Challenging a Scalextric Challenger

I've tried a few automated slot car systems since I started racing slot cars a few years ago. Connecting my Scalextric Digital track to a computer offered some cool possibilities, including the playback of a recorded lap, so that I could try and beat my own best time, literally.

The problem is, the computer can't SEE the car, and so you have to tweak and reduce speeds and such so that the minor variances throughout a lap don't add up and cause a crash. The end result is a car that you can easily beat when raced against an equal car.

The closest thing to a fully autonomous race car is the Scalextric Challenger. It's designed to survey the track, reading wheel rotations and guide angle to determine how fast it can go around the track, and to slow down for turns, and slow down a LOT for tight turns. It's a great system to challenge new racers, but not much of a challenge for experienced ones, even after putting really good tires on, it was still easy for me to beat.

The only way to make it a true challenge for an experienced driver is to compete against it with a car that it out performs. The easiest thing to do is to run against it with a car that has no traction magnets to help hold on in the corners like IT can.

This video is to show that even THAT is not quite enough to make it hard to beat. The car I race against it has the same kind of motor, the same kind of gearing, and the same kind of tires... except mine has no magnet to hold it down. This does allow me to get a faster start on the straights, but it should be able to pass me in the turns.

This video serves, essentially, as proof that the only way an automated car will beat a human driven one is for the human driver to give a strong advantage to the automated one. For that reason, it's pointless to go through all kinds of trouble to make some kind of car that can speed up and slow down. You're better off just putting a really good car on the track, sticking it down with magnets, and setting it to run at a speed that's just faster than your best lap in the car YOU want to drive. Then, you have to work harder to beat it, and it can STILL go faster if you want it to.

If I want a REAL challenge, with no humans around that are better than me, I put a slot.it Nissan R390 GT on the track, with silicone (or other high grip) tires on, an EXTRA magnet (1000g downforce or more). Such a car can go almost full power around my track without coming off. I then run a few laps with the car I want to practice with to get my best time, and then set the Nissan to run at a speed that gets it a slightly lower/faster lap time. I can usually pass it in the straights, but it easily passes me in the turns. It takes a LOT of skill and focus to beat it, because in reality, you're beating your own best TIME, rather than lap. Only this way, you have another car on the track that gives you the FEELING that you're racing against something other than the clock.