This column will be of interest for « Slot Drivers » :

Here you will find a few advices in order to become a Slot Racing champion...

(we received those advices from a partner club)

1) The ballast :

Since the use of powerful magnets, the performance of the slot cars changed dramatically.

Sometimes it gives an impression of an unrealistic road holding.

The magnet can of course be removed. But in that case the weight of the slot car becomes often too light and the car will be easily thrown out of the circuit.

How to find the middle way?

By using the good old method of ballasting...

To do so you can take for example small lead balls as used in aeromodelism.

Put those balls at the place of the magnet and stick them.

To adjust the ballast test your slot car on your circuit and add each time a ball till you are satisfied with its new performance.

2) The tyres :

To optimise the road holding of your slot car you can also « prepare » its tyres, new or already used.

The tyres you buy contain irregularities, unevennesses.

To obtain slick tyres a solution is possible : use sand paper and let turn the tyres on it till you obtain an even and slick tyre.

Your slot car will gain in road holding.

3) The running in :

Running in the engine gives it a longer lifetime and a better electric circulation.

To do so let run the motor with a 4.5 voltage during 2 hours. But don't do it by riding the car on the circuit.

Do it by putting the car for example on a little bloc so that the driving wheels do not touch the track.

You can also just take down the rear axis so that the engine turns without gripping.

It is recommended to grease the engine after each run.