Catch up on what's new with Races2U and the world of auto racing in general.
This is a pretty typical example of a child’s birthday party at our retail store in Austin, Texas. Kids and parents have so much fun together it’s hard to tell who the party is for. It’s not like a bouncy house or video game where it’s really limited to just the kids. Everyone participates in the fun.
Races2U is now partnering with Punchbowl to bring you electronic invitations for your next event. Punchbowl is a free service that offers many great easy to use family-friendly invitation options and designs. Check out our Races2U invitation here.
Lions and tigers and bears? Not quite, but Creepers, Endermen, and Steve…
Look for characters from the popular Minecraft video game that have been added to our collection of figurines decorating our tracks. See if you can find them in the grandstands or elsewhere around our race tracks!
When Races2U first opened it’s doors on our retail store in the Northfork Shopping Center nearly 3 years ago, the center was virtually lifeless, and our hole-in-the-wall shop in a hidden corner was isolated from the few other tenants all the way at the other end of the center. Now with new management and ownership, and a new name “The Hub”, the center is blossoming, and is now almost full. Races2U is happy to welcome 2 new neighbors, Charlotte’s Saddlery and Austin Soccer Apparel. With Once Upon a Child now entering their second year of business, and Austin School of Music getting a much welcomed face lift, this shopping center is becoming a great resource for active families. So, whether your “goal” is to race cars or race horses, or blow the bugle to start them off and running, “The Hub” is the place to be. Next time you visit our retail store, make sure and visit our new neighbors, and let them know we sent you!
This new set available from Scalextric has 2 Bugatti Veyron’s. It is digital, and includes the 4 car power base. It can be upgraded to the 6 car power base. It is now available here
This is a really cool video about slot car racing (Carrera in particular), but it is fairly long, and in German. http://www.n24.de/n24/Mediathek/Dokumentationen/d/5911414/deutschland-im-carrera-fieber.html There is a part at about 38 minutes into the video where a Carrera Porsche races a real Porsche on the Salzburgring in Austria. They created a scale replica of the track at the real circuit, and showed the cars racing “head to head”. The slot car crashed a few times, but still completed the circuit faster than the real car. No surprise there, as the scale speed on these cars is more like 600 MPH then 200 MPH of a real car.
The fastest and least expensive performance improvement for any slot car is replacing stock tires with aftermarket “performance” tires. For home tracks silicone or urethane tires are the best. Racers with Carerra NASCAR cars can purchase silicone racing tires (complete with Goodyear on the sidewalls!) at the Races2You storefront.
To replace worn, cracked or hardened tires for other models come by to see what replacements can be ordered for your car from SuperTires, IndyGrips or Paul Gage (for Scalextrix, Carerra, Fly, Ninco, Pioneer, etc.)
A slightly more expensive and sophisticated “tuner” upgrade is to replace the rear axle, crown gear, rear wheels and motor pinion. With new gears you can increase speed, or reduce handling problems. Aluminum rear wheels are more durable than stock plastic and allow easy tire changes. Brass pinions last longer than the stick nylon gears. This upgrade is best done by the pros so bring in your car and we can discuss how we can tame or unleash your beast!
An article from Motorsport.com http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/is-america-s-only-formula-one-track-in-trouble shows that CotA’s claimed attendance numbers just don’t jive with the facts. Funny, I think I said this a while back. I really would like auto racing to succeed here in Austin, and the facility is beautiful. I hope that they can get things turned around, but I worry that with an F1 race in Mexico starting next year, if there is a real call for attendance accountability, the METF money is not going to be enough to pay the sanctioning fee. Time for CotA to change it’s strategy and how they attract people to the race.
A smile and friendly words are the lubrication of good relationships! Likewise to keep slot cars performing well so they make their racers happy, good lubrication is needed.
WHAT SHOULD I USE? — The most common mistake I see is using Graphite, 3-in-One or WD-40 for axles and lithium or axle grease for gears! Graphite is great for PineWood Derby but is too thin and makes a mess on slot cars. 3-In-One is Too Thick, WD-40 is too light. Lithium and axle grease is way too heavy for gears!
AXLES: A light tenacious oil, ideally with PTFE (teflon) is best for axles (front and rear). EPIC RC car oil (from HobbyTown) or SuperLube PTFE oil (by Synco) /both appx $5-7/ are my favorites. You can call/email Warren and he can order you some Superlube oil so you save shipping costs and can avoid a trip to HobbyTown if you live far away from them.
GEARS: The most popular lube for pinions (small gear on motor) and crowns (big gear on axle) is SuperLube Synthetic Grease (w/PTFE) (by Synco). Kings Hobby has some in some hypodermics but they only have 1/2 tube (6gm out of 12gm) in the $7 hypo. A 12gm squeeze tube is available for appx $8 online. Not as cool as the hypo but the small tip works just as well! Ask Warren to order you some along with the axle oil and you can save the $8-16 shipping fee!
HOW?
AXLES: Every 3 or 4 races, turn the car on its back and place a small drop of oil on the rear bushings/bearings, between the chassis and the wheel. 1-2 drops on the front axles, between the wheel “hub” (where the axles is pressed in) and the chassis hole (Scalextric) or bushing (Carerra, Fly, Slot.It).
MOTOR: Once a month, unscrew the body and find the “can” end of the motor – it is the opposite end of where the wires are connected. Put one drop on the motor axle/shaft. Do NOT oil the side with the plastic “end-bell” where the wires are soldered on. You risk getting oil on the brushes that feed electricity to the motor’s coil (the spinning armature that turns the pinion gear).
GEARS: Once a month, use a tooth pick to smear some PTFE grease into the teeth of the small pinion gear and the big crown/spur gear it is driving. You will make a small mess – clean up the excess with a tooth pick and small piece of paper-towel. Avoid Getting Grease on the Tires! (wipe them off with a paper towel and a extremely small drop of dishwashing liquid (just put a little on your finger tip).
