Controllers

Hand-held controller

The hand-held controller is the tool of the slot car racer. It is very important to choose the controller that gives you the feeling that you can be the fastest on the raceway.

How does it work?

The car gets speed if the driver gives power to the rails by means of a hand-held controller. The hand-held controller contains a variable resistor. A spring-loaded trigger varies the power supplied to the car. By variation of the power the car goes faster or slower.

Two types of controllers

There are two models of controllers, the plunger and the pistol. The spring-loaded plunger-style controller is the oldest design. The thumb operates the push-button of the plunger model. The forefinger controls the power of the pistol-style controller. Carrera and MRRC are using the push-button system and most other manufacturers have pistol shaped controllers.

Brakes

Controllers did not have brakes in the early days of slot racing. The car came only to a held because of friction. Nowadays an electric-brake makes the car to stop. The brake is activated when the trigger is released. By releasing the trigger a system of dynamic braking is applied. This means that the motor acts as a dynamo and generates its own braking force.

Controller with a brake

Not all manufacturers supply a standard controller with a brake. The Scalextric and SCX controllers do not have a brake. If you want to upgrade your raceway you need to buy brake-controllers separately. If you buy a set of Ninco you get controllers with a brake-system. The Ninco standard controller is one of the best standard controllers you can get.

Which controller to buy?

Most standard controllers have a 30 or 45 ohm rate. If you drive a slot car with a powerful motor you need a controller with a low ohm rate. With the Carrera Xtreme-Control and Ninco Vario 16 controllers you can adjust the ohm-rate.

Ninco Vario 16

The Vario 16 looks very stylish. The Vario 16 has a large "headphone" jackplug which means that you need the special Ninco independent power straight or you have to use an adapter. I noticed that the Vario 16 controller of Ninco gets the most complains of racers around the world. The Vario 16 is the electronic hand-held control device of Ninco. Many people do not like to change the four DIPswitches every time when they have chosen another car. Others like this controller very much. It is wise to try out this controller before buying it.

Parma

According to my opinion and the opinion of many racers around the world the best controller you can buy is the Parma controller. Parma is offering high quality controllers for all slot racing systems. The Economy Controller is very popular among slot-racers. The orange controller is basic, not expensive and very solid.

Good quality controllers

All the big manufacturers offer good quality controllers. It is possible that you will spend a lot of money for this tool. Take your time to make a choice. Maybe you want an electronic controller or the remote control of SCX. Ask your friends for advice or contact your chat-mates on the web.

More information

Around the slot car tracks
Commercial raceways
Around the slot car tracks
History of controllers