Magtrack/Sizzlers vs Adventure Force
I think this is a really good debate and obviously 3D has sued all three now in various track set ups. I have the option to buy a Sizzler Fat Track but already have the Adventure Force Crash Racers set and could easily buy another one, so which way to go. Well here's my thoughts having watched the Fat Track stuff and the Crash Racers set, as well as running a lot of tests on the Crash Racers track that I have.
Fat Track looks awesome and 3 cars side by side is super racing, as are the 6 car races that 3D has run in the past, but are there just too many "wrecks" and "wipeouts" on the corners, and even crazy spins on the straights?? On the other hand the wide straights have seen some awesome racing going on with last miniyte overtaking and the like.
Crash Racers on first inspection, and on a short track, does not offer much overtaking but seems to keep cars in line better, with less random carnage! And it connects excellently to Hot Wheels track which is a lifesaver! However, if set up correctly, with nice long straights, that aren't stupidly fast, and with a long finishing straight, there can be some great overtaking.
I ran loads of different races on a VERY temporary track and the 8 car races were amazing with all 8 finishing and lots of positional changes in the race. I now have a space set up for a double hairpin track and have loads of different options, ranging from a custom starting straight which is 4 cars wide, narrowing down to the Crash Racers corners, to a 2 lane start sitting 4 deep and then a long custom home straight which would widen out to allow overtaking on the home stretch! Very excited about the next week or so. My biggest dilemma is do I order another Crash Racers, or go all out on the Sizzler...............
Discussion
The Crash Racers set is currently about £25 if memory serves, which to me is very cheap, especially at the side of Sizzlers track, so I would pose the question, why wouldn't you buy another one? You can't have too many bends!
I would love to get some official track of either version but either it's ridiculously expensive to ship to NZ, or they don't ship here at all (for some awesome reason I'm sure) so I have to stick to hand making my tracks for now and I'm ok with that.
Agree with LoS though, just build more tracks and then you have the best of both worlds ;)
I don't mind a bit of carnage on the open track, but I also like to try and get at least one car to the finish line each race, so I may be adjusting the Canyon track a bit in the near future (as shops open up again and I can get more supplies). I think having a track that is just wide enough for one car to be completely sideways and still just get another car past is about the ideal width so there's plenty of room for awesome overtaking and also enough room to try and squeeze past any carnage on the track as well.
With regards to the fat track corners, from what i can see, it seems to be determined by the approach speed/angle and a combo of weight distribution/car length as to how well they get through the corners. I know 3D made the prinatble corners based on the original design from mattel, but has anyone done any further testing to find more of a sweet spot for the cornering, as the sizzler and crash tracks are designed for self propelled cars (right? or am I missing something) rather than gravity racers like we tend to use. Could take a lot of time and money to prototype obviously but I would think the market would be huge if you nailed it where the cars propelled more regularly around the turns, rather than just slid, without needing lanes
- I'm with you on the same boat. Never seen a fat track, Sizzlers or something similar in Portugal... And the shipping costs doubles it up to me, getting to expensive. I've searched for other brands that could make similar track systems (maisto buraggo majorette) and nothing. I'm still racing on slot track because I'm still on lockdown in here, so no choroplast for me for now. — Tracanas_DCRPT
Sounds like you have been doing your R&D ghenty! Excited to see what you come up with. A track with varying widths sounds really interesting if you can get it to work. What are you thinking for the transitions?
If you can afford both, great. As I mentioned on another thread, I like to think of the options as single lane, open two lane and open three lane track. You pays your money and makes your choice.
For my part, I find Sizzlers (from what I have seen - I have no first hand experience) a bit too chaotic. The thrill for me is when these little cars magically behave like real ones with little drifts and overtakes. I'm less keen on cars pinballing down the track in multiple 360's as it seems less real to me. My old eyes and slow brain also struggle to follow all the action!
One other factor to consider is that if people buy the Adventure Force sets, they are more likely to keep making and selling them. Sizzlers is a vintage toy that, for reasons known only to Mattel, they aren't making any more of (and prices reflect that).
- I’m totally with you on the races being realistic and it looks like the Crash Racers lends itself better to that sort of racing. I’d love a 4 lane track narrowing to 2 but did a very basic test tonight and even on a fairly short run the cars start spinning around very easily. I think though with long straights, even 2 lane racing can be very interesting with overtaking still happening, as I’ve already seen. The only thing I may have is a custom finishing straight which is a little wider, to try and stop cars just being pushed over the line by others. Going to order another Crash Racers set. — ghenty
Like I said...I'm gonna buy some...get in trouble with the Lady of Speed...ask forgiveness and then Build another track...bringing the total to 6 tracks at the LoS Racing Grounds...
- I've just bought a second set. The makers of Adventure Force will be mystified as to why sales of the Crash Racers set have suddenly spiked! — EcuWeeEcosse
- Would love to see what you come up with, League of Speed, given your proven track building skills! — EcuWeeEcosse
- 2021 reveal — LeagueofSpeed
- ...and thank you — LeagueofSpeed
- EcoWeeEcosse yes the people at Adventure force will be mystified at how their little product is doing so well. Maybe they'll make more sets and pieces. More fun for us! And LeagueOfSpeed, super excited to see the new track. LoS racing grounds is just extending its legendary status as the biggest collection of racetracks... ever! — MrFishyFish
I bought the Augmoto set for $38 with free shipping on amazon 2 months ago, so I got 3 of them, just to use for the turns.
So I have ordered another Crash Racers set, just getting everything redy for my semi-permanent track to go in the attack.
Having done a couple of test runs with 4 cars side by side on orange track then onto coroplast, there is a huge tendency for cars to start fishtaioing and going all over the place, so think I am going to go with 2 lanes or orange then straight onto the Crash Racers track for the rest of the race, opening up into a 3 lane wide finishing straight for finsih line overtaking! It will also make things a lot simpler instead of trying to get lots of different track type to transition into each other.
Just seen a Sizzlers "Big O" set go for £160/$200 on ebay (I wasn't bidding, just watching out of curiosity). It was still sealed in the box and was in the UK where Sizzlers track is rare, but come on! You could buy 6 or more new Crash Racers sets for that!
- Yes, I think I'd be inclined to go the Crash Racers route at that price! Is the kudos of having genuine Sizzlers worth that amount? — TuxMcBea
- I think a collector will have bought it. I bid up to £32 on it, LOL! — ghenty
- I'll stick with Crash Racers as I have one on order and only need that one to complete my track really. — ghenty
- That'll be a chronic problem with legit Sizzler track unless you find the re-released ones. I'm still debating a Crash Racers set...probably should just for funsies. — redlinederby
First off, let me say that I would have preferred to build the Fishland International Raceway with Augmoto track (a reprint of fat track for those unaware). However, just as I was about to buy, the price went up. Drastically. I ended up buying myself a Crash Racers set for Christmas, and that is what the Fishland Raceway is built with.
I was personally devastated when the new Race Mountain was revealed to be built with Crash Racers track, but it's grown on me. I think the racing is far less exciting and when a crash happens, if a car gets sideways then every car behind it gets stuck. I think that WHEN IT WORKS, Fat Track (or other 3-lane) is better for racing action.
However, half the time the 3 lane setups result in a crash fest rather than racing. Ironically, the CRASH Racers track results in far fewer crashes and more realistic racing.
The question is - Do I like that?
I think it comes down to, is open track diecast racing meant to mimic the real thing? I believe the origin of gravity based open track racing was to be more exciting and similar to real road course racing such as Formula 1 rather than replicating drag racing at a smaller scale.
The death of lap based racing on 3d's channel came as a shock to me. The Fishland Raceway still uses laps, but seeing as almost no other track uses the the-start-grid-for-lap-X-is-the-finishing-order-for-the-lap-before method, I think diecast racing is straying farther from the real thing, because are the conveyor belts as seen on Marbula 1 really realistic for diecast cars?
Sorry for the rant, but I think it boils down to personal preference. Do you like seeing wrecks galore? Or do you prefer the charm of the miniature cars moving like real ones?
The real answer, in my opinion, is real-life racing, diecast racing, and marble racing are all their own sports, none trying to mimic any other one fully. You choose - more wrecks and passes for less realism, or less wrecks and passes for more realism?
- Interesting you point out about the laps and making that work. I've just added a tunnel at the start of my track and have one at the end and was going to start a series soon that uses laps, where it's made to look like they enter one tunnel and come out the other one in continuous laps. I like it to feel more like real racing, just smaller, and love it when there is a real back and forth of positions, rather than a straight drag race. — Chaos_Canyon
- If you’re going for realism, a mountain road doesn’t typically loop so you wouldn’t have any laps. The new race mountain was inspired by Initial D where Japanese street racers meet at the top and race to the bottom. — 3DBotMaker
- I think you make some interesting and valid points. Yes, it does come down to what direction the "promoter" want to go with his track. There are no rights or wrongs here, just what people prefer. Cheers — CutRock_R_Marc_D
- Totally missed that part, 3d. I feel like I should have realized that, and that Race Mountain Speedway was meant to be a circuit whereas the new Race Mountain is a mountain road. — MrFishyFish
On Widowmaker Run, I will only run 2 cars at a time to prevent pile-ups, I will also only do 100% full real speed, unless at the finish I decide to hit super-slo-mo or something on my phone. If a viewer wants to want the entire video at 50% speed, they can do that with their Youtube playback settings. I won't waste my time editing for that. I'll already have 9 videos to combine into 1 for each race.
- Changing the speed should be relatively easy but obviously up to you. Does your video editor support mutlicam? It would make the editing a breeze if it does - you could make it feel like a live race on a real track, changing cameras as they pass. — Chaos_Canyon
I looked at the Crash Racers set on Amazon today. The price in NZD was only $58 which I was quite happy with but the shipping was over $60 and I just can't justify to myself having to pay more to ship than the item costs itself. That and for $100 NZD I can get a whole lot more palight and do different things with it.
We have a saying in NZ regarding a No.8 wire mentality. It comes from when the country was very young and supplies were difficult to get, so we learnt to build what we needed - and we used a lot of No.8 wire, hence the expression. I'm very thankful my dad and grandad taught me how to build stuff as a lot of my friends don't have those skills.
- With your resourcefulness and creativity, I wouldn't worry about not being able to get any Crash Racers stuff. I love what you have been able to accomplish with the materials available to you, and it makes your track unique. — EcuWeeEcosse
- Thanks. It's really just the banked turn that I still want to nail down. Overall I'm really happy with my track but I'd like the banked turns to be a bit cleaner. I'm about to start re-engineering them as we move out of lockdown and I can finally go and get some key supplies :) — Chaos_Canyon
Great write up! I'm one of the "new kids" in town. I'm soaking up info like a sponge. So far I have a name for my league and I just signed up here and have 1 figure 8 set of Crash racers and 2 boxes of the NASCAR road course that just came today. Hello from NB!
I'd say there different enough to Build both...I plan on Building a track out of the Crash Racers as well...already have my Fat Track...but I only go 3 wide on Tail of the Dragon