Summer Session and Tune-Up

I just figured out the way I'm going to run my races from now on. I've been mildly stressing out about how I'm going to pull off racing 32 cars, but I think I know how I'll do it. Before, I was racing all the cars on single layouts and that was it. But I think I'm going to do elimination tournaments from now on. It'll basically work like an F1 qualifier, with the group towards the back being eliminated each round. Once it gets down to 8 or so cars, we go to the Final. I'll have to work out the details, but that's something I'd like to do. 

Of course, having an elimination tournament can have unexpected consequences. Say you get a new car that you really love, and it pulls up lame in the first race. Well, then it's going to be sitting and watching. Or the fast car that just has a bad race late in the tournament...that's the breaks. 

It's things like that that add drama to the racing. 

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I set up the track the other day and did some racing with my daughter. She tried all the new cars and decided her favorite was the Ferrari.

I didn't have to do much to the car: oil/lube, a little tires. I loosened the body and pod slightly. I'll call it medium-tight/medium-tight.

The Ferrari seems to be a little light on the front end. It's sitting great, but it's driving off sometimes on the corners. I had this happen to a couple of cars, and it just needs a little weight behind the front axle. The 512M is quiet and fast, and I believe is a contender for best overall. I never thought I would be saying that. Sure, saying it's a beauty is one thing. Saying it might beat all the others is almost crazy talk. 

As I was going through the session, I was tuning and testing the new cars, then turning them over to my daughter. She loved the Ferrari, and throughout the session kept on coming back to it. I went to the Bosch 917/10K next. 

Oil/Lube/Sand. That was it. It needed nothing else.

Either I am getting tremendously lucky, or slot cars have just gotten so good there's almost no way they could go wrong. So much to like going around the track, and I tell you, even though I considered this car to be a bit of an ugly duckling, it's growing into a beautiful swan before my very eyes. Sometimes it drives like the 917k, sometimes like the Matra, sometimes like the Alfa 33/3. That tells me it has created it's own distinct personality while also complimenting its opponents. It drives like many but not like any. 

I predict this car will see the podium often.

I had to move to the next one quickly as my curiosity was burning a hole in the atmosphere. The Alfa Guilia GTA from Revoslot:

This car was the easiest Revoslot car I have set up yet. Very impressed.

The BOBCOR is a sneaky little fella. I mean sure, you can hear him from a mile away, but he's not going to be a theatrical flash artist on the track. This car has a get-it-done attitude and runs a lot faster that it seems to be running. The Revoslot cars need quite a bit of tuning and tweaking to get just right, with the biggest culprit being the other Alfa GTA car:

Revoslot cars have three screws for adjusting the motor. Problem with that is that the motor then needs adjustment. 

I might have to look into the other Alfa to see how the motor is set up on the chassis. I've tried a few things but it doesn't seem to help much. This car will be a priority for awhile.

The two Lolas from Thunderslot were also in that new group:

The motor got rocked right out of this Thunderslot Lola.

I put the Lola on the track and it started spinning freely almost right away. The motor had shaken right out of the socket. I tightened it down with a motor screw and everything is fine. Runs great, as does the other one. I ran about 15 laps before lube/oil/sanding happened. The car was a little noisy and sounded dry prior to that, as one would when one was running without lubrication. 

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Overall, I'm happy with each car [even the ones that aren't quite set up yet], and remain impressed by the quality of the modern slot car these days. Each car is as much of a pleasure to race as it is to work on. 

I'm excited about the elimination tournament idea and am going to implement it. Curious to see how it works out. 

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.