REAL MEN DON'T EAT QUICHE BUT DO DRIVE PINK SLOT CARS (May 2008) Rarely does a manufacturer re-release a car but this year Slot.it is doing it twice. During March we saw the re-release of the Audi R8C Snetterton, however, that model was manufactured with a new part number, new mould and many new features. On 15 May the SICA03C Porsche 962C pink Blaupunkt is being re-released and that prompted us to hold another competition.
We asked our readers to simply take a photo of their pink (or predominantly pink) slot cars and email them together in one photo to us. You would think after all this time in this industry we should have considered that we are dealing with slot car racers who find it hard to turn up to a race event without any modification to their slot car. In fact it is often believed the word 'scrutinise' was created for slot car racing enthusiasts.
So this entry arrived and impressed we were, however, when observing this photo we know that almost none of the liveries of the cars shown were ever produced in pink. We are also certain that followers of the V8 Supercar series are shuddering when they see the pink Vodafone Ford being held by a boy in a pink Ferrari T-Shirt!
Our dilema was then whether to protect the identity of the winning entry or not but that decision was made easy when we realised he was located in Western Australia - need we say anymore?
As we did not stipulate any rules for this competition we would like to congratulate Darryl P on his winning entry for the most pink slot cars. Darryl may now purchase the Slot.it Porsche 962C Blaupunkt or any other Slot.it car with a 50% discount.

AND THE WINNER IS: (January 2008)
Interested in what the top sellers for 2007 were? Please note the results are sourced from Armchair Racer retail sales and only some of the results have been verified with the importers, however, we are confident that they would be the same or very close to total Australian slot car sales.
Top selling car for 2007? C2775 - Scalextric Allan Moffat Mustang
Most popular Scalextric car for 2007? As above
Most popular Slot.it car for 2007? SICA10A - McLaren F1 GTR - currently available following a re-production run by Slot.it due to this models huge success
Most popular Ninco car for 2007? N50428 - Mosler MT900 'Gulf'
Most popular Carrera car for 2007? 27200 - 1932 Ford Hot Rod. The new Hot Rod range released by Carrera during 2007 have been a huge sucess. All the Hot Rods look great and this is a deserving winner.
Most popular Fly car for 2007? F88256 - March 961 F1 1976. The first F1 car produced by Fly. With front wheel steering and suspension the detail on this model was fantastic and another deserving winner. No longer available.
Most popular accessory/part for 2007? OK it seems that many of you are having difficulty staying on the track. To our surprise the top selling part for 2007, which is not even listed on our web page, was the SICN04 - Slot.it Neodimium Race Magnet.

C2775 SCALEXTRIC ALLAN MOFFAT FORD MUSTANG (August 2007)
Historically a race between Ford’s and Holden’s, the Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) is the most popular motor sport in Australia.
In 1969 little known Canadian Allan Moffat bought into Australia the Boss 302 Mustang which was Fords state-of-the-art racer fresh from the USA where it had been built to topple Chevrolet in the Trans-AM wars of that year.
As the Trans-AM rules were similar to the ATCC series production rules it was a perfect new car for Allan Moffat to shine.
Painted in the bright red corporate colours of big time sponsor Coco-Cola this amazing 5.0 litre Mustang amassed 101 race wins from 151 starts and volumes of qualifying and lap records around the country. That stunning strike rate alone could explain this car's fanatical following, but what made its success all the more astonishing was that Moffat was often competing against muscle monsters with far greater engine capacity’s such as Bob Jane’s big block 7.0 litre Camaro and Ian ‘Pete’ Geoghegans 5.8 lire Super Falcon.
Even though in later years it was Moffat’s exploits behind the wheels of a series of awesome Falcon racers, it was this Trans-Am Mustang that became Moffat’s signature car.
Scalextric have been producing a range of Australian release ATCC cars since 2004. There is a small range of current V8’s produced during the year but this Mustang C2775 is the 3rd historic ATCC car manufactured by Scalextric. This model has been limited to a production run of 3,500 and is presented in a numbered box.

The new car is painted Flat Black. The body has much crisper detail, in line with all the latest cars they produce. The dip along the centre of the roof is more pronounced on the latest version looking very much like the 1 to 1 version.  The nose has been re worked and looks much stronger than the fragile nose of the first car, having repaired the first car a number of times due to the odd heavy race accident I am pleased to see this improvement. It is also shaped differently below the head lights. The only possible carry over is the rear wing but it is very hard to tell as it stands. I did notice that the rear wing is missing the Audi and Shell decals shown in the photo’s of the car in the catalogue, also missing are the mirrors and windscreen wiper, but noticed in the tribute website “Great Racing Cars” www.geocities.com/simontmallett, that it is now actually being modelled correctly excepting the aerials on the roof.

Car courtesy of Armchair Racer

There are many cars on slotter’s wish lists but this particular model would have to be the one I have read the most requests for over the years. This particular version of the Long tail McLaren F1 GTR is a replica of the car paraded at the Good wood Festival of Speed in 2005. This particular car is a race car converted to a street car.

The Long Tail McLaren was a race car first, built to answer the growing list of manufacturers with purpose built race cars like the Mercedes CLK GTR and Porsche 911 GT1. The short tail version, first raced in 1995, was conceived after Gordon Murray was convinced that the McLaren Road Car would make an excellent race car. It raced in the newly formed “BPR Global GT Series”. The series became the “FIA GT Championship” in 1997 and major changes to the premier GT1 class resulted. McLaren had to react to stay competitive and the Long Tail was born. A total of ten Long Tail GTRs were built, with none of the previous cars being upgraded to the 1997-spec. McLaren was forced to build three production cars using the GTR '97's bodywork. These cars became known as the F1 GT, of which only three were built. The 1997-spec cars are commonly referred to as the "Long Tail" version due to their stretched bodywork, most noticeably in the rear. From the information I have been able to find, it is unclear which of the chassis this particular car originated from.

The Slot.it version is a faithful rendition minus two black ducts on the sides of the nose in front of the front wheels. The proportions of the car look spot on. The McLaren Orange if faithfully reproduced although it does not show up as well in the photographs I have taken.

The body of the car is made up of a one piece nose and roof section with the sides between the wheel arches and rear bar under the rear wing being separate pieces attached by tabs and plastic welded together. As is expected of Slot.it the detail is very fine, the pictures not doing the car justice. Due to the length of the car a full cockpit is fitted even though the motor is fitted inline.

The wheels are the larger diameter 17mm X 10mm aluminium rears and 17mm X 8mm plastic fronts. This gives the car an accurate look along with the new inserts replicating the 1 to 1 car. The tyres appear to be a P series compound as they have considerably better traction than the generic tyres fitted to recent releases.

So how does she run? A quick lube and check to make sure all was tight and onto the track. Once the track was clean the car quickly became the quickest runner. Being a wood track, the car was run minus magnetic down force which is the way these Slot.it’s have been designed. I cannot recall a better balanced slot car out of the box. Bo’s new Warwick Farm track has some great left right esses and this car just flowed through them. Very little tail out action and it launched rapidly to the next corner. It really looked great the way it cornered and was surprising considering the fact weight is normally required to get the best from a car non magnet.

This chassis picture shows the offset motor mount and crown gear. Slot.it seem to have changed the gearing now as they have gone for the more standard 9 tooth pinion and 27 tooth crown gear as apposed to the 28 tooth used with the old 25,000 rpm V12 motor. As with all new Slot.it cars the motor fitted is the new generation 21,500 rpm high torque motor. As is usual with Slot.it cars, the motor cables are routed along the chassis. This helps to keep the guide self centering when coming off the track. The car weighed in at 77 grams.

The front axle has the height adjusting caps mounted to posts on the chassis as has been the norm for a while now. These seem better set up than recent releases as the axle play was just perfect. The front wheels spun easily as opposed to the previous tight axle mounting on some models.

As is usual now for Slot.it the car also comes with a set of Silicone tyres. These will come in handy for those who allow Silicone tyres on their tracks.

The only changes I did make to the car setup was to round off the square shoulders of the rear tyres and loosen the motor mount screws to give the car some float. I would normally loosen the body screws a half turn or so but with Slot.it’s set up on the rear end loosening the cradle is a no brainer.

As a matter of interest I photographed the car from above next to a Ninco McLaren F1 GTR. The Ninco car still looks good but is noticeably wide when compared to the Slot.it car which is more to scale.

In conclusion I recommend rushing down to your local Slot.it dealer pick up one of these cars before they are sold out. You won’t be disappointed.

Car courtesy of Armchair Racer

In my last review of a certain slot car make, I emphasized the importance of RTR cars that are tailored towards the average consumer and hobbyist in mind. That’s not to say that the more established brands or “tunable” range of slot car manufacturers offer any less. The fact of the matter is that in recent years, slot cars have come a long way. With the numerous brands on offer and the competitive nature of manufacturing methods, tooling, patents, what we end up with, are companies that pay a high level of attention to detail and, ultimately, the final product.

What started out as humble beginnings of the well known v12 motor, Slot.It have now become a major contender in the slot car business. Before me, I present to you, the highly anticipated slot version of the Silk Cut livery Jaguar XJR9 that raced at Le Mans 1988.

It has been most pleasurable to witness the “replication” of famous Le Mans models. Currently, with the most elaborate range of Group C cars, Slot.It has done it again.

History:
Group C was a category of auto racing, introduced into sports car racing by the FIA in 1982, along Group A for touring cars and Group B for GTs. It was designed to replace both Group 5 (closed top touring prototypes like Porsche 935) and Group 6 (open-top sports car prototypes like Porsche 936). Group C was used in the World Endurance Championship and other sports car racing around the globe. The final year for the class came in 1993.

The "C" could also be interpreted as "consumption", since the FIA created a formula limiting the amount of fuel a car could use during the race, instead of limiting minimum weight and maximum displacement.

This slot model is a replica of the car that was driven by Derek Daly (IRL), Larry Perkins (AUS), Kevin Cogan (USA), which finished 4th overall at 24 hour Le Mans in 1988. The winner that year was also a Silk Cut livery Jaguar XJR9 driven by Jan Lammers (NL), Johnny Dumfries (GB), Andy Wallace (GB).

The Slot:
For those that were lucky enough to get your hands on the previous Slot It Castrol Jag, they are hardly all that different. However, if there is one aspect we often take for granted, is that Slot.It have and continue to refine their products in almost all departments. More on that subject a bit later.

Let’s face it; all Slot It models are simply stunning. The attention to scale and detail is as expected and simply outstanding. As for its tampo prints and stamps, this is where it gets interesting. Due to the legalities of Tobacco advertising, the car comes shipped with a very fine decal-like film covering the Silk Cut ad. To expose the original livery, simply take a strip of clear sticky tape, place it over the “marked” areas and peel off.

I was a tad apprehensive at first, given that the previous boxed Rothmans 956 models had applied stickers that damaged the original livery marking underneath when peeled off, hence repair kits were made available. However, I saw this being done in front of me, and am happy to report that the Silk Cut markings revealed were crisp, clean, clear and sharp with no visible discoloration or peeling. Seems like Slot.It have clear coated the car first before applying this film. Well done guys! Again, attention to detail.

Recently, Slot.It cars have also included “Race friendly” parts such as rubber antennas, and other miscellaneous rubber body parts, some of which are available separately. This Jag has a soft rubber antenna that will withstand a decent shunt, and a spare and more robust plain black colored rear wing is provided, should you decide to spare the original, more delicate, prototype wing from the rigors of hard racing.

The car also features its trademark rear wheel “spats”, which can be removed. To end a supposedly ongoing debate, no, this car does not come in 2 different models. Shop owners have simply displayed the same car with rear wheel “spats” on and off. Again, Slot.It have been most obliging, and provided us the optional feature.

Another amazing feature in Slot It cars is the level of detail on the cockpit area and the driver. The picture speaks for itself.

Guts:
The Chassis houses an in-line configuration with a motor mount that sports a rear magnet. Like all Slot.It cars, the body is mounted onto the chassis with 2 screws. Front and rear. I’am particularly a big fan of this simplicity in design, as both screws can be loosened to allow for the body to “rock” slightly on either side. Its V12 motor powers a 28 tooth crown gear (Yellow), driven by a 9 tooth pinion. The 28 tooth crown gear is almost standard now on Slot.It cars. They provide a healthy combination of braking and acceleration regardless of track size. The precision of Slot.It running gear has gained a huge reputation and can be found on other after-market slot brands, which speaks volumes of its effciency and reliability.

Another cool feature on the chassis design is the addition of front axle height adjustment caps. Admittedly, I was totally oblivious to this on previous models, although it became more apparent that on other Slot.It cars in my stable, the front axles were either not sitting correctly, or front axle movement was rigid or too snug. On this model, the caps couldn't’t go any lower and there was a fair amount of resistance on the front axle play. That somewhat inhibited its movement, hence providing rolling resistance. This can be easily fixed by either, sanding the top of the caps slightly or removing them altogether. Removing the caps would result in a substantial amount of axle “flop”, however that might not necessarily be a bad thing on some tracks. The inclusion of adjustment caps is a brilliant one, especially when you need to “lower” the ride height of front end of the car in the slot. However, there is also the option of adding weight. Pictured below are adjustment caps on and off.

Packaging:
Yes packaging! Its never ceases to amaze me that Slot.It still appear to have almost every base covered! The car comes secured on a base encased within a clear rigid plastic bubble shell inside the display case.

How many times have you spent your hard earned money and ordered that one car from overseas, only to find that during transit, some nut accidentally dropped your package on its head, while the retailer didn't’t bother securing the car to its base properly and you are left with broken mounting posts and a shattered body? Well, rest easy, cause Slot.It cars will travel & ship with the collector & hoarder in mind. Still, I’d recommend insurance.

Tyres:
Recent models have also seen the addition of “race performance” tyres along with every purchase. I might be off the mark here, but there is a striking similarity between these tyres and the S2 tyres (Sold Separately) in terms of performance and compound. Again, kudos to Slot.It for providing that option.

Another notable difference; the braids on this model are nickel plated.

Performance:
Look, to be honest, all Slot.It cars utilizes high quality components. Among all the recent Slot.It releases, most have almost identical running gear, the only difference being footprint, car size or wheelbase widths and lengths (with the exception of angle winders, off set mounted cars, motors, etc). Slot.It make more parts than you can poke at stick at and it will run whatever way you choose it to do so. Performance is a culmination of certain factors. So, to say that I used a 35 ohm PARMA Economy controller on a track, with the voltage set to 10.5 volts is the best way to drive this beauty doesn't mean anything. Yes, perhaps, to give you a lap time is a good indication of how this car handles, however, lap times on my track doesn’t justify the performance on yours. The truth is Slot.It make very "adaptable" cars. I had the luxury of testing her on routed and plastic tracks, and on both surfaces, it hooked up extremely well. The magnet supplied provides just a nice amount of downforce, in which you can still “hang” the tail out in corners. Nothing worse than a “stuck down rocket” if you know what I mean. Remove the magnet and put on the “race performance” tires, not forgetting a touch of weight, and you’ll achieve controllable slides and drifts, which might offer more realistic scale racing.

Verdict:
This Silk Cut Jaguar drove like what you would expect from other Slot.It cars. The mass appeal about this brand here is that all their cars are manufactured with precision, quality and consistency. Surely, a winning formula when it comes to parity within a stable of Slot.It cars on any track. In stock form, out of the box, this car runs beautifully. Although, there’s plenty of work any hardcore racer could do with one of these babies that would make its competitors eat dust. Considering that the brains and the man behind the company is an avid slot racer and enthusiast himself, who listens to its customers, its understandable that Slot.It are set on providing the best components coupled with competitive and affordable prices.

If you haven’t bought a Slot.It, this most attractive car should give you reason to. As for yours truly, a new Slot.It such as this one, is like opening a vintage bottle of red, best when savored.

When I first heard of this particular release I wondered why they would do such a car.
I could understand a modern car that could be painted in a fantasy livery but had not
thought of doing a classic in this way. But then again why not?

What are the differences between this car and the standard Sloter Lola? It comes with
all the small pieces of winglets, mirrors, headlights etc packaged separately in a bag.
The car is ready to run though and just needs painting and assembly of the rest of the
bits and pieces.

The interior is a single light weight lexan section with driver molded in one piece.

The obvious is the MB Slot aluminium wheels. No inserts are provided to make the ca r
scale accurate but then this car has been designed with racing in mind. They are a
similar size to the Slot.it 17 x 10 with 6 holes drilled into them for lightening purposes.

The front tyres are a low grip low profile style designed specifically for front end use.
The rears are a firm compound type of tyre but grip very well on a board track.

The motor is also MB Slot of short can style. It is rated at 23,000 rpm at 12 volts and feels
very similar to the Slot.it V12/3 21,000 rpm motor. The pinion gear is made of what
appears to be steel with 12 teeth and is driving a plastic 36 tooth Spur on the rear with
an alloy set screw centre. The mesh is fine and the car runs very quietly

The standard two magnet positions are provided although as with all Sloter’s
none are supplied. I would think the car would be alarmingly fast with two magnets
although I could see some melted motors if both positions were used. Better to run
the car as is. The motor wires are routed in recesses which helps centre the guide
during off track excursions. This is a good idea Slot.it have been using for a number
of years and others have been following in more recent times.

The car was tested minus the parts supplied to complete the car as it needs to be
painted first, but a good impression was gained from running it as is.

It weighed in at 62 grams minus the accessories which is very light. This would usually
mean a twitchy overpowered beast when run this way. The car was run in for an hour
as the rear end was very tight to the point of locking up under braking. Plenty of
grip was provided from the rear tyres and the power down was very strong. The car
was best driven by minimizing the amount of sliding and getting on the power
early on the straights to make the most of the acceleration provided by the engine and
traction. The short wheelbase and wide track made this the fastest way around.
I would recommend gluing the rear tyres as they do move on the rim.

The car was compared with its most obvious opposition, the Slot.it Ferrari 312PB
and turned out to be similar in performance. On Jim Raciti’s Warwick Farm raceway
it had slightly better grip than the Slot.it and turned in times of 6.49 compared to the
Slot.it’s 6.54.

All in all a good competitor for Classic racing which opens up another option for this
class. The Ferrari 312 PB has also been made available by Sloter in this format.
Pricing is $79.00 which makes it more expensive than Slot.it but the running gear is
well worth the difference to the standard car and white versions are very
popular to the tinkerer’s amongst us.

Sloter are still relatively young and the cars are made in Europe which also
bumps up production costs. A good alternative to the usual brands and some
quality parts to boot

Car courtesy of Armchair Racer

Although a number of slot car reviews are somewhat subjective, the majority are fairly
bias. They usually hark on about the mods or tuning elements that usually will make a RTR
box stock car run better in the handling department. These include the addition of weight
and the mandatory rule of truing your tires. For most serious and hardcore sloters, these
steps are common protocol. Also, most reviews involve comparison lap times utilizing
different tire compounds on the same track surface, be it a commercial, club, shop or
home track.

Again, what might be common protocol for the serious slot racer may be daunting
for the average hobbyist looking to purchase a quality product that is good value
that will perform straight out of the box. For this very reason, I decided to have a look at
a new offering from slot car manufacturing company “Sloter” and its performance
with virtually no mods.

Sloter has presented us with a 1/32 slot car replica of a  Ferrari 312 PB #6 driven
by Tim Schenken & Ronnie Peterson during 1972 at Daytona. Most of you will recall
that Ronnie Peterson also raced at Le Mans during 1970 sporting a 512s Coda
Lunga. This combination of Schenken & Peterson went on to claim podium positions
in race results for:

BUENOS AIRES 1,000-km (Jan. 9, 1972)

DAYTONA 6 HOURS (Feb. 6, 1972)

LE MANS TRIALS (March 18-19, 1972)

BRANDS HATCH 6 HOURS (Apr 16, 1972)

MONZA 1,000-km (Apr 25, 1972)

NÜRBURGRING 1000-km (May 28, 1972)

ÖSTERREICHRING 1000 (June 25, 1972)

WATKINS GLEN 6-HOURS (July 22, 1972)

In that year for endurance racing and world championship for makes with F1 motors,
Ferrari and its 312 PB finished at the top and claimed the title at world ranking
for manufacturers.

The 1:1 car was equipped & powered by F1 engines. The 312PB used the widened
chassis of the 312 F1 car, but was powered by a horizontally opposed 12-cylinder boxer
engine with twin overhead camshafts per bank of cylinders. In 1971 power output was
440bhp at 10,800rpm. Left of the driver in one of the wide sponsons a 120-litre fuel
tank was installed, counterbalancing the weight of the driver and of the right sponson.
At the end of 1971 two 312PB cars took the two first places at the Kyalami 9 hours.
In 1972, after a full year of testing in major races, the 2,991 cc engine capacity was
increased to 460bhp at 10,800rpm. The car was widened, rear fins were added, and
dry weight increased from 632 to 650 kg. Later during the season the cars received
a closed rear tail with complete wing.

THE SLOT CAR:

Now, down to business and up for “scrutineering”.

The car comes in a cardboard box. Yes, I said cardboard box. For collectors who
normally are particular with presentation, sorry to disappoint. However, I would much
prefer to see a company channel their manufacturing cost into quality control for
their cars rather then pure cosmetics for boxes they come in.

 First impression upon seeing the car was WOW! The depth of the red in this car is
stunning and the finish is crisp and clear, while a clear coat seals the tampo markings
nicely, the model I received had no traces of surface irregularities, unsightly mold
lines or running paint. While others will nit and pick on the accuracy of livery
markings, paint jobs or scale issues, they often forget that it’s still just a 1/32 scale
replica of a beautiful race car.

Now, let’s open her up and take a look inside. The body is mounted to the chassis
utilizing 3 screws. 2 at the rear and 1 at the front. With most other brands, the
front screw recess is normally obscured by the guide. Sloter took the trouble of
drilling a small hole through the front guide to allow easy access. Nice touch I thought.

Inside, we see what looks like a standard Mabuchi sidewinder style motor and 2 magnet “pods”.

These cars come without magnets and I assume that they were manufactured to run
tha t way, preferably. For magnet buffs, a Ninco or Fly button magnet will do the job nicely.

Also, a welcomed addition for a very “Fly” like car are the solid front axles rather than
stub axles. Front axle flop and sideways movement was minimal. Attached to the rear
axle is a 35 tooth crown gear and a 12 tooth pinion on the motor. The beautifully detailed
gold wheels wear a tyre compound that seems to have a combination of a rubber and
silicone, although most rubber tyres have small traces of silicone anyway. The rear
tyres were surprisingly round and true but the front ones could do with a bit of sanding. Although I didn’t attempt to true the tyres (as the car was on loan), I’m aware that they
sand quite easily.

A couple of other things. While picking the car up, I noticed the lightness in overall
weight compared to similar classics. To confirm this, I chose a Fly Chevron due to
its similar footprint size and weighed each car separately. While it’s not a
substantial difference, the Chevron came in at 66g and the Ferrari measured 62g.
Perhaps it could be the lightweight chassis, as I’ve read in various other online
forums that these chassis are prone to warping or don’t come out of their molds
properly. However the model I had didn’t portray any of these problems. Remember
that it’s a good idea to remove the motor wires from their eyelets and disconnect
the guide before mounting the car on an inspection block when checking, as rigid
braids can usually cause cars not to sit correctly when not adjusted to conform
to the guide properly. Mine was dead straight, well not perfect, but almost anyway.

Performance:

Well ok, if you were mum or dad, or the “weekend” slot racer, none of the above
would have made any sense. So here is where the real test begins. I have chosen
not to worry about lap times as most tracks are different. While they still do indicate
how quick a car is comparatively on any track with any other make/brand, in my
opinion, the ease in handling still takes precedence when it comes to attaining quick
lap times anyway. For those of you that must or just simply want to know how quick
its is, the Sloter Mabuchi motor measured at a similar RPM rating to a standard
Scalextric or Fly motor. I had the luxury of holding onto to this car and driving
her in (non-magnet) for 2 weeks at various tracks.

The first track it graced with its presence was Emu Park Raceway (One of my
favourites), a wood routed track built and owned by Vince Rothemund. . Track
surface is cold Galvanising undercoat of paint mixed with a second coat of flat
black enamel. Now given that this was a freshly constructed track, there
was barely any rubber down on the track, the car hooked up amazingly
well! It wasn’t necessarily on the pace but it was still predictable to drive
and handled extremely well for a car without weight. At times it would even keep up
with some of the weighted cars. However, the car did seem to deslot occasionally
due to the cambers & undulations in the track. This can be easily fixed by adding
weight for a track with that nature.

The second track it was driven on was its “home”, Armchair Racer, owned by
Jim Berry (Slot Car retailer and the current distributor of this fine product).
Armchair Racer boasts a large plastic 6 lane Ninco layout with an 8 lane Carrera
track on its way. The Ninco surface is a lot more abrasive, and in most cases,
will usually indicate fairly well, if a car is set up efficiently or not. Again, box stock
and without magnet, the car was a real treat to drive with the surface now offering
more grip. The tires were again a major factor in the performance and the manageability
of this car. Drive into the corners too deep and the car will tip instead of sliding
controllably due to the extended grip factor. Again, for competitive racers, added
weight will alleviate this problem.  

The next stop was Colyton Raceway, built and owned by Jim Raciti. This wood
routed Track surface utilizes Ferrador paint. The painted surface on this track is
like a fine grade wet and dry which means very high grip for most tires. One
of the most enjoyable elements of this track is that most cars run like a dream on
this surface, with or without weight. On this track, the Sloter Ferrari was
SMOOTHHHH. However, it was only on the odd occasion that the Sloter Ferrari
encountered small amounts of “chatter” due to the extreme grip levels of the
surface and the overall weight of the car when pushing the car to its limits around
the corners.

Lastly, I had the privilege of testing this little baby on my home Artin track, painted
with a mist coat of grey surface primer. The textured track surface falls somewhere
between a Scalextric Sport and Carrera. Here, I managed to execute controlled
slides and drifts while still having a decent amount grip. I would only assume that
the Sloter would drive just as well, if not handle better on Carrera or Scalextric Sport.

Verdict:

I’d hate to sound cliché, but overall, I honestly have to say that Sloter seem to have
real a winner in their hands. I simply love this car. It’s a real pleasure to drive
and I feel extremely fortunate to be one of a first to have a go at it. The car seems to
adapt and is well suited to most track surfaces box stock. It’s purely speculative,
but it seems to me like Sloter is by-product of some previous disgruntled Fly
employees that have decided to manufacture a similar product with a bit more thought
and TLC compared to the models that always require work even before you put it on
the track. There is a striking resemblance in terms of build, but there is a vast
distinction between tire performances. I sure would like to know what rubber they use
for their tires and will look into that more extensively. Anyhow, it’s great to see
Sloter re-produce such an historical car in miniature. Granted, improvements can be
made in the looks department for every slot car, but for the serious collector,|
its worth including in your stable, and for the competitive racer and tuner, it should
be a force to be reckoned with. For more information, please
contact jim@armchairracer.com.au

During 2006 we will see Carrera release some great looking Hotrods in ready to run sets and slot cars in both 1:32 and 1:24 scale. The photo's below show you some detail
of the these slot cars.


The photo below shows the drop arm guide. See the detail of the disk brake and caliper.

As you will see on the chassis the motor is a sidewinder, it is a removable module
allowing easy motor upgrades. Located to the rear of the sidewinder motor is a
removable bar magnet. Located between the sidewinder motor and the drop arm
guide are 3removable magnets. To the left of the drop arm is a forward/reverse switch.
Please feel welcome to come in and view this model and its fantastic detail .....
however, no drooling please.