Anyone tried this new drag track?
Just saw this on FB. Looks like a plug and play setup that seems pretty solid. I also understand they sell extra track to extend it but it's not compatible with HW tracks
Discussion
Shipping to NZ would put it out of the question for me, but curious if anyone had seen it in person. I liked the displays being at the start plus the visual winner indicator. Would make it a lot easier to wire that way too, instead of having to run multiple cables all the way to the finish. You'd only need the sensor wires to go any great distance, everything else would be in the main start box.
That is the Expert Drag Track (or a variant thereof). It was the "hot" system to try in the early days. I got one and reviewed it early in RLD's history in 2014...article #5 on the website!
My old review: www.redlinederby.com/topic/expert-drag-track-review/5
In short...it's fine. It does what it says on the tin. It's not the sturdiest setup and, like you said, it's not compatible with Mattel track (or any other track), but the track itself is good, strong plastic and is a nice surface.
If you're looking at it for parts to canibalize for various things, it'd be fine - cost/shipping to NZ not withstanding. You'd have to make some adapters to hook it up to other types of track but well within standard DIY stuff. And frankly, it'd be easier now with all the 3D printing options.
I did like the start/finish gate gear. It's a very simple mechanism but if I recall not the most resiliant thing either - I believe someone had the drop pins break pretty easy and whatnot; I'd have to go deeper in the archive for it.
Here's a small collection of old posts about the Drag Track: www.redlinederby.com/forum/collection/drag-track/21
This post has a good look of the guts: www.redlinederby.com/topic/drag-track-finish-gate/3610
Odd thing is you have to put it in your cart, then go view the cart to see the price. Couldn't play audio, so I didn't hear what was covered on the face book post.
$150 For the set.