Wednesday September 22, 2004

The Slot-it Porsche 956
Le Mans Winners Collection

Since the first release of the Slot-it Porsche, one thing most enthusiasts wanted was simply more liveries to go with them. Finally a new model has arrived and it might possibly be the best looking Porsche released so far.

This new model is different from prior releases as Slot-it lists this Porsche as a Limited Edition and part of The Le Mans Winners Collection. The packaging is different as well, although some of you will find it very familiar. The new Porsche comes in a cardboard presentation box along with a small cardboard Limited Edition Number card (our model is #4427 of 6000). Inside the lid of the box is a small history of this particular model and I am glad to see them make this effort.

For those who are interested this is what they have printed on the inside:
 

In 1984 Joist Team entered a Porsche 956 driven by Le Mans veterans Klaus Ludwig and Henry Pescarolo, and scored an impressive victory with more than 4900Km covered, in a race which proved to be uphill for the team. The race was initially dominated by the fast and fragile Lancia LC2s, whose gearbox would break just after dawn. Reinhold Joest's risky decision of fitting the old mechanical injection instead of the latest Motronic gave car No 7 (chassis 956.117) an edge on fuel consumption, which paid off well, brining home the 9th victory in LeMans for Porsche. Porsche 956s took also the first 7 places across the finish line.

My first impressions of this model were very positive. Not only has Slot-it reproduced this Le Mans winner very accurately in our scale, the overall fit and finish is simply outstanding, just as the first 2 releases have been. The Tampo stampings and paint work are very crisp and opaque with not a sign of fading.

There are some very slight areas such as the rear white strip that says JOEST RACING between them that had a little un-evenness to it, but I am being extremely nit picky. You certainly won't notice it unless you look really hard and should not stop any enthusiast from enjoying the model.

Wheels and tires are again very well done and given that the rear wheels are aluminum helps make sure this model runs as smooth as possible. The tires grip the track decently with only a small amount of sanding and I have chosen to leave them on all of my models. If you want silicones, try the Indy Grips #IG2001. Slot-it has announced that they had made a mistake in production and included this model with tires marked Goodyear instead of Dunlop which would have been correct for this model. To be honest, this doesn't bother me in the least. At SPEED where this model belongs you certainly can't tell a difference and my knowledge of this model isn't that intense, so I would have never known anyway. But, I have to commend Slot-it for their attention to detail to please the scale enthusiast. We certainly do not see that very often in our hobby.

In my opinion, if there is a slot car company out there designing models for not only the more advanced enthusiast, but the beginner as well, Slot-it is near the top of the list. Incorporating all the advanced aftermarket parts for the enthusiasts who demand higher quality, yet a model that runs very well with no real tuning needed out of the box. Our first few laps in the OOB (out of box) test proved this rather quickly and I could not find anything I felt really needed to be worked on or adjusted. I did notice that the front axle was a little on the stiff side and checked for axle or tire rub on the chassis or body. As we covered in the Slot-it Tuning Article, we slightly sanded the top posts under the front axle and added a drop of oil on each side. This frees things up very well and with a little break-in should have your model right where you want it.

This model differs slightly from the very first release as a new motor mount system has been utilized. This allows you to have an additional magnet added or to relocate the original for more fine tuning to your racing tastes. It also allows the use of different motors in case you feel the need to change the original. Personally the Slot-it motor is more than enough power for our home racing, especially non-magnet, and we don't have any plans on a motor change.

The one thing that stands out on these models is just simply the overall performance. Smooth operation is almost an understatement. Crisp braking and acceleration coupled with ease of control in the corners makes this model one of our favorites. Because the magnet is not that strong, you can achieve a really controllable drift in the corners, which for me is very important. Strong magnet cars will turn faster laps of course, but when that magnet gives way, it usually leads to a very hard crash that sometimes causes damage on the model. Lap times on our Dixon Hills Speedway were and average of 4.9 seconds running with Parma 35 ohm controllers and our power supply set at 12 volts. The lap times are again not as important to me as the overall feel and control of the model. Do I think Slot-It built a wonderful model? Oh yeah.

Another important item is that there is not just one to choose from. Some people may not discover how important that is until they have more racers show up and you would like an even playing field. Right now there are 3 models to choose from with even more on the way as there are 3 more planned in the Winners Collection alone according to the Slot-it website. So as the list of models continues to grow, so can your home or club racing series.

At a price of $49.95 you almost cannot beat the value of this slot car. While other companies raise their prices, they do not seem to raise their quality. Slot-It has set a new standard for a ready to run slot car in the $50.00 price range in my opinion and you should really consider adding at least a pair to your current stable. High quality parts and scale detail along with smooth operation usually equates to a great slot car to own and I think this Porsche falls right into that category with ease.

- Harry

If you have time, check out our first reviews of the Slot-it Porsches!

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 Scalextric-USA for providing us with this model.