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We've had a good start racing on our new Artin layout (a mirror image of the old Dixon hills Raceway). So far we are running Carrera DTM, Carrera classic sports cars, and Scalextric Trans Am cars. Our next race is on the 21st of May, and I know the guys are going to ask me what's next? I am considering adding GT3 cars to the mix, but which brand: Scalextric or Carrera? Does anyone have advice regarding this? Or is there another racing class we should consider?

The new Scalextric BTCC series is nice.

The Slot.it classics would be a nice choice too, even the Group C. Loads of models to choose from.

Carrera GT3's seems like a good choice, as you run some Carrera stuff already. They are not too expensive and they run quite well. You have an assortment of cars to choose from like, Porsche, Ferrari 458, Aston Martin, BMW Z4, Corvette, Lamborghini and Mercedes SLS. Although Scalextric also has quite a number of cars such as the Porsche, BMW Z4, Bentley, Audi R8, Aston Martin and Mclaren.

Some Slot.it Group C cars will also spice up the racing and as Harry said, there are loads of models to pick from.

I would stay brand centric as much as possible so that things like tires, gears, guides, braids will work across several model types. That will keep fun level up and costs down.

Thanks for your responses so far. I guess what I need to know is do the Carrera cars run better than the Scalextric in the GT3 class? I would do the BTCC, but as you stated in your review, it's more of a British thing than American. That said, I do think I could find some interest in the WRC rally cars.

Well with magnets the Carrera does.

With a tire change they are great runners.


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If you are running magnets which i will assume you are, you should find the Carrera cars have more magnetic downforce on Artin track. This is due to the manufacture of the cars for Carrera track. Both are great i might add, but the Carrera track has less magnetic pull in it hence the Carrera car mags are stronger. When running Other brands on Carrera track they will have a bit less magnetic downforce, however other carbrands should be fine on Artin track. We ran Artin Cars on Scaley track and the magnetic downforce actually heated the motor enough that it softened the inside of the plastic pinion so we had to replace them with brass.
I will say this Carrera have some fine cars in the GT series and are good bang for the buck, plus the assortmemt of GT cars is good, even older stock.
If you are just starting out it may be wise to stick with anbrand you know and are likely to have spares for such as guides and braids. Slot ot cars are beautiful, faster, and more expensive. They also have more pieces likely to depart in an off. Scalextric cars are good and have a great Trans Am collection if you like that style. They run well on Artin too. Scaley offer a number of classes to choose from but are more costly than Carrera. If there was any majpr difference in Carrera and other brands i would say it is in the weight department. Otherwise great value and looks
Bob

Shoreline Model Raceways recently started running Carrera cars on a regular basis. All of our tracks are wood, but one does have Magnabraid. The cars are all run without traction magnets in any case. The Carreras are the closest thing that we run to a boxstock class. The minimum weight for the Carrera cars is 3.4 oz. From time we run New England Challenge Scalextric Super GT cars, those are the closest to the Carreras in terms of the modifications that are allowed and they have a minimum weight of 3.2 oz. With slightly less weight and somewhat more powerful motors the Scalextric cars are faster. Some sort of handicap would have to be applied to the Scalextric cars if we wanted to run them together with the Carreras.

At NASTE we have a couple of routed tracks that had the corners painted with a magnetic primer before the final paint. As a club we race without magnets, we add weight and use soft rubber or urethane tires. However all new racers and kids get to race with magnets, until they win. Then the magnets come out and they learn how to set up a magnet free car. This formula has worked well for us.

Thanks for all the feedback, guys. It's been very helpful.