Scalextrci Start

[Beardy10]

Thinking of getting one of these for my son.....he was given a Micro Scalextric last year which was rubbish and promprly returned to Amazon. Have a gift voucher to use and was wondering if anyone had any experience of "start". Read some mixed reviews along the lines that the controllers aren't great...also be interested to know if the reduced speed setting stops the cars flying off the track.

[Rude-boy]

No idea but I would say that I was playing with the proper stuff from age 4 onwards without making to bad a job of it.

I would just buy him a cheap sport set and accept that he'd waste a couple of cars learning. Added to which the track you buy him today will still be able to be used in 30 years time if anything like the stuff I have and you don;t tread all over it.

Some of my old Classic stuff is well over 40 years old now and still going strong.

[Beardy10]

Hadn't thought about it like that...though at £55 for a full set of cars track it's about the same cost as two proper cars that would get trashed! It's apparently compatible with the proper stuff too with an adaptor piece.

[garethj]

ebay might be your friend for buying cars, the tough ones have got black windows with no interior and they're really cheap to buy.

And more importantly, you can buy some cars that you like too - get yourself to the Pioneer slot cars site and look at their lovely US muscle cars!

[Simes205]

Get the real stuff - use the cheaper cars and they'll take the knocks.
Here's mine from last year







Just 'getting the go ahead' to build mk2.......digital.

[russy01]

You'll regret getting start, you can get adaptors but these aren't free and to make an interesting set mixing start and sport track you'll need a handful of adaptors. Start track only has 1 radius bend so you are limited to the shapes you can make.

Get yourself a cheap sport set, you'll then be able to upgrade to digital easily if you wish.

http://www.jadlamracingmodels.com/p-2980-scalextri...

Jadlam also sell this set in digital for another £50 or so.

The set above is fantastic value for money, you get two very detailed cars and a huge amount of track. Also the track set includes a lot of rad 3 bends, these are fast sweeping bends which make for a fun fast track.

You also mention cars, not all scalextric cars are £30-£50. There are loads of cheaper cars from £15 (plain crash resistant generally)

Send me a pm (I can get you a good deal on anything scalextric!)

[miniman]

One useful feature of Start is the adjustable lock-off on the controllers that prevents the cars running too fast. This can be achieved on a proper set with a drill and a split pin

[russy01]

miniman said:

One useful feature of Start is the adjustable lock-off on the controllers that prevents the cars running too fast. This can be achieved on a proper set with a drill and a split pin

Or you could teach your kid to drive!!

If you get the digital 6 car powerbase you can adjust power on the system (no drilling required!). You can set power in % increments, you can give players handicaps, you can set cars to run automatically, the list goes on.

[groomi]

Or just get your Dad to modify an old powerpack:



And then build a simple banked oval so it's very difficult to crash:



And make sure it fits under the little ones bed so he can use it whenever he wants (not just when Mum agrees to trip over it for a day or two):



And finally, the Start cars are great but a cheap old touring car works just as well:



Total cost about £50 including the £35 for Lightning McQueen

[miniman]

russy01 said:

miniman said:

One useful feature of Start is the adjustable lock-off on the controllers that prevents the cars running too fast. This can be achieved on a proper set with a drill and a split pin

Or you could teach your kid to drive!!.

she was 2 when I made it.

[Simes205]

russy01 said:

If you get the digital 6 car powerbase you can adjust power on the system (no drilling required!). You can set power in % increments, you can give players handicaps, you can set cars to run automatically, the list goes on.

50&, 75% and 88&.
The pacer function is brill.
My 6 car powerbase (C7042) has just arrived.................

[Beardy10]

Simes205 said:

50&, 75% and 88&.
The pacer function is brill.
My 6 car powerbase (C7042) has just arrived.................

Now this has really got me interested. The whole idea of looking at "start" was because you could restrict the cars speed to let my little lad learn without getting frustrated. At 50pct power do the cars come off at all?

[Simes205]

Not really but depends on you car/track too.

[Beardy10]

Simes205 said:

Not really but depends on you car/track too.

Just realised how expensive this controller is! Hmmm

[Stig]

I had the same dilemma a while ago and ended up buying Scalextric Drift Kings for my 6 year old.

Cars are bulletproof and can spin 180 degrees and carry on. Magnets are strong so it's very hard to crash.

Perfect as a starter set and pretty cheap too (got mine for £45).

[Simes205]

Beardy10 said:

Just realised how expensive this controller is! Hmmm

Yep, and you have to buy the pwr. supply (£35rrp) separately too.
It all mounts up....................

[russy01]

If you don't want the car to run off you can modify the cars to some extent. We have a few old Audi tt's which are loaded with magnets, they will come off but not so easily. I'm sure if you added in a 6 car powerbase and put the power down theres very little chance the car would come off.

Also if you stick to mainly rad 3 and 4 bends (sweeping bends) that will help.

[JakesterUK]

russy01 said:

You'll regret getting start, you can get adaptors but these aren't free and to make an interesting set mixing start and sport track you'll need a handful of adaptors. Start track only has 1 radius bend so you are limited to the shapes you can make.

Get yourself a cheap sport set, you'll then be able to upgrade to digital easily if you wish.

http://www.jadlamracingmodels.com/p-2980-scalextri...

Jadlam also sell this set in digital for another £50 or so.

The set above is fantastic value for money, you get two very detailed cars and a huge amount of track. Also the track set includes a lot of rad 3 bends, these are fast sweeping bends which make for a fun fast track.

You also mention cars, not all scalextric cars are £30-£50. There are loads of cheaper cars from £15 (plain crash resistant generally)

Send me a pm (I can get you a good deal on anything scalextric!)

Hi I'm looking to get a scaletrix set for my 5 years olds birthday, ideally one that I can add and build on as he gets older, what set would you recommend (budget £100).

Thanks

[russy01]

Well again I'd say avoid start, it will be more hassle than its worth for future extensions although it does looks great value.

I'd say the c1254 James bond set is a good starting place, interesting cars and fairly interesting track. 6.5m of track
http://www.jadlamracingmodels.com/p-3549-scalextri...

Or push the boat out a bit and get this same set I suggested earlier in the thread - 7.5m of track, fast track with very nice cars.
http://www.jadlamracingmodels.com/p-2980-scalextri...

Or extreme gt - 2 nice race cars with a ton of track 8.5m:
http://www.jadlamracingmodels.com/p-724-scalextric...

These may be over your budget slightly but the £130ish sets offer better value for money than the £100 sets. E.g the £100 turbo flyers set has 5.5m of track and cheap cars, the extreme gt £130 set has high detail cars and 8.5m of track, if you were to buy an extra 3m of track seperately you'd be paying £30-40 and then the high detail cars would cost an extra £20 or so.

Good luck.

[JakesterUK]

russy01 said:

Well again I'd say avoid start, it will be more hassle than its worth for future extensions although it does looks great value.

I'd say the c1254 James bond set is a good starting place, interesting cars and fairly interesting track. 6.5m of track
http://www.jadlamracingmodels.com/p-3549-scalextri...

Or push the boat out a bit and get this same set I suggested earlier in the thread - 7.5m of track, fast track with very nice cars.
http://www.jadlamracingmodels.com/p-2980-scalextri...

Or extreme gt - 2 nice race cars with a ton of track 8.5m:
http://www.jadlamracingmodels.com/p-724-scalextric...

These may be over your budget slightly but the £130ish sets offer better value for money than the £100 sets. E.g the £100 turbo flyers set has 5.5m of track and cheap cars, the extreme gt £130 set has high detail cars and 8.5m of track, if you were to buy an extra 3m of track seperately you'd be paying £30-40 and then the high detail cars would cost an extra £20 or so.

Good luck.

Great many thanks for the advise really appreciate it.