Cox slot cars

Hi All,

Dad built us a 4X8 combination HO train/AFX track.(1965?)
With two 'crossings'....
Basicly went like this:
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=addams+family+train+crash#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:4a809065,vid:5kS-vk9mPR8

Take care,
Have fun,
Dave

I had no idea Cox had slot cars. I see one pic in this thread, any other links to them, specially with body off?

My slot car experience, I started slot cars in 72, mostly at home with my brother and friends. I think we got lucky and started with AFX, I say lucky because the other brands were not nearly as fast or handled as well (tyco/etc).

After buying one set, we started to buy more used sets and extra straights, we loved both road racing and drag racing (we went to the drag strip and road courses with parents many times), we always had a scale 1/4 mile plus run off room, and the twisties on the way back. After purchasing many sets, we each had about 15 cars each, and i noticed some of my bro's cars would slow mine down, I called his car a power hog. What was going on is the cheap unregulated 12V ac adapter was dropping voltage that I could feel, then I came up with having our own power pack for each lane, problem solved.

We started with the standard 3 gear (on top), then later they came out with magnatraction, same 3 gear but the magnet were now lower to the track rail for more grip, but you could still get power drifts out of the turns when going over the limit. Then G+ came out and these were so much faster, but way less fun or skill to control, more of whos car was better, so to this day we prefer magnatraction cars. We made some fan cars (the fan was made from ALU can), they were slow but a riot.

A couple years later a friend came over with a book on how to make your cars faster (buying arms/magnets/tires/bodies/etc) and the first thing it said was "to never modify the power supply", well I was smarter than that because, modding the power supply made all your cars faster, win win.

A few versions later I had a dual channel supply. Remember the stock voltage was 12v, mine was 25v and with a NOS button to 40v.
I also added a switch on the supply to series the 2 channels for 80v, just for exhibition TF runs, mom thought we were going to burn down the house with sparks flying out of the motor and pickup shoes (the 1/4 mile was under 0.6 seconds), fun times.

I forgot to mention, even though I upped voltage on my dc brushed motors before all of this, this stage is when i learned about matching magnets, shimming magnets, balancing the arm (on razor blades), pulling winds, advancing timing, tuning tension on the brushes (yes, one needs less tension for max power) and same with pickup shoes. I built a starting line "tree" that would catch you red lighting by adding a red light bulb in series with your car of you fauls started and a few other track acc.

We mostly raced at my house, many hours per day, racing till 3am in the summer, once in a while we would ride our bikes 7 miles to race at the shop, and i caught one guy opening his gun and spotted a sub-c nicad and I asked what's that, he said it was for better braking and said not to tell anyone, well that maybe the case or not, but in my spare gun I added it to the supply to add about 10% more voltage.

How old do you recommend for slot cars? I have a 4 year old nephew who loves anything cars but he doesn't have anything like that. They do have wooden floors in their house so that's a big help. Saw some on Amazon that are Minion related for kids. Is that a good start?

WKMBuckeyes wrote:How old do you recommend for slot cars? I have a 4 year old nephew who loves anything cars but he doesn't have anything like that. They do have wooden floors in their house so that's a big help. Saw some on Amazon that are Minion related for kids. Is that a good start?

That is a tough question, as I mentioned I was using the AFX brand and the style of track I have has small locking tabs and can break pretty easy (we have metal clips to fix this). The carpet I think helped hold the track and make it quieter. How the brand you decide to get is another factor.

I think there is a skill level required to have fun and the faster the cars the more skill required. I mentioned I am running 2x or more voltage and prefer the cars that you can power drift out of the corners (not the quickest way around) and fly off the track pretty easy compared to the G+ cars.

Couple factors, skill level and car speed. Your cars are going to be slower so that helps. Skill level for a 4yo will vary quite a bit, that is something your going to make the decision. If the cars are to fast, its easy to slow them down by lowering the voltage (resistors/diodes/etc). Good luck, have fun.

WKMB,
Sorry...I've been working this answer for two two days.

I dragged my AFX stuff out for my boys back in 2015. The older understood everything quickly and could keep the car on the track. The younger caught it after a bit of calamity. They were roughly 12 and 9 yo. I don't think I'd expect a 4 yo to get it.
I was probably 9 or 10 yo when I got my first set. No dad was around, so it was on me to read instructions and follow pictures for set up.
But four years old is a bit young for slotcars. I think I'd wait another couple of years (7 or 8 years old may be just fine).  You could gage him later with a a cheap trainer set, but it may just push him away. Those cars are short-lived and there is no after sale product support/parts). The better, larger sets  in 1/32 scale may be an easier transition as the cars, tracks, and slots are larger and easier to handle. My boys outgrew their wooden trains by 5 or 6 years old. But they did catch the car's slot and pin easier because of having to gauge the wheels on the "rails" on old Woodie. I loved the trainset beyond it's entertainment value to the boys.