Slot Car Timing System Review & Comparisons

The following table gives a review of the included software after significant testing. The included software were picked after a general review of many other programs. If the program is not included here it is probably because it did not meet some standard requirements. The software that is included all have some features that make them good choices. Other reviews of the Trackmate and SPTS software, and one or two other good programs have not been completed yet but will be included as soon as possible. A scale of 1-10 is used to judge the effectiveness of the feature, 10 being the best relative to the rest. Where there is no statement about a feature, the feature has not been found in our testing of the program. All of the programs have much in common including hardware setup etc. This comparison attempts to detail the major differences between important race control features which make a difference during actual racing and recording of results.

Reviews last updated November 19, 2003

Program	Win- dows	DOS	Champ. Point Sys.	Gap Main Screen	Indiv. Lap Length	Race Pause	Penalty	Sounds	Reports	Data Base	Race Position Screen	Graphic Screen	Lane Rotation	Manual	SetUp	Pit Stop	Fuel Mang.	Race Detail Screen	MPH	Reliable	Intermed. Lap Times	# Lanes	Problems	Comments	Price
Slot Race Manager Ver. 2.12d		Yes	10			Yes			10	10			10	10	5			6	Yes	10		8	No position screen, graphic screen, or sounds. Set up difficult. Can't run with windows programs. No sounds.	Detailed database and linking with car, track river, time info. Powerful Championship features, record keeping, qualifying & heat management New Beta just announced	Free
SCTv2	Yes	Yes		10	Yes			2	7	7	10		10	10	10			8	Yes	10	Yes	8	No pause or penalty feature, little sounds. can't get to some race reports, directly from program. Lap # too small in 4 lane mode. No Championship featrures	Can run simulatneously with windows programs proving sound etc.. Intermediate timing. Excellent large race screens. New update expected within a few months	US $20
LapTimer 2000	Yes				Yes	Yes	Yes	5	5	3				10	10			4	Yes	10		4	No position screen. Weak Main race screen. Sounds could be better. Championship could be better. Qualifying does not work yet. database and reporting a bit weak	Good overall program, quick to set up and use.	Free
PC Lap Counter Ver. 3.27	Yes		7	5		Yes	Yes	10	7	10	7		7	4	4	10		10	Yes	7		16	Somewhat Difficult to understand. Some quirks. difficult to set up. Now has a manual which helps to understand its operations and to set it up. However manual is basic and could be a lot better	A quite detailed Program, with many features. Probably the most feature rich program available. Updated frequently. Very detailed general race screen. Good database storage, excellent sound features. Excellent race features, Relay, Pause & Pit Stops.	US $ 45
VirtualRace Sys.	Yes		3	10		Yes		8	3	2	10	10	10		5			7		10		8	No manual. Weak in overall features. Weak database and reporting.. No Car info.	Excellent graphic main screen. Very good sound features. Easy to get going . Good rotation and heat system.	US $37

Overview
All of the programs reviewed provide good basic lap timing and counting features. Slot Race Manager and SCTv2 are very similar, both being DOS programs and requiring very little computing capacity. Their basic difference with the Windows programs is lack of sounds and graphics. However these DOS programs can be used on the most basic computers even very old DOS driven almost free computers. These programs work well Slot Race Manager is probably the better program overall due to its tremendous database capabilities in keeping track of, and integrating data from races, drivers and cars. SCTv2 is however the only program that allows timing of intermediate or parts of a track, and the option of three different versions of large digit screens which allow easy monitoring of races.. SCTv2 has one major problem in that it does not have a Pause button. both of these programs are in the process of being updated. Slot Race Manager which is a free program has just announced a new Beta version.

The other three programs being all Windows based allow for improved graphics and sounds. The Sounds specifically allows an improved race environment. The sounds makes the racing sound like the real thing. PC Lap Counter has a tremendous facility for sounds and substitution of sounds as needed. Lap Timer 2000 is a very solid basic program that runs well without any hitches and can even run in the background while running the DOS programs allowing the simplicity of the DOS operation combined with the sounds generated by the Windows program. In addition it is totally free. Virtual Race System is perhaps the least feature laden program, however it has the best graphics feature which shows the progress of the race as a bar chart type graph.  PC Lap Counter is perhaps the most feature laden program with many features and recording functions and the excellent sounds module. It was plagued by being a bit quirky and without a manual. Some of these problems have been solved recently with numerous updates and a new manual. With its new updates and improved stability PC Lap Counter is a strong contender.