07/27/2012

1/32nd Scale Slot.it Porsche 956 KH #CA09E

Over the past 10 years Slot.it has become a household name for our hobby. Although the Audi R8C is really the first car and one that set new standards for ready to run models in our hobby, it is the Group C collection that is in my opinion the signature series of this company.

I am not much of an expert on the Group C series as I never grew up seeing it. Back in the 80's we only had 3 or 4 channels and I was lucky to see any racing at all living where I did as ABC's Wild World Of Sports was my only source. Needless to say, this series did not get a lot of air time :)

It is a happy coincidence that I also owe my limited knowledge of this series in 1:1 scale to Slot.it as well. Over the years I have read countless historical articles and studied many photos of this great series to learn more about it. What a time it was. I envy the people who had the chance to be there and watch these beasts do battle.

This newest Porsche is not a "period correct" livery, but it is one of my favorites. Simply put, if you paint a model in GULF colors I will most likely want it. That is ok, I know that I am not the only one like this in our hobby. So although this model isn't really depicting a car that raced back then (it is a restored car), I could care less. I have seen many a modeler repaint prior releases in schemes like this and they sure look and play the part for my home track.

From the press release:

The Porsche 956 and later 962 models could be assembled with two different rear wing configurations: "low downforce", used mostly in Le Mans where the 6.5 km Hunaudières straight required a very low drag at the expense of downforce, and "high downforce", for twistier circuits. Regardless of the configuration, Porsche 956 and 962 cars were the cars to beat in any Group C competition in the early 80's. The South African Franz Pretorius is the owner of a Porsche 956 with livery "Gulf". Chassis number is 956 108; it was built in 1983 and raced by Team Trust. The same year, this car won the Japanese Sportscar Championship, driven by Fujita and Schuppan. It was damaged in a practice accident and then, repaired by Porsche. After the stop of World Championship for Makes, the car was imported in South Africa in 2003, and re-painted in the "Gulf" decoration. It raced occasionally in the Porsche Challenge Series and in some SRA endurance events.

So in my book it looks fantastic and will fit side by side with other period correct models.

Paint work here is the usual high standards we have come to expect from Slot.it.

Removing the 2 screws that attach the body to the chassis, we see very familiar territory. EV06 chassis is now standard here with the 0.0 offset inline pod.

With the big changes being made for championship club racing, most all new models have migrated to anglewinder setups as standard. Since I actually prefer this inline setup, I am very happy. But if you have to have the latest in Slot.it anglewinder designs this EV06 chassis will accept them. For me, I'll keep it just like this.

Gearing is the same with a 9 tooth pinion turning the 28 tooth crown gear. The magnet here does plenty for you as well. No, it isn't as stuck down as other models out there, but more than enough to give you plenty of speed and decent handling. These parts are about as good as it gets in our hobby. From the aluminum wheels in the rear, to the axles and even the plastic press on front wheels.

The motor has a darker, almost "burnt" orange look to it. These motors are supposedly milder than the standard MS06 Orange endbell motors, which is fine by me. My smaller track doesn't allow higher RPM motors to show their stuff.  A motor change is what I will do anyway to match this one with my earlier KH Jagermeister version, along with my lone 962C "Hydro-Aluminum". They have different motors being older versions and I want them all to be as equal as possible.

The rear wheels now have an extra drilled and threaded (tapped) mount hole for you to use if you damage the original, or maybe you want to add another for extra security.

The front axle and guide have set screws. The axle screws allow you to set the vertical free-play of the axle for the track surface you are racing on. Under the axle, there are two small caps. Normally, the axle spins freely in this stock setup. But sometimes they are a little high and even backing off the screws will not give you enough room.

Guide uses new set screw design to hold wires in place.

So I sand the tops of these caps lightly. Just a few passes over some fine grit sandpaper does the trick for me. If you are racing on NINCO track or any system with slightly raised rails, you might want to lower the axle slightly so it just touches the track surface. In these cases you will likely remove the caps entirely. You will have to adjust this to suit your own track conditions.

Overall operation is very pleasing. I cannot confirm any RPM or torque ratings on this darker orange endbell motor, but isn't giving up anything on my smaller track, most notably CONTROL. It has a very smooth lower power band and I could really feather this hot rod through the corners.

This car actually handles better and a tick faster than the new Racer Capri. But REMEMBER, look how small my home layout is. Higher RPM motors just do not get a chance to open up. Plus, this is on wood. The Anglewinder motors set low in the chassis do nothing here, the magnets in the can do not provide any magnetic advantage.

So this session does not prove this car is faster overall for every track. It is just here on a smaller footprint layout that it has a great combination of power and control.

Higher RPM motors do not always win a race anyway. Having a balance of speed and low end control in those tight spots are the "sweet spot". I am far from an expert on setting up and racing Championship level slot cars. I am just a simple home racer. But I have seen those that are, and have learned a lot from them over the years. I will be very curious to read race reports from these advanced drivers on what they think of this motor.

Bottom line here is that there is no perfect motor. If you are racing in a club, you will change it to whatever you need to to win. If you are brand new to the hobby, this has more than enough to satisfy most. In my opinion of course.

What matters most to me is that it was quiet, smooth and just fun to drive. That pretty much sums up most every car I have raced by Slot.it and no surprises here.

Dollar for dollar you simply cannot beat what they deliver out of the box in my opinion. For what you get at a price point under $60.00 ($54.99 at SlotCarCorner) that is a pretty hard deal to beat in today's hobby.

I hope some of you reading this are brand new to our hobby. There isn't a better time for you to grab your first Slot.it model than right now. I will warn you though, once you get a taste of this level of detail and performance, it is hard to equal. Get one and I think you will agree.

Seeing this icon of our hobby finally in Gulf livery is truly a treat for me. I have spent many hours at the throttle with Slot.it models and it looks like many more to come.

-Harry

As always feel free to contact me about this article or just the hobby in general at harry@homeracingworld.com.