Muscle/Pony Cars Scalextric vs Carrera

[Lorenzxy]

Thinking about buying some 70s Trans Am or Stock Cars to race at my routed wood track.
Would you recommend the Scalextric Trans Am cars or the Carrera 70s Nascar Line up (Charger, Superbird, Roadrunner, Torino)? Primarily looking for performance and enjoyable driving rather than looks.

Looking forward to some recommendations 😃

[HomeRacingWorld]

Hard call really. I take it your well accustomed to tuning since you have the wood?

With Scalextric pricing going through the roof (another reason they are fading) I would go Carrera stockers.
Of course I am biased as I would rank those cars near the top of my all time list.

If so, HERE IS MY TUNING SERIES FOR WOOD TRACKS.

[4424ever]

I have to agree with Harry although the Scalextric T/A cars would be my all time favourite the Carrera stockers would be good bang for your buck

[Lorenzxy]

Hard call really. I take it your well accustomed to tuning since you have the wood?

With Scalextric pricing going through the roof (another reason they are fading) I would go Carrera stockers.
Of course I am biased as I would rank those cars near the top of my all time list.

If so, HERE IS MY TUNING SERIES FOR WOOD TRACKS.

Pricing is a non issue, I can get all of the mentioned cars for about 35€ here.
When it comes to tuning I'm no wizard by any means, but I know my way around a chassis

With the pricing in mind, still Carrera?

[docdoom]

well, if pricing not a issue get both and run both classes. I wouldn't try running them together, the Scalextric cars are better performers and will IN MOST cases walk away from the Carrea cars in a race

[4424ever]

Second that

[Lorenzxy]

Thanks, looks like I'll be getting some Scalextric Trans Am cars then and see how they do

[HomeRacingWorld]

Yeah, what they just said. When $ is no object, might as well run both.

And with the pricing the Scalextric TA are fantastic models. That would ALSO ALLOW the Pioneer models in. So more options/choices. I would go T/A if staying with one class.

[Lorenzxy]

Yeah, what they just said. When $ is no object, might as well run both.

And with the pricing the Scalextric TA are fantastic models. That would ALSO ALLOW the Pioneer models in. So more options/choices. I would go T/A if staying with one class.

Just wanted to ask about the Pioneer cars, how are those? They're 25€ more, but if they are better than Scalextric, which I'd have to tune, maybe it evens out price wise?

[slothead]

Cost is usually a consideration but sometimes wrongly so. By that I mean once I have something I'll often say, "Gee for an extra $20 I'd gladly upgrade". I have about 50 Trans Am cars (Scalextric, Pioneer, and an SCX 'Cuda), and about 3 dozen classis stock cars, mostly Revell-Monogram and Carrera. You definitely can't race them against each other competitively as already stated, but within class racing will be fun with either.

All-in-all, I favor my Trans Am cars. There are replicas of all the major cars that ran in the series, though they are not all equal performance wise. For some reason the Camaros seem to be best, followed closely by Mustangs, then Javelins. It will take more work to get Cougars, Challengers, and 'Cudas to be even. Thankfully, Scalextric and Pioneer cars are very well matched. I suggest getting a mix of Trans Am models, put your choice of silicone or urethane rear tires on them, break 'em in and do time trials, then tune the slower ones to narrow the gaps and improve overall performance as you choose. Most of mine are stock except for rear tires and I have no complaints.

PS: I love the Pioneer Trans Am cars. But, they aren't superior to all of my Scalextric cars, since there's a lot of individual variability between even identical cars. For a representative field definitely get a few Pioneer notchback Mustangs and at least 1 Camaro. The rest can be Scalextric allowing for more variety.

[Thunderjet 34]

We run the scalex trans am cars and it is one of the more popular classes at our track. Look at the cost you can have an open gt3 class car like an NSR or Scale auto you can spend a $100 or more on the car including modifications and you enjoy them. So I look at it this way you can have a well built car that cost $100 or a cheap car that you spend more money than you should, so if you enjoy the cheap class of cars it makes it worth it.

[slothead]

Here's a photo of 16 Trans Am cars lined up on the front straight of my road course, and a bunch more on the left side of the infield. My Le Mans cars are to the right side of the infield. Very nice diversity of cars in both classes.

[HomeRacingWorld]

The Pioneer models are pretty much equal in performance. We include the fastbacks even though they technically did not race in the 1:1 series. They are just too nice no to include them, plus it just gives you more options.

Here is the Pioneer Review Section. Some of the articles are a little old, but the cars available today have not changed mechanically. I am just speaking about the T/A models, not the Legends, Charger.

So depending on your own rules/policies, the T/A series could really offer you a impressive grid. The photo above is a good example.

Happy Hunting.

[Wobble]

Yeah, get them all. Scalex and Pioneer T/A's and Carrera and Monogram and the odd Scalex stockers. And then go crazy and build your own as well.

[slothead]

If you decide to go with Trans Am cars and care about having replicas of cars that actually ran in the SCCA races back in the 60's and early 70's, Scalextric released a bunch of the Mustang Fastbacks that were used starting in 1969. A few of the actual cars are shown below from the Historic Trans Am website. http://www.historictransam.com/cars.html



I have Scalextric versions of these cars, plus a bunch more. I appreciate being able to have replicas of cars driven by Gurney, Revson, Parnelli Jones, George Follmer,
etc.

If someone is interested in RTR versions of American Iron from the 60's & 70's Scalextric and Pioneer are the go to options. NSR and Thunderslot haven't shown any interest in classic American race cars except Can-Am, nor should they given their audience is more Euro-centric.

[F1Fan]

Great info!