Tuesday 30 December 2008

NEWS: Slot.it Jaguar XJR 12


Slot.it Jaguar XJR 12
LeMans 1991 #33


Slot.it will soon be releasing a very impressive livery of their popular Jaguar XJR 12. The number 33 Jaguar raced at Lemans in 1991 finishing an impressive 4th (6 laps behind the winning car) and was driven by Derek Warwick (GB)/John Nielsen (DK)/Andy Wallace (GB). The car's colour is described as 'violet'. Whatever colour it is, it sure works for me especially with those stunning gold front mags.

Sister Jaguar's number 34 and 35 finished 3rd and 2nd respectively which makes you wonder if Slot.it will release these 3 cars as a box set? Sure would be a stunning set but I would think Slot.it will stay true to the "LeMANS WINNERS COLLECTION", only featuring LeMans winning cars.

For more information about the 1991 Le Mans race,


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Saturday 5 April 2008

NEWS: Ninco's April Releases

Ninco's April Releases

I'm really looking forward to seeing the first of these new SC430s in the flesh.


You have to love the blue/orange 'Innovate' livery of the Porsche 997!

For more information on Ninco slot cars, head over to the official Ninco site here:
http://www.ninco.com/



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NEWS: Scalextric Peugeot

C2885 Scalextric Peugeot 307
Henning Solberg

Scalextric have just released the 'Team Expert' liveried Peugeot 307 driven by Henning Solberg in the World Rally Championship. The slot features; four wheel drive, lights front and rear, magnatraction and Scalextric's easyfit braid plate.

I've never been a big fan of the Peugeot 307 rally slot but the orange Team Expert livery does look very good.


For more information on Scalextric slot cars, head over to the official Scalextric site here: http://www.scalextric.com/


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Friday 4 April 2008

NEWS: Racer

RCR41A & RCR41B - Ferrari 330 P3

Some news just in from Marco at Racer, 2 new Ferrari 330 P3's released;

RCR41A - 330 P3 official #21 - Le Mans 24hrs 1966
L.Bandini / J.Guichet

RCR41B - 330 P3 official #20 - Le Mans 24hrs 1966
L.Scarfiotti / M.Parkes

I'm a HUGE fan of the Ferrari 330 and I'm sure you'll agree these two new models from Racer look stunning.





For more information on Racer Slot Cars, head over to their website;

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Wednesday 26 March 2008

REVIEW: Slot.it Audi R8C

SICA12A SLOT.IT AUDI R8C
Review Coming Soon

A full review of Slot.it's new Audi R8C 'Snetterton Roll-out 1999' will be published during the next week. All I can say to those of you debating purchasing one is...GET ONE, it's a fantastic slot!!!


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Sunday 23 March 2008

NEWS: Slot.it Jaguar XJR9

Slot.it Jaguar XJR9 360
1st Daytona 98 (SICA07C)

Now that Slot.it have released the new 'Roll-out Snetterton' 1999 Audi R8C you're probably wondering what Slot.it will be releasing next? Well it's been confirmed, the #60 Jaguar XJR9 is currently in transit and you should see them turning up in your favorite slot store in the next few weeks.

Based on the past 3 Slot.it Jaguar XJR9 releases, I wouldn't be suprised if this slot sells out quickly. Armchair Racer are taking pre release orders on the Daytona winner.


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NEWS: Ninco Lamborghini

NINCO LAMBORGHINI GALLARDO GT3

TopSlots 'n' Trains have just released some photos of Ninco's all new Lamborghini Gallardo in the flatEX livery. The flatEX Lambo competes in the ADAC GT Masters which is run in Germany and the Netherlands. The new slot comes with a Ninco 23.5K NC6 'Crusher' motor.

I have to say the slot looks excellent! The large rear tail and the wheels Ninco have put on the Lambo really give the slot an aggressive look. From the photos, it looks like Ninco have got the proportions spot on. Ninco are without a doubt onto a winner with the Lambo, this is one slot I'll definitely be adding to the collection!

Below is a photo from the flatEX website of some of the other liveries we can expect Ninco to release in the future. The red Lambo looks like a great livery.

If you're after a Lamborghini GT3 wallpaper for your desktop, head over to flatEX: http://www.flatex.de/xist4c/web/Sponsoring_id_701_.htm

You can find out more about the ADAC GT Masters championship here: http://www.gtmasters.org/index.php


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Thursday 20 March 2008

NEWS: Sideways Slots

Racer's Sideways Slot Cars
New Website Released!


Racer has released the official Sideways website here: http://www.racer-emmegi.it/sideways/sideways.html

Content is a little thin at the moment but it's without doubt a website to keep your eye on for developing news from Racer about there all new Sideways plastic slot car range.



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Saturday 15 March 2008

REVIEW: Porsche 935 K3

FLY Porsche 935 K3
24hr Daytona 1980 'Coca Cola'

HISTORY

The Coca-Cola/STYLE AUTO Porsche 935 K3 competed in the GTX class at the 24hr Daytona in 1980. The car was driven by Bob Akin (USA), Roy Woods (USA) and Bobby Rahal (USA) and did not finish due to a engine failure after 156 laps.

The race was won by the LIQUI MOLY/STARCRAFT Porsche 935J driven by Reinhold Jöst (D), Rolf Stommelen (D) and Volkert Merl (D) after 715 laps.

PRESENTATION

The slot comes in Fly's standard crystal display box and is secured to the base via Fly standard plastic screw. I've been very impressed with Fly's release of the Porsche 935 K3 and thought it would be a while before the Apple liveried Porsche 935 would be topped. That was until I saw the Coca-Cola livery in the flesh. The Coca-Cola livery is very striking, especially when being raced around the track. The Coca-Cola livery makes this car an instant collectible and most slot shops are already sold out of this car. If you're after one, get one sooner rather than later.

The Coca-Cola Porsche 935 fits right into the category of slot cars that don't even need to move around the track to make you smile ear-to-ear; this is one awesome looking slot car!

SPECIFICATIONS

  • Motor: Fly standard 18,000 rpm
  • Motor mount: Sidewinder behind rear axle
  • Magnet: Bar magnet located just in front of rear axle
  • Gearing: 11 tooth pinion / 36 tooth crown gears
  • Guide: Standard Fly
  • Tyres: Standard Fly

For more information, head over to the Fly website: http://www.flycarmodel.com/

QUALITY & DETAIL

Fly is famous for its attention to detail, the Porsche 935 is no exception. Fly really have done a top job even by their standards. The first thing I noticed when I picked up this model was the striking gold wheels against the red paint scheme. I'll point out that the gold wheel detail is a decal but this is not an issue in my opinion, these wheels look excellent. Even Racer Slot Car's version of the Porsche 935 comes with decaled inner wheel detail.

Paint finish and decal detail is absolute top shelf! As with all Fly models, the decals have been applied onto of the clear coat. That being said, the red paint scheme is deep and glossy, this is a VERY impressive looking car. On a side note, I also like the 'Toys For Big Boys' decals on this slot too. ;)
The front of the slot is beautifully detailed with numerous body vents, grill detail and a set of spot lights mounted on the bonnet. The side rear vision mirrors have been designed with longevity in mind, the mirrors will be able to take the heaviest of hits.

Side detail is excellent, body vent detail is numerous and my favourite small detail is the door handles which are separately moulded plastic items. Driver, dash and internal detail are excellent! I particularly love the driver's seat-belt which connects behind the rear seat via straps. The internals come with a complete roll cage, gear stick and the mandatory Fly fire extinguisher.

The rear of the slot looks excellent, huge rear wheels and a massive rear tail that give the car a fantastic profile. The rear lights, body venting, gear box and exhaust detail complete the scene. The rear tail is glued in place but I don't think it would stand up to countless hard knocks. This is a bit of an issue as the slot tends to flip over if pushed hard through corners, I'll speak more about this later. There is limited under side chassis detail although I'm of the opinion that some detail under the chassis doesn't add much to the model as you can't see it when the slot is running.

As you can see in the above and below photos, the 935 comes with huge rear rubber that is quite soft and grips well especially by Fly standards. I'm not aware if MJK or any other after market tire manufacture makes rubber for the Porsche 935. I had to true the rear tires heavily to get them flat, the Fly rubber compound is quite difficult to true well as it becomes sticky if trued too hard. I'm thinking some after-market rubber would be a good investment for this slot.

The body comes easily away from the chassis via 3 screws. The front axle is solid metal which is a relief as so many Fly cars come with stub plastic axles. There is a fair degree of vertical travel in the front wheels but there is no possibility of the front wheels rubbing of the front guards.

There is very little lateral movement in the rear axel which is a nice change for a Fly slot car. I would estimate the lateral movement to be less than 1mm so this could be left as is. If you do wish to fix this small issue, use a small brass shim. Remove the chassis from the body and then remove one of the rear wheels, (typically the non-gear side wheel is easier) and insert the shim on the axle, then replace the wheel, (make sure the wheel is tight). Reassemble the slot and check the clearance to the rear guards, you don't want wheel rubbing on the body. Be careful not to over shim as this can cause the rear wheels to rub on the rear guards.

There are a few issues with this chassis that I wasn't too impressed with. Firstly the chassis itself is very thin and has no bracing what-so-ever. This means that the chassis can significantly bend through the centre, the body of the slot car gives the chassis its only real strength. In fact if the body is removed from the chassis the chassis has difficulty running around the track due to the strong magnet bending the chassis towards the track and increasing magnetic down-force greatly.

A greater issue is the amount of rotational movement in the motor which is located behing the rear axel. The motor needs to be hot glues into place to prevent movement under load, this also reduces noise.

PERFORMANCE

As previously discussed, the amount of lateral movement in the rear axel is minimal although if you want your 935 to really run well, you will need to modify the rear axel. Once the rear end has been shimmed you will need to true the rear rubber. The gears on my 935 also didn't mesh very well at first, this resulted in the car not running very smoothly. After around 100 laps the gears really settled in and this problem sorted itself out. It was after addressing the rear axel movement, truing the rear tires and running in the gears that my 935 really started to perform well.

Although the 935 comes with a large Fly bar magnet, it's not stuck to the road and if pushed will slide coming out of corners. Although the 935 is only powered by an 18K standard Fly motor acceleration and braking is very good. Fly have chosen a 36 tooth spur and 11 tooth pinion gear which is the same configuration for most modern Fly slots. I'm a fan of the gear ratio and it accounts for the crisp acceleration and good breaking.

As far as slots go, the Porsche 935's profile is a little top heavy. This means that the 935 has the tendency to flip onto its roof if pushed too hard through a corner. A well documented simple fix with all slots is to loosen the body screws a turn or two allowing the body to roll a little on the chassis. To some extent this helped the 935 rolling when pushed too hard. When first run from the box, the 935 was doing laps times around the 7 second mark. After running the slot in and fixing the mentioned issues, those times came down to around the 6.1 second mark. That puts the 935 half a second slower than the Fly March 761, (no shame there) and approximately 0.3 of a second faster than a Flt BMW M3 on my Carrera track. I'm not too sure how well the 935 would run non magnetic.

Fly's release of the Porsche 935 was highly anticipated as it is a very popular 1:1 race car. Releasing the Porsche 935 in a cult livery such as the Coca-Cola livery was a guaranteed to be a very popular choice. This car does come with a few small issues which I always like to think of as 'Fly character'. Once these small issues are addressed, this car becomes a great looking, driver's slot car and you can't ask for more than that. Whether you race or shelf this car, you won't be disappointed for one second.

The Fly Coca-Cola Porsche 935 goes straight into 'Manic's collectible slotcars' list.

Manic Score Breakdown
  • Sex Appeal: 6th Gear
  • Collectibility: 6th Gear
  • Build Quality: 5th Gear
  • Attention to Detail: 6th Gear
  • 'RTR' Performance: 4th Gear

Overall Manic Score: 5.4 Gears

You can find some wallpaper images in the ManicSlot's wallpaper page here: http://manicslots.blogspot.com/2007/11/manicslots-wallpapers.html

You can read about the history of the Porsche 934 and 935 here: http://962.com/history/935/index.htm

You can read more about the 1980 running of the Daytona 24hr race here: http://www.racingsportscars.com/photo/Daytona-1980-02-03-photo.html



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