Saturday March 25, 2006

Artin American Thunder!

Part One

The hobby of 1/32nd scale slot car racing has grown leaps and bounds in the last few years with more new cars, sets and accessories than ever before. One brand has shown itself over time to be one of the best values in our hobby and that brand is Artin. Since my first look at the Artin system there have been a few changes to make it even better and now comes a brand new set that just adds even more.

Those that have read my reviews and articles in the past know that I am a huge fan of the Artin system and if you are just joining us you will soon find out why. There simply is no other track system that offers the budget-minded hobbyist a better value in 1/32nd scale. When it comes right down to it, the track itself is the least expensive on the market yet it delivers all the fun more expensive brands do.

The latest set by Artin is very important to me as it clearly focuses on a style of racing many of us grew up with and still enjoy today: Oval Racing. As much as I enjoy road racing, oval racing is some of the most fun I have ever had in this great hobby. Simple by design and use, oval racing is perfect for both the beginner and veteran enthusiasts.

The latest American Thunder series by Artin is unique as it offers different sizes of layouts to suit a variety of budgets and space restrictions you may have. When I first learned of the new series I spoke with Artin North America and requested a set that not only was new, but had some of the newest changes incorporated into it.

The set I chose was one equipped with the new R4 outer radius corners and the R4 borders that have pre-molded walls attached to them. These new borders were designed just for the new R4 track and I looked forward in seeing how well they held up to hard racing. Inside the box was everything we needed to get started, along with something extra. Artin North America has included instructions on how to build your own banking supports if you so desire.

I like this idea as it easily shows you how to bank your track yet they did not spend the extra money making them for you. This helps keep the cost of the sets down which is very important to many budget-minded beginners.

The supports shown in our set makes the inner R3 a little high in the air, but that is because it is designed to allow the R2 and R1 corners added at a later date. Artin North America has full online article on their website that helps walk you through using these supports.

Both the new R4 and the borders are great additions to the Artin line. These are brand new molds for both items and enthusiasts should know that this is just the beginning of the many changes planned for the future. I did notice the R4's had a VERY slight bow to them, causing the track not to sit perfectly flush on the table. However, it is very slight and will not interfere at all with performance. Once you attach the track with the R3, you cannot even notice it. When we added track clips to the turns, these curves flattened out very well and you really cannot notice any issues. Since all the sets will have these clips, you should not see any difference.

The borders are also well done and are very durable. We tested these borders in a brutal way by slamming larger 1/24th scale cars against them at full speed. They took everything we could dish out and we were impressed with the end results. The one mistake Artin made was the molding on the ends. The did not make the ends compatible with the other standard borders Artin offers. It is easily fixed as you can simply trim off the ends and attach the borders. They are still held firmly in place and function as intended. Artin informed me during the review that are already making the changes to these borders to make them compatible which shows they do listen and want to bring us better quality products.

The rest of the set is all standard Artin with 4 controllers and transformer. Like most sets on the market, power and control is not the best it could be, but it does function as intended. In fact, we have been racing with the stock components and with the Artin models included we have plenty of fun.

The Set Includes:

4 New Artin Stockers, 4 Controllers, 1 Transformer, 1 Power Base Straight, 10 Straights, 16 R4 Radius Curves, 16 R3 Radius Curves, 16 New R4 Turn Borders, 4 Decal Sheets For The Cars and 2 Packs of Replacement Guides.

Artin is about the easiest set you can assemble and Tom and I had this initial oval up and running in about 10 minutes. There is not a lot of straight track included in the set, but again it is enough for beginners to get started. One thing is that the box art and instructions give the dimensions of 7 foot 9 inches long by 5 foot 4 inches wide, but this is without borders. You will need a 6 foot by 8 foot table to really have the space you need to set up this set as it was intended with the borders. Our set also came without the track clips to hold the lanes together, which can be very important for a smooth operating layout. Artin North America informed me that my set was a pre-release for review and that all sets will come with the track clips inside the box.

One of the best features of this set is simply the cars that come with it. The new Artin Stockers are some of the most fun we have had in 1/32nd scale recently and their popularity continues to grow. You can read more about these new hot rods in our full review here. These cars will withstand an incredible amount of abuse by young or beginner drivers and this is a very important point. The last thing new drivers want to see is parts breaking off the cars due to those accidents that occur.

Fun is what the hobby is all about and fun is what this set delivers. We had a great time sliding the cars through these broad radius corners and the racing was very close. When the prices of some sets and cars are getting close to discouraging the newcomer, it is nice to see an inexpensive beginner set bring this much fun to the table. At a retail price of only $179.00 it is clear this new set was designed as a low-cost way to get started in our hobby, and I think Artin has brought us another winner in 1/32nd scale.

Part 2

This new set was just the perfect start for our friend Tom who has just started construction on his new slot car shop. We are going to show you how to bring your starter set from these humble beginnings to a larger and longer layout. That is if we can stop racing long enough to get any work done!

- Harry

As always feel free to contact me about this article or just the hobby in general at harry@homeracingworld.com, or better yet drop into our Message Forum and share your thoughts with other enthusiasts!

Thanks go to ARTIN North America & Slot Car World For Allowing Us A Sneak Peek Of This New Set!