San Antonio Used Cars » Race Fan News

SCX 63160 Renault 8 Gordini Monte Carlo ‘69

admin — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 18:23:41 +0000

The Renault 8 was first introduced in 1962 as a small family car. It was built in various models up until 1971. The R8 was one of the first small sedans to include 4 wheel disc brakes as standard equipment. These cars were assembled by Alfa Romeo in Italy, and marketed by Renault. In 1964 a Gordini tuned R8 was introduced. This raised the horsepower from 44 bhp in stock trim to over 90 bhp. These cars were originally only available in blue and included two white stick-on racing stripes. The Gordini R8 was further revised in 1967 to provide 100 bhp. This latter version of the Gordini is the car SCX has chosen to model and is based on one which competed in the 1969 Monte Carlo Rally. I couldn’t find photo reference for that particular competitor, but there is a wealth of photographs on the internet of the R8 in road racing and rally guise. SCX has done a good job of rendering this particular model. The paint is up to their usual standard with some nice painted and chrome accents like rain gutters, window trim, and bumpers. The half tray interior has some detail and leaves lots of room on the chassis for lead placement.

As a magnet car, the R8 is totally stuck down. My test track, Maxport II located at Mini Grid in Toronto, is a 22m Sport track operated at 11V. I only needed to blip in the tightest hairpin corners and could lap my test track in 8.5s. It could be run flat out otherwise. This car is in the zone with the SCX SEAT 131 Abarth (8.2s) and Alpine A110 (8.7s). On Mini Grid’s Magnet Marshal the R8 pulled 273g of magnetic downforce and tipped the scales at only 74g with the magnet installed. As has become the norm with SCX rally cars the R8 has bright multiple headlights and illuminated tail lights. The excellent magnet performance and bright lights (as well as durable construction) will make this a popular car for kids.

The chassis for this car is a 1 piece design with the motor mounted solidly to it. Since I prefer racing slot cars without traction magnets so I removed the bar magnet from the R8. My lap time increased dramatically to 11.6s. The car was easy to slide through the corners which is surprising for such a tall, narrow car. I cleaned up the minimal flash on the plastic wheels and sanded the tires which reduced my lap time to 10.5s. The Gordini’s body is held on with 4 screws: 1 each in the nose and tail, as 1 on each side. I removed the side screws, and loosened the nose and tail screws half a turn. This bought me another tenth of a second. I’m sure that tuning with weight and fitting better tires would even further improve the car’s lap times. In stock form with minimal tuning this car could run head to head with the likes of a NINCO Cobra (10.4s), 550 Spyder (10.4s), Fly Porsche 911 (10.5s), and TeamSlot Lancia Stratos (10.6s).

Overall, I really like this car. It’s an interesting subject and nicely rendered model that runs very well both with and without traction magnets. SCX got it right by not overpowering this car and by putting straight axles and round wheels on it. I think it would be great to see SCX bring out some Pro wheels for their vintage sports and rally cars. These parts would be ideal hobbyists who want to take their tuning a step further and complement what is already a very good car.

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Toyota F1 2009 movie

admin — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 18:22:58 +0000

Toyota F1 2009 Car presentation photo’s and a promotion video.

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New MRRC Porsche 904

admin — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 21:58:24 +0000

Photos taken this weekend at iHobby showing the new MRRC Porsche 904. This is a prototype and the production car will be a deeper red from what I understand.

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New MRRC Ford GT Mk.IV

admin — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0000

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Tuning the Sloter Opel Manta

admin — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 15:42:11 +0000

The Sloter Opel Manta has gotten some negative comments concerning its less than perfect representation of the 1:1 car, the unorthodox layout, and the somewhat weak and overly flexible chassis. These complaints are not without substance, but simply dismissing the Sloter Opel as not worth buying is much too harsh. When I looked at the car, I saw an innovative model design of a â€œnot done before in 1/32â€ Group B rally car. Although not AWD like most Group Bs, the Manta was very competitive on the paved rallies. And since I collect Group B cars, which are the â€œCan Amâ€ of rally cars, I thought I would take a closer look. The first thing I noticed was the lack of a traction magnet, which I believe is only correct for rally cars, as they are meant to slide and drift.
The unusual aspect of the cars layout is the wide angle, anglewinder (AW) SCX Pro Speed motor set up. The Pro Speed is one of the most powerful SCX motors (20k rpm), but it is still controllable when running with no magnet. I actually prefer SCX motors for rallying because they have a smooth powerband without too much torque and still have a good top end rev, which is good for rally because it is easy to drive. This also makes for a fun car to just race with a friend. The AW layout moves the center of gravity (CG) back slightly compared to an inline, improving rear grip, but also gives more room for the drop arm guide within the stock wheelbase.

The AW uses what appears to be a standard inline crown gear and pinion. Because this gives a smaller contact between the gears, the gear mesh is critical to avoid damage. Mine was a bit on the loose side, so some adjustment was in order. By carefully squeezing the rear axle just beside the crown with a pair of needle nose pliers, then twisting the pliers slightly, you can move the pressed on gear slightly on the axle adjusting the mesh. Do this in small steps to avoid making the mesh too tight. Mine runs very smooth and quiet after setting the mesh to minimum free play. Since the gear seems to be just a standard inline crown, aftermarket inline crown gears should also work. The mesh would also be much easier to adjust with a set screw type gear.

The drop arm style guide may be new to some people who arenâ€™t familiar with rally cars or vintage slot cars, which also sometimes use this style. The drop arm allows the car to traverse bumps and uneven surfaces, as found on rally tracks, while keeping the guide in the slot. If properly adjusted, this style of guide should have no negative affects on the cars operation. There is a screw mounted on the chassis just above the guide which limits the upward travel of the arm. This should be adjusted so that the guide is fully engaged in the slot when the car is sitting on the track. Use either a set up plate or an extra piece of track to check this adjustment.

The drop arm mechanism includes a small spring which ensures the arm will drop and follow the surface of the track. This spring should be very light and not put excess force on the guide, which might cause the front of the car to lift off the track. I found the spring was a bit too strong and made a slight adjustment by bending the spring a little flatter than it was originally. I also managed to break the chassis were the arm attaches, but made a fix by gluing on an old axle bushing. I have been told that Sloter is aware of the weak chassis and is sending free improved replacement chassisâ€™ to customers on request. I have made a request and will report back when it arrives. This is some very impressive customer service.After adjusting the drop arm, I noticed some slight interference between the guide and the body when the guide was all the way up. The guide was moving through itâ€™s full travel, but it was contacting the body behind the grill which made for some inconsistent drifting action, which is critical for a rally car. It was an easy fix to take the Dremel and make an arc shaped relief on the back side of the lower part of the front valence and grill. The relief did cut through part of the grill, but because the grill is all black plastic, the hole is not visible when the car is assembled.

I also did some standard tuning tricks, such as truing the wheels and tires on some sand paper. I added some lead on either side of the motor because the car had good grip (with stock tires!), but tended to roll at the limit. I installed some low profile front tires to eliminate some interference with the front fenders. With these changes, the Manta went from an erratic mid pack car to one of the quickest 2WD rally cars I have. I hope the new chassis makes the car even better and will report back when I am able to try it. So although it is far from perfect out of the box, with some relatively simple tuning, the Manta joins Sloters other cars as some of the quickest non magnet slot cars available.

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Racer Porsche 935-1980 Mosport

admin — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 04:01:00 +0000

The latest Racer Porsche 935 is the RCR45 – 935K3 Interscope sponsored car driven in the Mosport 6hrs in 1980 by Danny Ongais / Ted Field.

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NASCAR Holdings Announces Plan to Acquire Grand-Am

admin — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:56:00 +0000

Partnership allows for sharing of resources with NASCAR

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Sept. 4, 2008) – NASCAR Holdings today announced an agreement to acquire Grand-Am Road Racing (Grand-Am). The future move will allow for resource sharing between Grand-Am and NASCAR while both organizations continue to operate independently. NASCAR Holdings is the legal operating entity that includes the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) and many of its subsidiaries.

Grand-Am, one of the world’s most competitive road racing organizations, and NASCAR, the No. 1 spectator sport in the U.S., will combine marketing and communications efforts to include brand management, research, marketing and public relations.

Grand-Am consists of six racing series, including the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series and the Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series, which has millions of loyal fans.

“This combination of resources will benefit Grand-Am and NASCAR, their competitors and fans, as the two companies work together to enhance the two sports,” said Jim France, NASCAR Vice Chairman and Grand-Am founder.

The two racing brands will continue to independently sanction and officiate race events for their own series and there will be no change in management. Roger Edmondson will continue to serve as president of Grand-Am.

There has been a rise in crossover drivers and team owners between Grand-Am and NASCAR in recent years. NASCAR drivers such as Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Kyle Petty, Bobby Labonte, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kurt Busch and Jeff Gordon have raced in the Grand-Am Rolex Series. Full time driver and 2008 Grand-Am Daytona Prototype team champion Scott Pruett has driven in many NASCAR events. Chip Ganassi and Richard Childress own teams in both sports.

Grand-Am Road Racing was established in 1999 and is based in Daytona Beach, Fla. The 2008 schedule includes 15 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series events and 11 Grand-Am KONI Challenge events. Other Grand-Am racing series include Ferrari Challenge; Ford Racing Mustang Challenge; Skip Barber Racing Series; and the SunTrust MOTO-ST Series. For more information about Grand-Am please log on to: www.grand-am.com.

NASCAR, celebrating 60 years of racing in 2008, holds 17 of the top 20 highest attended sporting events in the U.S., and is the No. 2 rated regular-season sport on television. NASCAR races are broadcast in more than 150 countries and in more than 30 languages. NASCAR fans are the most brand loyal in all of sports, and, as a result, more Fortune 500 companies participate in NASCAR than any other sport. For more information about NASCAR, please log on to: www.nascar.com.

News used with permission from the Grand Am Series.

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Fly December releases

admin — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 04:01:00 +0000

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New Sloting Plus wheels

admin — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 18:55:37 +0000

New Sloting Plus wheels and other products can be found at Professor Motor at this link.

From Jacques at Sloting Plus:
This wheel, as the previous models, doesn’t need insert because this is already integrated in the design. The model is drawn to fit a greater number of sizes, both in diameter and in width, in order to satisfy the customer as well on the esthetic and dynamic point of view.

To make the size identification easier, we have innovated by drawing a channel with a green mark on the 15,9 x 8,5 and 15,9 x10 sizes, two channels with a blue mark on the 16,5 x 8,5 and 16,5 x 10 sizes and finally three channels with a red mark on the 16,9 x 8,5 and 16,9 x 10 sizes . No channel on the smallest 15 x 8,5 size.

Wheels are in a very light and resistant Aluminium-Magnesium alloy with a weight between 0,6 g (for the smallest size) to 0,9 g (for the biggest size) !
The “zigzag” design of the holes is conceived to avoid the abnormal usury of the tire and beyond this it authorize the use of low profile tires that are not adjusted to wheels with bigger diameter holes.

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New Sloter Lola T70 photo tour

admin — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 04:00:00 +0000

Many, many photos of the Sloter Lola T70 can be seen at this link.

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