After trying out some HO slot cars in the store at
English's Model Railroad Supply, I decided to try out a set. I set up an
AFX 24 Hour Champions set I acquired at
Kranzels Hobbies in the basement.
Finding this to be a nice diversion from my usual digital pursuits and a complement to my model train hobby, I acquired a few more cars. After racing for a while, I found the floor was too dirty and was gumming up my cars, so I returned to English's and picked up a
Life-Like Stock Car Thunder set as I remembered it having a reasonable sized footprint for a table top. This set is the one shown in my current
slot car gallery photos along with some cars I've acquired along the way.
With Thunderjets, XTraction, Mega-G, Tracker T, and other types available all having varying magnets, tire, frame, chassis, and guide pin designs, racing them for best lap times is more complicated than it appears with the deceptive 'all you have is a trigger' technology. They're also surprisingly inexpensive (especially when compared to my computer and train hobbies). A friend had told me a few months ago that I should get into cars; this may not be what he meant but I'm certainly finding it fits the bill for me.