Thursday January 28, 2010

Here is a model that needs little introduction. If you are a veteran of this hobby you already know about this release and most likely have one or two coming your way. For the newcomer to our hobby, you are very fortunate. You have not had to wait all these years to finally have this hot rod in ready to run form. It has finally arrived at my door, so let us get right to it shall we?

First of all I have to take a deep breath and say thank you SCX. I am not the type of enthusiast who takes what we have for granted. I heard so many excuses over the years from all the other companies out there why this car should not or could not be done. This model has been "missing in action" from our 1/32nd scale hobby far too long and finally someone was smart enough to get them done.

So how do they look? Outstanding to me. Overall fit and finish of the entire model is more than acceptable. The paint itself is worth mentioning as you can see a country mile into it. Tampo stamped markings are very crisp and clean and an equally clean clear coat seals things nicely. And this is important. Instead of the markings being applied after the clear coat, these are sealed very well. The colors are accurate enough for my eyes and seem dead on. We also need to know that the Savage family had a hand in this model. They helped with the color choices and overall look. I would say that is a pretty good reference. The 3 Hot Wheels logos are different as most photos of the car do not have them. However, they did run this way according to the Savage family. In any event, it still looks great and honestly most folks will not care that much. I realize scale purists might be offended by that comment but the fact is that the average person simply will not be offended.

Did they get it right? My eyes say they have and according to a lot of other enthusiasts it appears SCX has pretty much nailed it. Nothing is ever perfect in our hobby, but they certainly did a great job for me. The stance of the car is one thing that makes these cars look the way they do and here is where SCX got it right. Of course only YOU can decide.

The interior is a half tray type design as I expected and it is done well enough for me. Those that want extra fine detail in the interior may not be as pleased, but I still think a half tray interior works well enough for most racers. Roll bar detail is present that adds plenty of depth. The driver figure is also done very well. Of course, when it comes to interiors I am one of those middle of the road enthusiasts. I want a balance of scale detail combined with the room inside to work with for tuning. Advanced racers also like them as they are lighter weight.

Wheels and tires are very well done. They seem very round and true although the tire compound feels a little harder than I expected. Still, they appeared to be round and that is very important.

Box Stock Track Testing
MidMo International Speedway
4 x 16 - 3 Lane MDF Routed Wood - Flat Latex Surface
Copper Tape Conductivity - Aftermarket Power @ 12 Volts PARMA 25 OHM Control

I could not wait to give this car a test run! After a quick braid adjustment it was off to the MIDMO to see how she goes. All I can say is that I am impressed. For a model not designed for a wooden track without the use of the magnet it is very smooth. The tires on the other hand were not performing that well. But I cannot fault SCX or the model for that. This is what all wood track owners go through. We accept that we will change out the tires for a compound that works for our track surface.

Although I could only manage a 4.9 second lap average, it was still a very smooth runner with plenty of acceleration and braking commonly found with SCX models. What I liked was that the front end was near a perfect tri-pod setup. The wheels turned freely up front but do not really support the model. As I dove through the corners I could just see the tire slow up slightly. I liked it and knew we had a model with great potential.

UNDER THE HOOD

3 screws mount the body to the chassis. Once removed we see familiar ground as I expected. However, there is one little change that I liked. The motor is now stamped on top letting you know what you have. Thank you SCX, nice touch. The motor sits in the pod assembly and has a 9 tooth pinion that drives the 27 tooth crown gear. I have to say that the gear mesh was better than I expected. Sometimes you get lucky of course, but I am calling it like it is.

Up front we see that we have independent stub axle wheels. This is because the model is digital compatible and you need the room for the chip. This car is made to accept the new V2 chip design. As stub axles go, these have a nice clean fit with almost zero wobble. You will need to put a drop of oil on them as mine was a little on the dry side. We also see the standard wireless power distribution design as most SCX models are. If there is one area where many enthusiasts would like to see a change it is here. A standard guide with wire system would please many advanced enthusiasts but I do not see this happening. In any event all I can say is my model (along with all of my others like this) run fine.

The first thing I like to do with any model is remove the rear tires and inspect for any excess flash molding on the wheel and see if the inner hub is flat and smooth. I have to say these surprised me. The wheels were VERY clean. You can see areas where the flash molding has been cleaned off very well and I was very happy with this. I still gave them a quick burst with sandpaper but I really did not accomplish much. I re-installed the tires and gave them a good sanding. The tires seemed to have some raised edges but they cleaned up rather quickly. It was now time to put things back together and head out for another run.

 Additional Track Testing

Well now, after a quick wheel and tire clean up we have a different model. I expected it to react a little better but not like this. My first few laps had my times down in the 4.7 second range and I could easily feel the car had more bite. I cleaned the tires by rolling them across tape and then backed off the body mount screws a full turn to give some additional float.

Now we are hauling the mail. I easily clicked off 4.5 second lap times and the model was very easy to drive in all corners. It seems that sanding the tires was the trick in order to get the car too hook up much better on our flat latex surface. I will change out tires as I usually do, but for stock rubber I have to admit they are better than I expected.

The Question?

One of the first questions some enthusiasts might ask is how do they compare to the Scalextric line of Trans-Am cars? I understand this as they have made models for years in this series but dropped the ball by not making any new additions in the series other than repaints of the same older cars. This Cuda is one of them and now that it is here from SCX, it is only natural that clubs and home racers will want to know how they compare since they might be running a series.

Allow me to set the stage:

We race on non-magnet wood tracks at no more than 12 volts.

Most of my older Scalextric Trans-Am models have been tuned.

Because of this I will use one of the newer Camaro models that we just purchased and is pretty much untouched.

Finally, one needs to understand that SCX motors NEED break-in time. The lesser Scalextric and other motors do not have the more durable brush system SCX motors have. Because of this, SCX motors need more time to allow the brushes to fully seat.

Setting Up:

Each car had the tires sanded with the tires rolled across tape to clean off any excess. Both were also checked for lubrication and proper braid adjustment.

Let's Go!

I ran each model a total of 50 laps in the center lane of our road course. After every 10 laps the tires were cleaned.

The Result:

The SCX Cuda is virtually dead even with the Scalextric on short runs. 4.4 second lap averages were posted by both models. The tires on the SCX model seemed to lose grip faster and of course lap times suffered. The SCX car does feel smoother in the corners to me. With the pod assembly absorbing some of the vibration, the car just feel better feathering in the tighter sections of the track.

The Scalextric has slightly more punch coming out of the corners. However, we need to again remember this SCX motor has not been fully broke in. On my SCX NASCAR'S where they have had time, the RX-42B is the stronger of the two.

Still, they are VERY close. How will they react with equal tire compounds? I don't know yet as tires for the Cuda are not yet available. I will report on this as soon as I get some made.

Reminder:

This is on my track. It is a smaller layout that does not use magnets. On larger layouts results will vary. Using standard plastic track with the magnets the Scalextric will likely be faster due to the larger bar magnet. However, if you lower the magnet in the SCX model, this will help close the gap.

Bottom Line:

For the advanced enthusiast my comparison means very little. Why? Because you (the advanced racer) will make them work together. You have done the same with many other brands and you will accomplish it here as well. As it is, I think they are a great match up and look forward in hearing other race reports. For myself I was really not that concerned how they matched up. I have very few of the Scalextric models anymore and when I run them, we usually just keep the racing brand specific and not try and mix apples and oranges. This is due to the fact that we do not participate in much organized racing and therefore have no reason to try. I know SCX will be making different cars in the near future and I will simply run them together. But as close as they are I am sure we will mix them up quite often.

Final Thoughts

What a nice slot car. All this car needs is a good owner. I like it when I get a ready to run model and it truly is ready to run without needing a lot of work. Doing reviews on models such as this is so easy and fun. What is there not to like? Sometimes we see models that look and run great, but the price is out of control. Other times the car is budget-friendly but might run poorly or look very bad scale wise. This one has it all to me. Looks, performance, and price are all where they should be. Not everyone will agree of course, but for my hobby dollar this is a great addition. I think anyone who picks this model up will enjoy it, with or without the magnet.

SCX and the SCX Worldwide crew has done a great job bringing this famous car to life in our scale. They seem to be one of the few companies who actually care to listen what we have to say on this side of the pond and I look forward to more installments in this series.

-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 SCX WorldWide For Sponsoring This Review!

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