Since this is the start of a new season, with double the amount of cars from last season, I've decided to take a closer look at how the cars are now, including changes, additions, subtractions...whatever makes each car run better. There's no Balance of Power [BoP] rules here, as the cars are all basically built to compete against each other anyway. So something added to one car may not be a modification added to all cars, or vice-versa.
I'm including my own rating system, which will be a 1-10 [bad-to-good] scale based on a number of factors that will be added. So let's get started;
Matra Simca 670 B LeMans #10
This car fills a niche which lies between the more mid-rangey style of the classic Le Mans cars and the longtail cars of the early 70's. Pretty much exactly where it sits in history is exactly where it runs best as a slot car.
I added a little weight behind the front axle to keep the nose on the ground. The design is such that the body has a very low stance, but a noticeable amount of rear weight distribution.
Pros: easy to drive, fast, quiet.
Cons: light in the nose, model I purchased has required pickup line work.
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| 63.9 grams weights in a bit on the heavier side for one of my cars, mostly due to the small amount of weight I added to the front to keep the nose down. It was coming out at speed through corners and off the back straight. |
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| Overall as a first purchase or collection expansion, it's a good car to have and can be quite surprising. Besides being a sweet looking race car, it is a blast to drive. |
Acceleration: 9
Handling: 9
Maintenance [higher is better]: 6
Curb Appeal: 9
Value [today's price compared to original price]: 7
Overall: 8
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Alfa Romeo 33/3 Targa Florio #2
When I first got this car, I ran it on about 12 feet of track...pretty much a figure-8. It handled it beautifully, ripping around the sharp 1/60 curves, easily making it always competitive. It ended up winning the last season championship, and was dominant through much of it. Now with a larger track, it struggles in places to keep up, and tends to crash more often than before when on short tracks.
One thing about this particular model, which I have read about and can confirm, the chassis on the model is warped. I noticed it on my car before reading that it was a problem with the entire line. This meant that the car was often put on sale, sometimes at ridiculous prices. The chassis can be fixed or replaced, so this car comes in at a steal, which is what gives it such a high Value rating.
Pros: Handles 1/60 curves and short tracks with ease, lightning fast acceleration, light and nimble.
Cons: Outmatched in the large radius curves by the longer cars, crash prone.
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| Snubby body all the way around. Snub-nose, short short short. Also wider than most cars. I trimmed some things due to a bit of rubbing, otherwise haven't done much to it aside from adding some rubber gaskets. |
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| 59.9 grams is the lightest car that I have, which I fully expect from this little hot rod. |
25-Lap Qualifying Time: 2:07.19
Acceleration: 9.5
Handling: 9
Maintenance [higher is better]: 9
Curb Appeal: 9
Value: 9
Overall: 9
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Ford GT40 Shell Le Mans #8
This is the first car I ever wanted. To me, the GT40 is iconic. That's one of the reasons I have three of them. It wasn't without its difficulties, though. It took quite a bit of tweaking to get this car in good shape.
Once it was set up it has been gangbusters. Some cars, for some unexplainable reason, are just fun to drive. This car has seen so many laps and was my go-to car for a year. It's well worked in now and really doesn't need much upkeep aside from the standard tuneup.
This car is also a favorite of mine to photograph. That means a lot to me. Slot car racing to me has always meant partial realism with a healthy dose of imagination. Part of that means finding a car or cars that are nice to look at, regardless of the level of scenery the track might have. Even if you just want to set them on a shelf somewhere [but why??], they at least should look good. And to have the added benefit of it being a fast racer sure helps.
Pros: Great balanced race car, smooth and easy to maintain.
Cons: Can't think of any.
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| The GT40 has quite a bit more nose than either the Porsche, Matra or Alfa. This puts the guide flag more forward from the front axle, which affects handling in a way to make it feel smoother and more forgiving than the other cars. |
25-Lap Qualifying Time: 2:07.02
Acceleration: 8
Handling: 8
Maintenance [higher is better]: 8
Curb Appeal: 9
Value: 9
Overall: 8.5
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Porsche 962K Leyton House #11
The Porsche is part of what I would consider the next series I'm going to be collecting. I probably won't get many, maybe two or three total, but that'll definitely be the next series. The car is a lot of fun, but it's different to drive than the others. It can still compete, but I'm finding more and more that I need to put an asterisk next to its lap times sometimes. It's the oddball of the group; the only inliner. It's the one car I have that requires a special setting on the controller to get the most out of it.
Pros: Once practiced, a wicked fast race car.
Cons: Likes the straights better than the curves.
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| A short nose and super long tail, with sharp inline motor/gear system. |
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| Easily the heaviest car, but it doesn't suffer for it. I think these cars have a good 20 grams of possible weight additions before things start getting weird, so adding a gram or two to this otherwise light car isn't going to matter much. So I added a bit of weight behind the front axle. |
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| I'll bet this car would look sweet with a light kit. |
25-Lap Qualifying Time: 2:05.72
Acceleration: 9
Handling: 8
Maintenance [higher is better]: 8
Curb Appeal: 9
Value: 8
Overall: 8.5
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Ford GTII Le Mans 1966 #5
This car was a surprise pick from my wife. She knew I liked the GT40, so she got to choose from all the models available. I like it, although I don't know if I would have necessarily picked it in my top 3, but it's growing on me. It's a wonderfully smooth and fast car, with virtually no modifications aside from tuning.
Pros: The nicest-running slot car I've gotten fresh out of the box.
Cons: It's gold? Even that doesn't bother me.
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| I like that the left-side hub spinners are chrome where the right ones are black...just like the 1:1 car. |
Acceleration: 8
Handling: 8
Maintenance [higher is better]: 9
Curb Appeal: 8
Value: 7
Overall: 8
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Ford GT40 Jacky Ickx Le Mans #11
You'd think having three of the same basic slot car would be a bit redundant, but I can assure you it isn't. Each of the three Fords has been wildly different from each other in handling and setup. The #8 came missing a considerable amount of pod screws [which I have yet to replace], and had setup struggles for almost the entirety of last season. The #11 came fully equipped, was a smoother ride and set good lap times right away.
This was the original pick my wife made, and was the surprise third car two xmases ago. It got held back in development a bit when I was running urethane tires on the other two cars. This one couldn't keep up with the stock C1 rubber tires, so it didn't run as often.
I love the Gulf livery. It's probably my favorite, and I don't think there's a car I would turn down if it came with one. With that said, this is the "dark" Gulf livery, which is cool and all. But it's a bitch to photograph, isn't as easy to track while racing, and just isn't the classic light blue Gulf livery. That's the one I really like. So that's why the curb appeal is a little lower. I know it's a historic racer, and Jacky Ickx a historic, AWESOME driver, but it's just the dark blue. That's all. Otherwise this is a very fast, very smooth race car.
Pros: Smooth and fast, with rarely any crashing.
Cons: The dark color, even on my light gray track, is sometimes tricky to pick up.
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| Aside from a couple screws missing out of the car on the left, they're pretty identical, which means they should run that way, right....? |
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| hmm....2 grams lighter than the other Fords for no apparent reason. |
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| Pictured with a set of SuperTires and wheels, which I had won in a giveaway. Kinda takes that rear end into another dimension. Too bad the tires are silicone. My mistake. I figured they would be handing out urethanes so I wasn't specific. |
Acceleration: 8
Handling: 8
Maintenance [higher is better]: 9
Curb Appeal: 8
Value: 8
Overall: 8
That should just about do it. The Carreras won't be running. I barely had enough time when I only had three Slot.it cars, I certainly don't have the time with six of them. I'll add the info for the participating cars to the spreadsheet and post it for the upcoming format and race plan.
That should just about do it. The Carreras won't be running. I barely had enough time when I only had three Slot.it cars, I certainly don't have the time with six of them. I'll add the info for the participating cars to the spreadsheet and post it for the upcoming format and race plan.
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