|
 |
The hits keep coming from
Slot.It. The newest release is surely a slot car that needs little in
the way of introduction, the Lancia Martini livery will be the "one to
buy" for many slotters.
There are no breaks in the tampo printed stripes along the sides and
top of the body. And none of this will come as a surprise to anyone
familiar, as most are, with Slot It's products. There are no blemishes
on the outside of the body of this car. Inside the body, near the front
wheels, there is a bit of over spray, but you can't see this unless you
remove the body. So it's another cosmetically wonderful slot car from
Maurizio.
The Martini car has the
black paint between the windows that the BP-Malardeau lacked. This
detail isn't something that really took away from the first release of
the Lancia, but it's nice to see this black tear drop shape around the
greenhouse.
Thankfully for everyone
out there who's a fan of Slot.It cars, Maurizio is never content to
just release another car without trying to improve on his product. The
Lancia body was supposed to have been lightened a bit, but both the
Malardeau and the Martini weigh the same (22 grams), no big deal, since
the real change can be seen when you flip the car over.
And there you have it.
Not only the 21.5k "orange endbell" high torque motor, but the cut outs
for an angle winder pod.
The changes aren't
limited to the pod. The wires are routed under the front axle via the
same channel design used on all recent releases. A great feature that
is now a standard on new releases. The front wheels on this car didn't
turn easily or touch the track on this car out of the box. Removal of
the "cups" that are under front fix this with not too much trouble.
The car has the usual 28
tooth crown gear which now has a Slot.It logo on it. One of the very
noticeable differences between the first Lancia release and this one is
how much quieter this car is than the last car. Like the final black
and red Nissan 390 and the McLaren this car is whisper quiet. I have a
theory that in addition to a logo being added a slight change might
have occurred in the gear mold yielding a gear that meshes just a bit
better. One feature that the McLaren does have, however, is larger
holes that the heads of the pod screws sit in. So, when you loosen the
pod, the heads of the screws have plenty of room to move around. This
small change was not incorporated into the new chassis made for the
latest Lancia. The benefit of larger holes for the heads of the screws
might be doubted by some, but personally, I'd like to see this small
change made in future releases. When it comes to pod movement, every
little bit helps.
On track performance at the East New York Raceway wood track yielded
these times:
6.229 stock tires, tight pod - the car feels too tight and twitchy
around the corners.
5.9 stock tires, loose pod - car feels much smoother, and even with the
stock tires the car is much easier to drive. 5.5 with the provided S2
tires
5.4 with Technical Editor Robert Livingston driving, in a different
lane on the track.
A note about times. Times on this day were slower than normal, cars
that normally were sub-5 second racers barely cracked that barrier
around the 61 foot track. We'd expect this car to be slightly slower
than the 956 and Nissan, and much slower than the McLaren (which still
stands alone as the fastest Slot.It out-of-the-box, in testing by Slot
Car News).
The new orange endbell-driven car is much faster down the straights
than the older 25k powered Malardeau Lancia. Also, the car can be
driven much further into the corners, because of the better brakes on
the 21.5k. Gear ratio and weight are the same. You just can't go wrong
with any of the Slot.It cars. It's nice that there aren't really any
negative surprises with their cars. You put them on the track and they
fly around as fast as your driving ability will allow. The Martini
Lancia LC2-84 should sell briskly because it's "one of those" liveries
that many slotters collect.
Dave Kennedy
Publisher,
Slot Car News
|
|
| This article was published on Monday July 02, 2007. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
