This offseason is very weird

 Every year, from May until about September, I've given myself an off-season. I break down the track, put the cars away and let the rest of the room take over. This time of year is way too busy outside for doing pretty much any racing at home. And I live alone! I should be able to just set up a track and leave it up. 

Well, it's not that easy, to be honest. I can't leave the track up as it takes up too much floor space, even if at a smaller footprint. I know why. It's because of the way the rest of the room is set up. Everything is on the long walls, so the floor is narrow. I know what I need to do to fix it, but I'm going to wait. 

The reason I'm doing that is because I will likely be moving before the year is up or not long after the New Year. We'll see. So I don't want to get too into rebuilding my living room in order to better setup a track that I'm not going to race on until Winter. 

What's weird about this offseason is that I have bought a lot of cars lately, and many of them have yet to see any significant track time. Not because I don't want to... I very much do, but I just don't have the time right now. 

I've gotten an assortment of cars from NSR, Slot.it, Thunderslot and RevoSlot in the last month or so. I could probably go all the way back to the Bosch 917/10k in May, which covers 9 cars. They all need track time, tuning and breaking in. 

The cars come from all over the place. There are some cars I can expect to perform a particular way, and there are others that I have absolutely no idea what's going to happen. The Ferrari from Slot.it has a new guide flag system. which looks like an improvement. It's also very nicely made. 

I'm very curious how the RevoSlot cars are going to run. The most striking thing about them is the size: they are smaller than any other slot car that I own. They have the same wheelbase as the Alfa Romeo 33/3, but much narrower in the overall width. I'm sure these cars are likely to scale, so let me just say that I think they are going to be little rockets on the race track. The thing about the Revoslot car is that, once it's been tuned, it is a dang fast race car. And to be this small and nimble? Sure, there might be a little top and tail weight, but we're talking about an aluminum chassis here. Get it locked down and you can throw that car around every turn. 

My daughter wants to race this weekend, so I'm going to try and clear some space so we can do that. That'll happen Sunday, so I'll have most of the weekend to clean and clear. I might even get a chance to set up some of the new cars before Sunday. That'd be nice. My daughter is going to want to drive every single car.

New Cars: Revoslot Alfa Guilia GTA - Autohaus Brugger Laguna Seca '71 and Bobcor '72

 I couldn't resist adding these:

While not in the area of LMP or Targa Prototypes, these low-slung beauties were solid runners back then in the Trans Am series. The make absolutely gorgeous slot cars. Add to that Revoslot's fantastic design and quality and you've got yourself a winner. 

Real quick; these two cars are THE SMALLEST cars I own. Smaller than the Alfa Romeo 33/3, the Elva, the 917K or anything else I have. And I'm talking by a pretty considerable margin in some cases. They're also the first Anglewinders I own. 

I have to say that Revoslot have the best packaging and product representation of all the brands. They're in a thick cardstock box on a cardboard plinth with a plastic cover. Included are a magnet and an extra [smaller] guide flag. Also included is a small, full-color mini tech sheet that lists ALL of the information on the car.  Replacement parts with model numbers, optional replacement parts and car specific parts. A perfect reference to have if you ever need to replace something on the car. All companies should do this. 

One of the few models I have in this color that isn't a Sunoco Special.

All Aluminum chassis with brass components, solid axles and a nicely capable motor make these quick, solid race cars. They handle differently than your standard plastic slot car, but once you get the hang of them you can let loose. At first I didn't think they could compete against the other brands on home track. Now I'm not so sure about that. I've had both the Ferrari 333 and the Porsche GT2 finish very well in big races. I think it just really depends on track layout more than most things. 

I find the approach to tuning Revoslot cars is more about getting it set just right by its standards, and not trying to make it do what you want it to do. Focusing on eliminating vibrations, smooth running, and quiet performance. A tuning window opens once you get the car in the ballpark.

Also, with what's going on in slot cars these days, you can't really call it a "pod" anymore, can you? It's looking more and more like a 2-piece chassis. [note: also note that anglewinder motor in the flesh]

So yeah, some new things here. A few more Revoslot cars, which I've been meaning to buy for awhile now. My first anglewinder motors, that's kinda fun. And a car that is actually the smallest car in the field. Built of aluminum, it might yet be one of the lightest cars. I'll have to weigh some and compare. Also a couple of cars that take me a little bit away from the standard Classics while still leaving me technically there.  

Sedan racing is going to be fun. I'm going to have to see what else is near these. I've always felt that Revoslot cars will run best against other Revoslot cars, but something tells me these little guys are going to surprise everyone.

New Car: NSR Porsche 908/3 Escuderia Tibidabo Le Mans ''74

 The first birthday car this year comes in the form of an NSR Porsche 908:

Say it....Escuderia Tibidabo.

I'm going to go ahead and tell you how good this car is before I even race it. That is how much trust I have in NSR that they've got another screamer on their hands. As anybody who has read anything on here would know, I think that the NSR 908 is one of the best high performance slot cars you can buy. Not just for the build quality, which is always top-notch, but the shape and design of the actual 1:1 car and how, as it translates into a slot car, becomes dominant due to its short nose and tail, low slung tub body and noticeable lack of extra crap attached to slow it down. 

This is, I think, my 5th Porsche 908. I'm going to do a post breaking down each of the cars, not only to show the differences, but to also show just how similar they are. 

21.5k Shark motor, very tunable pod and ingredients, and lightning fast and smooth right out of the box.

 

Another car guaranteed to stand out on the racetrack. 

As far as the livery goes, I like it, but it's not my favorite. It's fun and a little bit chaotic. From the black trim that appears and disappears at random around the white sideways stripe, making the car's number look like "1311" to the "lights", it's got a more thrown-together-for-race-day look to it. Sponsored, yet no major sponsor. Cool. 

the way most of the other cars on my track will see this car

New Car: Slot.it Ferrari 512M Le Mans '71

 Sometimes a car comes out that you absolutely have to have....

The last Slot.it cars I bought were the two Chaparrals. I had gotten to a point that I had purchased everything from Slot.it's Classics collection that I wanted, and the next move was to look at other brands. While there was never a threat that I wouldn't go back, there didn't seem to be much happening to keep me looking around. 

Now this car steps up. I couldn't believe it when I saw it. Incredible detail, very nicely done, seems almost better made than the previous cars, if that's possible. 

Classic lines need more Ferrari race cars. I know there's that thing about Ferrari licensing being so expensive/impossible, but as this car shows, it's totally possible to release a car anyway, license or not. It hurts no one, and slot car fans benefit. This should be a popular seller for Slot.it, and I expect to be seeing this car everywhere. 

I'm curious to see just where this guy is going to end up in the results on my races. Traditionally, my Slot.it cars have all required a little bit extra in order to get up to the speed and performance levels of an NSR or Thunderslot car. I'm going to start it on its own with minimal tinkering and see the results. I suspect I might have to do a few things, maybe change tires or maybe add weight. Not sure yet, so it'll be a work in progress for awhile. If it comes out of the box fast, then that's great. Not saying this car is going to be slow...I really don't know that yet. 

I know one thing. This car is a BEAUTY.

New Car: Thunderslot Lola T70 John Surtees Can-Am Riverside '66

 Here comes another beauty:

Red car alert! Thunderslot Lola T70 Surtees. 

If you were to look at the list of cars on the right side of this page, you can see trends based on when I purchased cars. I tend to go in batches, although I have been known to pick up the occasional oddball. But if you look on the right, you'll notice a whole bunch of Thunderslot cars all grouped together. They represent pretty much all of the Thunderslot cars I wanted, even though there are 4 or so more left that I haven't purchased yet. Lately I've been on an NSR kick, only because they have more cars that I want. 

When you think about it, for a guy who worked for a popular and successful slot car company to leave and start his own company and put out cars based on what he thinks would work....and for it to be successful? Absolutely. 

My second Thunderslot car was the T70 #21. That car is so much fun to race, and seeing this one had my mouse finger clicking 'buy' before I even knew what was happening. I've said it a billion times already...Thunderslot cars are great...I don't really know what else to add that hasn't been said.

The Lola T70 is a great racing package, and I'd say it's something in the "thin and sleek" category. They run a lot like the Matra does, which is always a bonus. What I mean by that is, while long, it handles like a shorter car, has impressive response and still feels like it is built for going fast down the straights. It's a very nicely balanced race car, and even feels better than other cars that tend to be thought of as balanced. 

pointy pointy

Different cars handle in different ways, especially when they don't have their magnets anymore. And some cars can handle completely, radically different from another. Depending on your taste, you're going to find the kind of car you like to drive. 

How can you tell if a car is a good race car? Well, that's the trick, isn't it? With a car like the Lola T70, the medium nose / short tail body shape allows the car to handle well, as there isn't much weight in the back end. It can pull out of trouble faster and straighten out when it counts. 

This might be the prettiest of the T70s, maybe even prettier than the Sunoco Special. Will have to wait and see how they grow on me. I absolutely love Thunderslot cars. 

New Car: Thunderslot Lola T70 Mark Donohue Nassau Trophy Race '66

 I got this in the mail the other day. 

Aside from being a totally sweet slot car and being a Thunderslot, this is going to fit very nicely onto Team Sunoco. I really like the Pepsi bottle cap.

I was starting to worry a little about Thunderslot, as I hadn't seen a release out of them in awhile, and was pleasantly surprised when two Lola 70 race cars showed up. I already have one that I absolutely love, so it was easy to pick up both of these cars. Yes, they're the same make, and even the same number, but they are different enough for me. 

Lola T70 Mark Donohue Nassau Trophy Race '66

Open top race cars are a lot of fun, and these do not disappoint. They are great in every way, from the awesome paint and decal work to the brute muscle under the hood. Give it a lube/oil/tire job and that's all you need to worry about. Grip is fantastic, speed inevitable, acceleration zesty. Thunderslots have this crazy extra push that you can do with the cars. Just when you think you are at its limit, you can squeeze even more out. It happens with every car I have, and I have eight now. Every one of them is a first place contender. Not a dud in the bunch. 

Is a Thunderslot car too much for your home track? No, not at all. While fast and agile, it still consists of parts that are comparable to other brands. It's got a similar power train to a Carrera or Scalextric,  but made much much better. And yes, while expensive, the worst part isn't the price of the car; it's the fact that you'll want all of them and will give an arm and a leg to get them. I'm skipping meals to save for these cars. 

Now that I have started putting together race teams by sponsor, this car will fit right in on Team Sunoco. It's going to make a lethal combination with the other Thunderslot and an NSR 908. Crazy fast team. 

The painted-over headlights are a great touch. The more I see the electric purple Sunoco livery, the more I like it.

I didn't even hesitate when I saw this car. I had to have it. I was looking at another couple of cars, but wasn't very inspired by them. When this and the Surtees cars showed up, I snatched them up. 

This car, like all Thunderslot cars, is an automatic contender. It's a superior runner right out of the box, and can only get faster from there. There's really nothing needed to modify a Thunderslot car to get it competitive. It simply is right away. Well balanced, great parts, top-notch design, not a thing out of place. 

The chassis is light, flexible and strong, producing a smooth running race car. The back axle is slightly larger than those found in other brands, so you'll need to be aware of that when doing things like replacing rear wheels, buying gears, stuff like that. If you own a tire truer, you'll need a few parts to fit them properly. 

It's going to be a bit before I'll be able to get this on the track. In the past, this would be the off-season, since there is way too much to do away from home these days, so I'm not around so much to dedicate time to building a track. Nice thing is that when I finally get around to setting one up, I'll have new cars to race on it. I don't think this will be the last one.

Tuneup Day - All the new cars

 A rainy Sunday means being stuck at home, which means setting up the track and finally getting a chance to run some of these new cars. They're all through the initial lube/oil tuneup and ready for some fine tweaking. That gives me eight cars to work on, all of which have been purchased since April 2022. 

• F1 #5
• F1 #6
• Gulf #9
• Gulf #10
• Bosch #2
• Rothmans #95
• L/M #6
• L/M #7

__________

First off, the Bosch 917/10 #2

The pic clearly shows the car to be a little light in the nose.

The Bosch car has this problem that crops up sometimes, which is a light front end. Sometimes it's a matter of a few adjustments, allowing for the wheels to touch the track and maybe a slight loosening of the pod to help relax the chassis. 

The car usually holds pretty well through the turns, but when it comes off it goes straight, showing that the guide flag isn't staying in the slot. 

I try to set up my cars the same way when I first get them, which is to say that I usually will set screws to finger-tight, which is my reference to when you just start to feel resistance in turning the screw. Not lock-tight, which I rarely set my screws anyway, but less firm. Anyhow, this gives me a good starting point and usually sets the car up to medium by default. 

NSR likes to give you lots of room to make adjustments, so there's always plenty of throw on screws. So even when you tighten down, you're never going to really make anything lock-tight. There will still be a little wiggle room. This is kinda nice, as it's forgiving to those who might be prone to set-it-and-forget-it tuning. 

So what I did here was to turn each screw on the pod and body 1/4 turn tighter, putting it at my medium-tight setting. I run other NSR cars in this setting; all the 917 Porsches and the Tergal 908. It seems to be either medium-tight or medium-loose for these cars. They like it one way or another. 

The Bosch car has been through a complete tuneup, lube/oil/tires and 1000 lap break-in.

__________

The Rothmans 908 #95

Runs great, right out of the box.

I love it when I get cars like this. There's no weirdness, no awkward silence after that first crash, wondering if maybe you bought a dud. It's all good. Car handles well, is in control, exhibits standard behaviors found in most well-built slot cars, and is overall a very nice machine. 

Usually when I get a car in this good of shape right out of the box, I'll still give it the full tuning treatment, but I'm not going to get experimental just yet. I'm going to go with how it is now, and allow it to hit it's peak before I start messing with it. Kinda like the Gulf 908. Both run great, require minimal work, and are quickly gaining a reputation around this garage as fast race cars. 

This car has gone through initial tuneup, lube/oil/tires and 1000 lap break-in.

__________

Gulf Team #9 and #10

I still like the #10 better.

My plan has always been to take any cars that might be on a team and treat them separately. I've always had that attitude, and I don't believe you can do a blanket tuning to a group of cars based on how that tuning might work on one car. Thankfully, these two cars came out of the box differently enough so that they didn't even start on the same footing. The #10 has been a breeze, and the #9 has been a bit finicky in the setup. It seems to like the medium-tight as well, while the #10 prefers a medium so far. 

The #9 was definitely dragging around the track at first, but the tightening improved things. It drives more like the #19 now, meaning nice and smooth. It's not as fast as it could be, yet. I think I'm going to have to do more tweaking before it's at that point. 

These cars have gone through initial tuneup, lube/oil/tires and 1000 lap break-in.

__________

The L/M Team #6 and #7

Two cars, two garage treatments.

It doesn't take much to feel the difference between these two cars. The #7 drives great on it's own, and feels already like a contender. #6 is a little on the touchy side, but I suspect it'll come around. They've both gotten a full tuneup and are waiting for their 1000 lap break-in sessions to start. 

It's a bit more of the same for the #6. Mostly this type of tweaking can be done once and it should handle 95% of the issues. I suspect that'll be like that here as well. 

The #7 is going to be left alone in Medium mode, where he'll be allowed to prove itself as-is. Once the #6 improves and posts better times than the #7, I'll start improvements on that car. 

These cars have gone through initial tuneup, lube/oil/tires and 1000 lap break-in.

__________

The F1 cars

For recreational purposes only

So, there's no way for these cars to go up against the Classics. The F1 cars are way too fast. And since I only have two, and that they pretty much need magnets to run properly, they'll likely be more used as curiosities on my track. They're not going to compete, except against each other, unless I buy more of them. Not sure about that. I pretty much got these because they are Canon cars, and I'm finding myself to be more and more a fan of my Canon stuff every day. That's what all these pictures are shot with. Fanboy stuff, I know.

So as far as tuneups go, they got the usual treatment, except I didn't do tires. Tweaking the pod seems to make the biggest difference in performance, so that's what I'm looking to do with these cars. Otherwise they'll just be for fun and a good set of really fast race cars.

These cars have gone through initial tuneup, lube/oil/tires and 1000 lap break-in.