds)

[@johnniehobby]

Although we present the information here as a how-to for a brand new slot car, the procedures should actually be considered regular maintenance as cars will eventually go "out of tune."

[@wildemouse]

If you flatten the new tires and make them smaller, you will get less distance per rotation, making it slower.

[@geshscale6068]

@@wildemouse But it depends on the track. for a track with very long straightaways, leave the tires, but if there are corners, its best to have grip because it gives more than the fraction of speed that the size does.

[@titanary68]

So happy I found this video and your channel. I’m 39 and just getting back into the hobby at the interest of my daughter and just purchased a whole Carrera 1/32 digital track set up and cars so this video is pure gold to me as thanks to places like Amazon actual brick and mortar hobby shops I grew up with are dying

[@johnniehobby]

Congats on your re-entry into the hobby, and very cool your daughter is into it as well. Your comment made my day.

[@davidfinch5517]

I bought a classic le mans track for my two girls just to see if they loved it like i did when i was a kid. we played and the cars kept slipping out. my youngest (7) was starting to get very annoyed. i did exactly what you said in this video. and afterwards my youngest got the quickest Lap time of the whole day. she was absolutely made up. Thank you for this video.

[@johnniehobby]

I remember when my girls were that age. It's heartbreaking to see them get frustrated with something like that. Your comment totally made my day.

[@davidfinch5517]

@@johnniehobby. Id love to get back into this like you Guys. dont even know were to find clubs or anything though. as i Live in Chorley in Lancashire, my first stop will be pendle slot racing and ask how to get into it again. I went to fix the second hand cars that came with the set and they were very helpful.

[@saucysuishi341]

Good dad

[@subaruthug]

Bloody kids.......I got my daughter into it as well, and now I can't beat her LOL

[@SagostundenSvenska]

I just bought my first race track as an adult. Trying to get into the hobby. So far so good. Alot of questions that needs answers still but this was very helpful. I would like to see a video for people like me, who are interested in picking up the hobby. Maybe compare the different brands of track, what to buy, what not to buy. What the difference between cars are etc. so the experience of trial and error dont get too frustrating :)

[@charlesm7589]

As someone coming back to slots after 40 years, I appreciate that you are more laid back and just about having fun. My real world car passion is a 1965 Delta 88 hardtop coupe. I have resto modded it with disc brakes, aluminum heads (unleaded gas friendly) and an electronic distributor. The purist Olds guys hate me for it. Anyway, I just want to have fun with the Olds and the slots.

[@geneschulp8598]

You guys are a real inspiration. Now that I am divorced, it's gunna be awesome.

[@johnniehobby]

The best comment on this video so far. It deserves more likes.

[@pf465]

@@johnniehobby Here for the divorce. like given!!

[@slater4041]

Funny because I won four straight event nights since my divorce. I might just start my own divorced guys slot racing team. Who's in?!?!?

[@recoswell]

maybe that should tell you it's time to put the toys away

[@geneschulp8598]

At my age, the cars are more fun than a wife

[@craigv367godsman4]

Greetings, I'm returning to the hobby after probably 50 years, and I truly appreciate the tips. Thank you

[@johnniehobby]

You are very welcome.

[@kendushane1039]

Salami!!! Thanks for the videos man. I’m 61 and dammit I’m getting back into slots thanks to you. Can’t afford the digital I have to go with the analog but I’m still stoked. Thanks again man.

[@johnniehobby]

You are welcome. The good thing about the Carrera track is that the standard sections are the same for both analog and digital. So, later on if you find the means you can go digital by adding the digital pieces to the existing track and can also add the chips to analog cars to make them digital as well. Nothing wrong with analog, though. Still tons of fun.

[@rayandersonii8702]

Just wanted to say "THANKS" for these videos. I'm getting back into slot car racing, as it was so much fun when I raced 1/24 scale before as a teen. Alot of the tuning tricks I can remember doing back then, but obviously over the years had forgotten about some of them. So again, THANKS!!! Its a blast racing these cars, and the fun one can have with their friends!!!

[@dreyn7780]

Well, slot car manufacturers are way more suffisticated than people give them credit for. The modern slot car has 3 different levels of performance. The old-fashioned cars have 1 or 2 levels of performance. Some of the 24 hour race cars have a setting designed to give the driver A REST during racing. You FOOLS don't even think of these STANDARD features. You people are stuck with the ideas of the 80's. The industry MOVED ON. You're supposed to catch up. Most video makers think they know MORE than ford. And we're supposed to take this gossip. If you listen to these FOOLS you'll ruin the professional slot car by such & such brand.

[@mikeprewett9671]

Great video. The 1st time that I heard the word 'Gription' was from the late racing great,"Rolf Stommelen" . I was working on the Porsche 935 that he was driving in 1981.

[@CardinalGamingLounge]

amazing video for a beginner such as my self thank you a million for the simplicity and great dialog along with the precision at which explained can't wait for more content!

[@johnniehobby]

You bet. Do the following after you get your 132 set: after adjusting the brushes and lubing the motors, run the cars for about 20-30 laps before doing the tire tuning. Then tune the tires and run again. You should notice a big difference (unless you got super-lucky and the tires were totally true out of the box, but chances of that are close to zero). Also, this will work on your kids' 143 cars as well. Especially good if they getting frustrated if they are having trouble keeping the car on the track.

[@CardinalGamingLounge]

@@johnniehobby Thanks for advice! i was going to try on 143 since you said it should work for all slots i appreciate the reaffirmation puts me at ease i'll defiantly keep in touch and inform you on the progress. again i appreciate all you do and hope to see much more!

[@bradsanders6954]

@@johnniehobby Of course turning the power setting down is a good way to help get the hang of slotting...its weird how different cars run on the same power setting. They vary quite a bit.

[@eaxnitro]

This is an awesome video. So simple. Straight forward. Thanks for putting it together. I've just found this amazing hobby and your video is helpful.

[@johnniehobby]

Good to hear, and thanks for watching.

[@BarryWilsonOrg]

Thanks for all the vids guys (I've now watched many and subscribed). I tuned a couple cars and am amazed at the difference in just sanding the tires makes

[@chrisa2693]

After watching, I tried the oil (using Dynamite Medium) on a test car. The oil helped with noise and rubbing. Ran some test laps to grab average lap times. Then applied the tire tuning [*] method. Using the same layout for before and after laps. I was able to reduce laps times almost 25% on average. This was also my results with other digital or analog 1:32 cars and analog 1:43 cars on a 1:24 analog Carrera track. I also experienced higher speeds before oversteer/drifting through turns and chicanes. Great tips! Thanks for sharing. It has added another level to this hobby I share with my kids. [*] I added some layers of the sandpaper to raise its level from the track and keep the free tire from burning and polishing on the bare track when the car was kept level.

[@johnniehobby]

Excellent! Thanks for sharing your results. Good idea to stack the sandpaper.

[@Saturn2888]

I just saw these slot cars at a random visit to a hobby shop. Looks like a lot of fun for my kids! I'd like to know more like why I might want one over another and how my kids can enjoy these.

[@dhgmllcshea5038]

Thanks for all of these great tips. My 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. It came out in Feb 2023. Apparently they are listening over there in Carreraland! Has anyone else seen this????

[@alfonzooliviera1121]

Excellent video! I had to learn this all myself and you guys are clearly pros at this hobby. Might be worth checking out Paul Gage tires. They’re urathanes so even if they don’t grip better than stock tires, which they do, dust doesn’t stick to them so clean or dirty track they grip the same.

[@johnniehobby]

We have a couple of cars with the Paul Gage urethane tires (just b/c we couldn't find the stock ones in stock anywhere). You are right, they do have slightly more gription, and do stay cleaner longer. They do need to be trued just like the stock Carrera tires though. The house rules for our slot club prohibit urethane and silicone tires, however (among other rules, such as no aftermarket magnets, no removing interior, etc.) so that we don't get into a situation where guys feel the need to spend more time working on their cars at home than they do actually racing them at the track. So, those cars with urethanes we don't run on club night.

[@matthewmckenzie504]

I always sand tyres together, to keep them the same diameter, also rounding edges improved handling. Measure to check sanding is even I use Hudy, Verneya caliper.

[@RodVaranese]

Dude, very helpful. That was awesome and I like your music.

[@Paul_Hardy]

I've just dug out my old Scalextric so my granddaughter can try it. She's never seen one before, but she's showing interest in my R/C buggies so I thought what the hell. I came to KZbin to find the best way to clean the tracks as mine are a bit tarnished, I'm now here watching video's on tyre tuning and thinking "hmmm, I really need to do this". Great vid.

[@johnniehobby]

Good to hear kids interested in real hobbies these days instead of just video games. How did the tire tuning work out?

[@Paul_Hardy]

@@johnniehobby Yeah, I'm really glad to see she has interests beyond tiktok. I haven't done the tuning yet, but I'll let you know how it goes haha. Cheers.

[@yod6083]

Fantastic advices! Got them applied to my d124 carrera cars and wow! no more fears to slot out even at speeds an order of magnitude higher than those I was used to!! Great video, many thanks

[@johnniehobby]

Excellent! Thanks for sharing.

[@rlpittsjr]

My son got a Carrera First Mario Cart track and two cars. Seemed intuitive to the gears out of the he box. I saw a difference right away. Thanks for the show of how to tune the braided contacts.

[@johnniehobby]

You bet! Glad it helped.

[@ronaldnordquist2215]

I like your practical approach; the technique to get around that banked curve was perfect as well as flaring and bending the braids with a hobby screw driver and the magnetic dish for a clod like me is an excellent idea! The tire truing of one tire at a time is an excellent idea to place less stress on the motor as well as removing debris form the rear tires with your thumb before each heat. I would like to see your "hard liner" tune ups.

[@slater4041]

We really don't have any hardliner tune-ups but every so often we will take axles and motors out to remove build up of lint, hair, paper clips. You know, shit like that. Then we will do some lube work and possibly replace brushes, keels, and replace or tune the tires. Remember that worn and shorter brushes are less affective.

[@RichardMullins-hl3rf]

Removing the casting flash on the rims help. True them just like the tires

[@ryanquarles1833]

Thanks for this video. I just got my son a Carrera 1/32 digital for his birthday this past week and we love it. There’s really not any videos showing how to do it like this.

[@johnniehobby]

Great to hear you and your son are having a good time, and I'm happy this is reaching our intended audience. Which Carrera set did you get?

[@subaruthug]

Good vid, well presented and good advice. With the braids, don't bend them too far up or they tend to lift the guide out of the slot. And I'd true the rear tyres before oiling, that way the bits of rubber don't stick to everything as much.

[@johnniehobby]

Good advice.

[@robertbittles6944]

Liked and subscribed. I had a blast with 1/43 slot cars as a kid and for several years now I've wanted to get into 1/32 cars. I just recently jumped in with a Ninco analog setup and already have several cars. I like your no nonsense approach here and appreciate you sharing.

[@johnniehobby]

Good choice to get into the bigger the scale. The bigger the scale, the more fun they are IMO. Unfortunately also more expensive though. The saying that "the difference between men and boys is the price of their toys" is totally true.

[@RackwitzG]

Your tips are great for a start and really no effort with great effect. You can do two more things to make things a bit better. Pros like to sand camber into their tires. The outside edge diameter is slightly smaller than inside (conical shapte). That gives full contact of the tiresurface with the track when the car tilts in a turn. You can add camber by minutely tilting the car to the outside while on the sand paper. The other thing they like to do is seal the front tires with super glue or nail polish. That gives minimum traction to the front tires where traction is not prefierred. Of course you know all this. Just thought this worth adding, since it only costs a bit of wifey's nail polish. ;)

[@DrDixonBhD]

Appreciate Your Kindness and Love of Slotcar Racing To Share These Tuning Tips!!! Can't Wait To See How Much Faster My Audi #7 R10 TDI LMP1 Will FLY!!!

[@johnniehobby]

Cool! Be sure to record your before and after lap times so you can post your improvement.

[@jaspajones7045]

Thanks man! We just built a track. Been mostly using 1/24 scale digital Porsche by carrera. Noticed one car held to the track better. Swapped rear tires and then the other car was the better faster more grip. I need to do this same process to both. Even them out. Thanks.

[@johnniehobby]

Let us know how it turns out.

[@jaspajones7045]

@@johnniehobby will do tomorrow

[@iscream4761]

super interseting and well done video! what about the magnet(s) under the car? i notice in f1 cars the magnet is MUCH stronger and gives a lot of grip

[@josephdeffendoll3056]

They make tire truers for the hard core racers. Plus keeping your tires in the freezer for long term storage is a good idea. The brand of tires is called Kelly. Also we use tire glue to keep the cars from coming off the track. Thanks.

[@carltonslaine7756]

Very very interesting my first time watching this I love scalextric racing the cars look so real and I love the way you explain how to maintain your car on the track and to improve your times to. Keep up the the work And once again excellent video 👍 From England West Midlands Wolverhampton Take care be safe

[@craigmonteforte1478]

Cool video btw i am a retired woodworker and whenever we sharpen our tools getting the backside of a chisel or whatever perfectly flat is critical a old trick to hel get that done is to move the part in a figure 8 motion on top of the abrasive i was wondering if that would help true up the tires faster ?

[@ryankrueger4314]

Great clip, just getting into the hobby myself. BTW, the fins on the rear underside of the car is called the "rear diffuser"

[@johnniehobby]

Thanks for the info. I knew it had a proper name.

[@martinhansen6466]

Try loosen the screws in the body, to give the boby some "flex".

[@PhilHenDrums]

All good stuff! Another simple thing you can use to clean the tires (instead of a roll of masking tape turned inside out) is a lint roller. It is easy to roll both tires at once. When the roller gets all dirty, just peel off a layer, and you're good to go again.

[@johnniehobby]

Great tip! I think I have some of those buried in the bottom a the coat closet somewhere.

[@bradsanders6954]

Try alcohol,it really cleans tires quick.

[@NeoIsrafil]

I SOOO miss this. Uses to run these in the 90s, but the track here in Vegas shut down. Ive still got all my cars and control from when I raced back then, but no track. :(

[@walterhorton871]

Love your Tuning of a new slot car tires. Also I really love your track layout is it out of the box or custom, can you share if?

[@johnniehobby]

The track is custom. Carrera sets are only 20-24 feet of track, so a lot more track was acquired to create the layout you see in the video. The track plan can be found here along with a couple other layouts we've run: subhumanracing.net/carrera-layouts/ Check out any of our newer videos to see our latest setup which is larger.

[@SlotCraftMaster]

Greate video, love your KISS princible approach!

[@johnniehobby]

Thanks so much!

[@53glowe]

Very helpful...thankyou. Cheers from Australia 🇦🇺 👍

[@josephstanczak4340]

Great video, provides a solid start in tuning. Next steps I would add would be to either true front tires and/or coat them (I use Future, but whatever slicks them up), and get rid of slop in the axles (a little more advanced). These two with your tips will make your home set cars zing!

[@johnniehobby]

I agree with truing the front tires. I don't know of any good method of doing that without a truing machine, though.

[@BenBuss-o6r]

Hi. Nice intro! Thanks. I saw that your races stats was projected on your wall. Can you tell use how you did it? Thanks again.

[@johnniehobby]

Are you asking about the hardware or the lap scoring software?

[@josephaguilar3796]

Great vid guys! Found my oooold afx track in the attic(thought my folks threw it out) and have been playing with my kiddos since quarantine! Need to give my cars some tlc but I'm having an issue finding parts. Any advice would be great!!!

[@johnniehobby]

I'm not too familiar with AFX. Possibly check out the channel titled "slotcar crazy." He deals with all HO scale stuff and might be able to point you in the right direction with respect to parts for older AFX chassis.

[@TheChemist45]

I also though have been noticing and learning more. Like The collectable Rusty Volkswagon set. Believe it or not Out of the box the VW Bug is fast lol and holds on decent. Yes the tires are a Bit skinny But treaded so I didnt want to true them. Love your vid!! Keep them coming!

[@MrMackanno]

The best thing I learned was I'll set-up a dedicated tire truer with an old Control Unit I have gathering dust. Thanks!

[@Gurblash]

Couldn't agree more! I immediately made plans for my old scaley powerbase from the 80s to make a tire truer! Can't wait to get off work now.

[@PabloGonzalez-hv3td]

I'm surprised motor break in isn't a major concern when in the RC world it's a top priority. I'd be curious what a similar break in routine to RC would do to lap times.

[@brianroberts2402]

Wow! We've come a long way in 50 years. We never went that fast. I was happy with my small aurora fx.

[@raylouis]

Can you put a plastic pin in the center bottom of the car to keep the rear end from sliding? That way you would have front guide pin and rear guide pin.

[@Weirdbus]

great info. thanks for the detail. going to be passing thru Detroit area, know any slot car shops to check out?

[@johnniehobby]

If you will be north of Detroit Great Lakes Hobby in Sterling Heights carries Carrera and Scalextric.

[@gearhead366]

Tire truing.... I was at a race once where the cars were provided by the track owner. He had a group of cars that we all tried out. One car was much worse handling than the others. I decided to true the tires. It then became the fastest car by far. I had to then true the tires of all the cars. Then the whole field had fairly consistent lap times.

[@johnniehobby]

Nice!

[@Apicbymike]

This was very helpful! Thank you!

[@vlayog]

Greet video. Thank you! You sakes for suggestions for more video. I am interested in tuning a car after taling out the magnet. Wherry and hoe much lead do you put in the car to be able to race with it.

[@johnniehobby]

We're not real experienced with no-mag tuning. However, there are a few videos on KZbin that address that exact topic (don't remember which ones, though). Search around for "no-mag slot cars" or something similar and hopefully you find the info you are looking for.

[@vlayog]

@@johnniehobby Thanks very much. I have searched before, but I certainly wil give it another try.

[@jaypitchford9020]

Looking to get into this hobby. I am going to go with the Carreras track and would love some advice on the best set for the money. Looking more for track value at this point over car value in the set. Any suggestions? Want to go digital 132 I feel. Love this video great job!

[@johnniehobby]

Most of the sets available now seem to have about all the same amount of track (1 double lane change, control unit/power track, 8 to 10 1/60 curves, 11 straight tracks) so from a track perspective there aren't any that are bigger bargain than others. The biggest difference in the sets is the number of cars that come with the set (some 2 and some 3) and whether they are wired or wireless controllers. I would recommend going with a set with the wireless controllers as freedom to move anywhere around the track and race at the same time is definitely a plus. Getting the wireless controllers, receiver, and charging stations is worth more than an extra car. These are two sets that come with wireless: Carrera 30005 GT Race Stars Set, Digital 132 w/Wireless Controllers and Lights Carrera 30196 DTM Championship Digital 1/32 Set w/Wireless Controllers All the cars that come with these are excellent. The DTMs are quick and handle really well. I have a Ferrari 488 but haven't run it yet, but if it runs anywhere near as well as its predecessor (Ferrari 458) then it's a darn good car as well.

[@jaypitchford9020]

Thank you for taking the time to help me out. I have been looking at those two sets. I am thinking of adding a pit lane and the blue tooth app connect. Again thank you so much. I can’t wait to get started.

[@smitty929929]

Awesome vid! What flavor tires do you guys use? Urethane or Silicone and what maker? It is crazy overwhelming researching tires! Thanks!

[@johnniehobby]

When possible we always use the stock Carrera tires. If those aren't available we'll use urethane tires. The urethane tires are slightly more grippy than stock (which I think might be butyl rubber) and don't need re-tuning as often. We never use silicone tires, though. Do an internet search for Paul Gage urethanes and you should find several places you can order them from.

[@MR.TOYBOX]

Do you and or can you temporarily put the front tires on the rear so you can true the front tires as well? Seems like if it helps rear tire grip it would help the front tires also?

[@johnniehobby]

Front tire grip isn't exactly desirable for slot cars. As a matter of fact, the less grip they have, the better. However, if the fronts are real bad as far as their (run-out/out-of-round) goes, they can negatively affect the handling. In those cases, shaving the front tires down a bit can help. Some cars have the same size wheels on tires on front and back, in which case swapping to the rear to true them can be done, but other cars don't have the same size front to rear. Need to be careful as sometimes moving a tire from one rim to another immediately puts it out of tune. Ideally the tires are trued on the same wheel they will be running on.

[@joesephknoettgen3551]

I was wondering what kind of track You have specifically? It looks like alot of fun!

[@johnniehobby]

The track is Carrera digital 132/124. It is designated 132/124 because the track itself is 1:24 scale in size, but you can run 1:32 scale cars on it as well as the larger 24th scale. The cars shown in this video are 1:32.

[@sigmamansslotcars1415]

Great video guys! Only thing I would say is a wet sponge is great for cleaning tyres.

[@johnniehobby]

Good idea. Probably something to implement as licking my thumb to clean the tires is a bit unsanitary.

[@sigmamansslotcars1415]

@@johnniehobby I lick the tires if I forget my sponge.😄

[@saeedabduljabar2999]

How do you make a car kick out while while making a turn on a.decrease in radius turnand still stay on the track

[@viniengel]

Great video, my new Carrera cars are awful. I will go do the tyres now. Do you have a video for the advanced tuning?

[@johnniehobby]

Let us know how the tyre tuning works out for you. As far as the 'advanced' car tuning, we weren't planning on making a video for that. Essentially it's hours worth of work to get very minimal gains (the extra 5% mentioned in the video) that most people won't even notice.

[@hitthebricks5502]

Very informative! Brand new to this and it was just what I needed :)

[@johnniehobby]

Glad it was helpful!

[@rockfan3479]

GREAT JOB johnnie hobby ! Any suggestions on purchasing a digital 1:32 scale starter set (with wireless remote) ?

[@johnniehobby]

Good call on the wireless remotes It is absolutely the way to go. As far as I can find, Carrera only offers one set that includes the wireless which is "Carrera 30008 DTM Furore Set, Digital 132 w/Lights and Wireless Controllers" That set comes with two DTM cars. The DTMs are quick and handle really well.

[@jorgeluis494]

Buen detalle para la traccion. Que número de lija #!? usaron saludos

[@johnniehobby]

Sandpaper is #220 grit.

[@davidh2709]

So do you notice a spike in views after Christmas? Got a new setup and now I'm here to make it better! Thank you for the video!

[@johnniehobby]

Definitely a surge in views. I was expecting it but not so soon. Started Christmas day about 10:00am. Let us know how your tuning went. Merry Christmas.

[@dreyn7780]

Well, look for 3 different driving techniques that correspond to low speed, middle speed and high speed performance from the modern slot car. Sometimes the trigger operation is divided into 3 zones or sections of the trigger. These cars will wheelspin based on trademark performance or components. For example Ford is famous for wheelspinning performance. Go buy THAT car. Superchargers ALSO introduce wheelspinning action. It's YOUR job to learn the brands trademark performance style. You told us to shutup cause you knew it all. (we're all born that way).

[@davidh9653]

@@dreyn7780 huh? I saw talking about the spike in views

[@falconmatero2926]

Great video, cheers from Australia!!

[@johnniehobby]

Thanks for the comment, and cheers from the USA. BTW: What beer do you drink down under when watching slot car videos?

[@falconmatero2926]

@@johnniehobby Lol, I personally don't drink but us Aussies normally drink Tooheys draft, Carlton dry and there may be a few of us left that still drink Fosters! Cheers again from the land down under mate!

[@teunbart1958]

Great video. Looking into getting my first Carrera 132 track. I like your set up. Do you have any plans / details on your track?

[@johnniehobby]

We have a couple of our layouts posted online that you can download. The source files are .scc which is Ultimate Racer 3.0 track planning software. If you have that then you can open the file to view the details. If not, you can still download the thumbnail and see the plan view. Site is here: subhumanracing.net/carrera-layouts/

[@RUSHGEEK2112]

Will evolution bodies fit digital chassis? I messed up my digital 911 RSR body and want to replace the body only. I figure the most inexpensive way is to get the identical car in evolution and swop out the body. BTW, great channel.

[@johnniehobby]

Absolutely! We've done the same plenty of times.

[@danmurn6040]

Thanks well done. Just getting back into hobby after 50 years

[@johnniehobby]

Nice! Going with digital this time?

[@danmurn6040]

What do need to get to set up the track to record track lap results. Thanks

[@johnniehobby]

@@danmurn6040 The first requirement to have lap counting feature is to have the Carrera control unit part #30352. That's the track piece that the power and controllers plug into that also incorporates the sensors to detect car crossings. If you bought any Carrera track set within the past five years or so then it came with that unit. Second, the race management software: The one featured in this video is HSSRMS. Info on that software and how to connect it to the track is here: www.hrwforum.com/forum/hrw-all-scales/club-home-connection/carrera-digital-north-america/4472-hssrms-thread-home-for-faq-discussion-on-bruce-y-s-pc-based-carrera-digital-t-s Another option is the Carrera App Connect software for running on smart phones and tablets. Info is here: www.carrera-toys.com/en/2747/race-app Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any more questions. Happy New Year!

[@danmurn6040]

@@johnniehobby thanks very much. Modified my super bird. It work fantastic thanks.

[@danmurn6040]

Do not have the digital track ,analog for now.

[@silentstormstudios]

Great video with helpful info. I'm just getting back into the hobby and have a tire truer on the way. Do you have any tips for how to properly weight a car for magless racing? I'm thinking about going magless in order to actually slow things down a bit and improve driving skills. I find the faster I run the cars with magnets, the more cars I break from the inevitable high speed crashes! I'm a bit OCD with maintaining the looks of my cars. ;-)

[@johnniehobby]

Ironically, the way to slow the cars down is to not tune the tires. I do find magless racing a lot of fun as it does require more skill and finesse. However, we don't do any serious magless racing (just goof around w/o magnets now and again) so we haven't learned to tune a car to run that way.

[@EdwardChew]

Hey thank you for the tips. What timing system did you use on the screen?

[@johnniehobby]

The timing system we use is called HSSRMS. As far as I know it only runs on Windows PCs and uses a serial-to-usb conversion cable for connection to PC. Another popular system is SmartRace which can run on Mac and also tablets and smart phones (but not Windows). That requires the Carrera Bluetooth module for connectivity. URL for SmartRace: www.smartrace.de/en/ The link I had for HSSRMS download is no longer working. Not sure if it is available any longer.

[@EdwardChew]

@@johnniehobby Thank you. I'll have a look 🙏🙏

[@TechTiger1007]

Hey guys. do you have any videos on how to rebuild when crashes and ware happen?

[@JayDee-jx4ew]

Wow thanks another for making this video. I've learned a lot and now can get my nephew's Ferrari to handle better.

[@johnniehobby]

Cool. Let us know how it works out for you.

[@limehuzki]

I'm starting to wonder if I could tune my 4wdmini for slot car track use, or put a 4wdmini motor into a slot car

[@barryvanlom8943]

Thanks for the info. I have a question for you about track and car compatibility between proprietary systems, like Life Like and Tico for example, specifically when it comes to adding the popular HO gauge Train Set and Slot Car Intersection part. I have a starter set RoSports Top Turbo Supersonic with 1/43 size cars that I bought and enjoy a lot. My question is will my current track and car be compatible with that Train/Car Intersection part? I've always wanted trains, cars, drones and all other sorts of crazy stuff on one system since I was a kid. The Rosports track appears to resemble Life Like rather than say Tico or Scalextric, but I'm not sure if this intersection part, that only seems to be available for $100 on Ebay, will work. Is Rosports considered Life Like? It looks like I should just get a Cabrerra set because it seems to be popular and will be around for a while. Thoughts.

[@johnniehobby]

Normally tracks from different manufacturers aren't compatible with each other, especially with what it sounds like you are trying to do which s mix scales. The only train/race track crossing I'm aware of was the Tyco HO (1/64) scale. There could be others in different scales for other manufacturers but I'm not familiar with them.

[@barryvanlom8943]

@@johnniehobby looks like I'll have to juryrig something together myself. Just need to borrow a router lol.

[@jcd1964mn]

Great video, any suggestion where to find layout for Scalextric, love your layout

[@johnniehobby]

I did an internet search for Scalextric layouts. Didn't find much but there is this page that has a variety of designs that all fit on 4'x8' table: www.slotforum.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=171810

[@getswb]

Well done. Will implement immediately. Thank you.

[@johnniehobby]

Cool. Let us know how it works out for you.

[@flippinthrough]

Cool video. I am going to try some of this stuff on my new AFX HO set. My girls and I are having a blast, but the little one is PISSED because her car is slower.

[@johnniehobby]

Haven't tried truing tires on HO scale before. Let us know how that goes. Is the little one's car not fast, or just not handle the turns as well as the others?

[@smatchimo55]

when did they go to plastics like this? mine has an all metal chassis

[@ollien3359]

Smatchimo is your car a Revo Slot?

[@smatchimo55]

@@ollien3359 i just found it, its a flex 2 from Parma

[@justinmulder7106]

People still run the stamped steel chassis.

[@DiamondDaveCH44]

Please explain to me how a "Banked Turn" will "pull the brushes away"

[@RaySweeting]

Love the title.

[@coollion1235]

does this work for 1:43 scale?

[@6977warrior1]

I run group 20 motors in my wing cars on an 8 lane track. So fast you can barely see the car. But the tracks are all disappearing now.

[@slater4041]

There seems to be a big following on the analog club tracks like that. My guess is that the new generation is coming into the hobby and, just like our kids, they want all the new technology crap that they can get their hands on.

[@lrosas8088]

Great video tutorial. Thank you

[@houseoffolly]

Do you sand the front tires too? Maybe put them on the back to do it ?

[@johnniehobby]

The issue with that method is that when a tire is trued they can become un-trued as soon as they are put on a different wheel, or even if they are put back on the same wheel even a few degrees off from their original position. The right way to true the fronts is to get a truing machine that performs the sanding with the entire axle assembly. The highly competitive guys that run in racing leagues will true the fronts that way, but for our low-competitive environment we haven't felt the need (or desire) to go that far with it.

[@houseoffolly]

@@johnniehobby Wow, what a great reply. Thanks !

[@bodomeyer3397]

Hello, a very nice video for beginner in Slot Racing. Many greetings from Germany😀

[@johnniehobby]

Thanks for the comment. And greetings from the USA.

[@danmclean7375]

4:55 lol like... Garbage.. It's *sooo truuuue*...sandpaper method + tape = genius (Ive been using a fine-file and a licked thumb and probably just made it worse..) Johnnie my dude - super helpful video, thank you! *subscribed*

[@johnniehobby]

Glad to hear it can help you out.

[@wrecklessdaath]

can you add a capacitor to a car to keep any other car draw from effectiving you car? or do these not do that like the tyco tracks? i havent slotcared for a long time

[@johnniehobby]

I am assuming that you are referring to those situations where one car de-slots and then the remaining car on the track to then gets more voltage and then subsequently flies off the track because it all-of-a-sudden gets faster. That isn't an issue with digital slot cars. Actually it isn't an issue with analog slot cars either if they employ separate power feed from the transformer for each lane (like Carrera Evolution), or use a regulated power supply (which Tyco apparently doesn't use) that maintains a constant voltage regardless of the load.

[@wrecklessdaath]

yeah i had no idea about digal slot cars thats pretty cool..now i have a ton of ideas that probably wouldn't fit with regulations or the rules

[@yaniv2010]

Thanks for great video I am new to this so maybe my question has really simple answer; sorry for that. I have the gt battle kit of the Carrera digital with 2 cars which came with the kit- the Mercedes 30910 amg and the bmw 30917 m6. Is it possible that the both of them set to the same speed but one is faster? Thanks again

[@johnniehobby]

The simple answer is YES, two cars can have different speeds, and depending on the cars, one might be significantly faster than another. The more complicated answer is WHY. There are a variety of factors. You'd think Carrerra would kit cars in a set that have similar performance. Is one of those you have a lot faster than the other, or just slightly?

[@yaniv2010]

@@johnniehobby thanks for your very fast and clear answer. The speed difference is not too big but I need to set the speed in 1.5 steps or so to make them run the same speed

[@johnniehobby]

@@yaniv2010 If you are looking to get the cars to run at identical top speeds and you can't do programmatically (sounds like you need a half-step on the CU), there's two things you can try. Before that, though, be sure to have both cars tuned like in this video (oil the bearings, adjust the pickup braids, and tune the tires). After that, check again to see if the top speeds are still different and that you still can't get them the same using the CU. 1) Try adding weight to the faster car. See if that slows it down a bit. If you do this, I would add it as close to the middle (front-to-back) as possible. Be aware that adding weight may negatively affect the handling in the turns a little. 2) Reduce the tire diameter of the faster car. Truing the tires like in this video makes the tires a little shorter, slightly reducing the top speed. Even after the tires are tuned, you can grind them a little more to make them shorter. Be careful with this because the shorter you make the tire the closer the chassis gets to the track, and in extreme situation you may have clearance problems. Also, because the chassis is closer to the track, so are the magnets and so that car will handle a little better in the turns. Conversely, you can get aftermarket tires for the slower car that are a little taller than the stock tires.

[@yaniv2010]

Thanks again for your time and advice! Great nots. I will run some tests as you recommended

[@mt-xx1tt]

I'm a rc head and I'm hear as my son got slotcars for xmas so obusly I need to make them go faster haha

[@zombanator3000]

As all good parents, they need to earn that win.

[@dreyn7780]

Them meaning rc cars.

[@robertwilensik3711]

johnnie....GREAT VIDEO! Is there any way you could share your layout design? I'd love to build one like yours!

[@johnniehobby]

Hi Robert. A reasonable facsimile of the schematic can be found at 6:14 mark of my track building time-lapse video (kzbin.info/www/bejne/mXmugHRuorNsfqs). The design has been tweaked slightly since that video (mainly the addition of more lane changes and chicane in the upper-right side has since been removed and the old black box and lap counter combo has been replaced with the newer control center) but the overall configuration is the same. If you need an inventory of track required let me know and I'll post it here.

[@masterchief586]

That was good and informative 👏 👍 I am more of the Carrera Porsche line of 1/32 scale guys. Limited room size. Cheers 🍻

[@MikeHoncho69420]

Are you running any magnets? Back when I raced, we would super glue magnets inside the car for added downforce. Tire truing also makes a big difference.

[@johnniehobby]

Carrera cars are built with magnets already installed. Some chassis (G4) are adjustable and can even be removed and re-installed easily.

[@giangigiangi-fq1ep]

Very nice and usefull video, thanks

[@scheduledwork4331]

Where is the angle winder mod? (The inline motor turned 45 degrees and the pinion changed to a bevel gear onto the crown gear) 50+ years ago the hobby was quite different.

[@jonnie2bad]

cool setup, wish i had a friend with a basement like this.

[@swayzeetheking]

Cool hotline profile pic, bro

[@b.h1362]

What software do you use to monitor the cars like lap time, lap count etc..

[@johnniehobby]

That is a program named HSSRMS, developed by Bruce Yingling. Info on downloading the software and also for buying or building interface cables is here: www.hrwforum.com/forum/hrw-all-scales/club-home-connection/carrera-digital-north-america/4472-hssrms-thread-home-for-faq-discussion-on-bruce-y-s-pc-based-carrera-digital-t-s

[@urrugames4062]

Amazing vid!!!!!

[@codypierce8562]

What type of oil can I use cuz I have a gun oil bottle that I wanna use so is that oil ok it lubes up my slide on my gun so will that work to do the same on the axles

[@johnniehobby]

You can use gun oil but if you aren't sure if it is safe for plastics then be careful not to get it anywhere but the metal axle and bushing.

[@coollion1235]

i used bike oil for my 1:43 because i coudnt find yor oil but iit still works

[@jkm49us25]

Can you purchase tires that no sanding is necessary?

[@johnniehobby]

Silicone tires can't be sanded and are quite true out of the box. The thing about silicone tires is that if one car runs them then all the other cars should run them as they'll negatively affect any cars running non-silicone. Also, the track needs to be really clean because the tires will pick up all sorts of dust and lint and then they'll lose much of their grip when they get fuzzy. Urethane tires usually only need very little tuning, sometimes no tuning at all. And, you can run urethanes and stock rubber tires on different cars on the track at the same time.