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Scott's Slot Cars
Analog vs. Digital
March 1, 2009
By Scott Lewis
Around 2004 the world of slot car racing was changed. The digital
movement entered the slot car hobby. What does digital mean to slot
cars? How different is it? Is analog still relevant? Will digital
replace analog?
Those are a lot of questions. Yes, the digital revolution has joined our
hobby. The most important "improvement" with digital slot cars is the
ability to have more than 1 car on 1 lane. Classically each lane was all
to itself. The controller would adjust the amount of power sent to the
lane and the car would move. With digital the track gets full power all
the time, and the control's job has changed to communicating with the
digital circuitry in the car to tell it how fast to go.
By "linking" the controller to the car it does not matter which lane the
car is on. You can have up to 8 cars (depending on vendor) on a two lane
track. The most common is up to 6 cars. Along with having more that one
car to a lane, you have control over changing lanes during the race. A
digital controller will have a button that sends a signal to the
car/track to switch lanes on certain lane changing sections. In the
analog world sometimes one lane can have an advantage over another,
particularly if you make use of guardrails. However, with digital each
driver can run on the best lane. So, lane position, passing & blocking
all become part of slot car racing.
With digital it becomes easier to implement other features not possible
with analog. Pit stops with refueling is the most "realistic"
enhancement to digital slot cars. Some systems can be programmed with
the amount of fuel a car can carry requiring pit stops to refuel. Pit
strategy now becomes a real part of the race. Do you "splash and go" to
get in enough "gas" to reach the end of the race. Lap counting is much
more accurate with digital than analog. Also, you can have times laps,
ghost cars (pace cars), etc. All these things become possible with cars
being controlled by a digital signal, not just power alone.
We are going to look at analog vs. digital in 6 areas to see how analog
and digital stack up against each other. We'll start with the biggest
concern... COST.
Cost
With all the advantages of digital why would anyone want analog? Cost!
Many people complain about cost. I think this is a false negative to
digital. I am going to pick on one vendor here... Scalextric. They have
enough track sets in both analog and digital to help be make a point.
Here are some sets I priced on Electric Dreams:
Analog
Scalextric C1141T LeMans race set -
$199.99
25 ft of track
Scalextric C1233T Classic GT Set, T3, Ford GT40 v. GT40 -
$209.99
25 ft of track
Digital
Scalextric C1186T Digital Ignition race set w/ Nissan 350Z cars -
$199.99
13.5 ft of track
Scalextric C1189T Digital A1GP set -
$249.99
22 ft of track
Scalextric C1201T Digital Super GT set -
$399.99
If you are going to have more than 2 drivers at any given time you will
need to go with 4 (or more) lanes of track if you use analog. I selected
the two analog tracks above because they are designed to be put together
to create a 4 lane layout. They each come with curve track that
compliments the other. This will give you 25 ft of racing on 4 lanes.
The first two digital sets I listed are Scalextrics two least expensive
offerings in the digital arena. Now I know that the two digital tracks
cost $40 more than the two analog tracks. I am not denying that digital
equipment does not cost more. What I am doing is showing if you are
going to support more than two drivers than you will have to spend close
to the same amount building a decent 4 lane layout with analog.
The two digital tracks above can be combined to create slighly more than
35 ft of track, a longer lap for each car, than the 25 ft you get with
analog. Also, you will need both transformers and power bases to use all
four lanes with analog. Each digital set contains a 4 car power base, so
the extra power base is not needed, or could be useful if you expand
your track even further.
If you just want to put three drivers on a track you can buy a set with
3 cars/controller and you are set to go. That is the third digital set
above. It includes everything for three drivers. You could just add an
extra car and controller to this set and have 4 drivers.
Yes, digital equipment is more expensive. But it is not that much more
if you put it into perspective. When you have to
support more than two people racing at once digital can be a very
attractive way to go, even on cost.
We are going to give cost to analog though. The cars are cheaper, the
track is cheaper, the accessories are cheaper. You don't get the
features of digital, but you will save money in the long run.
Cost: Analog
Lanes
The example I used above showed an analog 4 lane track of 25 ft against
a digital 2 lane track of 35 ft. However, if you want you can build a
two lane track with the analog set up to 50 ft. You will only be able to
race 2 at a time, but you have much more flexibility of the layout. Four
lanes takes up a LOT of space. You might be able to squeeze a two lane
1/32 scale track on a 4x8 board (Ninco specializes in selling track sets
that fit on a 4x8 board), but forget about 4 lanes on a 4x8 board. You
are going to need a LOT of space to enjoy 4 lane racing. However, there
is nothing stopping you from building four lanes in digital. In fact,
you could build 3 lanes if you want. It all depends on how much you want
to spend. Scalextric's digital track works with their analog track, so
you could combine all the track above for 85 ft of multi-car racing on 2
lanes or you can have 4 lanes of racing with over 40 ft. I have to give
digital the advantage here because you can race more cars in less space
than analog.
Lanes: Digital
Features
Digital is going to take this one easy. Lap counters, racing modes, fuel
management, pit strategy, passing, blocking, etc. All these are possible
with digital slot cars. None of this is possible with analog slot cars.
You can even have accurately timed laps on a digital track. Some
manufacturers sell chronometers that can display the speed of the cars
on the track. You can even hook up some of these systems to computers
for larger displays and features not already programmed into the power
base. Want a pace car that runs around the track and changes lanes
randomly? You can use the old rubber band technique to have a pace car
on an analog track, but if you have only two lanes then the pace car is
using one of the lanes. Digital pace cars run on the same lanes as you.
You have to pass them just like other drivers.
There is no comparison for features. Digital takes this round easy.
Features: Digital
Convenience
Here is the one area where analog smokes digital. Convenience. If the
track is plugged in all you have to do it put your can on the lane (the
correct lane) and pull the trigger and off you go. With digital you
have to setup the car to the controller. This may only
take a minute or so (see
this video to
see how easy it can be), but that is a minute less racing. More
important is if you are racing a few of your cars. Most slot car
enthusiast build up a collection of cars. Every time you switch cars on
a digital track you must program the car to the controller. In analog
you just take one car off and put the other on. Think of it like loading
a gun. Analog is like the automatic with a clip ready to go. Digital is
like a revolver with individual bullets to load. Which is faster and
more convenient.
Any analog car can run on any analog track, regardless of brand. This
makes buying cars easy since you at not tied to on vendor. Analog also
has the distinct advantage of being useful at clubs and other public
slot car environments. For instance, there is a place in a mall not too
far from my house. They have three 8 lane tracks and we can rent time on
them. We can bring our own cars... as long as they are analog. No
digital here. In fact, some digital cars cannot even run on an analog
track at all. Some cars can have there digital circuitry set to run on
an analog track.
Analog is just far more convenient and takes this round without breaking
a sweat.
Convenience: Analog
Compatibility
This is the most difficult to rate. Compatibility. What does that mean?
Are digital cars compatible with analog tracks? Some yes, some no. Are
analog cars compatible with digital track. Again, some yes, some no.
SCX's digital system is completely difference from any analog system.
The cars use an addition pin (or guide) to engage in the track for lane
changing. Their track is also designed to be all digital. Rather than
send the digital signal with the power, SCX has a separate supply line
on the track to carry the digital signal. This has the advantage of
making a lot of accessories easy to add to a track, but it makes it
completely incompatible with analog track... even SCX's analog track.
The other makers use different ways of implementing the lane change.
None of the digital cars from one track will work on any of the other
brands. However, many of the vendors can use their older analog track in
conjunction with their digital track. If you have older track you can
use that to expand your layout.
You can buy conversion kits to modify analog cars to run on digital
tracks. This "chipping" of the cars is different for each vendor.
Scalextric seems to be the easiest. Their latest cars can even be switch
from digital to analog by flipping a switch so you can take your
Scalextric digital car to an analog track. In the end all this is just a
mess of incompatibility.
Analog is as simple as putting your car on a lane and pulling the
trigger. Any manufacturers car will run on any other's track. Simple.
Analog wins this round.
Compatibility: Analog
Cars
What about the cars. Well, each manufacturer makes analog and digital
cars. Each also makes a digital conversion to "chip" an analog car to
digital. SCX uses a complicated second pin/guide as noted earlier.
It is difficult to convert an analog car to SCX digital. The other
brands are much easier. Since you can easily chip most analog cars I am
going to call this one a tie. I love the selection of Carrera classic
American Muscle cars in analog and digital. I can't hold this against
them. I can hold it against SCX.
Since cost was determined in another section we cannot use that here. If
you are a car nut, like I am, then you can build an amazing collection
of cars in analog or digital (SCX Digital being the lone exception).
Cars: Tie
Conclusion
Let's check the scoreboard:
Cost: Analog
Lanes: Digital
Features: Digital
Convenience: Analog
Compatibility: Analog
Cars: Tie
By the scoreboard we are looking at 3 for analog and 2 for digital, with
1 tie. But the numbers don't tell the whole story. The features you get
and the lane advantage of digital is hard to put into perspective until
you try it. Even if you have only two "drivers" in your home you will
eventually have guests over that want to race. Does someone sit out a
race, or do you keep enough controllers on hand to allow guests to race
along side the veterans.
In the end it comes down to personal choice. You can buy SCX's
proprietary system and buy their cars to go with it. You will have a
blast. SCX makes it simple to do all the fun aspects of digital. But
then you are stuck with SCX. Cars are very difficult to modify to work
with SCX. Scalextric has done the best job of bridging the analog to
digital void. Their "chips" are easiest to install in analog cars, and
their analog track works with their digital track.
However, if you do a lot of racing outside the home on other people's
tracks then you need to stay with analog. If you have more than two
racers in the house expect to use a LOT of space to setup a 4 lane
layout. Even with two lanes analog can be very rewarding, so only go
digital if you plan to use the extra features... more than just lane
changing.
My Choice
Just so you know... I am going to go with digital. I want the lane
changing and the fuel management with pit stop strategy. Since I don't
have any existing analog cars or track to worry about I can go all
digital easily. I have two boys who are getting into this with me and
putting 3 or 4 cars on a two lane track is just too compelling for me to
pass up.
Go Digital!
