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Scott's Slot Cars
The Best Digital Slot Car Brand
- Comparing Carrera, Ninco, Scalextric & SCX on Price
April 1, 2009
By Scott Lewis
Which system is best for YOU? That is a very wide
open question. I have seen it posted on message boards a lot. The usual
response is "do some research and ask an informed question." I can see
why. I have read some threads and there is no clear answer. Each
manufacturer has their own way of implementing features, their own style
of track, accessories, cars, etc. You cannot just ask which is best. But
I can try to answer which is best for ME!
This article is going to be one part of a series of articles to help ME
determine which brand to buy. I do not have ANY 1/32 scale track. I have
a lot of HO track and want to migrate to the larger cars. I do happen to
have two 1/32 analog cars that will get "chipped" to run on whatever
track I buy. That means I have already made the decision to buy digital
(read this article for the
reason I chose digital).
In this article I am going to compare all the major vendor's offerings.
Carrera, Ninco, Scalextric
& SCX. I will only look at digital
solutions. I am not apposed to buying an analog set and adding a digital
conversion set, but my research showed that it costs more to go that
route. If you want to run cars on an analog track (say at a club) then
you may want to buy analog and add digital to it. However, I am pretty
sure I will be using my cars at home only, so digital is all that
matters.
I could compare each manufacturers available digital sets, but this is
just the start. Does everyone offer a digital lap counter? With multiple
cars running on the same lane you HAVE to have a digital lap counter.
How many offer the lap counter feature built into the controller or
"black box"? How much does their lap counter cost if you have to buy it
outside the set? How much are their accessories? Extra track? Extra lane
changers? Pit lanes? Many brands co-exist with their analog track, and
that is refected below as most of the expansion track I priced was
analog.
I have over 100 ft of HO track, so I expect to get a fair amount of 1/32
track. I am leaning toward building a table 4x12 or (2) 4x8 boards in a
L shape which is the same surface area as 4x16. How much track can you
fit in 4x12 or 4x16? I have desided to shoot for 50 ft. of track as a
start. Nobody makes a single race set that include 50 ft of track,
though Ninco is close with 42 feet.
What other requirements do I have? Let's list my requirements for a
fully functional system:
- 50 ft of track
- 4 cars/controllers
- Lap counter
- Pit lane (with fuel management)
- High banked curve
- 4 lane change tracks (preferably straights)
- Pace or "ghost" cars
I do not expect to buy all of this at once, but some of it will be
necessary early on. For instance, I will be racing mostly with my two
sons, that means I need 3 cars/controllers immediately.
I assume my wife will play with us once in a while, and if either of my
sons has a guest over it would be nice to have 4 cars/controllers early
on. I want at least one good high bank turn at the end of a long
straight so we can get these cars up to speed, but this is not important
until the table is built and a layout is determined. Some things can
wait and some can't.
For this article I am going to price out everything it would take to
meet all of my requirements. I hope to narrow down the list of brands
that are right for me based on price and availability of accessories. In
a future article I am going to explain the benefits and weaknesses of
each brand. Between the two articles I should provide enough information
for anyone to make an informed decision.
Budget. I should say something about budget. You may get some "sticker
shock" below. If you buy a simple race set you can have a lot of fun. If
you get serious then this can become an expensive hobby. I expect to
build a decent layout on a table in my game room. I am looking at
selling my pool table to help pay for this. Without the sale of the pool
table I would expect to be limited to an investment of no more than
$500, and that's pushing it. I could see getting a race set with three
cars/controllers for $350-450 and waiting on everything else.
All the prices below were from any of a number of web sites. They were
all current prices during the Christmas 2008 shopping season. You can
find better prices on some of this stuff, but these prices seem to be
representative of what is out there with just a little digging. I am
listing the brands in the order I expected to consider them BEFORE I did
this research. My local race track sells Scalextric and from what I have
read their chips to convert analog cars is the easiest to install on
other brand's cars. I really like the look of the SCX system with their
fuel tower and fuel management. Carrera is great for its size which runs
1/32 and 1/24 scale cars, but takes up a lot of room. Finally, Ninco has
a great track that puts 42 feet of racing on a 4x8 board. With those
small prejudices let's price them out.
Scalextric
Scalextric Triple Cup Digital Slot Car Set
360.00
Digital Straight Lane Change Slot Car Track $42.99 x 3
128.97
Digital Slot Car Track Lap Counter
55.99
Banked Curve, Radius 2, 2X, w/ supports $12.99 x 2
25.98
Scalextric Digital - Power Supply Unit
29.95
Scalextric C7002 digital hand controller
12.99
Scalextric C7006 Digital retro-fit chip B
16.99
Hairpin Curve 90 deg. Pk. of 2
9.99
provides approximately 19 inches of track
Side Swipe Straights (needed for hairpin)
16.99
provides approximately 27.5 inches of track
R2 Standard Curve 45 drg. Pk. of 2 $9.99 x 5
49.95
provides approximately 8 ft of track
Scale Sport Standard Straight Slot Car Track (2) $8.49 x 7
59.43
provides approximately 15 ft of track
------
Total 767.23
This particular set from Scalextric is new and includes their new pit
lane system. This system may or may not be available when I am ready to
buy, so I may have to make adjustments. For this article it is enough to
know that the set exists and about how much it will cost. I may wait for
a review of this system. I want to be sure the "pit lane game" includes
fuel management. Because of this Scalextric is the biggest unknown at
the time I wrote this article. If refueling cars during a race is an
important requirement then look further into this feature before
deciding if Scalextric is right for you.
I added 3 lane change staights and 2 bank curves (enough to make a 180°
turn). The set included enough track for an oval with a length
approximately 14.25 ft. The banked curve adds 76 inches to the length,
and the lane change straights add approximately 61.5 inches for the
three pieces. That gives us a total of 308.5 inches, or just under 26
feet. We need a lot more track. I added a hairpin for variety and the
necessary side swipe tracks the hairpin calls for. Then I added about 8
ft of regular curves and filled out the 50 ft with standard straight
track. If my calculations are correct the total track above should bring
us to about 52-1/2 feet of track. This is close enough without knowing
what layout I would build.
As I mentioned earlier, I will be chipping the analog cars I have to
whatever system I buy. I only included the cost of one chip and the
controller to get me to 4 cars/controllers. This brings our grand total
to $767.23 for a fully funtional and sizable Scalextric system.
SCX
SCX Digital #10100 GT Pit Box
369.95
Digital #20030 Changeover Track 360mm (1)
21.95
Digital #25030 Lap Counter
71.99
SCX Digital #25010 Lap Counter Expansion Module
31.95
Digital #25100 Banked Curve
47.99
SCX Digital #25060 Pit Box
114.95
SCX Digital #20070 Electronic Transformer
49.99
SCX Digital #20090 Control Units Connecting Cable
11.95
SCX Digital #20060 Electronic Hand Throttle
26.99
SCX Digital #13550 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup
59.99
SCX Digital #25130 Chicane
37.95
provides approximately 28 inches of track
SCX Digital #20010 Standard Curve (2) $17.95 x 5
89.75
provides approximately 8 feet of track
Standard Straight 360mm (2) $17.95 x 7
125.65
provides approximately 16 feet of track
------
Total 1061.05
The SCX Pit Box set is a 20.3 foot track. It just so happens to come
with 3 lane change tracks that are all on straights, so we only had to
add one more. Here is one of SCX's good news or bad news items,
depending on your point of view. To get 4 racers on SCX means you have
to buy a second controller. I decided to skip the controller and priced
out a second Pit Box. This gets you the addition fuel "tower" piece.
This is also why I added the lap counter expansion module. I need to see
how many laps all 4 cars have run. You MUST run a second transformer
when running 4 or more cars on SCX, so that gets added.
Scalextric and Carrera have 4 car controllers, so going to 4 cars just
required the controller and the car. The good side for SCX is that once
you get to 4 cars you have what you need to go to 6 with just some more
controllers. Scalextric for instance has a separate 6 car controller,
which requires you to abandon the 4 car controller that comes with its
sets.
This time I added the Chicane for variety. The Chicane comes with an
exit track and I assumed it was the same length as a regular straight
and gave them credit for two straights at 28 inches. I added 8 ft worth
of turns and rounded it out with straight. If I can count then this
should be about 51 feet.
You will notice that I put a car on this list.
The conversion to SCX Digitial for non-SCX cars is a very difficult
operation. I won't subject my current analog cars to that, so I was
forced to add a car to this list so we would have 4 cars to race at one
time.
Clearly SCX is the most expensive here at $1,061.05. Notice that the
expansion track costs almost twice what Scalextric's expansion track
costs. This is because each track carries the digital signal whether it
uses it or not. However, if 3 cars are enough I could chop $295.82 off
this price bringing it closer to the others. To be fair, I didn't price
any of the other brands running up to 6 cars at once. For SCX that would
be just an addition $54 to our total here, plus the cars. Scalextric
will require a different control unit, while Carrera would necessitate
an expansion module or adding wireless controllers. I did try to be fair
by including an additional power transformer in the other systems. It
really can be an apples to oranges comparison.
Carrera
CARRERA 1:32 SCALE DIGITAL HOT PURSUIT
219.99
22.63 ft
CARRERA Digital 132 Electronic Lap Counter
54.99
Digital 132, Digital 124 Track - Pit Stop Lane
61.99
2/30 High Banked Curve Slot Car Track (6)
34.99
CARRERA Digital 132 Track Speed Controller - 34.99 x 2
69.98
Carrera Digital 132 Track - US Transformer 14.8V 42 VA
41.49
Carrera Digital 132 Plymouth Superbird Street
38.99
Digital chip for all 1/32 cars except hot rods
18.99
Crossing Track
34.99
provides approximately 54 inches of track
4 Track Pieces Curve 2/45° - 15.18 x 1
15.18
provides approximately 47 inches of track
4 Piece Standard-straight - 25.99 x 1
25.99
provides approximately 54 inches of track
------
Total 617.57
Carrera Wireless
DIGITAL 132 GT Racers incl. Wireless Set
329.99
29.53 ft
CARRERA Digital 132 Electronic Lap Counter
54.99
Digital 132, Digital 124 Track - Pit Stop Lane
61.99
2/30 High Banked Curve Slot Car Track (6)
34.99
CARRERA Digital 132 Wireless Speed Controller - 39.99 x 2
79.98
Carrera Digital 132 Track - US Transformer 14.8V 42 VA
41.49
Carrera Digital 132 Plymouth Superbird Street
38.99
Digital chip for all 1/32 cars except hot rods
18.99
Crossing Track
34.99
provides approximately 54 inches of track
4 TRACK PIECES CURVE 2/45° - 15.18 x 1
15.18
provides approximately 47 inches of track
4 Piece Standard-straight - 25.99 x 1
25.99
provides approximately 54 inches of track
------
Total 737.57
I priced two complete Carrera systems when I discovered that they
offered wireless controllers right out of the box with one of their race
sets. Each Carrera set above comes with 2 cars and controllers. I added
the cost for 2 more controllers and included a single additional Carrera
digital car. I also included a chip to convert one of my existing analog
cars, which gets me to 4 cars/controllers. I did not think it fair to
price Carrera with only two cars while the others we being priced with
3. Just doing my best to keep this an apples to apples price comparison.
Remember when we priced SCX. It required gettimg everything for 6 cars
just to run 4. Well, Carrera is a mix of SCX and Scalextric in
execution. Scalextric gives you a 4 car power base, but requires you to
buy a 6 car power base to go beyond 4 cars. Carrera's "black box" will
handle up to 4 WIRED controllers forcing the purchase of an extention
box to have 6 controllers. However, the same black box will handle 4
wireless controllers and 2 wired controllers allowing up to 6 cars on
one black box. This means the regular digital set above will go to 4
cars easily (as we priced) but require extras to get to 6 cars. The
wireless set will require nothing more than buying two wired controllers
for cars 5 & 6 when that time comes. Either way 4 cars is easy and works
in our favor during this pricing exersize.
Remember, Carrera's track is for BOTH 1/32 and 1/24 scale cars. In other
words their track is larger. By the time I was pricing extra track to
fill out 50 feet I was too tired to try and find accurate dimensions for
Carrera's curves. So I guessed. I went right in the middle of
Scalextrics R2 & R3 size and used that for the 2/45° track above. This
means each 4 pack of 2/45° track above was estimated to provide
approximately 47 inches of racing length. This seams reasonable when you
consider a standard straight for Carrera is 13.58 inches compared to
9-1/2 inches for Scalextric and SCX. Keep this in mind as you price
extra track for yourself.
Again, I wanted to be different and went with the crossover track to
help expand the Carrera set. This crossover has pieces curved to go up
and down hill to make an over pass. I really like this instead of just
leaning straight track up and getting kinks and such at the track
joints. If I end up with Carrera I will consider using the crossover
pieces for any track elevation I go with.
Carrera seams to have a really nice selection of race sets. Besided the
two here I was very impressed with a NASCAR oval. It was a very large
oval of over 29 feet of track with banked 180° turns at either end. Had
I went with this I would not need the extra banked curve priced above,
but instead just a little extra flat curve to round out the 50 ft
requirement. My family watches NASCAR casually. I have been a Jimmie
Johnson fan for about 6 years (it is cool to see your driver take three
championships), so having a NASCAR oval would be cool. We all have our
drivers and we could all get their cars. I know I could do this with
other brands, but Carrera seems to make it easiest.
Wireless. Carrera is the only brand that offers wireless out of the box.
I believe you can get aftermarket wireless for other brands, but having
it from the same manufacturer as the track seems a plus. With my 4
car/controller requirements I am able to do wireless for an addition
$120. If wireless is not important than that money can be used elsewhere
(or saved).
I was surprised Carrera was the cheapest at $617.57. From the price of
some of their race sets when I started researching this article I
thought for sure Carrera was going to be expensive with a leveled
playing field of 50 feet of track. Two things happened to work in
Carrera's favor.
First there are a LOT of web sites out that that price Carrera
equipement aggressively. When I discovered the wireless set above it was
prices at $383. I eventually found it as low as $289. I went with the
$329 as a reasonable compromise. If I was willing to get each item above
at the best prices available I could save a few dollars. However, I
think shipping from many sellers will hurt. After the initial race set,
extra track, cars and accessories cost less to ship all together, so it
is enough that you get very good prices consistently if not the absolute
best price.
Second is the size of the track. A standard straight at 1/32 scale is
about 9-10 inches. Carrera's standard straight track is 13-1/2 inches.
Big difference. Keep in mind that we were able to get to 50 feet of
track fairly easily with just one set of curves and one set of
straights. The downside is that those 50 ft will take up a lot of floor
or table space. Carrera track is wider, and once you add border pieces
(something I did not price for this article) you could have a tough time
keeping the track size reasonable.
Ninco
Ninco N-Digital Master Track Asphalt 2 Lane 1:32
Race Set 459.95
Ninco #40205 N-Digital Control Tower (20 cm)
86.95
N-Digital Pit Lane Kit (120 cm)
77.95
N-Digital Double Lane Change Track (40 cm)
53.99
SCX #88680 Banked Curve
49.99
Ninco #10110 Chicane Adapter Half Straight Track - 2 pack
16.95
Ninco #10301 Transformer
31.95
Ninco #40301 N-Digital Controller
49.99
Ninco #40304 N-Digital Decoder Chip
21.95
Porsche 997 Road Car 1:32 slot car
49.99
BMW M3 Tuning 1:32 slot car
53.99
Monogram #4862 Corvette Grand Sport #2 Sebring `64 1:32
37.95
------
Total 991.60
Ninco has a really nice setup. The Master Track Asphalt set comes with
42 ft of track that can be run on a 4x8 board. This can be an extremely
attractive offer when starting out. In fact, since I have a 4x8 board I
am very tempted.
The Master set includes 4 lane change tracks... all on a straight.
However, they are all one way. I really like the double lane changes, so
I included one here. As for banked curves, it seems Ninco does not offer
it. I did find a Ninco adapter track and SCX (analog) banked curve
listed under track for Ninco. So I guess this is the way to do it. The
control tower is a lap counter with some extra features (again making it
hard to compare apples to apples across brands).
With the the pit lane the Ninco track goes to just a hair short of 53
ft. No extra track is needed to meet my 50 ft requirement. That's a nice
touch. I did add an extra transformer on the assumption that 4 cars
would require the extra power.
The downside to Ninco is the cars. The Master set does NOT include cars.
It does include 3 "chips" to modify exiting analog cars. I selected
three cars from the site I priced the Ninco equipment on. I also
included the cost of one conversion kit to chip one of my existing cars.
The total for Ninco is $991.60, second only to SCX which has a lot of
features for its price. This price difference makes it hard to go with
Ninco. Even if I was to stay on a budget, I would have to spend at least
$601.88 for the Master Track Asphalt set and three cars. That's a lot
for the basics. But then I would have 42 feet of track. Is that worth
it?
Details
Keep in mind that the above items are not everything. For instance, I
did not price borders for any of the vendors. A decent layout like I
plan to build will require a fair amount of borders. I don't want
guardrails, which is one of the reasons for graduating from HO to 1/32
scale. I saw some vendors offer extension cables for the controllers,
which might be nice to spread out the drivers. Also, I did not price
special cables to spread power around a track, or anything that was not
specifically listed as required for the items I did price.
As you can see this can be an expensive hobby. We go from around $600 to
over $1,000. And this price does not include the cost for me to build a
table. Though a simple table from plywood and some 2x4 framing will not
cost a lot, it does add up. Since the table will be permanent it will
have to look nice, so I expect to cover it with some kind of astro-turf.
My brother-in-law is a contractor and will surely have ideas to make the
table look a lot nicer for a slight increase in price.
Conclusion
Sorry, we don't have a full conclusion yet. That will have to wait until
Part II when we compare each brand on features. The next article in this
series is going to cover the pros and cons of each brand.
You may have enough here for your own decision. Cheapest seems to be
Carrera, but it requires a lot of space. SCX has some of the best
features and many come in the starter set, so you can build slowly to
spread out the high costs. Scalextric seems to be in the middle both in
terms of price and features. Ninco seems to be expensive for the
features you get, unless the 42 ft of track on a 4x8 board is important
than Ninco may be right for you.
I will pick which is right for me at the end of the
next article. However, if cost is your only criteria you can't go wrong
with Carrera. Pricing on the Internet is aggressive with the only
downside being the size of the track. We will get to that next time. I
have seen a huge selection of cars and accessories from Carrera as well.
Stay tuned for Part II of this comparison.
