You Should Consider Slot Car Racing As A Hobby
Written by sports blogger on December 30, 2008 – 10:21 pm -
Slot car racing is widely considered to be both a hobby and a sport. It involves the collecting and racing of miniature race cars on a slot car race track that has a slot cut into it to guide the car. The cars used in a slot car race are generally modeled after some of the most popular, real race cars, including those from Nascar Nextel Cup and the Indy Cup. The majority of the slot cars used are manufactured and purchased commercially. Other, more avid hobbyists choose to modify a commercially built one or put a motor in a static car that they already own. The really devoted rc car racing hobbyist may choose to fabricate their own car and motor for optimal performance.
The slot car racing world is made up of a variety of different racing enthusiasts. Some, like little boys, choose to just race commercially built slot cars in the basement or a garage somewhere. Others will go to any extreme to participate in highly publicized races that require specially built or modified cars that perform at high levels not normally seen in hobby rc car racing. Most of these slot car race competitions pay good money to the winner. Those who are not really interested in competitively racing slot cars may choose to simply collect the cars and will work on creating a custom car racing slot track, similar to the ones produced by model train aficionado’s.
The tracks used in slot car racing are specialized and are created to provide power to the slot cars as they pass along the track. On either side of the slot in the track, there are metal strips which provide power to the low-voltage electric motor in the car. The driver then has a small hand-held controller that allows them to control the speed of the car. Controlling the speed of the car through the curves is the key to keeping the car on the track. Too much momentum and the car may come out of the slot, propelling it off the track, thus disqualifying it from the slot car race.
Many of the modified slot car racing cars now come equipped with something called magnet traction. Magnet traction does not hold the car into the slot, but it does give it enough grip to stabilize it just a little. While magnet traction is legal, many enthusiasts do not like to use it in a slot car race for several reasons. They feel that it take the challenge away from the original idea of rc car racing, and they feel that magnet traction does not allow the rear of the car to slide enough to correctly and effectively propel it around the curves in the track.
Tags: Rc car racing, slot car race, slot car race track, slot car racing
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