FLY BMW GTR! 

It seems every once in a while Fly manages to release a model that just gets everything right, or close to it. It's not perfect, but this new release has a lot going or it. It is good enough to join the Capri on my "Favorite Fly" list, and for me, that is quite the accomplishment.

Simply put, this car is beautiful. Fly has done a fantastic job on this livery, and just sitting in its case it has caught the eye of more than one visitor to our home track. Taking a closer look, you seem to follow all the small details Fly has included, and again you have to be impressed. Intricate roll ball detail is one of the first items that stand out, followed by the full driver figure, which Fly has done an excellent job recreating this uniform. You find fuel hoses, fire extinguisher, chassis braces...well you get the idea.

Detail is not limited to the interior however. Front metal grills, side exhaust, hood louvers with metal screens, and good wheel detail are here as well. Mold lines on the body were fairly well done, with the headlight and taillight areas being exceptional. Fly really got it right here, with no sign of excess "flash" or gaps in the lenses.

The Tampo markings on the BMW are some of Fly's best work. I did manage to find very small areas that had missed the printing, but they were limited to the "checkerboard" paint in the rear. The rest of the model is as perfect as it can be, right down to the emblems and clear-coat. This clear-coat was even and smooth throughout the body, with no signs of the "orange peel" effect. Best of all, Fly seemed manage a dust free clear-coat effort as well.

As stated, wheel detail was acceptable, and Fly has chosen their standard rubber as usual, but the markings on the tires are well done and give a great scale effect. Tires and wheels were surprisingly round and true, yet still required a little sanding to get them even, but most of you will want Silicone tires in the rear, at least on smoother track surfaces. The front axles are Fly's stub axle design, and we did find that the right front tire was rubbing on the body, right where Fly has melted the plastic to attach one of the louver metal screens. This was simply fixed with some light sanding, and hopefully this problem does not appear on future models.

4 screws secure the body to the chassis, and removal was quite easy. Take care not to break off the side exhaust detail, but even if you do, simply super glue it back in place. Inside you will find something new, or at least new to standard Fly cars that I have seen. It appears they have included the more powerful 25,000 rpm "Racer" motor in this model, and you will glad they did. Front motor configuration is here, and like many other aspects of this hobby, either you like this or you don't. I myself enjoy racing front motor models, and feel they can be the smoothest and most reliable drive systems. Brass bushings are present for those who feel they make a difference, and the common Fly bar magnet. On this particular model, Fly has chosen not to include a shim to adjust this magnet. This is really not a big issue for myself, but for some it might be.

The best thing they did in this magnet location was redesign the magnet pocket. Some have disagreed on this, but this is of course just my humble opinion. You will not find the bracket with its weak mounting posts that were prone to breaking here. The magnet snaps into place quite tightly, yet using a small flat tip screwdriver, you can remove it easily. I am happy to see this feature, but it still could not hurt to apply a light drop of silicone adhesive or CA under the magnet to make sure it stays in place during hard racing. I did this on previous models, so doing so here is no real issue.

Putting the rubber to the road, one thing was found that I could have done without. The rear gears do need some break-in time, as my model had a slight chatter to it under acceleration. However, after the first 50 laps, this has subsided a little, so proper break-in should result in a quieter performer. One reason for this chatter is that I found a good deal of excess free play in the gears. Ordinarily, this set up eliminates much of this, but here it has not. The more we race it, the smoother it becomes, but only time will tell how durable this will be. The motor supplies plenty of torque and top speed for most all home track applications, and braking was crisp and clean. The car managed a 5.0 lap time average on our 59 1/2 foot Carrera track, with a few times in the 4.8, 4.9 ranges. The addition of silicone tires would drop these times, yet I find this car simply fun to race as it is.

And fun it can be. Driving this car is a pleasure, as you dive into the corners and then punch it out into the straights. Recovery time in spins is decent, given the shorter bar magnet Fly uses. Several times I recovered from disaster, giving me time to settle down and find that balance of tail out action and control. Sometimes, there is nothing like sweeping through a tough curve with a touch of tail out, and end up straight as an arrow on the exit. This car certainly performed this way, at least on our Carrera track, and it is providing us with some really satisfying racing.

Not every Fly car that gets released has as many positives as this one appears to have. Lately, I have been less than impressed with their efforts and feared the worst in this model. But regardless if it was by accident or deliberate, Fly has created a winner. From the addition of the new motor, to the redesigned magnet pocket, not to mention a dust free clear coat, Fly seems to have addressed some of its issues in the past. There is still room for improvement, and hopefully Fly will get a drive-train that is as smooth as the rest of the car.

I still have to recommend this model to just about anyone. It has the enough good combinations in a 1/32nd scale slot car to make it worthwhile. Adding one to your collection should be a welcome addition, it certainly was for ours.

Harry

As always feel free to email me at wiseone@yhti.net about this review or just the hobby in general. Or better yet, stop in our message forum and give us a holler:)

Thanks goes to Fantasy World Hobbies for providing Home racing World with this model.