Slot Car News
The Mini suffered the opposite problem of the previous two cars in that it is way overpowered for such a tiny model. This model too has working lights. Scalextric most likely chose the slim can FF050 by reason of packaging considerations. Masive power aside, the wheels on my test car are firmly attached and reasonably round. I had to drive this car with care through the corners but could really wind it out on the straights. This car would benefit from a less powerful motor. Another reasonably powered SCX rally car with working lights. Again, this model was blessed with round wheels and straight axles. The FIAT is another good handling car in the corners that was lacking in top speed. Increasing the pinion tooth count to 10 would help the lap times drop. It seems to me that NINCO used to put the NC1 in just about every car they made. The Clio is no exception. The wheels on this example needed a drop of glue to keep them on their axles. Other than that this car was good to go.
A bit more motor or slightly taller gear might have moved this car up in the standings. Still an easy handling easy to drive car. Fly's model of this ubiquitous rally car is true to the prototype's motor layout in that it is placed behind the rear axle. Out of the box with the traction magnet removed the car is undriveable. Only with the addition of lead up front was this car tamed. Otherwise its nose was happy to bounce right out of the slot under acceleration. Yet another SCX rally car powered by the RX alphabet soup of motors: this time the RX4. The reasonably true wheels on my example were loose on the axle but this problem was easily fixed with a drop of glue. The Stratos is a small car with a short wheelbase but since it was not overpowered it was an easy driver. Another case where less is more - though I would bump up the pinion tooth count by one if I wanted it to go faster.
The nose on this car could use some lowering as well. Fly had done for their rally cars what they had also done for classic LeMans prototypes: offering detailed models in a sidewinder configuration with reasonable FC130 black stripe power. My test car had a spur gear that spun on the axle. The stock wheels were retained. The Lancia 037 is a good looking good handling car that will only get faster with mild tuning. Scalextric brings us another rally car with functioning lights and slim can power. Unfortunately, the crown gear was not up to task in my test car and eventually failed by having a couple sections of the toothed part break away. This is the first time I've experienced a failure like this. While this car ran, it ran great if a tad overpowered. The Renault 5 is another Fly sidewinder with black stripe power. The stock wheels were retained. Once tuned it was a smooth runner and easy to drive at the limit. I have to admit that I have a love-hate relationship with Spirit cars. I love some of Spirit's design ideas and the subjects they choose to model.
I hate their choice of materials and components. A problem I consistently have with Spirit cars is that any setscrews installed from the factory tend to strip at the first twist of my hex driver. When I tried to remove the setscrews used to set the front axle height on this car the axle carrier broke right off. I ended up hot-gluing a brass tube onto the BMW's chassis to carry the front axle. Of course, the crown gear's setscrew was stripped. Once the factory's mistakes were fixed, the Spirit BMW turned out to be a barn burner. It was the fastest of all the cars on wood or plastic. The open can FK180 used in this car generates 36g of downforce and sits in an adjustable motor pod. The driver's side mirror was the first casualty of my spirited driving - not something that will be needed given the outright speed of this car once sorted vs.
The other part is the Targa panel, which is a two-section magnesium roof bow covered in a fabric hood that folds into a Z-shape when stowed. In addition to the aforementioned components, there are two cable-actuated flaps, on each side of the rollover hoop that open to allow the arms of the roof to pass through. The full automatic Targa roof, powered by a single hydraulic pump (as on the Cabriolet), only operates when the vehicle is stationary. Not only must the Porsche be stopped, a finger needs to be held on the roof button for the duration of the opening or closing operation, which lasts just under 20 seconds. There is no limit to the number of times the electro-hydraulic system may run through its open/close sequence. It may be run continuously, back-to-back, as often as the owner wishes - this is helpful when showing off at a local Cars 'n Coffee show. The standard Targa 4 doesn't have the low-end punch of the S model, but spinning the engine around the tachometer still delivers brisk acceleration.