Saturday January 21, 2006

New 1/24th Scale Auto Art
Ford Focus RS WRC 2003

Enthusiasts of 1/24th scale slot car racing should be a very happy group lately. Auto Art is still showing that they are committed to this scale and the latest releases of the new Subaru and this model seem to prove it. After testing the first Subaru back in March 2005, I was looking forward in seeing this latest effort.

On the outside most of you should be impressed. Auto Art does a great job of capturing this car in 1/24th scale and the overall fit and finish is excellent. The crisp and opaque Tampo stampings are also protected by a clean and even clear coat, something that not all slot car manufactures can claim.

I admit I am not much of a fan of Rally models, but this car is done so well and has so much detail that it is almost impossible for me not to like it. The front hood grills and screen mesh along with antenna placements and rear window defogger strips really drew me in closer. Of course nothing is perfect in our hobby, but from prototype photos it seems Auto Art is still proving they can reproduce a very accurate model.

For those that like the fine details, this car should also please you. The interior is very well done complete with both drivers, accurate dashboard, roll cage assembly and even the spare tire. One thing I enjoy doing with some of these slot cars is to bring them with me to work and sit them on top of my desk. People will walk by and make comments about the model and I in turn share the results with you. This model was an eye catcher as several people at my work have a Ford Focus and they were curious to say the least. All of them thought it was a die-cast model of course and I was happy to show them that this was no die-cast. Fine scale enthusiasts might find errors here and there, but the general reaction I witnessed tells me Auto Art has loaded this car with more than enough detail.

Wheels and tires seem accurate enough although I have seen some photos that indicate the center hubs on the wheel to be a little on the small side. Other than this small item, they look nicely done with the added brake rotor detail visible. The wheels were very round and true though the tires will need some sanding to get them right. One thing I would like to see is Auto Art making a slightly softer compound of tire for these models. Not the overly soft tires recently found on the Ford GT and Porsche, but some just a little more to allow increased grip on the track. Sanding does help of course and realistically the car slides just as a Rally car should.

This model also comes lighted in front, however I was surprised that Auto Art did not attempt to add lights to the rear. Granted, the rear tail lights are different than most, such as those found on the Subaru, but there still appears to be room to work with. This kind of took away from the model a little as you would imagine this car will find it's way into the hands of enthusiasts who also own the Subaru. If you are not into night racing, then this will not be much of a factor of course, but if you enjoy it from time to time, it simply does not look right next to a model that has them.

Turning the model over I noticed instantly a change that would make this car even more different than the Subaru. Auto Art moved the 2 bar magnets into the inside of the chassis instead if having them flush and visible as in the Subaru. If anything, Auto Art really needs to focus (no pun intended) on compatibility. As stated above, this model should be a direct competitor on the track in the same class as the Subaru, but it falls short due to the magnet placement. This will simply frustrate most owners of the other models as there was plenty of room for Auto Art to duplicate the magnet configuration.

4 screws mount the body to the chassis and once removed we see familiar ground as we see the 4 wheel drive system in place along with the quick disconnect feature for the lighting system.

The larger Mabuchi motor (which is one I wish others would use) sits firmly in it's mount and has 10 tooth pinions attached to both ends that drive a 28 tooth crown gear. I did notice that the bushings holding the axles in place would spin slightly under load so I suggest using your favorite adhesive to secure them. I used a light drop of hot glue on all bushings to secure mine.

Performance out of the box was not what I expected. On both our Artin and Carrera tracks, I have slight banking and this car failed to make it through even the slightest uneven track. I looked forward to the guide and immediately found the problem. The front guide is terribly loose in the mount, and the free-play seemed to be the culprit. However, all I needed to do was spread the guide shaft apart a little with a flat tip screwdriver so that it would seat better in the mount.

This worked somewhat and at least allowed the car to negotiate the corners, but it still was no where near firm in the mount and that was because the hole in the chassis is simply too big. I didn't have any guides that seemed to fit off hand so I decided to check different sized tubing I had to see if I could find a suitable size to sleeve the guide. I found that K&S brass tubing size 3/16th (Part# 1147) worked almost perfectly. The hole in the chassis needed some slight filing to allow the sleeve to be inserted and you have to take your time in doing so. You want the sleeve to be seated as tightly as possible, otherwise the guide will simply pop it out due to the pressure it takes to fit the guide prongs on top through this smaller hole. I took a small rat tail file and gently sanded the inside until I could press the sleeve in using needle-nose pliers. I then flowed some Super Glue around the seam and allowed it to dry.

Ideally, using plastic styrene tubing would have been the better choice since it would adhere to the plastic chassis better with adhesive. However, as most of you can relate I ran out of this size and had to utilize the brass instead. I cut the brass the the size of the chassis hole depth (2.35mm) to allow it a flush mount. Once I installed this sleeve, the guide was virtually void of all free-play. In fact, it seemed a little on the snug side. It certainly did not hurt performance though as this modification really made this model a better handling model. I have to say that I hope Auto Art looks closer at this design and either changes to a new guide for this scale or create the chassis hole with a closer tolerance.

Now that things were running smoother it was time to take this beast through the gauntlet. On 12 volts with our PARMA 35 ohm controllers this model was easy to control. Acceleration is decent but the braking is not as crisp as most of you will want. Although the model could benefit from better gearing (9 tooth pinion to 27 tooth crown) the sheer mass of these models just make for a softer braking model. It takes some time to get used to, but soon I was making average lap times of 5.7 seconds on our Artin road course.

On its own, this is a very nicely done slot car, although I still feel it could have been more. It simply should have had the magnet system identical to the Subaru so that you could enjoy both these Rally hot rods together as most would expect them to be. I feel Auto Art should stop and take a closer look when they begin to design cars that share the same class. Non-magnet, this car is a handful but could be easily tuned with lead to suit your driving taste. However, non-magnet coupled with this gearing will leave most advanced enthusiasts changing gear ratios rather quickly.

Auto Art has shown in the past that they do seem to listen to enthusiasts in this hobby, and hopefully we will see them make the improvements they should to help their current line grow. More and more people are "discovering" this larger scale again and having models that you can create an instant series with is important not only to keep beginners interested, but to lure others to join the fun as well.

The bottom line is that they have produced a very nice and fun to drive slot car that looks equally good on the shelf. Simply having one more choice in this scale is very important in its own right and I think fans of 1/24th scale should look at adding one to their collection in the future.

- 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 Slot Car World For Providing Us With This Model!