Saturday, May 31, 2008

Carrera garage inserts - a great idea


Now this is cool! A German chap has designed inserts for Carrera's pit garages that give them a really nice level of detail. Check out the downloads at this link.

And you can read the discussion about these on this thread on Home Racing World.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

New Spirit "LeMans" motor

Spirit have a new motor on the way. A new motor rated at 23.5k @ 14.8 volts. This will be the motor in the new Golf GTI's.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

New Spirit Golf GTI's

The Spirit GTI's that will be released will be these street versions. One black and one white.









Monday, May 26, 2008

SlotCar Indonesia - Tigor's site


TigorL is a slotter that been around on message boards for a while now. He emailed me to ask a question and also gave me a bit of news that he's opened a raceway in Jakarta. Trainz Cafe & DEPO Hobby is his raceway. And you can check out his blog about the raceway at this link:
http://indonesianslotcar.blogspot.com/

A small routed track for sale in LA area

A member on SCI is selling his small routed wood track. I thought I'd make a posting about it since it's such a nice little track. Please note this is not my track for sale and I'm not the one selling it. Contact Bill at the email address below to buy the track.

FOR SALE: SMALL SCENIC ROUTED TRACK
I've built a couple permanent plastic track with scenery, and I wanted to try a routed track (see construction blog on SCI). So, I built this 2'x 10' routed track, and it's now complete, but I need to find it a new home before I move on to my next project (a single lane hill climb). I was planning to put it up on Ebay, but I thought I'd offer it first here.
Two lanes, about 25 feet long, 2'x10'. Uses Ninco electrical for the track so it'll run in either direction at the flick of a switch. Includes the two Ninco controllers and the 14.8V Ninco transformer. It's routed and copper taped (so no magnetic attraction). No cars or accessories. Runs nicely (see the video). Small footprint fits nicely in the corner/back of a room. The track is constructed from two tables, 2'x5' each, that bolt and clamp together to make the 2'x10' table, which fits nicely onto the wall of a room. The legs are 24" and are removable (i.e., they screw in). It's a nice height for sitting down and racing.

$300, Local pickup (Los Angeles). Paypal accepted. Because it disassembles into two 2'x5' pieces, it should be relatively easy to transport locally, but it doesn't make much sense to ship it.

williams@ucla.edu

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Slot cars in the Wall Street Journal

Today there's an article by the Wall Street Journal featured, of all things...SLOT CARS!!!!!
See the video here!


Read the article at this link.
An interesting article written by Julie Jargon ( email her to thank her at julie.jargon@wsj.com ) in today's Wall Street Journal.

DaveK

NSR Ford GT40 photos - lots of them












Indy video, Mark Martin reflects on Summer Nascar races




Friday, May 23, 2008

SCX's traveling man!

I just got off the phone with Bryan Young, he's driving north though Oregon as we speak on his way to a day of demo's at Fantasy World Hobbies in Tacoma Satuday May 24th from 11-4 pm.

FantasyWorldHobbies
1909 S 72nd St Ste A-12
Tacoma, Wa. 98408. ph 253-473-6223
Bryan's shown here during the NY Toyshow earlier this year.

Mini Car Bench from DS

Instructions for the Mini Car Bench from DS:

Thank you for purchasing the Mini Car bench, we hope that the product will be to your satisfaction and you will enjoy its functionality. It is easy for the car bench to break in and adjust your 1/32 or 1/24 Slot car; it is perfect for quickly testing the car or chassis at any place with or without external electrical power.

Specifications:
• Small size to allow support of any 1/32 car, but has self extracting extension will also allow you to use any 1/24 car.
• Contact plates extended to allow an easy external measurement of car consumption or voltage applied.
• Sponge absorbing for car vibrations; do not allow the car to move over the bench.
• Triple power input:
a. Using an external power unit thought the 2 units of 4mm
banana plugs (red and black) fixed at one of the sides to
not disturb.
b. Using the external bipolar jack transformer connection.
c. Using a 9V battery fitted inside the bench.
• External switch allow to save battery when not used.
• External fine and precise voltage regulator from the maximum given in the input to 0.
• On/off LED indicator
How to change the 9V battery:
• Unscrew the 4 under pan screws
• Fix the 9V battery to the free terminal inside.
• For safety reasons we strongly recommend to fix the battery with double side tape.
• Close the under pan using the 4 screws.



DS is developed and designed in Spain by IBB Auto Racing, S.L.
DS Electronic Racing Products and DS logo is trademark of IBB
Auto Racing, SL

IBB Auto Racing, S.L.
La Masia, 28 · 08710 Odena (Spain)
Tel. +44 938030880
Fax. +44 938055057
www.ibbautoracing.com


DS Electronic Racing Products are distributed worldwide through
MRRC International Hobbies Ltd. Distributors. For international
sales please contact MIH at:

MRRC International Hobbies Limited
PO Box 790
St. Heiler
JE4 0SW - Jersey Islands (Great Britain)
Fax. +44 1 53864988
www.mrrc.com
e-mail: info@mrrc.com

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Wanna see the van? And meet the man?


SCX USA technical manager Bryan Young will be at Fantasy World Hobbies Satuday May 24th from 11-4 pm. He will have a number of demo's going on that day! Why not come by Fantasy World and visit with Bryan...

FantasyWorldHobbies
1909 S 72nd St Ste A-12
Tacoma, Wa. 98408. ph 253-473-6223

Monaco GP - preview


For nearly 80 years, the Monaco Grand Prix has challenged drivers to tame the tight and twisty streets of a race track which winds its way through the second smallest nation on earth.

At just two square kilometres, and with the highest national population density in Europe, Monaco is unique on the Formula 1 calendar. That 350km/h race cars still do battle on its treacherous turns in the 21st century is testament to the enduring fascination of the Monaco Grand Prix.

For most in Formula 1, Monaco is in equal parts a trial and a joy; with the tight confines challenging everyone in the paddock but the history, glamour and unrivalled atmosphere stoking the flames of passion in all motorsport enthusiasts.

With unforgiving walls just centimetres away, drivers are given no margin for error, which makes Monaco one of the most mentally demanding races of the year. In terms of the cars, it may be tempting, logical even, to assume the slowest race on the calendar is the least demanding, but that could not be further from the truth. Monaco is not only a unique challenge for a driver; it places very special demands on a Formula 1 car as well.

The Principality of Monaco is the heady and glamorous location for round six of the 2008 Formula 1 World Championship. The 20 cars and drivers will compete around the 3.34km street circuit, racing between the Princes's Palace and the Mediterranean sea covered in some of the World's most lavish yachts.

The focus for the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen, will be on adding to the illustrious history of the team at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Since the start of the McLaren and Mercedes-Benz era, the team has won the race on five occasions. Mika Hakkinen in 1998, David Coulthard in 2000 and 2002, Kimi Raikkonen took the spoils in 2005 with Fernando Alonso claiming victory just ahead of then team-mate Lewis last year.

The connection to the race stretches back to the 60s, with Bruce McLaren taking the M2B to the track to make the marque's Formula 1 debut. In that time, the team has won a record 14 out of the 65 of Grands Prix staged in the Principality. This began with Alain Prost in 1984, kicking off a winning streak that stretched until 1993, with the exception of 1987. Five of these were at the hands of Ayrton Senna.

As part of the team's ongoing relationship with Steinmetz, creators of the world's finest diamonds, Lewis and Heikki will wear special diamond encrusted Monaco helmets for the race. Each helmet has the signature of the driver pavéd with a line of hundreds of Steinmetz's handcrafted diamonds. This also marks the first time that the Steinmetz logo - or any other sponsor's logo in Formula 1 history - has been incorporated into the design of the helmets through the application of diamonds.


Preview text and photos used with permission from Toyota and McLaren.com, no reuse for any reason.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Mas Slot special edition Fly Porsche 935

A cool looking Porsche 935 (but aren't they all cool looking?) has shown up here in the US. Cincy Slots has allowed me to reuse their photo of the new car.

2 years of Slot Car News

May 19th was the anniversary of Slot Car News. In the two years that I've published the site I've had the pleasure to round up news from every company and publish it here. Over that time over 510,000 viewers have seen news from these companies. This site gets about 1000 hits a day and I hope that Slot Car News can continue to show news from every company that will send the news to be seen.

I never thought that 2 years into it that I would have been still blogging away, daily about slot cars... it's really been great!

Dave Kennedy
Publisher, Slot Car News

Slot MiniAuto - June

SLOT MINIAUTO 44 - JUNIO

La revista Slot MiniAuto del mes de Junio, destaca en su portada los F1 clásicos de Superslot, el Lotus 49 de Jim Clark y el Eagle de Dan Gurney. También son protagonistas de la cubierta, la prueba del nuevo Seat Toledo GT de Scalextric, el Lexus SC 430 de Ninco y el Porsche 997 Carrera S de AutoArt en escala 1:24.
Este número incluye además las pruebas en pista del nuevo Ferrari F40 Racing de Fly, Seat Ibiza Bimotor de Scalextric, y el nuevo chasis Zorro de Project Slot. El Delahaye 145 S LM38 de TRRC, es otro de los protagonistas del interior de la revista.
En la sección de noticias, varias sorpresas, entre ellas las fotos espía del nuevo Lola T70 Spyder de Sloter.

SLOT MINIAUTO 44 – JUNE

The magazine Slot MiniAuto of June, emphasized in his cover the Scalextric 1967 F1 classic, Jim Clark Lotus 49, and Dan Gurney Eagle. They are also featured in the front page, the test of the new SCX Seat Toledo GT, the Ninco Lexus SC 430 and the Porsche 997 Carrera S of AutoArt in 1:24 scale.
This number also includes track test of the new Ferrari F40 of Fly in Racing version, Seat IbizaBimotor of Scx, and the new Project Slot chassis for RallySlot, the Zorro. The Delahaye 145 S LM38 of TRRC, is another of the featured inside the magazine.
In the News pages, several surprises, including Spy Pics of the new Sloter Lola T70 Spyder.


COMUNICATO STAMPA

SLOT MINIAUTO 44 – GIUGNO

La rivista Slot MiniAuto del mese di giugno, ha sottolineato nella sua copertina le Scalextric 1967 F1 Classico, Jim Clark Lotus 49 e Dan Gurney Eagle. Sono inoltre illustrati in prima pagina, il test della nuova Seat Toledo GT di Scx, la Ninco Lexus SC 430 e la Porsche 997 Carrera S di AutoArt in scala 1:24. Questo numero comprende anche la prova di pista della nuova Ferrari F40 di Fly in versione Racing, Seat IbizaBimotor di Scx, e il nuovo telaio per RallySlot, Zorro, di Project Slot. La Delahaye 145 S LM38 di TRRC, è un altro degli attori all'interno della rivista.
In The News pagine, diverse sorprese, tra cui Foto Spia della nuova Lola T70 Spyder di Sloter.