Modern slot cars can lap a typical 30 meter club track in 5 seconds. In those 5 seconds the driver has to brake and drive round 6 or more corners. The faster cars are capable of 60 mph on the straights.
There are two sizes of car regularly raced. The 1/32 scale cars are about 15cm long by 6.4 cm wide. The 1/24 cars are about 19cm long by 8 cm wide. All models have to resemble a full size racing car. Racing is divided between classes for Grand Prix, Sports/GT and Saloon cars. Both 1/32 and 1/24 cars can run on the same track.
The track power is 12 volts d.c., usually from a car battery with a suitable charging system. Electric current is fed via the drivers hand controller to copper braids (or tapes) either side of the slot in the track surface The car picks up this power with braids on either side of its guide. These pick up braids are wired to an electric motor at the back of the car which drives the rear wheels.
The first commercial slot cars were made by Lionel (USA) and appeared in their catalogues from 1912, drawing power from a toy train rail sunk in a trough or wide slot between the rails. They were surprisingly similar to modern slot cars, but independent speed control was available only as an optional extra. By the late 1930s, serious craftsmen/hobbyists were racing relatively large (1:16 - 1:18 scale) model cars powered by small internal combustion engines, originally with spark-ignition, later with glow plug engines.
In the 1950s electric cars guided by center rails became popular and soon after, by slots in the track surface. In 1957, Minimodels (UK) converted its Scalex 1:30 (later, 1:32) clockwork racers to electricity, creating the famous Scalextric line of slot-guided models and the slot car craze began. In the 1990s, computer design and methods of printing on 3-D objects helped create much more detailed and authentic models than the simple shapes and rudimentary graphics of the slot car boom.
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