Friday, 25 July 2003

Drive-Thru Special!

There are some models at our disposal, that although have been out for years, are still excellent model racing cars. The Scalextric second generation NASCAR Ford Taurus is one of them, and with just a little help, can keep pace with the new releases, and for a very good price as well. These models were the first re-design of the NASCAR after the initial release of the "Black Window" or what we kindly refer to them as: "Poor Mans NASCARS." Having greatly improved the detail, along with performance, these models were a huge success in our home racing.

First of all, in my opinion these models are that they are some of the best you could own. Scalextric really struck a balance between scale detail and performance with these models, and they look just as good, perhaps even better in scale appearance than the 2001 releases, especially on the front of the body. An adequate interior adds enough scale detail to please most enthusiasts, with markings, mold lines and paint-work at a very nice level. The motor is the same as found in all releases, and provides adequate power for most home tracks.

These models come in unassembled form, however it only takes a few minutes to snap them together and start racing. Each piece comes in its own separate ScaleRacing package, and out of the 5 cars I ordered, all arrived completely intact. Front axle with wheels and tires, rear axle with gears and bushings, motor with lead wires and pinion, chassis with early dark magnet, and body with interior. The ONLY things you need to provide are the 2 mounting screws and the front guide. On the guide, you have to use the older black guide, because the mounting shaft is longer than those found on the newer blue self-centering guides. The kits only come in one livery, the McDonalds of Bill Elliot, but at the price you have plenty left over to order some decals and get the paint you need to make your own favorite driver.

As stated, assembly is very simple. I started with installing the front axle, then the rear axle, motor assembly, and finally the guide. You don't even need to solder any wires, as the motor leads already have the female electrical connectors installed. These fit snugly enough, but if yours is a little loose, just use a small needle-nose pliers and crimp the connection slightly. Then it is just a matter of installing the interior inside the body, and then of course the body to the chassis. On my other early NASCARS I have glued the interior in place to minimize rattling, and to just have one less step involved when I take the model apart for maintenance. You don't have to do this of course, but I am just passing this along.

The motor is in the inline configuration, and again, this system is smooth and works very well. Even though the rear bushings are a good fit in the chassis, I still advise that you glue them in place. Par to the belief of many, these nylon bushings are VERY durable, and with only a light drop of oil will last you many laps on your track. I inspected one of my first NASCARS, and after years of racing here, show no signs of excess wear. Many enthusiasts prefer a sidewinder system, but to date, these cars have all performed very well, and what performance difference there is present, is barley noticeable. But the main question everyone seems to ask is can these cars be made to compete with a new 2001 sidewinder Taurus? The answer of course is YES. Now the modifications I am going to cover, addresses matching this model to the 2001 Taurus in its box-stock form. Once you have achieved a reasonable match between the cars, other items such as silicones or the new Supertires can be introduced to make these models even quicker. I do like the standard tires, and unless we are building them strictly for racing in our series, I leave the original rubber in place. The wheels and tires are pretty round and true, and require just a little sanding to hook up well.

It's all about the magnet of course, and this model can easily be updated to keep up with the newer releases. As you can see in the photos, this model comes with a darker, rather weak magnet instead of the stronger magnets found today. Scalextric has made this magnet even easier to remove than the newer ones as this magnet has small tabs on each side, making it very easy for you to take a small flat-tip screwdriver and remove the magnet. Be advised that you will most likely break this older magnet when removing it, but to be honest, you really don't need it.

Now it is simply choosing a magnet to replace this one. The first choice I will cover is the ScaleRacing bar magnet #SM4039. This magnet will directly fit into this pocket, and is secured with Super Glue. Once you complete this, you have just made this car just as fast as the 2000 Taurus (same as this model, but was released with an upgraded magnet), and the even close to the 2001 and 2002 Pontiacs, in fact VERY close due to the fact that this magnet is now closer to the rails than the 2001 configuration.

However there are more choices, ones that will bring this car even to, and perhaps slightly faster than the 2001 Taurus. One quick tip is to simply lower this magnet even closer to the rails. On this chassis, it is very easy to do by just adding a shim between the chassis and the magnet. As shown in the Pontiac Review, you can use just about anything you want to perform this. On this model, instead of the cardboard tab, I used the plastic cases they came in, and this works perfectly. In fact, if you do order these models, you will have enough plastic to make shims for quite some time!

I used small household scissors, and cut a strip of this plastic a little smaller than the magnet, then applied a couple small drops of Super Glue on the chassis and pressed this shim into place. Then you add a few more small drops of glue on top of the shim, and press your magnet back in place. You will be surprised how much different your model handles by lowering this magnet. There are other magnets that will work in this pocket, such as the "Bow-Tie" from Slot-It, and the Professor Motor Gold Bar.

As shown here in my first Budget NASCAR article, the Slot-It "Bow-Tie" magnet is different as you can see, by having the ends of the magnet thicker than the center. This allows for less magnetic drag in the straights, and increased down-force in the corners where you need it. You can install this magnet in 2 different ways, so you can tune this car to your liking. The first way is to just glue it in place with the flat side down in the magnet pocket as shown in the photo. This set-up is identical to using the regular bar magnet, but you get the added magnetic down-force for the corners.

The second way really pins this car down, and I have heard it from many enthusiasts that this is the way they prefer to run them. Take the magnet, flip it over from the way previously shown, and mount it with the thicker end sides down. This brings the overall center of the magnet closer to the rails like adding a shim, yet you still have the thicker ends of the magnet to help you in the corners. This does add a little more drag in the straights, but it also helps in the cornering department as well.

However, it doesn't stop there. Since this model has the half-tray interior, there is plenty of room on the inside to work with. One modification for these models is to install the new magnet, then add a Tweaker magnet as shown in the front of the model. This helps pin the front of the car down, and this set-up really makes this model handle quite well.

Not everyone will agree on lap times, and there are always going to be differences in these models. Even identical models with the same magnet can be different due to these magnets having varying degrees of strength. It all really boils down to your preference and tuning methods, don't be afraid to experiment a little here and there with different options. In some cases here, I use these models with just the regular Slot-It or ScaleRacing bar magnet without the shim installed for racing against newcomers, or when I race against my wife, as I am of course a much better driver than she is...hmmm...I wonder if I should edit that last part out?

In any case, for the price of $20.00, Slot Car World is offering a great deal, on a great slot car. In a time when some companies are charging well over $60.00 for a model, this type of deal is even harder to beat. I don't think you have to be a fan of NASCAR to enjoy these models either. These cars are perfect for the beginner and younger drivers. There are not the small parts such as wings, mirrors and antenna that will break off while they learn to drive, or just having fun. They are very durable models that can withstand some serious punishment, yet can still satisfy the scale enthusiast with great looks and smooth drive-train.

I picked up 5 to start with, along with some decals for other liveries not available at this time. Slot Car World has a large inventory of these models now, and I have to advise you to grab at least one. This car is a nice way for you to start your efforts in painting and decaling, and of course adding more models to your current line-up that is easy on your slot-budget. By adding the ScaleRacing bar magnet for $3.00 and a front guide for $0.50, you have a great car for under $25.00.

As always, feel free to contact me about this article or just the hobby in general at wiseone@yhti.net, or better still,

drop into the Home Racing World Message Forum and share with other enthusiasts your thoughts.

Thanks go to SLOT CAR WORLD for providing us these great models!