# a car for my wife



## leonus (Dec 17, 2013)

I need some advice...

My wife wants her own slot car. She's not very much at the skill aspect, so was wondering, what is the fastest, stickiest, hardest to derail type of ho car? To her credit, in real life she is a better driver than me&#55357;&#56848;

As for me, I enjoy trying to go fast without derailing, and have no desire for this sort of car, but its for her so she can have fun and not crash.


----------



## Ralphthe3rd (Feb 24, 2011)

Bang for the Buck.... try a Life-Like Brand car with the "T" Chassis. Or a Tomy/Racematers SRT Car(tho chassis now out of Production).
PS- sorry about your other thread, didn't mean to get people upset.


----------



## TeamMadMarsupial (Dec 23, 2012)

Gotta agree on the Life Life chassis thoughts. I use them for track run in cars. When the track has sat idle for a while, the Life Like seem to be the best at getting the lanes up and running.

We don't allow them in any of our classes, but I have a couple in the box to more or less use like "track packers at your local dirt track.


----------



## leonus (Dec 17, 2013)

Thanks guys. 
And no hard feelings Ralph. 
BTW, I had a look at your photos, and that's a beautiful setup. Took alot of time and skill. Puts my homemade plywood table to shame..very impressive.


----------



## Ralphthe3rd (Feb 24, 2011)

Leonus, I'm assuming you meant the pictures of my L.O.G. Speedway in my "Low Budget Race Team" thread ? If so, my layout is only on a 4' x 8' sheet also, and the amount of trackside detailing is really very simple, and you could duplicate it all in an hour if you had the scenery. I just happen to LOVE Dirttrack Racing. And also have rekindled an old interest in Drag Racing as well.
Sorry your other thread is continuing to build into a lynch mob against me. Pretty soon they'll light their torches, and the mob will be after my HEAD ! LOL


----------



## vansmack2 (Feb 9, 2012)

Ralph I have a torch in hand as I write this. Not, just kidding. LOL


----------



## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

LOL,i'm not your biggest supporter that's for sure Ralph,but i do think the band wagon got a bit carried away.

Leonus this is a good site,sometimes things go a bit overboard,but generally most times it's fairly peaceful.
Rick


----------



## FOSTBITTEN (Aug 1, 2013)

If you think your wife will race with you for a while. Get her a Mega G from Tomy. My wife likes those because she can run it fast with no problems. But she has a eye disease that sometimes makes it hard to follow a car that goes that fast. Also whatever car you end up getting her. The Auto World X-traction are good too for a car that sticks pretty good & is slower. They can be had for under 20 bucks in a great variety of bodies. Make sure to get some silicone tires for the car you pick out.


----------



## slotcar58 (Jun 21, 2007)

Go with a Storm Extreme. With a Hard Body it is $39.00. Parts are readily available and the car sticks great and is fast! As she gets better you can put a Tyco 3.5 arm in to even make it faster!


----------



## old blue (May 4, 2007)

In my experience you will do better with a pink car that has her name on it in decals. The make and model is irrelevant.


----------



## Boosted-Z71 (Nov 26, 2007)

Old blue is right, I bought my wife a Pink Cuda Thunderjet, Added some nice silifoams and a little tweaking on the shoes and she can run with the best of t-jets..

Boosted


----------



## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

It's cool that the missus wants to play lil cars with you! The light bender guaranteed stuck to the track may not be the best solution though. I agree giving her an advantage will help, but something that requires no effort on her part will get old rather quickly. If you're running a stock Aurora T Jet, maybe set her up with a JL/AW T jet with the traction magnet underneath. I would de-tune it just a tad, and do some upgrades such as wheel and tires. Converting it to a 9 tooth pinion gear will tame it. She'll still have to drive it, but it'll stick better than yours, and probably go a bit faster. 

My wife chose her body style (a blue chrome charger) and it became her only car. Funny, she couldn't run any other car very well, but she was a terror on the track with her car.


----------



## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

slotcar58 said:


> Go with a Storm Extreme. With a Hard Body it is $39.00. Parts are readily available and the car sticks great and is fast! As she gets better you can put a Tyco 3.5 arm in to even make it faster!


I vote for this one 2.
The Storm Extreme is virtually indestructable and is probably the simplest car on the market to maintain and keep running,with a very good aftermarket if you do want to hop it up some.
Inline cars usually don't require as many specialized tools to work on as the pancake cars do,so if you're tool shy,keep that in mind

Stay with cars you can easily get parts for


----------



## joegri (Feb 13, 2008)

leon think about this dont get her a car!! the idea is to escape from the workaday world and lifes little situations and have some fun by yourself.but if you must, i agree that the lifelike cars are a good choice. i made a dale jr for the tm years ago she turned a few laps then never to be run again,now it,s in a box somewhere gathering dust n cobwebs.dont get me wrong i love my tm but i love her more when she,s not in the cave lol. this reply is ment to be light hearted enjoy:thumbsup:


----------



## TeamMadMarsupial (Dec 23, 2012)

The AW T-Jet with the traction magnet may be the way to go. I don't think the whole, its gotta be fast thing, is the best way to get someone started?

We have been slowly working the inline cars out of our club. We eliminated any traction magets on the inlines a few years back, from what we called our open class, and it made it so much more fun. This past year we allowed the T-Jets with the traction magnet into this class and it got even better. It seems like each week fewer inlines are being used, even the holdouts are making the switch and enjoying the class more.

They are so much more drivable for the average person and even the new racers and kids just getting started can finish races. We quickly discovered that faster does not always make it fun! 

When I'm helping someone get started, I have them try multiple cars to see what is comfortable for them. Getting them able to make laps seems to work better than teaching them how to reslot a car ten times a lap.


----------



## Ralphthe3rd (Feb 24, 2011)

Yeah, if you scratch out my original reply- which did FIT your criteria Leonus, I'd have to say maybe an Ultra-G(w/Neo Traction magnet) Auto World T-Jet or X-Traction car might be the better way to go...it sticks pretty good, and is Fast for a pancake, but not too fast which gets Boring to a newbie rather Quickly.


----------



## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

old blue said:


> In my experience you will do better with a pink car that has her name on it in decals. The make and model is irrelevant.


Dont forget the Rhinestone head and tail lamps!


----------



## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

TeamMadMarsupial said:


> The AW T-Jet with the traction magnet may be the way to go. I don't think the whole, its gotta be fast thing, is the best way to get someone started?
> 
> We have been slowly working the inline cars out of our club. We eliminated any traction magets on the inlines a few years back, from what we called our open class, and it made it so much more fun. This past year we allowed the T-Jets with the traction magnet into this class and it got even better. It seems like each week fewer inlines are being used, even the holdouts are making the switch and enjoying the class more.
> 
> ...


y'know, it's funny... my first instinct was gonna be to say LifeLike. i ran a few laps with a box stock one that I know is REALLY fast last night just to wow my 9-year-old... it's, like, LASER BEAM fast and sticks like glue. buuuut.... i DID say after a few laps, "gawd I hate these things." it's like piloting a little rocket that you can't even see. i put it back on the shelf and went back to a pancake something or other.

and now today I saw this post by Team Mad Marsupial about Tjets with traction magnets, and I remembered my own experience setting newbies up with them. it went quite well, and kinda renewed my faith in the possibilities for out-of-the-box cars that aren't light-bending inlines. so i'm gonna second the idea of Ultra-G Tjets...

--rick


----------



## slotking (May 27, 2008)

> y'know, it's funny... my first instinct was gonna be to say LifeLike. i ran a few laps with a box stock one that I know is REALLY fast last night just to wow my 9-year-old... it's, like, LASER BEAM fast and sticks like glue. buuuut.... i DID say after a few laps, "gawd I hate these things." it's like piloting a little rocket that you can't even see. i put it back on the shelf and went back to a pancake something or other.


Box stock inlines are slow!
yes faster than t-jets but still slow, and yes I talking about the LL, mega-g, SG+ etc.

The speed & real fun is with the rare earth magnet inlines:thumbsup:

But I still love racing my t-jets


----------



## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

slotking said:


> Box stock inlines are slow!
> yes faster than t-jets but still slow, and yes I talking about the LL, mega-g, SG+ etc.
> 
> The speed & real fun is with the rare earth magnet inlines:thumbsup:
> ...


yeah, i know. i was speaking in relative terms... i've seen a few modified inlines run and they hurt my eyeballs. :freak: don't get me wrong, they're awesome if you're into that. but i'm not. different streaks for different freaks, i guess. :hat:

--rick


----------



## leonus (Dec 17, 2013)

Thanks everyone. I wound up ordering her an afx corvette today. Like the ones I have,(old magnatractions) but with one additional dot magnet in the bottom. I'm thinking it the same parts, except for the extra magnet, which should be about right. Nice looking little car, for $15.


----------



## Ralphthe3rd (Feb 24, 2011)

leonus said:


> Thanks everyone. I wound up ordering her an afx corvette today. Like the ones I have,(old magnatractions) but with one additional dot magnet in the bottom. I'm thinking it the same parts, except for the extra magnet, which should be about right. Nice looking little car, for $15.


 Leonus, I'm guessing you meant- that you bought her an AutoWorld X-Traction corvette ?
As AFX is a Trademark owned by Tomy/Racemasters since about 1984....and only produce Inline cars, while AutoWorld is the one who produces T-Jets and X-Traction Ultra-G(Neo Dot magnet) cars.


----------



## leonus (Dec 17, 2013)

Its an old one off eBay. I do this from my phone, and it doesn't like to post photos. I'm pretty sure it says AFX on the bottom, but could be am AW repro..arent the AW cars interchangeable as far as parts go, they look identical to me..


----------



## Dslot (Sep 2, 2007)

I kinda like the AW Tjet with the traction magnet idea. That way, when she starts beating you too often, you can sneak in and pry out the magnet. :devil:

-- D


----------



## Ralphthe3rd (Feb 24, 2011)

*Dot Traction magnet ?*



leonus said:


> Its an old one off eBay. I do this from my phone, and it doesn't like to post photos. I'm pretty sure it says AFX on the bottom, but could be am AW repro..arent the AW cars interchangeable as far as parts go, they look identical to me..


 Well Leonus, you kinda have me stumped here. As no Old aurora AFX car came with a DOT traction magnet. Aurora had stopped making AFX Magnatraction cars by the late-mid 1970's and even their Inlines never had DOT magnets. BUT, it WAS common for people to start adding their OWN Neo DOT magnets to T-Jets and AFX cars and even got a few old Chassis with one glued on. As for the auto World X-Traction, they are pretty much a clone of the AFX Magnatraction, and the early Johnny Lightning and Auto World X-Traction didn't have Neo Dots either, and I have a couple and prefer them like that. As far as interchangeability, the Magnatraction and X-Traction are really close, on a good day most parts will fit, on a bad day they need a shoe Horn 
As an FYI- Auto World Pancake cars, have a really Bad reputation for quality control, and their Specs tolerances are all over the place....and that has caused issues. Which BTW, AutoWorld addressed by adding those Stupid Neo Dot Traction magnets, and then calling the newer cars with them- "Ultra-G". IE- basically a Band-aid for a Bullet wound.
Leonus, can you post a link to the ebay auction that you bought your Wife's new car from, I'm curious.... TIA


----------



## videojimmy (Jan 12, 2006)

Wizzard Storm... unless you're using a 22-24 volt transformer, it will not fly off the track.


----------



## leonus (Dec 17, 2013)

After a closer look, you are exactly right, even the auction description says "AW" and it does not say AFX on the bottom. I would post a link to it, if I knew how, sorry kinda retarded on computer stuff..


----------



## leonus (Dec 17, 2013)

Dslot said:


> I kinda like the AW Tjet with the traction magnet idea. That way, when she starts beating you too often, you can sneak in and pry out the magnet. :devil:
> 
> -- D


This may sound silly, but I really don't mind "losing". My nephew and his girlfriend came over last night, and I had as much fun watching them play as I did "winning"...:thumbsup:


----------



## Dslot (Sep 2, 2007)

leonus said:


> This may sound silly, but I really don't mind "losing". My nephew and his girlfriend came over last night, and I had as much fun watching them play as I did "winning"...:thumbsup:


.
Why, no, Leonus, it doesn't sound silly at all. In fact I feel much the same way. 

I'm not particularly competitive; I enjoy planning and building the layout and hosting the event more than the actual racing. Years ago when I started with Tjets, my wife was very quiet and soft-spoken, but very competitive. I just liked the magic of tiny cars that moved, but she would be scheming to nerf me out of a curve, or letting off her throttle so I'd get an unexpected power surge just as I was taking a corner on the ragged edge. I got thrashed regularly.

The post was just a bit of humor. 

-- D


----------



## leonus (Dec 17, 2013)

My nephews clever girlfriend did the exact same things to me last night several times&#55357;&#56848;


----------



## 60chevyjim (Feb 21, 2008)

I got my wife a patriot extreme car , it hauls and it stays on the track.
so it was a great car for her to have fun with . 
she also had a tjet 56 ford pickup too with front and rear guide pins on it .
she don't like chasing after tjets ..
back in pa we usto go to the quakertown farmers market and have some fun on the weekend foolin with ho slot cars .there track has about a 16 foot straightaway . the patriot cars make great track cleaners too.


----------



## leonus (Dec 17, 2013)

The little 'vette came last night. Looks great and blows my old magnatraction cars off the track. She loves it&#55357;&#56841;. Its borderline too sticky for me, you have to really try to derail it.


----------

