How to handle cars coming off track

[racyray]

I had a large Carrera digital track at my old house. I haven't set it up at new place due to frustration when racing with others. We used to have 4 to 6 racers and 1 or 2 were very inexperienced. These drivers go too fast and their car comes off the track every 3 or 4 laps. We don't have enough folks to have dedicated marshals and the better drivers get tired of putting cars on the track while trying to race. I've also tried yelling stop whenever a car comes off the track but not everyone stops at the same time and stopping the race every 3 or 4 laps is discouraging. I suppose the simple answer is to not invite inexperienced folks to race but that's difficult when a family of friends comes over and they all want to race. I've also occasionally reduced the speed of 2 or 3 cars and told the "bad drivers" to pick one of them, that they're "special cars" for new racers, without explaining why. Bear in mind that none of our group is expert, and our races are just for fun. I'm just trying to figure out the best way to eliminate the frustration of cars frequently coming off the track. Thanks for any ideas you have!

[btaylor]

You might try investing in a variable power suppl, and cutting back the volts to all cars. Racing is fun at any speed, so even the more experienced racers would have fun. I assume you are running magnets? If not, that helps a bunch to stick em down. Most RTR cars run pretty well down to as low as 8 volts, some lower than that. Just a system that works for me and my grandkids.

Bob

[mattb]

Crash and burn racing. You come off you are out of the race. Race keeps going till either one car is left or anyone running, except the leader calls last lap. Lots of races, lots of fun, guys learn to drive or they just watch everybody else.

[bobbyraz49]

How about 3 "offs" and you lose a lap.. get knocked off...you also are considered off ? Works for us when we are short of racers.

[mattb]

Knocked off counts the same as if you wreck all by yourself. In a real race you wouldn't put your car in position for another car to wreck you and you wouldn't expect a real racer to slow down to protect you. You expect everybody to drive to win and you don't do anything foolish like expecting somebody else to slow down so you can go ahead! Is that racing? Like these guys that race locally with a breakout. They watch the computer screen and try to not go too fast. I don't think that is really racing.

[BRS Hobbies]

Modified crash and burn racing works really good. You can use some poker chips or playing cards and give each driver 1 or 2 at the start of the race. If your car leaves the slot (doesn't matter if you wrecked or were taken out by someone else), you must turn in a chip or whatever you use, to rejoin the race. If you run out, then your out of the race.

This simulates real racing that if you wreck enough times, the damage is so severe that your out of the race. It also encourages driving a little more conservatively since you must at times be a defensive driver and time your passes to have a chance to win and finish the race.

If you give this a try, it's important to stick with it. The first few times you do it, it's a good possibility that maybe only 1 or 2 cars finish the race. As the drivers adjust it will result in fewer offs and better racing.

Best regards,
Brian

[slothead]

Despite loving my days racing at a commercial track and in clubs, this is why I'm okay with now being a solo racer who simulates races. It's very hard getting a slot car racing crew together where everyone is on the same level - either regarding driving ability or competitiveness. Some people love to race but just don't have the eye-hand coordination to keep a car on the track consistently, even after much practice. Others are so determined to win they will 1) stink up a race by winning and then bragging about it till no one else wants to be in the same room with them anymore, or 2) drive like a manic if not winning.

For the issue of this post I agree with the modified crash and burn approach - exceed a specified number of deslots and your out of the race. As drivers gain experience or wins their number of allowed deslots goes down, meaning they have to be more careful. Or, less experienced drivers could be given a 'head start' so they have less total laps to complete to win a race, while still having a limited number of allowed deslots.

Hopefully, there is some compromise system that can be found so everyone is having fun and feels they have a chance to do as well as matters to them.

[chappyman66]

Without marshals, it's either crash and burn or adjustable power.
This is actually why I have adjustable power.... so the kids can run at 8-9v and I can run 10-12v. And I don't have to fix cars all the time.

Crash and burn sounds like tough luck, but it does actually teach folks to slow down and drive, or spend a lot of time watching.

[slothead]

This got me thinking - are there after-market controllers that allow power to be limited? This way even with a standard power supply the max voltage that could be applied on a given lane could be set as needed.

[btaylor]

I have a slot it SP1 Controller that has a power setting at the controller. it works great for new drivers and kids. I believe slot it makes one for digital as well.

Bob

[BARC 1]

I USE DIGITAL chips to supply power to each lane using a Carrera system for power. I wired up digital voltmeters as well. The Systems allows you to vary voltage from 9 -14 volts. Works well. My 3 year old Grand daughter races on my track with no deslots. This is no mag racing as well. It was pointless to get her to drive a special car. She typically will drive 15 different cars in 30 minutes

After using this set up for a couple of years now, I am very happy with it. The Carrera chips have worked as lane power with zero issues, and allows me to run a fuel system simulation when running analog cars.

[patwa]

Scaley sport digital. You can set the power for each individual car. Great for the kids (and some 'adults'). We also use the token system. People learn to slow down pretty much immediately.

[chappyman66]

Or you do individual lane voltage at the driver station for less than $10 a lane....but some investment of time. ;-)

[BARC 1]

For sure there are many ways to go on lane control. As I do a lot of solo racing the fueling aspect of the Carrera chip allowed me to have this running all my analog cars. Just adds something more then laptimes

[patwa]

How can you have individual lane voltage control on a digital system?