Everyone follows a different approach but perhaps you can take something useful from my own efforts to race-tune cars for the TSR track; maybe it helps you to save some project time or maybe you learn something completely new from which the rest of us can benefit. So, to help you select a new car or develop one for this track, here’s my notes for what it’s worth.
To make an initial evaluation and plan an upgrade I consider the following;
Chassis:
- I have a historic affinity for sidewinders, but after my recent experiences with the ancient concept of in-line drive I no longer have a fear that centrifugal force may throw the car to one side. In fact, on the TSR track in-line gives an excellent weight balance and allows for what I consider the perfect magnet set-up.
- Irrespective of drive mode, intricate designs or add-ons must be functional, otherwise it should be easy to convert or remove - simple always works, gimmicks often don’t.
- Some manufacturers provide an option as far as the hardness of the chassis is concerned, but to date I have no data to support the superiority of one over the other.
- Metal chassis (my 1960’s favorite) I’m still unable to get running even close to the modern plastics.
Magnets: I normally don't swop out magnets on Carrera cars because I gain all the power required by lowering the COG. If that's not enough, I may reposition the magnets. On any non-Carrera cars stronger magnets are an absolute must. The steel alloy used by Carrera for their track rails has a lower iron content than any other manufacturer, and subsequently the magnetic power displayed by these cars is hopelessly inadequate. To upgrade these cars I use original Carerra magnets or a range of aftermarket round or bar units.
Axles & bearings: 3/32inch allows parts interchangeability between ready-to-run cars and the scratch-built industry.
Gears: The popular 9:27 ratio works well for inline, so I normally don’t mess with this. The same goes for sidewinder 11:32 and anglewinder 13:31.
Motor:
- The standard Mabuchi FC-130 short can is a generic workhorse and combined with suitable running gear it can make for a fairly competitive car, but at 18000rpm it is simply too slow to get to the podium. Short cans running from 25000 to 40000rpm is a good choice subject to overall car weight and a generous application of magnets..
- Long can FC-180 motors running in the low 20’s and coupled to the correct gearing matches 40000 short cans and the superior torque easily punches through magnet downforce.
- Slim can FF motors also available up to 40000rpm, but because of their very low torque are normally better suited in Formula or other very light cars.
- C and D-can motors like Camen, Cobalt, Kelly, Koford, Mura, Parma, ProSlot, RJR sounds as fearsome at 40000rpm as they do at 120000rpm but are simply unsuited for the TSR track .
Wheels: Alloys are first choice. The only comparable plastic comes from pro-race manufacturers like JK.
Tires: Silicone or urethane on plastic cars, Parma sponge on metal. At the front basically anything that rolls but I do prefer hard to soft (again maybe just a historic sentiment).
Body: Fewer pieces make for easier modifications, and uni-piece bodies are lighter and gives a lower COG. It is critical that heavy bodies carry their weight low and close to the wheelbase center. If the body is lexan, there’s no worries.
Electronics: Primarily for lights and lane changing, so that goes into the trash can.
With all that in mind then, here’s my own observations after trying to race-tune a few cars for the TSR track.
TOURING CLASS
Carrera Audi DTM - 7.33sec
Removing the electronics helps with weight reduction but the nature of the multi-piece body allows for only limited modifications to ride height, so it remains a bit top-heavy. I keep the magnet positioning unchanged but do glue them in place so that there’s no movement. Rear tires are exchanged for silicone. A very smooth runner and one of the fastest Carrera cars in the class.
Carrera Mercedes DTM - 7.51sec
The Mercedes gets exactly the same treatment as the Audi, and the performance is very close or equal to.
Carrera Mercedes Coupe DTM - 7.03sec
A very attractive car, but it carries too much weight to be really fast. I gave it the same treatment as the Audi’s and drilled as many holes as I could to drop the weight, so eventually it did manage to outrun the rental DTM’s, but it’s still too heavy and slow for my liking. That unfortunately was as far as I could go under the class regulations – smooth, quiet and very pretty, but painful to watch lumbering down the straights.
A very attractive car, but it carries too much weight to be really fast. I gave it the same treatment as the Audi’s and drilled as many holes as I could to drop the weight, so eventually it did manage to outrun the rental DTM’s, but it’s still too heavy and slow for my liking. That unfortunately was as far as I could go under the class regulations – smooth, quiet and very pretty, but painful to watch lumbering down the straights.
NSR Fiat S2000 - 6.03sec
In true NSR fashion this car outruns everything in my Touring car stable. And it took the least work of all; I changed the rear tires to silicone and that was it! Even the standard NSR magnet setup needed no change. The Little Box most certainly displays the reputed unfair NSR advantage when compared to other out-of-the-box cars. And it’s a lot of fun to drive – noisy and spectacular.
GT CLASS
Carrera Ferrari 458 – 5.74sec
After going through the standard COG drop and weight loss process, both front and rear wheels were replaced with smaller diameter alloys, respectively fitted with plain rubber at the front and silicones at the rear. The 18000rpm Carrera E200 motor gave way to a 30000rpm Slot.It, and though standard magnets and positioning were retained, the lower ride height ups the magnetic force just enough to off-set the stronger motor. Somehow the changes resulted in a perfectly balanced car; super quick with amazing road holding and very easy to drive. The 30000rpm motor is the ultimate fit in this particular combination of parts; anything slower does not bring out the full potential and anything faster impacts on controllability. Possibly the only outstanding item could be a lexan interior to further drop COG, but it may just upset the balance so I have no immediate plans to even try that. Easily my favorite track car.
Carrera Ferrari 575 (Slot.It 27000rpm motor) - 6.10sec
This car benefits tremendously from dropping COG and losing weight, and alloy wheels and a hotter motor properly explores all its capabilities. It handles very nicely and is an easy car to drive; even in its most basic form it is good enough to be part of my rental fleet. Adding a faster motor takes it into the first row of the starting grid. For more info on this mod see “Tuning A Carrera Car For The TSR Track”.
NSR Porsche 997 - 6.01sec
True to the NSR reputation of fast out-of-the-box cars, this one is a beauty. A little body and chassis work was done, but all wheels were left in place with only rear rubber swopped for silicones. A slight change was the addition of an extra magnet underneath the rear axle. The King Evo 21 motor turns at only 21400rpm, but it packs enough grunt to keep up with much quicker motors. This was an easy development and the car both drives very smoothly and gets very close in overall performance to the Carrera 458. On the TSR track I doubt whether a faster motor will be of any benefit and a bit more chassis development may possibly be just enough to push it to the front. An exciting car to drive.
Carrera Porsche 917/30 (E200 motor) - 7.51sec
Carrera Porsche 917/30 (Slot.It 30000rpm motor) - 6.01sec
Carrera Porsche 917/30 (Slot.It 27000rpm + lexan body) - 6.07sec
Carrera Porsche 917/30 (Slot.It 30000rpm + lexan body) - 5.720sec
In 1:1 scale one of my all-time favourites, in 1/32 scale less so. Despite its stunning looks (in the blue and yellow Sunoco colors) it is a hard car to get around the corners quickly – there’s simply too much weight above and behind the rear axle. I tried my best to remove as much material as possible, but there’s only so much that can be cut away. The chassis on the other hand must be one of Carrera’s best from my perspective, but more on that to follow.
With a faster motor it posted excellent times, but compared to other front runners the wagging tail will not take it into first place due to the erratic handling - one 6 second lap does not make up for offs on 2 or 3 other laps. Even with the underpowered E200 motor the big car easily hangs out its tail at every corner, so it should preferably only be raced in a class of whale tails and not in an open sports class. A spectacular car to drive all the same.
“Throwing away” the body of the Carrera 917/30 leaves you with a fantastic opportunity to easily convert the running chassis to take a lexan body – welcome to COG heaven! With the initial weight reduction work done on the chassis, all that remained was to fix copper tubing to the sides for the body pins. Some surgery on the guide mounting enabled me to fit a straight front axle, and that again allowed the use of precision alloy wheels. At the rear the massive Carrera Can-Am wheels are replaced by JK Hyperslot hubs dressed in French Dauremy silicones. Magnet configuration is unchanged, but the new motor of choice is Slot.It’s 27000rpm yellow can. I have tried the chassis with a 30000 motor and it recorded a blistering 5.7 second lap, but with the lexan body the power-to-weight ratio simply makes for too much work to continuously drive fast all the time. With the slower motor the car stays on 6 seconds, consistently matching the best lap of the original heavy body/fast motor combination.
NSR Ford GT40 (Shark 21000rpm motor) - 6.62sec
NSR Ford GT40 (Slot.It 30000rpm motor) - 6.17sec
I’m passionate about anything GT40 but initially this car was a terrible disappointment on the TSR track, so I was ready to dump it after numerous unsuccessful attempts to make it go. Eventually I managed to hit the sweet spot after a lot of work has gone into delicate body mods to lower the COG and some chassis modifications were done to accept the Carrera Evo magnet set-up. Front wheels were retained but shod with lower profile rubber, and rear wheels were changed to big 17x10’s with the required silicones. The GT40 sidewinder chassis runs the NSR Shark 21000rpm motor which sadly is taken to its limits with the current chassis/body development, managing a fastest lap of 6.62, so there was a lot of motivation to swop motors. A 30000rpm motor took road holding right to the edge, but with lap times now dropping to 6 seconds it’s good enough to be a top contender. Love my GT40!
NSR Mosler - 5.57sec
This is the car that put NSR on the map, and it’s also one of the most contentious models out there, sparking many arguments about adherence to scale and resulting in it being banned by numerous clubs and organizations. At the time of its release it simply was the fastest thing straight out of the box onto a wooden track, but these days there’s much to be said for Slot.It and Fly when specific tracks come into play. It’s certainly legal at TSR, but really takes some work to get up to speed and at this stage it’s not the fastest car out here. I have changed magnet configuration to Carrera Evo, increased the rear wheels to 17x10 and ended with minute work on the body. With the stock 21000rpm King motor it runs out of steam on the straights, so a quicker 30000 motor took it right down to 5.575 seconds. Championship car.
Scalextric Jaguar XJR9 - 6.53sec
I was looking for a suitable rental car for the Sports class and happened upon a 25 year old veteran out of the Scalextric factory. A simple and basic design which modified easily and yielded amazing returns. Swopping the small Scalextric guide for a beefy Carrera unit necessitated the only chassis surgery required, while the search for a lower COG led to a few body cuts, including the repositioning of the rear wing. A single magnet of my own choice and silicones onto standard Scalextric wheels gave us a car that runs with NSR’s. It is very noisy but surprisingly quick, proving the magic of simplicity. The only drawback is that the age of this car requires continuous maintenance.
Scalextric MB Sauber - 6.84sec
This car is from the same era as the Jag XJR9 and follows the same body lines and chassis/motor layout, but is not as freely available. Again the guide has been replaced by a beefier Carrera unit, a stronger magnet has been fitted and Yellow Dog urethanes replaced the standard rubber at the rear. Chassis and bodywork must still be done to drop COG, and the car should run the same times as the XJR9.
Rex TSR
Updated 12/03/18
