No mag

[CJR RACING]

Magnetic fun time complete at Tatami Flats as we returned to no-mag running. Changed the configuration and started pulling magnets. First up was a Ford. More fun now, hanging that tail out.
Going to have to learn more about adding weight.
Seriously, much more fun without the magnets.
Will post some pictures later.

[Barc 1]

My preference has always been no mag. IMO no mag just provides more “feel” and as a result the lap times are more about driver control than car performance.

i am sure you will have fun with this new wrinkle

Cheers

[CJR RACING]

I was no-mag before the move but the Winged Warrior set with the banked curves was lots of fun, for awhile running mag. Overall engagement was low. Much more enjoyable to drive and find the limit without magnets.

[RichD]

Take a look at this article https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzL...ew?usp=sharing

[CJR RACING]

Thanks! Have not seen this article before.

[Dogsbody]

I've been running no mag for probably 15 years now and of the over 350 cars I have I've added weight to maybe 5 cars? Tune with tires, sand the chassis so there's no binding between it and the body, loosen the body and pod mounts maybe a turn and a half from snug and throw on some thinner braid (this is a baseline). Enjoy the ride!

[Zippideedooda]

I was shocked when I read that you have added weight only to a few of your cars. Maybe I need to rethink this?

[Mickey thumbs]

The if/when, where and how much weight for each car is one of most fun parts of tuning. You’re moving from just running laps to doing test runs of different set ups to find which one best suits your driving style. One may be quicker for one or two laps but a handful over a five minute heat. Have fun!

[vonsirius]

I removed all magnets from ny cars. for my it´s far better.

[RichD]

For me magnets on a slot car are like training wheels on a bicycle.

[wrangler#3]

Yes!! Well said..training wheels...🤣

[slothead]

All my racing now is on routed wood tracks with copper tape so no magnetic downforce in effect. But, when it got back into slot cars 15 years ago my first track was a Scalextric digital set and I was amazed at how fast the cars were and how well they handled. It was all due to the magnets and when the magnetic attraction was broken the cars became missiles flying off the table. My grandson loved the speed, the ferocious crashes, and was sure he was a natural born world champion driver. When the plastic track came down and the first wood track was in place we both had to learn to drive through practice. And different driving styles were needed for different cars much more so than with magnets.

I assume most digital racing is with magnets and that may be an ideal combination for many racers.

[CJR RACING]

The magnets were fun for a short period of time, but there is really no challenge, except to back off and avoid the dramatic loss of attraction and subsequent crash. Without the magnet each lap becomes a challenge.

[RichD]

My club started out with Scalextric cars on Scalextric Sport tracks. The cars had huge traction magnets and were really stuck down. When cars crashed they often got damaged. To keep people from adding even stronger magnets we used scales to measure the downforce and had a rule stipulating the maximum value. To make things more interesting we moved the traction magnets forward so that the cars could slide a little, rather than suddenly come out of the slot. Shortly after that one of our members built a copper taped wood track and the traction magnets were useless on that except as ballast. We ran at a reduced voltage on the wood track and in the next year or two all of our tracks were wood. Smashed cars became a thing of the past for the most part. One of our members, who was the last to convert to wood, commented that he probably would not have gotten into slot racing if the cars did not have traction magnets, hence my comment about training wheels. Any way that you enjoy the hobby is good with me.