To Race Mag or Non-Mag

Ole talk and things that don't fit anywhere else
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Luke
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To Race Mag or Non-Mag

Post by Luke »

I don't tune Analog or Digital 1:32 cars competitively anymore and for no exact reason other than - I simply lost the joy doing so ...

However, I can race competitively with sponsored super tune cars and that said ... here's my take with Mag or Non-Mag racing.

I have been racing (OTB) slot-cars with 18K rpm Motors (since 2000) and with their stock magnets - which was also dubbed Fridge (type) Magnets or better yet - brown plastic magnets and as time went by, realized these mags wasn't all that great.

Because years later, found out about Faster / Higher 21K RPM Motors & had to use the Neodymium (Chrome Plated) Magnets which was Super-Duper Strong. After experiencing this type of magnet down-force with the high RPM motors in slot-cars, there was no turning back because the other type mags were like racing cars without magnets full stop. Mind you, not that I don't enjoy but there's a but ...

Anyways, that was about 5+ years of High RPMs and as much as 35K rpm with Strong Mags for Analog Circuits but in 2009 all that changed. I was introduce to Mr. Gordon Gonsalves at FRC with his super-cool looking Scalextric Sport Digital Racing Circuit. All in all, I was blown away with this type of racing and it did take a good amount of schooling (at first) and because of Gordon's passion for this hobby plus his Digital coaching skills - ran with everything I learnt from him.

In the first couple months - Gordon use to sponsor some of his digitally chipped cars for GT racing competitions and when he showed me how to chip my own (Lamborghini Gallardo) analog car - the rest is history. Now, one of the first things everyone was told with SSD Chips - it will burnout with motors over 21K rpm, which in hindsight - is somewhat correct depending on the tuning / balance setup.

I said 'somewhat' because (at the time) I only had a Scalextric F1 chip and Scale Auto 25K rpm Motor ... for my Lambo GT car. So, me taking the chance setting up with these components plus Silicone Tyres and Neo-Magnets of course - big Hit or Miss I had the right balance for my Lambo .. It was known to be super-fast in a straight line and being the only one with this racing setup - did win a number of races outright but it took some doing getting to the line first - because there were always 5 more skillful drivers to deal with ... but what everyone was really amazed by with my Lambo - is how the F1 Chip was handling the 25K rpm motor for a good number of races ..!

Nevertheless ... I firmly believe this 25K rpm setup changed things to the point - it opened the "Flood Gates" to Super High RPMs with Down-Forces to match. So much so, motors doubled in RPMs ... and so did the Magnets. The motors sometimes went to 50K rpm but the NSR 40K FC130 Motor was the weapon of choice ;)

Anyways, that was another 5+ years (for everyone) with even Higher RPMs ...

However, a number of other significant things took place through the years but when Modified Production (Less Mags) & Rally Car Classes (No Mags) were introduced plus taking it down a touch with other classes ... Non-Magnets (Rally Car Class to be exact) and Lower RPMs became the new trend with slot-car competitions 8-)

This was my shortened 20-year 1:32 story to simply mention ... I will partake of the two types of slot-car racing but not all of one 🙂

Post No. 2105

Luke
steveaca
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Re: To Race Mag or Non-Mag

Post by steveaca »

Interesting history there Luke. The future at FRC is non-mag and it would be great if you could take part !
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gordon
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Re: To Race Mag or Non-Mag

Post by gordon »

Very nice post there Luke, summing up your many years of experience of magnet and non-magnet slot car competition. Your options are now doubled, with magnet racing at TSCC and RAS and non-magnet racing at FRC!
Luke
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Re: To Race Mag or Non-Mag

Post by Luke »

Thanks Steve & Gordon for the - to one's liking - replies 8-)

However, you both have me thinking / wondering ... If you'll are going to race Magnetic Slot-cars at anytime in the future :?:

Luke
Last edited by Luke on Tue Apr 13, 2021 4:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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gordon
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Re: To Race Mag or Non-Mag

Post by gordon »

Luke, we have no plans to race magnet cars in the forseeable future. We've basically gone magless.
Luke
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Re: To Race Mag or Non-Mag

Post by Luke »

Okay Gordon but I feel it's more like AWOL because what you'll going to do with all them magnets ;)

Post No.2107

Luke
Luke
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Re: To Race Mag or Non-Mag

Post by Luke »

gordon wrote: Tue Apr 13, 2021 12:17 pm Luke, we have no plans to race magnet cars in the forseeable future. We've basically gone magless.
Gordon,

I was thinking about reply above ... and let's say you were likely to host one of your FRC Events (with a few of TSCC & RAS racers) and all Covid-19 protocols taken into consideration - of course :)

It will only be the RC class :?:

Luke
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gordon
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Re: To Race Mag or Non-Mag

Post by gordon »

Luke wrote: Thu Apr 15, 2021 6:55 am I was thinking about reply above ... and let's say you were likely to host one of your FRC Events (with a few of TSCC & RAS racers) and all Covid-19 protocols taken into consideration - of course :)

It will only be the RC class :?:

Luke
Well Ram has some Kitbash cars, so he can race at least in that class. In addition, we all have some classes where we've prepped more than one car, so there'll be extra cars available for some of the other classes.
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