Slot Car News - Cars of the Year

PeteN95 goes first:
My choice for slot car of the year is the Spirit Peugeot series, both the touring and silhouette versions. While I love a beautiful model, I am basically a “go fast guy”. So the reasons for choosing this car are performance oriented. First, it is the fastest stock out of box car I have ever bought, non magnet. Admittedly, the high magnetic down force off the Spirit motor helps on my plastic track, there are several other reasons why this car is so good. The very powerful long can motor is mounted in the angle winder configuration, which is the best balanced of all layouts when not using added weight. The car also comes with very good tires, which surprised me a bit, because previous Spirit cars have had very poor tires, at least on my track. The tires on the Peugeots, while fairly hard, grip tenaciously on my Scalextric Sport layout, about like some of the best silicone aftermarket tires. The cars are also pretty light with moderately detailed, flat pan interiors.



Second, and the primary reason these cars are so quick, is the completely adjustable front and rear axle setup. The front axle is controlled by 4 set screws like the ones on Alloy gears or wheels, 2 above, 2 below. You can set the exact height and exact amount of play you want, if any, in both directions. In the back there is a very adjustable, but simple sprung motor pod with only 3 screws attaching it. The 2 screws at the rear set spring preload, without affecting ride height like the Fly racing Evo 3 pod. You can put spacers inside the springs to limit travel or use different rate springs. At the front is a pivot screw which sets the amount of twisting movement of the rear axle and pod, sort of like an adjustable sway bar. With these many adjustments, you can set this car to any track or any drivers preferences. I can’t wait to see the new Spirit Courage, it looks to have possibly an even better chassis setup!?!

Frank and Mike agree:


We think that the AFX cars are not only a great Slot Car but are changing the HO slot world. This is one of the biggest shifts to happen, bringing the HO cars from a toyish look to a real collector class. The new GT40s by Racemasters are by far the most realistic and detailed HO scale body ever done.

Frank also likes the 1/32 Carrera Flying Lizard Porsche 911 RSR, best out of the box, it would also win in the looks dept. Also Carrera should be recognized for their drop out pod system.


Terry Noe's choice:
My choice for 2007 car of the year would be the 1/24th scale BRM* Porsche 962C, Kenwood (white) #10. BRM came through in a big way for slot car enthusaists when it released six 962C's in 2007. My personal favorite is the #10 Kenwood car. The attention to detail and performance is simply amazing. I had the opportunity to race each of the six 962C's available at Chicagoland Raceway and due to the 1/24 size, the cars are so life like when they race its just a thrill to race them.


Robert Livingston's pick:My Car of the Year is the Slot.It McLaren F1 GTR.
This car has an accurately rendered body, and is a fine racer out of
the box. I was impressed how our test car showed high cornering
speed, and nearly perfect balance, rivaling the better cars prepared
for the limited-modification Slot.It Shoot Out proxy race. The
improved wide-clearance holes for the pod screws really make a
difference. This car is a benchmark for box-stock performance, and is
priced low in comparison to other race-ready slot cars.
Rob Livingston

And my pick:
The SCX Pro Audi...I've been thinking about this for some time now. There were two cars this year that impressed me above and beyond the others. The Slot It McLaren is a fantastic car, it's great on plastic and it's a world beater on wood tracks...but then we'd expect that from Slot It wouldn't we? But we thought maybe we had SCX all figured out didn't we? RTR cars...plastic wheels, press on crown gear, you know...the usual. But that isn't what they gave us this year, they gave us a car with set screw parts, in other words they went out of a limb. They gave us a car, that in our recent testing after being tuned slightly, the SCX Pro Audi is AS FAST as a stock Slot It car WITH the standard Pro Speed motor!
Dave Kennedy
Publisher, Slot Car News

*BRM Distributed in the US by Scaleracing LLC.

AutoArt December & January releases

80706 1/18 ASTON MARTIN DBR9 LEMANS GT1 CLASS WINNER 2007 D.BRABHAM/R.RYDELL/D.TURNER #009
80647 1/18 BMW 320Si WTCC 2006 TEAM GERMANY #42 (J.MULLER)
80648 1/18 BMW 320Si WTCC 2006 TEAM GERMANY #43 (D.MULLER)
73053 1/18 FORD SHELBY COBRA GT500 PRODUCTION CAR (RED W/ WHITE STRIPES)(LIMITED EDITION OF 6000PCS WORLDWIDE)
73054 1/18 FORD SHELBY COBRA GT500 PRODUCTION CAR (BLACK W/ WHITE STRIPES)(LIMITED EDITION OF 6000PCS WORLDWIDE)
80497 1/18 HONDA NSX JGTC 2004 RAYBRING #100
80498 1/18 HONDA NSX JGTC 2004 TAKATA DOME #18
80499 1/18 HONDA NSX JGTC 2004 EPSON #32
75361 1/18 LOTUS EXIGE (SILVER)
75362 1/18 LOTUS EXIGE (ORANGE)
75363 1/18 LOTUS EXIGE (BLACK)
80783 1/18 PORSCHE 997 GT3 CUP PLAIN BODY VERSION (WHITE)
80784 1/18 PORSCHE 911(997) GT3 CUP 2007"PENTHOUSE" M.BRUCKL #24
80785 1/18 PORSCHE 997 GT3 CUP 2007 TEAM JEBSEN D.O'YOUNG #55 (LIMITED EDITION OF 2000PCS WORLDWIDE)
80717 1/18 TRD FJ CRUISER 2007

59001 1/43 KOENIGSEGG CCX (ORANGE)
59002 1/43 KOENIGSEGG CCX (BLACK)
59003 1/43 KOENIGSEGG CCX(SILVER)

80501 1/18 ASTON MARTIN DB9R 24 HRS LEMANS 2005 PLAIN BODY VERSION (SILVER)
80503 1/18 ASTON MARTIN DB9R 24 HRS LEMANS 2005 PLAIN BODY VERSION (GREEN)

Estimated product availability - Jan 2008


80608 1/18 ASTON MARTIN DBR9 "RED BULL" WINNER OF MUGELLO 2006 #33
80609 1/18 ASTON MARTIN DBR9 "RED BULL" SPA 2006 #33
80645 1/18 BMW M3 GTR3 INTERLAGOS 2005 RED BULL #11
80646 1/18 BMW 320Si WTCC 2006 PLAIN BODY VERSION (WHITE)
73072 1/18 FORD SHELBY GR-1 CONCEPT(SILVER METALLIC/TUNGSTEN GREY METALLIC STRIPES)
73073 1/18 FORD SHELBY GR-1 CONCEPT(GUARDSMAN BLUE/WHITE STIPRES)
72745 1/18 MAD MAX THE ROAD WARRIOR INTERCEPTOR
80576 1/18 NISSAN FAIRLADY Z SUPER GT 2005 XANAVI NISMO #1 (ROUND 1 SUZUKA)
80579 1/18 NISSAN FAIRLADY Z SUPER GT 2005 CALSONIC IMPUL Z #12 (ROUND 1 SUZUKA)
80580 1/18 NISSAN FAIRLADY Z SUPER GT 2005 TEST CAR
80789 1/18 PORSCHE 997 GT3 CUP PLAIN BODY VERSION (BLACK)

2008 Slotdiner Calendar

Click on the photo above to get to Felix's site, then go to the downloads section to find the 2008 Calendar. Last year the photos were amazing, this year is worth downloading too!

DaveK

Scalextric 2008 releases

Tons of releases here to see of the Scalextric 2008 releases.

A sort of suprising development is that there are no less than 4 Porsche 911(997)'s and ALL of them so far are the low detail, high impact line...sort of disappointing I'd say.

Another thing that does seem to be appearing to be a reality is that none of the Porsche 997's that are coming out (meaning the releases from both Ninco and Scalextric) are from the Grand Am Series (which can be seen on TV in the US), all are from the Porsche Super Cup Series, which is a racing series that can't even be seen on TV in the US at all as far as I know. And now Scalextric seems to have made a duplicate livery of the one that Ninco already does (see inset photo of the Forum Gelb 997).

C2899 PORSCHE 997 GT3 RS
Feature: Digital ready - allows easy fit of DIGITAL PLUG to transform in to a Digital car in less than 60 seconds. Magnatraction and Easyfit braid plate. SUPER RESISTANT BODY.

C2900 PORSCHE 997 GT3 RS
Feature: Digital ready - allows easy fit of DIGITAL PLUG to transform in to a Digital car in less than 60 seconds. Magnatraction and Easyfit braid plate. SUPER RESISTANT BODY.


Another eyebrow raising issue is this next puzzling product...

C2906 Porsche RS Spyder
Penske Racing
R. Briscoe
Feature: Digital ready - allows easy fit of DIGITAL PLUG to transform in to a Digital car in less than 60 seconds. Lights front and rear. Magnatraction and Easyfit braid plate.

...exactly which car is this?

From the ALMS website:
Ryan Briscoe
Birthdate:September 24, 1981
Birthplace:Sydney, AU
Residence:Cornelius, NC US
Team(Class):PENSKE MOTORSPORTS,Porsche RS Spyder(LMP2)
2007: At Sebring, made Series debut with Penske Motorsports in Porsche RS Spyder with fellow factory pilots Sascha Maassen/Emmanuel Collard.
2006: Did not compete in Series.
Ryan Briscoe didn't race the car shown in this photo (which was the only year that the car shown was raced)! That leaves a retool for Scalex, or a fantasy livery for us, odd for a company that gets it right so often.

But will Scalextric score a hit with? Well really there are tons of really great things to see like the "BBC Top Gear ‘Powerlaps’-The new BBC Top Gear Scalextric range is launched in 2008, beginning with the arrival of Powerlaps at the start of next year. Have you got what it takes to step into the shoes of the ‘Stig’ and handle the Gambon Corner?"
It's a great idea for Scalextric partner with this amazing TV show (which is on every Monday night on BBC America is should be required watching for any car guy with digital cable.

And this quartet of cars should be a hit...

Road, Rally, Touring and Nascar.

C2892 CHEVROLET IMPALA
NASCAR CAR OF TOMORROW
No.25 NATIONAL GUARD/GMAC
Features: Digital ready car accepts DIGITAL PLUG for quick conversion to Digital system.
Magnatraction, easyfit braid plate.

C2893 CHEVROLET IMPALA
NASCAR CAR OF TOMORROW
No.24 DUPONT
Features: Digital ready car accepts DIGITAL PLUG for quick conversion to Digital system.
Magnatraction, easyfit braid plate.

C2894 CHEVROLET IMPALA
NASCAR CAR OF TOMORROW
No.48 LOWES
Features: Digital ready car accepts DIGITAL PLUG for quick conversion to Digital system.
Magnatraction, easyfit braid plate.

C2895 CHEVROLET IMPALA
NASCAR CAR OF TOMORROW
No.88 AMP
Features: Digital ready car accepts DIGITAL PLUG for quick conversion to Digital system.
Magnatraction, easyfit braid plate.

BTW, I just wanted to mention all photos here have been used from the Scalextric.com site.

Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT in action

The Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT is based on the Lp640 and is powered by a 6.0 liter V12 engine that delivers 590 hp and 710 Nm of torque.

BMW M3 on SEVAS R55

BMW M3 on SEVAS R55, originally uploaded by GREATONE!.

Porsche GT3

Bad Ass Porsche GT3, originally uploaded by dbludvl.

Sloter Zytek racing kit - review

Sloter comes through again with a Racing edition kit, this time it's the Zytek. It does seem a great choice that Sloter has made to release racing versions of the RTR cars they sell. Many racers rebuild cars anyway so why not release them in kit form? It's a good idea and Sloter is in good company these days with kits.
Here you can see the parts laid out. The wing, headlight bezels, even headlight lenses are separate pieces for you to glue to the car.

The driver is 3 pieces, the vacuum-formed tray (which is the upper body of the driver), the drivers head, and the visor for the helmet. The rear view mirror has a small chrome insert, once you slip it into the mirror housing the has a really nice look to it.

If you're a fan of SCX's Pro parts line you will recognize SCX's wheels and blue 26-tooth crown gear which Sloter has used on this car. The larger 17mm wheels are on the back and smaller 16mm wheels on the front. Why there aren't large diameter wheels all the way around I don't know. This is an LMP car after all, and there should be huge wheels the whole way around. But these will do just fine for now.
Here you can see the Pink-Kar Competi 3 motor. It's a high torque, long can motor. 21,500 rpm with a whopping 326 gcm of torque...tons of power! With all that power it would be great to see a very rigid pod holding this motor in the chassis. Ideally the motor would be held in place by screws in the holes provided at the gear-end of the chassis. There aren't any screws provided, in future kits it would be great to see these included.

The pod is held in the chassis by 4 screws. Unfortunately the screws are much too short and when you loosen them and because of this you can't get as much movement in the motor pod as you should be able to.
Also the heads of the screws fill the holes in the chassis, even if they were loosened they would only be able to move up and down and not side-to-side. There should be a bit more room around the screw heads to allow some lateral motion in the pod.

In the final photo you can see the front of the chassis. If you look under the axle you can see the guide wires do touch the axle. This will slow down the rotation of the axle. During prep of this car for racing that would need to be fixed.
I did try to get some road testing done on this car. A few laps were done on the 61-foot East New York routed wood track, but they provided little information worth writing about. The tires didn't stick terribly well on the track that night. I did get a bit of hopping which I think is due to the looseness of the motor. It's clear this car has a tremendous potential. It was hard to get close to that potential during a few laps that night.

Having pointed out a number of things I'd like to see changed on this car does that mean it's got problems? Well, not really. You see I judge cars on sort of a sliding scale of expectation. Your average slot car, which is supposed to be a magnet racer and is aimed at the largest audience of slotters, this car is held to a different standard than this Sloter Zytek racing kit. Why? Well this car not only costs more than your average car, it's aimed at racers. They expect more from a car, and are willing to pay it. Also as a kit (which must be assembled) you can't reasonably expect it to be a car that will work without some tuning done to it.

This car provides an excellent basis for a really serious car.

Dave Kennedy
Publisher, Slot Car News

What will 2008 bring for Audi?

Here’s a very nice list made by Autobild of all the new models that Audi will launch in 2008. Just a few of them: Audi A4 Avant, RS6 Sedan, A3, TTS and the list keeps going


Audi A5 Convertible




Audi A4 Avant



Audi Q5



Audi RS6 Sedan

Zippo's hot rod - inside the Carrera Club car

A slotbrother from Germany who goes by the name Zippo, and runs the site Schlitzrenner.de, had the good fortune to win a contest to design the livery of the new Carrera Club car for 2007.
The first article on his site about this car, and here's a link to the second article. The second article has detail shots of the inside of the slot car. I think the process of developing a new slot car is facinating, I'm glad Zippo has allowed us a look at how this is done.

DaveK

Audi R8 Tuning

Audi R8, originally uploaded by carsytuning2.

going home

going home, originally uploaded by 55scraple.

DiMora Natalia SLS 2

The world's most expensive production automobile.
Von Stach Products announced today that its "HeatFlexx" heated frameless windshield wiper will be standard equipment on the Natalia SLS 2 sport luxury sedan, the world's most expensive production automobile. The electrically-heated "HeatFlexx" windshield wiper quickly melts ice and snow. The frameless design of the all-season blade provides continuous even pressure to the windshield, reducing streaks while reducing wind lift at speeds up to 150 MPH. The wiper was introduced at the SEMA and AAPEX auto shows in Las Vegas and is considered by many to be one of the most novel inventions in the automotive industry this year.

"Ice and snow have been a problem for drivers since the inception of the automobile," says John Von Stach, inventor of the HeatFlexx wiper. "With our product, drivers will no longer struggle with poor visibility due to poorly functioning wiper blades. We are thrilled to have our wipers installed on the Natalia SLS 2 and to be a technology partner with DiMora Motorcar."

DiMora Motorcar Founder and CEO Alfred J. DiMora noted that the vehicle will feature many unique innovations which have never been seen in a production automobile. "The HeatFlexx windshield wiper is a unique and outstanding product. We are pleased to be the first OEM to include Heatflexx as standard equipment, with its controls integrated into our dashboard/steering wheel operation." Mr. DiMora stated the goal for the Natalia is to be the most distinctive luxury automobile in transportation history.

The founder, CEO, and driving force behind DiMora Motorcar is Alfred J. DiMora, who produced two of America's finest luxury automobiles, the Clenet (as owner) and the Sceptre (as co-founder). He and the Clenet were inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 1986 for the Centennial Year of the Gas-powered Automobile. He also co-founded Star Bridge Systems, which developed the hypercomputers now used by NASA and other technology leaders. According to DiMora, "The goal for the Natalia is to be completely distinctive from bumper to bumper—the most powerful four-door sport luxury automobile in transportation history. The Natalia will set the standard for 21st Century automotive excellence." DiMora further states, "I have drawn on my 30 years of automotive and computer expertise to design this futuristic vehicle, one that is safe, efficient, luxurious, nimble, and powerful."

As part of the production of this unique automobile, DiMora Motorcar will employ a first-time-ever approach for the auto industry—the world will watch the design, build, and test of the Natalia. Anyone with Internet access will be able to view this remarkable educational material via video-streamed webcams transmitting from the company's facilities. The DMC website will afford people the opportunity to comment on Natalia's design as it progresses and to submit their automotive innovations. DiMora states, "Many of the best ideas are created by individuals in their garages." Among the many ways DMC will entertain the followers of the Natalia's creation, DiMora Motorcar is planning to award prizes to thousands of people in a worldwide treasure hunt that will culminate with one very lucky person winning the grand prize—a $2 million Natalia SLS 2.

About DiMora Motorcar

Based in Palm Springs, California, DiMora Motorcar crafts automobiles designed to exceed expectations for safety, performance, technology, ecology, beauty, comfort, and luxury. It reveals the design, production, and testing of these automobiles via the Internet so that people around the world can participate in and learn from the process. The results will demonstrate America's automotive design and engineering leadership.

Slot Car 201 - tire truing

Truing tires will help smooth out a car and it will help get just a bit more speed out of the box stock car that you have. It's time to true the tires. What you're going to do is get your slot car to the track, get a piece of sand paper at least as coarse as 220 grit. Keep in mind that if you really don't feel like doing this you really don't have to, you can enjoy the slot car as it is. But if you want to begin down that slippery slope to making your cars go just a bit faster than take that first step...but watch out it's hard to turn back once you've started on this trip!

You see an SCX Ferrari 550 here as it comes out of the case. The tires are seated flat on the wheel.
Put the sandpaper on the track. Hold the car on top of the sandpaper. Pull the trigger on the controller and lower the car onto the sandpaper slowly. When the tires first begin to touch the sandpaper you're going to probably going to feel some bumping as the high spots on the tires start to hit the sandpaper. Now you're making the tires rounder or more "true".

As you first start to sand the tires do just a few seconds on the sandpaper to see where (or if) the sandpaper is hitting the high spots. If it looks like the paper is sanding the whole surface area of the tire you've got a pair of very round tires (and wheels to BTW since you will be able to see if they're round as well by doing this). If there are cuts from the sandpaper only here and there on the surface of the tire keep going you need to do more to sand down the tire.Sanding tires is something that you will have to get a feel for. It's hard to explain how long you'll need to sand the tires for. It may sound simplistic to say but, if the car is smoother then you're done. The more you sand the smoother the car will get. Take your time and keep sanding is my advice.

Sanding the tires will do several things really. It will allow you to see if the tires are seated on the wheel. It will allow you do see if the tires are round AND if the wheels are round too BTW.

Round wheels are really hard to come by. Many, many of the press-on plastic wheels that RTR cars come with aren't really all that round (somewhere a Scalextric fan is jumping up and down yelling, "mine are...mine are"...well we've heard enough out of you my friend so take a seat please while the rest of us do a bit of work!).

Tires you can sand...nearly any stock slot car tire can be sanded. Stock tires will pick up a good deal more grip if they're sanded.
-Urethane tires can be easily sanded, like Ortmann tires (which are usually in need of serious sanding due to generally poor molding), and K&D tires (which I don't have too much experience with yet but I just got a few sets and they seem to sand well).
-Silicone tires generally don't sand well, especially Super Tires brand tires, they're nearly impossible to sand, but luckily they're damn round so you shouldn't need to do much to them aside from keeping them clean.

Sanding the tires also will warm them up and clean them as the same time. So just before a race try a bit of sanding to get just a bit of an edge on your competition.

Dave Kennedy
Publisher, Slot Car News

Slot MINIAuto #39 - January 2008

COMUNICADO DE PRENSA

SLOT MINIAUTO 39 – ENERO 2008

En nuestra primera revista del 2008 destacamos en portada el Peugeot 980 HDI. Una prueba en paralelo de los modelos de Scalextric y Carrera. Este número 39 incluye diez pruebas en pista: Opel Manta de Sloter, Hummer H2 de Ninco, Courage C60 de Spirit, Pescarolo Avant Slot, Porsche Carrera GT de AutoArt, Chaparral 2F y Porsche RS Spyder de Superslot y la gama Mercedes de Carrera. Además, este mes se incluye de regalo, la primera entrega del coleccionable del Diccionario Técnico Ilustrado, SLOT A-Z, una obra imprescindible para los aficionados al Slot.

Aprovechamos para desear a todos nuestros lectores y amigos un Feliz Año Nuevo.


PRESS RELEASE

SLOT MINIAUTO 39 – JANUARY 2008

In our first magazine cover in 2008 we highlight the Peugeot 908 HDI. A joint track test of Scx and Carrera Peugeot 908 Le Mans models. This number 39 includes ten track tests: Opel Manta of Sloter, Hummer H2 Ninco, Courage C60 Spirit, Pescarolo Avant Slot, Porsche Carrera GT AutoArt, Scalextric Chaparral 2F and Porsche RS Spyder and the Carrera range of 4 Mercedes. In addition, this month includes, the first delivery of the collectable, SLOT A-Z, Technical Dictionary Illustrated, free, a work indispensable for slot lovers.

We wish all our readers and friends a Happy New Year.

Mercedes GLK spied having Sex and the City

Automotive News front page is showing the new Mercedes GLK without any disguise while it was on the movie set for Sex and the city. Enjoy the clear shot.

2008 Mitsubishi Lancer

Mitsubishi recently revealed the 2008 Lancer sedan, which will be on display at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January. The new-generation Lancer models arrive in Mitsubishi dealerships in early 2007.

The 2008 Lancer is based on a new global platform that also forms the foundation of the new Mitsubishi Outlander SUV. It has a longer wheelbase and wider track, but slightly shorter overall length than the previous model. It weighs 3,109 lbs.

All Lancer models are powered by an all-new 2.0-liter 152 hp aluminum DOHC MIVEC 4-cylinder engine (143 hp PZEV in Calif.) teamed to a 5-speed manual transmission. The new Lancer is the first Mitsubishi in North America to offer an optional continuously variable transmission (CVT).

Ford Mustang Bullit

Ford Mustang Bullit, originally uploaded by jarapet.

Ford Mustang Bullit

Ford Mustang Bullit, originally uploaded by jarapet.