Tuning the Carrera Audi R8.. with Piranha Power!

[@shadowsandfire]

I find ALL cars require tuning to get their full potential out of them, like removing mold points, truing tyres, setting ride height and body float and properly aliging and setting up chassis motor and running gear all make a difference to smoothness, consistency and top speed, when you really get nitpicky you start ballancing everything too, this is but the tip of the iceberg as the rabbitshole runs deep on the tuning topic, all chassis/make/model tune differently and quite often require their onw niece tuning but once you have set up like 30 cars you get the idea for what tour looking for and what you want to achieve as everyone has a different race style and prefer looser or tighter setups, looks like you got the hang of it, the thing hammers!

[@twolinesslotcars]

Always learning! Now tuning is half the fun!

[@twolinesslotcars]

Thanks for the great comment!

[@tonytibbs1974]

Great review mate, I love the Audi R8 because Valentino Rossi drives one. I brought a Scalauto kit which I'm going to make in to Rossi's car. This sounded like a swarm of bees on your track, I can't wait to get at mine. I wish I was your neighbour, Id love to paint your logo on your basement wall. It looks like a fantastic space.

[@twolinesslotcars]

Tony! Thanks man, the basement does make for a great racing space. I would love to see your Scaleauto once it is complete. The Carrera cars are a little noisy. This car flies around the track.

[@SlotCarMisfitsofallscales]

Love your track set up

[@twolinesslotcars]

Thanks Tom!

[@johnminehan7664]

Nice looking track, thanks for the motor review. I started with magnets in my Carrera cars, now I only keep the middle magnet in. It is much more fun as it forces you to actually drive the car. Give it a try

[@twolinesslotcars]

Thanks so much John! I am trying to wean myself off of magnets..

[@johnminehan7664]

@@twolinesslotcars Good tires are a must, I also run my Carrera track on 5-7 power level for non mag. Just start slow and work up. Your cars will thank you, much less damage in non mag racing. With magnets it’s harder to tell when the car is going to come off, no mags you’ll start to slide first. LOL I got to the point I was running mag at level 9-10, when I had crashes they were epic 😂 lost a few cars

[@FA-RACE-TEAM]

Enjoy as always yyour content , keep it up! Marty: QUestion, do you fully and throughly true PG urethane tires when you compare to silicone tires?

[@twolinesslotcars]

Shaun, I don't have a tire truer, so I have to use the "hold the car on the track with sandpaper" tire trueing. I personally have not tried Paul Gauge, a couple of guys who race on my track have tried them and silicone seems to work best right out of the package. We need to give urethanes a fair shake and get them prepped properly. Have heard great things about them when they have been trued. Thanks!

[@kovatspeter4063]

Hi Marty! I'm thinking of getting stronger magnets for a few of my underperforming cars (KTM X-Bow, Porsche 935). What kind of magnet would you advise for me to get? Also do you think the better motors would make them a bit more equal to a few of my kinda stock (only tires swapped) cars? Thanks in advance, best regards, Peter

[@twolinesslotcars]

Rare earth magnets are the strongest. Fires are your biggest advantage. The Piranha motor is a terrific upgrade, but the rest of your Carrera cars will struggle to keep up with it. It is a big performance boost. Be careful not to go too crazy with magnets, they will drawn more power and create some heat.

[@VellaTek]

Approximately how many feet is that layout ? Looks great !!

[@twolinesslotcars]

This is my old layout, it was 108 feet.

[@rhysthomas209]

G'day Marty great review regards rhys watsonia Victoria Australia

[@twolinesslotcars]

Thanks Rhys!

[@richtorrey6457]

Hey Marty, I love my analog cars but I bought the 2 1/24 CR.8 Carrera cars. Then I bought the RSR. Now I am running digital. You need to try 1/24 scale. I really like them. They are decent except for the braid. They are also sidewinder an I think they are better quality than there 1/32 cars. Great content. Thank you! Rich

[@twolinesslotcars]

Rich, I plan to add 1/24 scale. I just can’t decide which car to get 😂 thanks for the kind words. Have fun racing.

[@Afrasoft]

Good video, you can see how stable the car is, where you put the magnets and what kind of magnets you use?

[@twolinesslotcars]

In the stock magnet location seem to work best.. you can stack them.

[@MPSlotCar]

Because of you I had to buy this Audi 😂 Haven’t tried it yet but love the livery! I may have to try out that motor. I have about 4 Carrera cars that the motors have gone kaput…and two were fairly new with very little run time 😤

[@twolinesslotcars]

My apologies for causing you to spend some money😩, but you will love the car. It performs really well for me on my track. Looks amazing! The motor upgrade is great, I noticed that it took a little price jump this week to $19.99. It is an easy swap and a performance boost. Interested to see your review and how it stacks up on your leaderboard (which is my favorite part of your reviews). Now, I am ready to watch GB vs Japan! Let's goooooo! I appreciate the comment, Massimo. Thank you.

[@bradsanders6954]

Carrera motors as you've found,really vary a lot....I have this little carrera 1967 Vette Sting ray with skinny/skinny tires and the thing just flies around the track...its lighter and its really quick for a carrera car. .............it slides a long ways on it's roof when the skinny tires let go instantly....I have a few C cars that came with clunker motors.......1 makes sparks when I watch it run with body off.

[@bradsanders6954]

@@twolinesslotcars MP slot car space has cost me some cash in new car purchases........its the little pedestal he sets cars on and it spins around.........then I order the car.

[@twolinesslotcars]

@@bradsanders6954 LOL.. I totally understand.. it spins the car.. and I am like.. here is my money..

[@rmsslotcars3792]

Hi Massimo, are you in the US? If so, let me know and I'll send you some motors to try out on your layout.

[@tylerpaul650]

Great video....much appreciated!. I've told you that I am new to this sport and just yesterday I was working on trying to find a engine that fits the carrera cars...Mostly just researching slot corner and the predator engines. I found it difficult to determine what engine will work in the carrera cars. So I just ordered a couple of these motors. Carrera's, page says that if you use these engines they will hurt the amount of cars you can run on the track??

[@twolinesslotcars]

I have not noticed a difference in power. I have added 3 power taps to my layout and that seemed to clear up any power issues. I am guessing that the draw of 7 cars you might see some drop in overall performance.. it might be time to upgrade to a variable power supply at that point.. I am researching that now..

[@tylerpaul650]

Makes sense......take care Marty

[@bradsanders6954]

Thanks! Im going to try some of those motors. Ive found that the faster the carrera car corners, the stronger the magnet they came with.......magnets vary a fair amount..........my track is shorter and I'm thinking lower gearing and the Piranha motor might really wake a carrera car up.............it seems like the cars really start pulling at end of the straight.............what if they pulled harder quicker off the corner?...............some cars I'm taking just the rear magnet out,I tried both magnets out and the car just wont hardly go anywhere............................the Slot its have 1 really small magnet. They are light little things to try to keep on track,

[@twolinesslotcars]

I added weight and some magnet to my Slot It and it still struggles to stay on the track. The Piranha motor for the Carrera cars really does wake th3em up. They are fast.

[@bradsanders6954]

@@twolinesslotcars From what I can tell, after hours of driving the Slot it cars, the throttle HAS to be rolled on smooth off corners, and smooth all the way around...........trying to just get them wide open alot ....the human eye and brain have a hard time keeping up with the car...I also turn the brakes up pretty strong on them....like a drag race from corner to corner driving style.

[@conquestracingclub]

Nice work Marty

[@twolinesslotcars]

The Piranha Power motor gave the car some torque it didn’t have before.. boarders are teaching me to be a better driver.. next to ease off on the magnets.. thanks!

[@bradsanders6954]

@@twolinesslotcars As long as the track is clean, and the quik slicks are clean the cars go pretty good with out rear magnet....I started using some lint rollers off ebay to clean tires, its fast and really gets the dirt out of the tire........both magnets out so far doesnt work real well....fishtailing and sliding mainly.

[@tripleblack5184]

Do you have a vid on the magnets and their placement, size etc?

[@twolinesslotcars]

I don’t have a video specific to magnets, but the best location for me has been in front of the motor..

[@MrGwittenberg]

Can i use this Motor Type for Evolution cars? We have no Digital in our Hobby Group...and did you have mayby a link where i can get the Motor and the witch Slicks tire did you use? Found the Site but does the CAO2XF also works for Audi R8 Greez from Germany

[@twolinesslotcars]

Yes, it is a direct fit for any Carrera Car, plug in and go fast!

[@tracytesmer7033]

What tires are you running with the Audi ?

[@twolinesslotcars]

We run silicone on our track, they are super tires.

[@tylerpaul650]

Yesterday, I also found a company called, Digital Racing solution, their lane gate device they have is really cool. I usually run 6 ghost cars and then run my car with them 7 total. I installed 4 lane changrers and this device will eliminate cars changing lanes with cars racing side by side and switching lanes and causing crashes.

[@twolinesslotcars]

I will have to give them a look. Thanks for the tip!

[@tylerpaul650]

@@twolinesslotcars I had a little issue in the beginning with the detection zone, once I got that straighten out I noticed my cars slowing down. So I installed a 1/3 piece of track as my detection zone and it solved the problem. Then I used what they and others suggested and I used a full size piece of track as my detection zone and installed jumper wire in front of the lane change and it solved the problem. Marty, this device is a game changer for me and other folks who use ghost cars. I have 4-4/15 high banked curves and 120' of track with 3 double lane changers. I use 6 ghost cars at high speeds and then my car and we have zero issue. I have tested it now 3 times and no accidents other than the usual. Before we had ghost cars crashing into each other on the lane changers as we had no control. So anyway this product is doing an incredible job and for me it was a game changer. take care.

[@twolinesslotcars]

@@tylerpaul650 We have had some epic crashes coming out of the pits.. so fixing that alone would be worth it. Thanks for the info, I really appreciate it. Would love to see your layout with all of those banked turns!

[@RadAbyss]

I got this car in my recent set, great car to race, just the right amount of magnet for my skill level lol.

[@twolinesslotcars]

It is a great looking car too Rad!

[@billyedwards3421]

What is the part # and where did you get the motor a link please

[@twolinesslotcars]

www.lebhobbies.com/piranha-slot-motors-215k-scan-for-carrera-with-plug-and-pinion-p-10456.html?cPath=691_693

[@whitmanft]

Are u running at 100% speed on your car set-up?

[@twolinesslotcars]

I believe I was set to 100% on speed.

[@DustyFord]

That record won’t be safe for long. Lol. The old crappy GT is shooting for it!

[@twolinesslotcars]

I’m sure the record is safe with the boarders on the track now.. I should reset the records for the track now.. since the layout is the same but it is actually races different with the boarders on it.

[@AlienPrague]

we have this audi at home and its great! found out Ferrari 488 is the worst so far from Carrera GT cars

[@twolinesslotcars]

Martin, I would agree.. my 488 is beautiful, but doesn’t perform well.

[@user-jx3jp3gb4x]

@@twolinesslotcars both my 488's are just terrible too,,, weird but beautiful

[@salvatoreperagine1707]

You need to be careful about adding aftermarket motors and extra magnets to Carrera Digital car . This causes the car to draw more current - and if you pass too much current through your digital chip you will blow it .

[@twolinesslotcars]

Thanks for the heads up. Salvatore, I used a motor that was recommended for Carrera cars. It doesn’t seem to run any hotter than the other motors. It is 21.5k motor.. and Carrera motors are rated around 19k, I believe but don’t seem to be very consistent. www.lebhobbies.com/piranha-slot-motors-215k-scan-for-carrera-with-plug-and-pinion-p-10456.html?cPath=691_693

[@carlosroland6442]

Those motors can draw up to 2 amps for about a 1/10th of a second. The drive FET on a Carrera digital chip is rated at 30 amps for 15 seconds. While high current "can" eventually decrease the life of a digital chip, it's not as much as people think. The greater risk is from crashing at high speeds.

[@bradsanders6954]

Just taking the rear magnet out of carrera cars makes them faster off corners etc....the magnetic drag does slow them down. ..so yeah probably draws less current without the drag of magnet.....both magnets out and they are just about un-drivable...

[@bradsanders6954]

@@carlosroland6442 I bought 2 NOS Cheetahs from Germany,they were both 2012 cars new in box,the chip has died on both....no big deal I just solder in new chips...odd they both died really quickly.