I'll for warn you that I almost ran out of superlatives to describe this slot car. Slot.it really have produced a model worthy of the 1:1 McLaren F1 GTR that is such an icon of motor sport. This is the second McLaren F1 GTR released by Slot.it, the first being the Goodwood 2005 orange car, CA10A. The Goodwood McLaren was the most popular Slot.it sold in Australia in 2007 and there is a good chance the FINA McLaren will be the most popular for 2008. The car comes with an extra set of Slot.it S1 rear tires.
- Crown Gear: SIGI26
- Pinion Gear: SIPI09
- Motor Pod: SICH24 - Reverse offset mount
- Tires: SIPT02 (comes with an additional rear set of S1 rubber)
- Motor: Inline 21500 V12/3 with 170g.cm
- Magnatraction: Dual position, (magnet supplied in rear position)
- Side-winder or Boxer (Long Can inline) motor pod compatible
The front of the McLaren looks absolutely striking, of particular note are the front lights which look great. I'm very tempted to order a Slot.it lighting kit for this car as I think it would really look great with lights. The front of the car has plenty of detail including; vents, intakes and a tow hook. The wheel inserts look fantastic on the car and are a little darker than those on the Goodwood McLaren.
I'm pleased to report that the issue with the wheels inserts on the Goodwood car not being completely flush has been fixed, at least on the FINA McLaren I have. This was a small problem with the Goodwood car but it was visually unattractive so I'm glad Slot.it has fixed it.
Rear detail is also excellent with exhaust pipes, vents, clear rear lights, rear grill and McLaren logo. Decal detail is excellent, it seems every time I examine the car I find another decal previously not seen. The rear tail is glued in place and has little flexibility about it, it does however seems strong enough to withstand heavy impacts.
The model comes with a rubber aerial which is great for longevity. However, Slot.it is still producing plastic rear-vision mirrors, which is a bit of a pet hate of mine. They do seem pretty secure and the mirror posts have some strength but wouldn't survive a heavy knock.
The driver figure is impressively painted and decaled as can be seen from the below photo. I didn't want to pull my McLaren's body apart so I'm not too sure about dash detail as the side windows are heavily tinted. This heavy side window tint gives the car a really cool appearance on the track.
The body is removed from the chassis via 2 screws which is standard for all Slot.it cars, body removal and reassembly is very easy. As you can see this chassis is side-winder motor pod compatible and comes with the SICH24 reverse offset motor pod. The McLaren comes with a Slot.it standard magnet in the rear position although it's not shown in the below photo. You can also see that this chassis can be upgraded to SSD Sport Digital system.
One of the first things I do to any Slot.it I drive is to loosen the motor pod screws half to one full turn thus allowing a degree of chassis/body role. You'll find that you can hold more speed through corners if you do this although be careful not to loosen the screws too much, as the rear rubber can rub on body work.
The McLaren has very strong acceleration and braking and is damn quick in a straight line. In fact it's very quick through even the most testing of corners too! One of the reasons the McLaren can really travel through corners is its brilliant chassis setup and weight distribution. Another factor is that the McLaren, like a lot of other Slot.its (Porsche 956 & 962, Nissan R390, Audi R8c) has heaps of magnetic down-force making them VERY fast racers.
Once again Slot.it has stuck to their 'magic slot formula' and produce a slot car that is destined to be fiercely raced and highly sort after once it sells out. As I've commented before, Slot.it continue to produce slots cars that have a high level of engineering, are as fun to drive as they are stunning to look at and are without doubt very collectible. I predict that the FINA McLaren will be one of Slot.its greatest releases.
Manic Score Breakdown
- Sex Appeal: 7th Gear
- Collectibility: 7th Gear
- Build Quality: 7th Gear
- Attention to Detail: 7th Gear
- 'RTR' Performance: 6th Gear
The Slot.it FINA McLaren F1 GTR goes straight into 'Manic's collectible slotcars' list.
So if you want to get your hands on one of these beautiful slots and lets face it, you NEED to get your hands on one of these! Head straight over to Armchair Racer who currently have them in stock;
http://www.armchairracer.com.au/SlotitCars/Slotitcars.htm
If you'd like a FINA McLaren F1 GTR wallpaper for your desktop, you can download one below. Just click on the image that suits your desktop size.
Head over to the McLaren Automotive gallery for some great photos; http://www.mclarenautomotive.com/cars/f1gtr_gallery.htm
For more information about the 1997 Le Mans race, see Racing Sports Cars;
http://www.racingsportscars.com/photo/Le_Mans-1997-06-15-photo.html
YouTube has a great movie of the 1:1 FINA McLaren, listen to that engine!
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=w0ZyvlM-FMM
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