TruSpeed Controller
Review by Slots-O-Fun
Two and a half years ago, my family bought me a Scalextric Slot Car set for my birthday. I had been into slot racing during the 1970’s and was thrilled to be back.
The first cars, an F1 Williams and a McLaren didn’t last a month but the addiction kicked in. The track has grown and I now have about 30 linear feet jammed onto 32 sq. ft of landscaped surface. I have three R1 hairpins, an R4 corner, and two elevation changes. I also have 15 different cars including two scratch-builts. I call my past time slot therapy!
Through all this, the one thing that I didn’t change was my controller. I kept using the standard Scalextric units and even replaced them as they burnt out. I always seemed to prioritize my spending by buying another car!
Ultimately the diversity of my car collection and nature of my track resulted in frustration in running with the basic Scalextric controller. For example, my SCX Fiat 124 is a dog around the track while the Scalextric Audi TTs I race with my kids run perfectly.
I know that a lot has been written in SlotForum about the value of upgrading your controller. The stock units are good for starting out but they really don’t optimize the performance of most cars and drivers. Having delayed my purchase for so long, I now look back in hindsight and only wish I’d bought a better unit sooner.
After discussions with various SlotForum members, review of various web sites and some trial runs at a couple of hobby shops, I selected Steve Hills’ TruSpeed / Red Fox unit and it is the subject of this review.
A couple of things before I get started. Firstly, this is a review, not a comparative analysis. I am not going to speak about the various options I could have selected, only of the TruSpeed. Secondly, I am a layman when it comes to electricity so this is not a technical paper. I frankly have no idea how the thing works! I just care about how it performs.
One look at the TruSpeed unit and I concluded it came straight from the Mad Max School of Industrial Design. Now how cool is that! The unit starts life as a standard Red Fox controller, then the top is cut off and the hot stuff added. The design tells you that this is a controller with a purpose.
The trigger action is not rough like on my stock resistor units. The contact runs very smoothly across 10 thin copper surfaces and while at first the spring felt relatively light on the return, I now appreciate that this adds to the TruSpeed’s great feedback between car performance and driver.
The TruSpeed offers a significant and easily adjusted range of sensitivity. That is, a total of 14 switches, actually diodes, that you can turn on and off changing how and when the power is delivered. In turn, these diodes allow you to set up your own performance curve changing the top speed, braking power and acceleration, all in response to your trigger finger. Isn’t that what you want a controller to do?
The TruSpeed has three areas of control, Braking, Response Curve, and Overall Sensitivity.
The first set of two switches controls brake sensitivity and I love this feature. Turning one of these switches on allows a small amount of current to flow even when the trigger is released. Turning them both on increases that flow. Note that there is not enough power to break the inertia and get a standing car moving but if the car is in motion, it "coasts" into the corner and does not come to a sudden stop.
With the stock controller, I found my Fly classics stopped unrealistically and annoyingly fast. As this is one of my favourite brands, I appreciate the TruSpeed braking sensitivity feature and have benefited from smoother laps and faster times. I should point out that a small number of my cars, such as the SCX Fiat 124, don’t respond to the braking feature. (Don’t ask me why, remember, I am a racer, not a mechanic.)
The next bank of ten diodes changes the power output through the ark of the swipe arm. Imagine you can turn a turbo in your 1:1 car on or off, at 500, 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000, 3500 4000, 4500, or 5000 RPM! I can’t say I feel a difference in sensitivity by changing just one switch but if I change two or more adjacent ones, it does change the way a car responds to the trigger action. This feature allows you to tune the controller and subsequently, the cars response to your personal preference for throttle action - more great stuff!
The final two switches are a neat feature if you are running a lot of different car brands or track layouts. TruSpeed describes them as adjusting "Overall Sensitivity". It feels like a change to the overall power output of the controller and that the power delivered to the car can be raised or lowered across the entire power curve without adjusting the power curve. I would describe it as being able to change your car engine displacement from a 2.0 litre, to a 2.5 litre, to a 3.0 litre, to a 3.5 litre at the push of two buttons!
This is a fantastic feature as I tend to run a few laps with one car and then run something different. That SCX 124 for example, is no longer dragging around the track with the trigger fully depressed. I just flick the two diodes and I can run it in the same trigger travel as a TT. I run my twitchy Fly 908/3 in the middle settings and the TT’s at the lowest. All the while the throttle response is my customize preference!
Are there downsides to the TruSpeed? I don’t think so but I guess that depends on your point of view.
The TruSpeed isn’t cheap relative to other controllers, but consider that, if you can delay buying a couple of cars, you can get a top controller that will make all the cars you now have, faster and more fun to run. Also, compared to an xBox 360 or an iPod, it’s a steal.
I think you can also buy the guts of the TruSpeed and retrofit your current Parma or Red Fox. No doubt that will save some money. Best to ask TruSpeed about this one. Remember, I am not a techie.
Secondly, while the Mad Max-look is very cool, you don’t want to drop this unit. It is definitely for the enthusiast who will look after it.
Finally the unit requires a small bit of critical maintenance in the form of cleaning and lubricating the swipe area every couple of weeks. I made the mistake of letting mine go too long but Steve was a big help in making it right and the cleaning/lubricating is easy to do.
I can’t emphasize enough how much a good controller adds to enjoying all your cars and your track. I spend a lot of time running against the clock (end-of-day-therapy) and really appreciate the TruSpeed’s performance. Optimizing settings for each car has added a new dimension of fun. My lap times have dropped and I crash less.
If you love to slot, even if you are not racing competitively, the TruSpeed is an excellent product - five stars in my opinion.
