12/06/2010

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What an interesting surprise from Scalextric. Here is a model that had been popular for years that just seemed to fade away over time. It was not a model that everyone appreciated but we sure had our fair share of fun with them. With this new model arriving on our doorstep, I could not wait to take a trip back in time.

I say that as my first set of these were purchased about 10 years ago. We raced and enjoyed them, but as usual in our hobby they received less and less track time as more new models arrived. Well now it can claim the new status for a while so let us dive in and check out this wild machine.

Right away you are going to like this car or you won't. The styling of it is simply different and for me that is a good thing. I like a good variety in this hobby and sadly we do not see enough where we need to. This model however could be that variety many of you have been looking for.

Scalextric seems to have done a nice job on the overall finished model. It appears to be the same mold from years past but I can't confirm that. In any case they have done a decent job bringing it to us in our scale. Fit and finish seem to be on par with what we expect from Scalextric as the paint and clear-coat were near perfect.

A few details make the model more appealing such as the roll bars, exhaust and dash panel display. Models like these simply are not going to have a lot in the small detail area but I think Scalextric has done very well with what they had to work with.

Wheels and tires seem very well done. The tires feel like a soft or medium compound that Scalextric has used for years. The tires also have the tread design in them that I could do without, at least from a performance standpoint. No issue really, they will be sanded as clean as we can get them here shortly.

Turning the model over we see the Mabuchi motor in the inline configuration with a small button magnet pocket. We also see the older style guide used up front.

There are 5 total screws holding this little machine together. You must pop out the guide to reveal the front screw. Once we remove all the parts we can better inspect our car. You see the motor is an inline (standard 9 tooth pinion with 27 tooth crown) but it also has a small driveshaft. In the past, the driveshaft bushing needed to be secured with adhesive but on this new model it appears Scalextric has spared you the trouble. I have to say I am impressed by this small, but very helpful preventive maintenance task.

Time to test out our new car! Although we are running non-magnet on wood, this little Caterham impressed me. I was expecting more hop to it due to the tires but not so. Of course there was a little hop, but nothing that a quick sanding did not cure. I literally sanded these rear tires to almost slicks, removing all of the textured material. After this things were much improved. We posted lap times of 5.7 seconds with is not scathing fast by any means, but respectable.

The front axle also has some freeplay to it, but the car actually sits at an almost ideal tripod. I suppose you could get inside and try and rig it up to remove some of it, but I did not bother. The main issue for this car is that it has a lot more power than it needs. On a magnet track this may not be this much of an issue. But in our case it is. Adding a fair amount of lead will be needed to try and tame this model. That is fine by me as that is part of the fun of this hobby for me.

Hopefully Scalextric releases a few more of these so we can have something to race them against. As it stands, unless you have the originals from years ago you are pretty much going to have to do some repaints to get a variety. This is something Scalextric needs to really address in my opinion. One car by itself is fine for collectors, but for club or home racers, we need more.

In the end I like this model and think that most of you that chose it will as well. Some very light and simple tuning is all it takes to make this car run great in a magnet or non-magnet environment. For something different in your collection, give one of these chance.

- 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 Chicagoland Toys & Hobbies For Providing Us With This Sample!