Scalextric Mustang FR500C Review by Eric Cropper

October 23, 2008

Scalextric Ford Mustang FR500C
Review
By Eric Cropper

Well, Harry got to thinking that I needed to do something to earn my next Slot Burger and to keep my high paying HRW salary. He decided on a car that really wasn’t discussed about much when it was released earlier this year and put the request in to Gene at www.slotcarplace.com.

Now the Mustang has always been a favorite of many over the years. This slot is based off the modern era Stang and is set up for the Grand Am Cup series. If you got an extra $125,000 lying around you can purchases one race ready or for the private builder you can by the Ford Racing parts and get your 2005 Mustang GT up to par. The FR500C made its racing debut in the 2005 KONI Challenge Series and claimed the driver, team and manufacturer championships right out of the box. So, how will it 1/32 counterpart score out of the box?

Here are some quick specs on the real thing.

Specs: 5.0L “Cammer R50” engine
420 hp with 365 lb-ft torque
6 speed transmission
30+ race-spec parts including a Grand Am-spec roll cage.
Except for all the above, it’s your standard 2005 Mustang GT (snicker)

APPEARANCE

The first thing I can say without reservation is that this is a great looking slot. Yes, I’d rather have the yellow version, but the plain Jane white and black stripped paint job is spotless. I saw no visible flaws in the finish and all the logos where done to perfection. However, the biggest disappointment of the Stang is its stance. I don’t know what went wrong with the ride height, but it’s pretty obvious that Scaley fell short in this department. Lowering it is a possibility for the handy modeler, but since the rocker panels are part of the chassis it could prove to be tricky. (Those of you who have tackled this area please post some pix or details about how you went about it)

The front of the 500 includes the famous fog lights, metal lower grill and that worldwide known pony logo. They also got the red tow hook in the right position since it’s hinged on the real deal.

Around back the Stang has a chrome gas cap, rear tow hook, (non working) 3rd brake light, dual exhaust poking out from under the rear trim work and sore crisply printed logos.

Looking down, this Stang is wide and the entire length of the car is covered by the traditional double speed stripes. The mirrors are bold and strong. I think they’ll hold up to some hard racing.

This angle of the front end shows you that the fog lights stick out just like the 1:1 and some finer details such as the molded hood pins.

The windshield has top and lower advertisements for the KONI racing series and Ford Racing under the wipers. I like that Scaley printed the Ford Racing logo across the bottom. Let’s be honest they could have omitted it and molded the wipers into the window. I like the little details that add overall depth and realism to a slot car.

Glancing into the interior we find our fearless driver strapped in and ready for action. This is an area that I wish had some more color to set it apart from the already primarily white 500. At least color the roll cage. However, after referencing some pictures of the live version, I was corrected in my desire for more. Other than some black roll cage padding the interior is plain old white. I still might have to jazz mine up. I guess the fire extinguisher counts as added color and it’s a nice detail to boot.

Tell me that roll cage isn’t calling for some paint.

The lights are nice and bright under full power.

Okay, here’s a head on shot of the front and rear wheel gaps. It looks like this Stang should be in an off-road series instead of a Grand Am series. Sacrifice a little of the interior and get the cars stance correct next time. The rims are very close to Scaley’s 911 Porsche rims. They are a really nice looking wheel with a recessed cap and lugs. The Hoosier logo on the tire is a logo not seen too often and is printed a good as it can get. HOWEVER….

Attention!!! This is where I’m calling it like I see. I don’t know if my review model is part of a minority or part of the majority, but the tires on this car SUCKED!!!! You read that right. These tires are the worst I’ve ever encountered on a Scaley.

Look at how bad the edges are crowned on this car. All 4 of them were equally bad. I just don’t get it and I hope this one is a fluke. I’d hate to think Scaley let tires this bad leave the factory in large quantities. No amount of adjusting or sanding would have corrected the problem. Well, I could have sanded them….away that is. Can you say contact patch issue? I can.

Also, the tires were simply not wide enough for the rims and the center rib of the rim appeared to be to short. Personally, I think both factors come into play. Even with the wheel rib being taller to push the tire’s center out, it wouldn’t have solved the width issue. The tires can be pushed to the back of the rim and in turn can be pulled to the front edge of the rim too. The yellow arrows point out the rim sticking out from under the tires. Also, worth mentioning is how far (red arrow) the motor shaft sticks out. It wasn’t an issue with the originals, but who knows with aftermarket tires.

TIRE REPLACEMENT

Luckily, as I said these rims looked like reworked 911 Porsche rims. So, out came the Bag O’Tires. First, I tried a set of K&D SCX NASCAR tires. They fit pretty well on the non gear side and filled that fender gap perfectly. However, on the gear side the motor shaft came into play and rubber the tire. Also, for the magnet racers the higher profile would change the handling characteristics of the Stang. Second, I found a pair of Indy’s #1013 that fit the rear to perfection. Surprise, surprise…#1013 fits the 911. Third, I remembered having a Scaley 911 model kit and headed to the basement. The model kit rears went on the front end of the Ford. The edges were still slightly raised, but nothing even close to the originals and a little sanding solved that problem. Oh yeah, this is when I found out the front end had a slight wobble on one side. What’s next?

PERFORMANCE

The chassis is held in place by 6 screws and the red arrow points to the screw that allows you to remove the chassis plate to access the digital plug for chipping your Stang.

The motor and gearing are standard Scaley. There’s nothing new to see here, move along.

TRACK TIME

Click here for Hot Laps video!!

So, after all the tire drama I was glad to finally get the Ford on the track. I can say the FR500C ran just as I expected it to run. It has quick throttle response and good top end speed. A magnet racer should be pleased with how well the magnet does its job. It did tip more easily in the turns if pushed to hard and I contribute this factor to the Stang’s ride height. Fellow Forum member Dan Dyke will contribute it to the magnet....lol.

I didn’t try to do any non-magnet running. Personally, I only have a couple of non-magnet runners and they were set up for me. Trying would be a waste because sans magnet racers all have different tricks to achieve what they want a particular car to do on their track. They’ll work their magic.

Overall, I wouldn’t place this car in the faster end of my collection, but it would easily fit in the middle ground of it. The Stang is a great looking ride and could be tweaked here and there to improve it overall. The only bad thing is Scalextric could have done it for us from the beginning. Hopefully, the tires where an isolated incident with my review car and if not, then shame on Scalextric’s quality control. Where’s the Nun with the ruler?

Since there wasn’t much of a buzz on this car when it was first released, it makes me wonder if Scaley plans on releasing other paint schemes. I’m sure they will. Probably at least 2 more and 1 shy of enough for us 4 laners. I’m just going off past history with a couple of other cars in the Scaley lineup. I have to give it a 3 out of 5 folks because of the issues I mentioned.

A parting shot of the real deal. I love yellow cars. “Hey Scaley, where’s my yellow Aston?” Love, E.

Thanks go to Gene of SlotCarPlace.com for the Scalextric Mustang FR500C for this review. Make sure to stop by to pay Gene’s site a visit and buy all his FR500C Mustangs he has in stock. I tried Gene…LOL.

Any questions or comments feel free to contact me.

Eric Cropper
AKA legionofone
AKA HRW Minion
ecropper@hotmail.com