Monday 2 September 2013

NEWS: Route1Racing 'SureChange' guide


Route1Racing
'SureChange' guide system

I just heard from Richard Perry at Route 1 Racing about their revolutionary digital lane-changing guide system.  I'll put my hand up right now and confess that I don't run digital slot cars and I also haven't used the 'SureChange' system.  I did a little research and read some user reviews and testimonials and I have to say that the system makes a lot of sense and looks really clever.


Anyway I don't usually promote 'slot stuff' unless I've used it personally but since I don't run digital on my track...I'll leave it to you to make the call.  From my perspective, I love when regular guys who clearly love slot cars come up with something ingenious and our hobby benefits.

Currently you can get the guides for Ninco, Scalextric, Slot.it, NSR and Pioneer slots.  If you run digital (especially non-mag digital) then the below short video is well worth your time as it explains the system really well.


This from Route1Racing: 'Q: What happens when you mix an enthusiastic digital slot racer with bags of ideas with a talented 3D CAD designer who makes his own extraordinary slot car chassis on a 3D printer? A: The revolutionary SureChange guide.

We were fed up with our magless racing classes sliding just a little too much and missing sensors.  Believe us - full speed pit entry when you are not expecting it is irritating for you and extremely annoying for the racer you just punted out of the pits in mid-refuelling. Add to that missed lane changes as racers exit bends with a little too much juice and the rewards of driving without magnets can be outweighed by the lane change disadvantages.

Even with magnets fitted, some of our better tuned Super Resistant cars, with standard 18k motors on treated tyres, were sliding and missing sensors.  So we felt we needed to do something and the idea of the SureChange guide was born.  It’s simple really - you need your LED to stay over the centre of the slot in order to guarantee the sensors being able to read it. Putting the LED some way behind the guide means that a car that isn’t straight - isn’t showing its LED to the sensor.  Scalextric lane changers stay where they were last changed to - so a sliding car has a 50/50 chance whether it will go straight or change lanes.

Our SureChange guide places the LED in the one place it is always over the centre of the slot - directly in front of the guide blade. So as long as you keep the car in the slot you will never miss a sensor.'


Want to find out more about Route1Racing and slot cars, you can find a link to their website on the ManicSlots' Link page.

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