Disney Pixar CARS 2: Mattel Cars 2 R/C London City Raceway Slot Car Racing Set
There is a more traditional R/C slot racing set …
This is from Mattel, not Carrera.
Available online at Amazon.com
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13 July 2011
10 Comments
Can anyone tell me what to do with the Charge-Ups without a track? We haven’t tried them out yet and if they are as fast as the demo at TGT it seems they would have limited use without the track.
I had the dirt track one from the first cars movie…it stunk…bought the Carrera version with Chick and LM and it totally rocks…spend the extra money and get the carrera version…also, it matches the scale of all the other Disney Store die cast (1:43?)…My son and I love to race while the other diecast watch…I think I bought The King in addition to the set…i had to have all 3!…I should probably pick up Sally and mater too…does anyone know if the Carrera mater goes backwards instead of forwards?
Also, looking at the track in the store, it appeared to be interchangeable with the dirt track version…it’s a typical tyco track from what i remeber as a kid…just like mentioned below…
This set has been out for a while, and unlike the “Tokyo Mater” set it’s not exclusive to Target; you can find it on WalMart.com as well. Also unlike the “Tokyo Mater” set, this one is readily available in Target stores as well; both of my nearby Targets have several on the shelves, with the other playsets.
I have one, and I love it — but I’m afraid I'[d only recommend it to fellow HO-scale slot car hobbyists. Unfortunately, unless you are into HO slot cars as I am, you’re going to be disappointed. Here’s why:
Mattel seems to have switched tire compounds in this set, and the cars will not stay on the track in the curves. Even the traction magnets are not enough to keep them from spinning out; the tires are made of a harder compound, and are simply not sticky enough.
That’s an easy fix for me, as all I have to do is swap out the tires for a set of silicone tires from my pit kit and they’re good to go. But if you don’t have a set of silicone tires and aren’t familiar with slot cars, you’re going to be disappointed — which concerns me, as it may turn them off completely to the hobby.
None of my other Mattel sets — not the CARS desert race set, the CARS Neon Nights set, or the Tokyo Mater set, or the two Speed Racer sets — had this problem.
I really only bought this set for the CARS–or more importantly, the car bodies. But I did discover that Francesco rides on the narrow version of the venerable Tyco 440 chassis, which hasn’t been seen as a new product for quite some time. So again, if you’re into HO slot cars, that’s another reason to go out and buy this kit. You also get some nifty track pieces that fade from “asphalt” to “dirt” that you can use with your other dirt-colored Tyco track pieces, which is also kinda neat.
The track itself is standard Tyco track, and can be used with any other Tyco track that you may have lying around; there are adapters available to slot car hobbyists that will allow it to be connected to other brands.
The cars themselves will run on any HO slot car track; I prefer Tomy AFX. And even though this set uses a battery-powered powerpack, the cars will run on wall-wart power; I’ve run my Neon Nights and Tokyo Mater slot CARS on 22v power without a problem.
There’s another CARS HO set coming out overseas from Scalextric (their HO line is called “Micro Scalextric”), which will feature WGP LMQ and Nigel Gearsley. They will also operate on standard HO track, but unfortunately will not be available in North America (except through Ebay resellers, of course!). It’s due out around or about August 1.
You cna read my blog about this set over at the newly-reconstituted HOSlotracer.com:
http://www.hoslotracer.com/blogs/stig-mcqueen
(MET: Great review – thanks!)
Wow, awesome review! That’s cool about the unique track pieces — this all sounds like my Dad, who is actually a model train enthusiast.
Exactly the info I was looking for, thanks! I think the track I had as a kid was AFX and it’s good to know there are adapters out there. And it would be really fun to run these cars on a big 4×8′ track!
Thanks for all the awesome info Stig! My boys really loved the slot cars that were set up at the fair this year and I have been thinking of getting them some. If they can also be Cars, so much the better!
Great info and review; thanks!
Paper stickers on the car bodies??? Just when I thought Mattel couldn’t get any cheaper…. Oh well. $37.99 with free shipping on Amazon. Maybe I’ll think it over a while.
Yeah, I meant to mention that. I’m planning on making my own decals to replace the stickers when they get too grubby. But again, that only works for hobbyists who can do this kind of thing. Dragon LMQ from the Tokyo Mater set also had stickers, though Mater’s limited graphics (tuner-shop window stickers) were printed. Neon Nights LMQ was a mix of printed graphics and stickers. I can only surmise that Mattel had to go to tooling before Disney/Pixar had finalized the graphics in the movie.
This looks like the London Speedway slot Car set… I’ve seen it at a few Meijer stores as well as at Target.
It’s on my wish list… one of these days…
Anyone know if this track will be interchangeable with others or will the connections be unique?
(MET: At $39.99, it seems to be a “regular” slot set & track – do these tend to be interchangeable or is that something reserved for the higher end?)