Saturday 26 March 2011

NEWS: Fly Slots Strike Back!


FLY SLOT CARS ANNOUNCES RETURN!!

The rumours had started circulating amongst the forums and discussion groups, Fly Slots had stopped releasing slot cars...again!  Fly has a huge fan base and a lot of them found this rumour disappointing, I'm one of them!

Well the great news is that what ever hurdle Fly had, they have pushed through it and are back to releasing slot cars.  And not just any ordinary slot cars, but the famous Lotus 78 in JPS black and gold colours raced by Andretti no less!  Scheduled for mid year release the Lotus 78 promises to be a hugely popular release and is the third classic F1 release from Fly behind the amazing March 761 and Williams FW07.


This from Wikipedia: 'It was obvious that the 78 was something special though, as proved by Andretti and Gunnar Nilsson who won once in Belgium. When the car worked well it was almost uncatchable. Other teams started scrambling to design their own version for 1978. The problem they had was that they didn't know exactly what was so special about the car, as Chapman and other members of Lotus came up with any number of excuses to hide the real reason. That as well as the skirts, which hid any view of the underside of the car.

The 78 was good enough to still be a winner in early 1978, with Andretti and Ronnie Peterson scoring a win each and another three pole positions before it was replaced by the Lotus 79, which was as far ahead of the 78 as the 78 had been ahead of the rest of the field in 1977. The 78 was to see one further works team start, however. Owing to damage sustained to his 79 in practice, Ronnie Peterson was forced to use the reserve car, 78/3 (JPS-17), to qualify for the 1978 Italian Grand Prix. The car had not been maintained or developed by the team as they concentrated on the 79, and the car was hurriedly prepared for the race. Although his team mate Andretti predictably took pole position, the slower 78 was only good enough for fifth place on the grid for Peterson. Sadly, the Swede was caught up in a massive start line accident, which resulted in his car ramming the barriers nose-first, completely destroying the front end of the vehicle. Peterson later died owing to complications arising from the treatment he received following the crash.


The original development prototype, 78/1 (JPS-15), was sold to Hector Rebaque. He ran this car through his Rebaque privateer team in World Championship events during 1978 and 1979, and in non-Championship races into the early 1980s.  
In all, the Lotus 78 took seven wins, nine pole positions and scored 106 points in its career.'

Want to find out more about Flyslot slot cars?
Be our guest and CLICK HERE

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MOVIE: Porsche 917K Goodwood

Some beautiful footage on board a Porsche 917K (and 908/3) at Goodwood hillclimb, what's really interesting (except for the amazing sound of the 917K) is how tight the hillclimb is in places.



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Friday 25 March 2011

NEWS: Auto64 Rally Mag

A 1:32 scale slot car rally, recreating, in miniature, the golden age of British rallying particularly the 1960s and 1970s. Here are the cars, the drivers, the rally stages, the spectators and the scenery of Britain in the 1970s, all recreated in Scalextric.

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Monday 21 March 2011

SPORT: Peugeot wins Sebring!

PEUGEOT WINS SEBRING 2011!

This from The Clutch Garage: 'The running of the 12 Hours of Sebring took place this weekend in Florida, and the results show that newcomers have what it takes to compete with the big-boys of the American Le Mans Series. The race was riddled with yellow flags, keeping the field nice and tight throughout the race. Overall it was a race to remember, and below will fill you in on the action you may have missed.

In the Prototype 1 category, Loic Duval took the checkered flag in the Team ORECA Matmut’s Peugeot 908 HDi FAP. This is the first Sebring voctory since it swept GT in 2000 in factory-backed Dodge Vipers. Through all 12 hours, and even down to the final hour, Duval would battle Highcroft Racing’s Simon Pagenaud in his HPD ARX-01e. Within the final 60 minutes of the race, Pagenaud managed to overtake Duval during a pit stop. However, Pagenaud had a pit stop ahead of him, and simply couldn’t develop the gap that was needed to get ahead of Deval.'

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Tuesday 15 March 2011

NEWS: Slot.it GT40

Slot.it Ford GT40 MkI
Sebring 1966 #24

Well it feels like it's been a long, long wait for what might be Slot.it's most anticipated new model release ever but the moment of truth is finally upon us...so what's another weeks wait in terms of slot car perfection?

All indications are that the Slot.it's first GT40 release, the red 1966 Sebring #24 MkI will be released in around 10 days time. I don't know about you but I'm pretty damn excited about this one?!

You can read more on the Slot.it Website Here

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NEWS: Racer 250P/275P

RCR 58A - Ferrari 250P Le Mans 1963
RCR 58B - Ferrari 275P Le Mans 1964

Racer Slot Cars have sent through some beautiful photos and information on their latest releases, the RCR58A - Ferrari 250P raced at Le Mans 24hrs in 1963 (winner) driven by L.Bandini / L.Scarfiotti and the Ferrari RCR58B 275P raced at Le Mans 24hrs in 1964 (winner) driven by J.Guichet / N.Vaccarella.

You can view more photos of the slots on the Racer Website Here

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Sunday 13 March 2011

NEWS: Scalex Mercedes F1

SCALEXTRIC MERCEDES F1 GP PETRONAS
MICHAEL SCHUMACHER LIMITED EDITION

Scalextric releases its fair share of boxed limited editions but every now and then, (like with the 'Year of Legends' 1967 twin pack) they really hit the nail right on the head. And for some reason I feel their latest limited release of the Michael Schumacher Mercedes F1 car will be as popular.

Love him or hate him, Schumacher changed F1 as we know it and the Petronas Mercedes F1 silver livery makes for a very striking slot car.

This from Scalextric: 'Mercedes-Benz returned to Formula One for the 2010 season, joining forces with the 2009 World Champions, Brawn GP. Mercedes made its Formula One debut in 1954 with immediate success. Juan Manuel Fangio and Karl Kling dominated with Fangio winning the Driver’s titles in 1954 and 1955.

The return of Mercedes and the ‘Silver Arrow’ cars to Formula One was greeted with a wealth of excitement, along with the news that racing legend Michael Schumacher had signed for the team on his sensational return to Formula One.

Michael Schumacher has broken several world records during his glittering career in Formula One (1991 to 2006). Most notably, Schumacher has achieved and incredible seven World Championships; beating the five World titles of Juan Manuel Fangio (a record that few believed would ever be broken).

The Scalextric Limited Edition model is fitted with a high performance 20,000rpm motor, hardened rear axles and enhanced decoration detail to the driver’s helmet. This is a limited edition of 3,000 models.'

You can read more on the Scalextric Website Here

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GALLERY: NSR Momo Mosler

NSR Mosler MT900R
'Oulton Park Winner 2009'











The ManicSlot Mini Review

Strengths:

  • Probably the best performance 'From The Box' slot car on the market!
  • Amazing 'FTB' magnetic and non-magnetic performance
  • Solid detailed slot car
  • Front and rear alloy 'air system' wheels
  • Floating angle-winder motor pod, mega light body
  • Adjustable magnet position
  • Beautiful engineering, alloy gearing

Weaknesses:

  • VERY low ride height (not good for tracks with too much vertical elevation)
  • You've heard it before but the Mosler has scaling issues - The price of blistering performance!
  • Detail levels could be better but let us not forget this car IS made to race, not to look at

Verdict:

What can I say really? If you have one of these or have seen one of these cars then you'll KNOW how fast they are. Even with minimal set-up they will probably beat your best car's lap time on your track. This is my only Mosler and one of only 3 NSRs I own - I guess an indication of how much they cost. That being said, there is no doubt that you get what you are paying for with a NSR Mosler, a stunning slot car with physics defying performance!

Personally I love the matt black and yellow Momo livery but paint/decal finish on this car is pretty basis by today's Fly or Slot.it standards. This car has been made to race and there are no compromises made in the performance department for the sake of aesthetics. As a result the Mosler has some scale issues so if you're after a shelf queen then this is probably not the car for you. However if you want a bloody fast car with amazing engineering that is a pleasure to drive, then this IS the car for you!

Return to the ManicSlot's Gallery Here

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Saturday 12 March 2011

MOVIE: Onboard RB7 F1

Some beautiful footage on-board the 2011 Red Bull Racing F1-RB7 with Sebastian Vettel, be sure to look for the rear wing working in the first part of the movie. This is a HD movie so if you have a big screen it's worth watching it there.

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GALLERY: Ferrari 599XX

Carrera Ferrari 599XX











The ManicSlot Mini Review

Strengths:

  • It's a Ferrari and Carrera has the exclusive rights to make the Ferrari 599XX
  • Strong 'from the box' performance
  • Impressively detailed slot car, beautiful wheels!
  • Front and rear lights
  • Revised chassis (much lighter)
  • Revised magnet configuration, (now only comes with a single magnet)
  • Revised smaller reverse direction switch

Weaknesses:

  • Average non magnetic performance
  • Rubber requires upgrading
  • Wheel diameter are non-standard which makes it difficult to upgrade rubber

Verdict:

There is no doubt that Carrera's release of the Ferrari 599XX is an impressive addition to the Carrera line-up. The first 2 releases have sold well and Carrera has plans to release 2 more 599XX liveries in 2011, (be sure to check out the black liveried car!). It's clear to me that Carrera has listened well to the slot car community with the 599XX and have significantly improved their chassis design and at the same time reduced overall car weight - 2 big steps in the right direction!

Detail levels are as good as those of any manufacture and 'FTB' on-track performance is great. The 599XX signals that Carrera is dead serious about their future in the slot car industry. Combine these things with an aggressive pricing structure and Carrera is on a real winning formula, something that's great for us all!

Return to the ManicSlot's Gallery Here

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