Scalextric praises the feature that SSD cars are able to run on analogue tracks likewise. What they forget to tell is that there are two hickups in this mode.

The chip, which is fitted in SSD cars between the pickups and the motor, recognizes an analogue track by missing any pwm signals. So it turns in analogue mode and forwards the voltage to the motor. The problem is, that the chips itself consumes something between 2 and 3 volts, what the motor lacks of course.

If you have a separate power supply for each lane, then you can compensate this circumstance by granting the SSD cars two or three volts more than the analogue cars without a chip. But even then it's still annoying not to forget to adjust all the voltages if the cars are put on other lanes for next heat.

Even worse is the characteristic trait of the SSD chips to eliminate any braking effect of the motor. What seems to be not so important at the first glance, turns out as a real grinch when driving against a usual analogue car.

The only way to solve above all the braking issue, which I know of, is to bypass the chip if driving analogue. Of course you could remove the chip completely by replacing it with the original motor wires, but it's not really practical to pull out the soldering iron each time you want to change between digital and analogue mode. Instead I was tending to a solution wherefor no tools are needed - besides a screwdriver for opening the body. So I went for providing little plugs and sockets, so the wiring can be easily switched between digital and anlogue mode.

The principle is easy: cut through the four wires connecting the chip with the pickups, respectively with the motor. Solder small plugs and sockets to the endings, so that the wires can be reconnected again.

On the end of the green and yellow wire connected to the pickups you put small plugs, on the red and black wires coming from the motor you put then small sockets. So you can connect these four wires directly and thus bypass the chip. If you want to run the car on SSD, you simply plug the chip between the pickups and the motor.

If you try to do the above by your own, you will realize that there is only one potential issue: space! The used plugs and sockets have to be really small, so everything fits into the car. After all my method worked with a Scalextric Ford GT40 MkII, which really doesn't offer too much room.

For my first attempt I used such tiny sockets out of an old PC case, which was used for connecting stuff like the PC speaker or the reset switch to the mainboard. As plugs I soldered some soldering nails to the end of the wires. Finally some shrink hose isolated the blank wires.and the soldering points.

Another source for even more suitable plugs and sockets should be your local dealer for electronic supplies.

When I started with this project I was a little afraid, that the additional connections could increase the error-proneness in the digital mode. But fortunateliy I had no trouble after the modification so far.