1/16/03

Another Big Hit From Vanquish MG!

By Axle Gearmesh

(Click on any image for larger view in new window)

By now most 1/32 scale home racing enthusiasts and collectors have become familiar with the new Vanquish MG brand of cars. Having said that, then it has already been well established that while the cars feature excellent detail and appearance, they are slightly larger in size then 1/32 scale. For this reason, the Vanquish cars may look a bit larger in proportion when set next to a similar car of a different brand. The obvious answer is to simply not set them next to similar cars of different brands, and to appreciate them either individually, or alongside other Vanquish MG cars. :-)

This recent release, the Vanquish MG BRM P154, Item #VACA42, is yet another excellent example of the quality of car we have come to expect from Vanquish.

The attention to detail, molding, paint, tampo stamping, trim, etc. is just about flawless.

The attention to detail is especially noted on the interior and engine detail. The header stacks , wheels, and exhaust pipes, mirrors, and trim look great, and other then sitting a bit high in the saddle, the full body driver has excellent detail, including seatbelts complete with buckles. In fact, the seat belts actually extend off the driver's shoulders and lap, rather then simply to the extent of his body as on most slot car drivers. The dash board includes painted instruments, and the fire extinguisher even has tampo stamped markings on it.

The only real complaint regarding the looks of the car would have to be in how high the driver sits. While the overall profile of the car looks good, the driver just appears to be sitting on a pillow, or perhaps it's just a copy Fantasy World Hobbies latest print catalog. ;-) Other then that, it's a pretty mean and lean looking car that looks fast even sitting still.

A view from the bottom reveals a flat pan type plastic chassis, similar to a Fly car, with nothing fancy. The motor looks a bit weird at first glance, as it is simply a bare motor with no label, tag, or paint on it at all.

Removing the body reveals the complete interior tray and motor detail, which both remove simply with no catches or melted down tabs to mess with. The entire assembly is kept quite clean and simple, as well as detailed.

As you continue to disassemble the car, it reveals a difference not so noticeable from the bottom. The pan chassis is actually separate from the main skeleton frame, which also comes apart easily. The simple, yet rather ingenious design is impressive in the way it all fits, and certainly makes working on the car an easy task, if needed.

As the car continues to perform it's "striptease", you can see how all the pieces lay together. Very neat and tidy, with excellent fit of all parts. No hidden connection to break off while taking it apart, or melted tabs to re-glue - a feature I am not very fond of on many other 1/32 cars.

The signature feature of Vanquish MG cars is their unique differential system. This allows one wheel to rotate at a slightly different speed around corners, as on a real car. This is intended to provide more traction, however with the stock rear tires, it would be hard to say that it helps. With the addition of silicone tires it improved the traction on Scalextric Sport or Carrera track, but did not result in a very significant difference on the rougher Ninco or Scalextric Classic tracks. The tires that were available for testing seemed a bit too hard for this car to help much. There were no softer silicone or polymer tires available at the time of track testing, but I would hope that some medium or soft silicone or polymer tires may be just the ticket for this car.

The bottom view shows the round magnet placement in front of the motor, allowing the car to fish-tail and drift a bit in the turns, yet still providing some magnetic traction. The modular chassis design lends the potential for interchangeability of parts, as well as ease of replacement.

On the track, one would hope that the slick looking differential would result in improved performance, but it is hard to tell if it helps that much. The car does handle reasonably well, however, but simply does not have the kind of traction or magnetic down force that has become so common among most Scalextric Sport and Fly cars.

Lap times on this car were about .1 second per lap slower then a Classic Fly Porsche 908, lapping in the 4.3's to the 908's 4.2's. A Scalextric Porsche GT3R compared at around 4.1 second laps, so it is possible to due a bit of "handicap" tuning via tires and magnets to make the Vanquish BRM competitive against some other brands and types of cars. The Scalextric Sport GT40, however, is not in the same league though, for an example, lapping at 3.5 seconds, with the rear magnet, so again, creative "handicapping" would be necessary for mixed brand racing with this car.

With the addition of the silicone tires, the traction was improved a bit, but you still have to drive this car with much more finesse then a stronger magneted car. While there is plenty of room to add a stronger or additional magnet, personally I prefer a 1/32 car that does not drive like an HO car - so to each his own. Just be aware that the Vanquish MG cars can be a lot of fun to race against each other, but I would not try to pit them against a newer Fly or Scalextric Sport car. They are simply in a different category, performance wise. That being said, they are a lot of fun to drive, and they look every bit as good on the track as they do off it!

Thanks to Fantasy World Hobbies for providing the Vanquish MG BRM P154 for this product test and review.

- Axle Gearmesh