Have you ever done a track day that you enjoyed so much, you wished you could just continue driving and explore the hidden part of the circuit that you were not allowed access to on the day? For example, you might have been racing on the Brands Hatch ‘Indy circuit,’ and you just knew in the back of your mind that there is an entire additional section called the ‘GP circuit’ where another world of fast straights, chicanes, and exhilarating bends just lie fast asleep waiting to be driven on. Well, the same is true of Scalextric!
In our October issue, we tested the brilliant Williams F1 Racing Race Set complete with two highly detailed Williams F1 Cars from the 2024 season driven by Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant. You can read the story here.
Did you know Scalextric offers various ‘Track Extension Packs’ that will take your living room racing to another level of excitement and enjoyment?
This month, we were delighted to review and test the ‘Ultimate Track Expansion Pack’ manufactured by Scalextric.
To give the original ‘Williams F1 Race’ circuit a boost, we added in ‘8 Standard Straights Track Extension Pack’ which come in a box as an additional expansion pack.
First, let’s look at the ‘Ultimate Track Extension Pack.’ This pack consists of a long narrow straight which has two ‘danger zones,’ (marked in yellow chevrons) where the inside lane narrows towards the outside lane followed by a very tight Monaco style hairpin, which allows you to get the tail out and do ‘drifts’/ power-slides, followed by a widening slot which takes both cars back to normal straights.
For some extra fun, you can attach a ramp which will launch the cars into the air followed by a ‘landing ramp’ which will ‘catch’ the cars and guide them safely back onto the flat straights. These ramps come included in the ‘Ultimate Track Extension Pack’ and you can choose whether or not you wish to use them; for example, if you are running rally cars you can add them to the circuit and if you are running F1 cars, you can simply remove them. You also get ‘run off’ areas finished in a realistic sandy colour with red and white track kerb markers and grey crash barriers also.
The Free Car Mag team really like this pack as it adds a sense of thrilling danger and realism to your regular Scalextric set, very much like how the Monaco F1 circuit is twisty and narrow with more chance of two cars colliding. So, when two cars are approaching the narrow ‘danger zone’ you can either accelerate ahead of your opponent, slow down and let them go first, or continue at the same speed, neck and neck, and risk both cars crashing into each other and spinning off the circuit — great fun with excellent design and innovation by Scalextric.
The ramps are also a nice touch that children will find exciting as it replicates rally cars jumping into the air and then coming down to earth with a soft controlled landing.
The pack of eight straights is a versatile and handy asset to have in your Scalextric arsenal as it will allow you to spread out the design of any of the standard circuit configurations which come detailed with your standard set.
We used this standard design as the ‘base’ layout for our bespoke track design and simply added the ‘Ultimate Track Expansion Pack’ to the left and used the 8 standard straights to ‘spread out’ the original Williams F1 circuit. If you wish to copy our design you will need 1x ‘Williams Racing Race Set’, 1x ‘Ultimate Track Extension Pack’ and 1x ‘Pack of Standard 8 straights.’ Follow the design in the photo below:
The great thing about Scalextric is there is no right or wrong design, you can experiment with different track pieces and make your own custom configuration. The possibilities are truly endless. In addition, you can experiment with different car types, smaller cars like the original Mini Cooper or Mark 1 Volkswagen Golf GTi will handle differently to a modern F1 car, just as they would in real life!
Scalextric offers twin packs of cars which offer good value for money, if you like BMW’s, as we do at Free Car Mag, you will pleased to know Scalextric have replicated the BMW 3-Series E30 and E36 race spec versions to celebrate two iconic victories at the legendary Spa 24 Hours. We can’t wait to take them for a spin!
So, book a track day in your living room and expand your existing Scalextric set where the fun never stops and track designs are only limited to the extent of your imagination.
