FAQs

What is a slot car?
A slot car is a model racing car which runs on a slotted track. They come in a large array of designs and sizes. Most slot car race clubs in the UK race with 1:32 scale models.

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Is it like Scalextric?
Scalextric is most people’s first experience of slot racing and the 1:64 scale models used by HO scale clubs such as SCHORC are similar to race. The main differences are that our cars are smaller and faster!

Is it an expensive hobby?
It’s a lot less expensive than racing full-sized cars! A starter car will normally set you back about £10 and you don’t need much equipment to maintain your cars. In the first few months of racing, most of our members found they owned 2-3 cars, assorted parts and a tool box!

Do you build the cars yourself?
Most racers start out by buying a complete, ready-made car, and then learn how to make it go faster! All of the parts of slot cars are readily available and most are inexpensive, making it a great hobby for any would-be mechanic or engineer. Some of our members focus more on racing, and you don’t have to be technically-minded to enjoy a race event.

How do I learn to build my own car?
Everyone at SCHORC is really friendly and will give you lots of tips and ideas for getting your own cars up to peak performance. Many of us also use www.slotforum.com, which is the biggest slot-car racing community on the web!

How big is your club?
SCHORC is a well-established and popular club, hosting between 8 and 15 members on a typical night. We also entertain other local clubs and run specialist races on request. We can currently accommodate a maximum of 22 racers in any one session.

How do the races work?
You can read a full description of our race nights on the racing page.

Do you travel to other races?
There are lots of other HO slot car clubs around the country and we regularly meet up for national events and endurance races, we’ve even entered a team in the Derby Le Mans 24 hour race! A list of other HO clubs can be found on our other clubs page

How much does it cost to become a member of SCHORC?
Membership is by annual subscription at a cost of £24 for adults, and £12 for those under 16s or in full time education. This cost reduces pro-rata per championship round of the season remaining. This means that the cost of membership with 11 championship rounds remaining would be £22 and so on.

Race fees will then be £4 for adults and £2 for children.

Alternatively an annual fee of £60 can be paid at the start of the year which covers membership and race fees for all 12 championship meetings.

Membership entitles entry to all club championships and voting rights.

What are the rules?
Our full club rules can be downloaded from here.

Any other questions?
Please submit them here and we’ll add them, plus an answer, to this list!