Carrera BMW 320 Turbo Flachbau

Just like the CSLs, these two cars genuinely surprised me.
I honestly had not expected modern Carrera cars to perform this well.

In fact, I even caught myself thinking:
“Do people really need Sideways cars at all anymore?”

Of course, these things ultimately come down to personal taste. But I belong to an older generation of slot car enthusiasts, and I have grown increasingly uncomfortable with the modern tendency for beginners to assume that highly competition-oriented cars will somehow allow them to drive fast without first developing proper driving skills.

On commercial tracks, “beginner” has nothing to do with age.
Naturally their car control skills are underdeveloped, but very often their manners and social awareness are equally immature. Traditionally, a certain degree of hesitation or modesty acted as a psychological brake that helped newcomers integrate smoothly with the people around them.

But nowadays, thanks to the growing popularity of what I can only describe as idiot-proof cars, completely inexperienced drivers with neither manners nor restraint charge around the circuit shoving veteran racers aside with an attitude of “Outta my way! Move it!” while constantly deslotting and causing chaos for everyone nearby.

People like that would honestly be better off buying home race sets and staying inside their own houses.
But ironically, those same people are usually the ones most desperate for attention:
“Look at me! Look at me! Aren’t I amazing?”
“Everybody tell me how awesome I am!”

From a veteran’s perspective, however, there is not even a millimeter of anything impressive happening.

Most of us are not even paying attention to them at all.
We simply stay alert because collisions with people like that are dangerous.

In Japan, commercial slot car tracks are now slowly approaching extinction.
It increasingly feels as though the newer generation is simply pushing the older generation aside in exactly the same manner described above.

The growing disconnect between generations has become severe across every aspect of society, and perhaps this is simply a broader historical current that nobody can really stop.

Even among long-time regulars, the prevailing attitude tends to be:
“It is not my circuit. If the owner is not complaining, it is not really my place to say anything.”

Almost nobody goes out of their way to teach newcomers anymore.
Society itself increasingly feels that way.

In communities built on the assumption that people will remain together for many years, there is meaning in investing time and energy into helping others improve.

But now we live in a prolonged era of economic decline.
The person offering advice today may disappear from the hobby tomorrow.

People no longer feel they can afford to spend their energy taking care of others.
The world just keeps getting colder.