82

Peter Reece and Alfred P. Hitchings drove the number 2 Cad-Allard J2X at Le-Mans in 1951 but the gearbox disintegrated in the 14th hour. Sydney Allard himself, driving with Tom Cole finished third overall and won the over 5-liter class in 1959 in a nearly-identical number Cad-Allard. ---LAT Photo

Model Car Racing 3

1/32 SCALE MODEL CAR RACING:

7 Formula 1Scalextic 1958 Maserati 250FCarroll Shelby’s F1 Car by Robert Schleicher

10 TRACK TESTSupertuned Racers, Part 119:Magnet-Free:Avant Slot 1975 Mirage G8

12 LeMansMMK 1951 Cad-Allard LeMans by Bill Wright

15 Historic RacingLeMans 1951 in 1/32 Scale

16 Real Race Track Plans2-Lane Estoril Circuit for Scalextric Sport, Classic, SCX, Ninco, Carrera (with optional lane-changing) on a 5 x 18-foot tabletop. by Robert Schleicher

19 Race Tracks on a Tabletop2-Lane Estoril Circuit for Scalextric Sport, Classic, SCX, Ninco or Carrera (with optional lane-changing) on a 5 x 9-foot ping-pong tabletopby Robert Schleicher

20 Digital RacingCarrera Digital 132 Race Management Appby Robert Schleicher

22 Tech TipsTrue-Running Tiresby Robert Schleicher

24 Vintage RacingRevell 1963-1965 Corvetteby Philippe deLespinay

26 Your TrackRandy Peterson’s 20 x 40-foot Four-Lane WoodSatan’s Turf Raceway

ON THE COVER: The Scalextric 1/32 scale replica of the Scuderia Centro Sud Maserati 250F that Carroll Shelby drove to ninth overall at the 1958 British Grand Prix. Silverstone, England. ---LAT Photo

CONTENTS

82

4 Model Car Racing

28 TRACK TESTSupertuned Racers, Part 120:Magnet-Free SHOOT-OUT:Flyslot/Avant vs. Slotwings 1982 Ferrari 512BB LM by Marc Purdham

32 Muscle Cars1970 Dodge Challenger by Albin Burroughs

34 LeMansSlot.it 1989 Nissan R89C by Albin Burroughs

38 Home RacingBuild Your Own Race TrackPart 1: The Tableby Robert Schleicher

41 Tech TipsBuild A Model Car Racing Tableby Robert Schleicher

43 Sedan RacingNinco Seat Leon Cup Racerby Albin Burroughs

46 TRACK TESTSupertuned Racers, Part 121:Magnet-Free SHOOT-OUT:Flyslot/Avant 1982 Ferrari 512BB LM by Marc Purdham

51 LeMansSlot.it 4WD 2013 Audi R18 e-tron quarto by Robert Schleicher

52 Tech TipsHow the Slot.it Four-Wheel Drive System Worksby Robert Schleicher

HO MODEL CAR RACING:37 Drag RacingAuto World NHRA Funny Cars by Bill Wright

49 Track Plans4-Lane Estoril Track for 4 x 8-Feetby Robert Schleicher

DEPARTMENTS:6 Editorial: Slot Cars48 Pit Board50 Club Directory54 New Stuff

On Your Tablet:Model Car Racing is now available for iPad or Kindle. Just click on the Apple iTunes icon and search for Model Car Racing to order individual issues, subscriptions or a limited number of back issues. There’s more information on page 56 of this issue.

Where To Buy Model Car Racing Products:Dealers: A listing of the addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and websites of all the dealers that carry Model Car Racing magazine appears on our website at www.modelcarracingmag.com

Manufacturers: A listing of the addresses and websites of firms that manufacture model car racing products appears on our website at www.modelcarracingmag.com:

More Information:There is an Index of all of the past issues, a Digest of the results of the first 257 cars in our Race Track Test series, Pros and Cons of plastic track by brand, the Pros and Cons of the four digital systems, Pros and Cons of 1/43 scale and an index of the 157 previously published track plans, by size, on our website at www.modelcarracingmag.com.

Model Car Racing 5

Slot Cars �������������������������You will seldom see the term “slot cars” on these pages because there really are very two distinct versions of the model cars that can be raced on a tabletop and these cars are part of just one version. It is certainly true that all of these 1/32 and HO and 1/24 scale models can be described as slot cars but there are more differences than similarities between the 1/24 scale cars that race on commercial (rented) tracks and the 1/32, HO and 1/24 scale cars that are raced on tracks in enthusiasts’ homes. I have tried to make it clear which one of the two you will find in Model Car Racing magazine.

Two HobbiesMany of you remember model car racing from the seventies when the hobby was focused on eight-lane tracks that were half the size of a tennis court. Those are the models that most remember as “slot cars”. In the seventies, these models had evolved to be almost exclusively 1/24 scale with clear plastic bodies. That is one version of slot car racing.

The hobby you see on these pages originated with 1/29 scale cars with unpainted colored injection-molded plastic bodies from Scalextric and 1/32 scale cars from VIP in England in the late fifties. The term “slot cars” came into common use about that time. In the mid-sixties American-based com-panies including Strombecker, Revell and Mono-gram produced 1/32 and 1/24 scale cars and sets with much lower prices than Scalextric or VIP and, obviously, they were more readily available to Americans than the English brands. That was enough to capture the attention of race car fans in America.

Virtually every hobby shop in America carried Strombecker, Revell and Monogram cars, parts and sets and, soon, special model car racing shops opened that had tracks with the slots routed into sheets of particle board. That ever-growing need-for-speed inspired the model race car shop owners to build ever larger tracks and, by the mid-sixties, there were hundreds of shops that had 4- and 6- and even 8-lane tracks that slot car fans could rent by the hour, hence they became known as “com-mercial raceways’. By 1970 there were about 6,000 commercial race car shops in America, 3,000 of them under the American Model Car Raceways franchise alone.

Very few folks had the space that was needed for these ultra-quick 1/24 scale cars that were the mainstay of commercial race tracks so slot car rac-ing became a hobby where you raced almost exclu-sively on these massive rental tracks. Racing on a plastic track in your home almost died out. At best, 1/32 scale racing was less than five-percent of the hobby but that hobby was massive, with somewhere around 10 million slot car fans renting track time. It was, however, a “bubble” because the hobby had evolved from a sport where you could win with a $50 (in today’s dollars) car into one where you needed a $500 car—too rich for 95-percent of those 10 million and the commercial raceways dwindled to about 100. The radio control race car hobby was

also in its early stages and you could race a “real” 1/12 or 1/8 scale car for about the same price as a slot car so that, too, impacted the slot car hobby.

“Retro” Car Racing On Commercial TracksThe commercial raceways survived and there are at least 100 commercial raceways still active in America. Most are listed on the www.oldweird-herald.com/owh-raceway-directory website. The fastest slot cars are the “wing” cars with wedge-shaped painted clear plastic bodies (that resembled no known full-size race car) with two-inch-high pieces of clear plastic sheet stapled to the sides and back to force the airflow over the car for more downforce. There are though, a growing number of enthusiasts who are racing the cars that date back to the early years of commercial raceways when cars were at least something similar to the shapes of full-size race cars---today, these 1/24 scale models are referred to as “Retro” racers.

Essentially, the “Retro” cars have handmade chassis soldered together from steel piano wire and brass tube that are replicas of chassis from the late sixties. The chassis usually have eight or more parallel steel rods that are selected, bent and attached in a specif-ic order to provide a controlled amount of twist to dampen chassis vibrations and keep the pickup and rear wheels in contact with the track---they func-tion somewhat like 1/32 scale motor pods. You can, of course, buy these Retro chassis ready to race. The clear plastic bodies are modified replicas of full-size race cars from firms like (http://truescaleproducts.com) but they are much lower and, usually, wider than accurate 1/24 scale. The wheels and tires are also much smaller than accurate 1/24 scale. The Retro cars are really caricatures of the real thing but no one would have any difficulty identifying one of these cars as a McLaren M8B or Ferrari 312. The International Retro Racing Association (http://ir-raslotracing.com/) rules include a provision for a $10 cap on the motor cost and an experienced home chassis builder can probably assemble a 1/24 scale Retro McLaren M8B for less than $200 if you are willing to paint your own clear plastic body. Ready to race chassis are obviously more costly.

Euroracers on Plastic TracksIronically, there are segments of today’s 1/32 scale model car racing hobby that are very similar to the seventies-era 1/24 scale Retro racer cars. NSR was one of the first to produce ready-to-race 1/32 scale cars with bodies that were “smoothed” for better airflow (to become caricatures of the real car’s shapes) and tires that were about 20-percent smaller than accu-rate 1/32 scale. The NSR Mosler looks like a full-size Mosler that was molded in clay and placed in the sun to melt just enough to lower and smooth its shape. The NSR Ford GT40 Mk IV has a similar smoothed-down and extended shape. These cars were designed specifically for the 1/32 scale fans that race in Europe that prefer the vastly undersize tires. Apparently, the Mosler and Mk.IV were too much of a deviation from

accurate models even for Euroracers because most of the later NSR cars have more accurate shapes. Those ultra-small tires, however have remained and they have become common on some Slot.it, ScaleAuto, Ninco Lightning (and Ultra) and other cars designed to appeal to the Euroracer market.

Common GroundThere is no one-right-way to go model car racing. That is one of strengths of the hobby because you can choose to race and build the fastest cars pos-sible with little thought about their appearance, or create highly-detailed masterpieces from parts and pieces, or simply collect the cars that make you smile. And you can choose to race them alone to improve your lap times, race them with a friend or relative or few, join or create a club, or visit one of the commercial raceways. Or you can do all that and thousands of model car racers do, because you do not have choose. It’s all fun.

Volume 14, Number 4 (issue number 82) July/August 2015

Publisher: Robert Schleicher

Editor: Robert Schleicher

Technical Editor: Chris Walker

Track Test Editor: Marc Purdham

Layout & Design: Aaron Tipton - aaron@atgd.net

Contributing Editors:Mark GussinDan WilsonBrad Bowman

Jeremy DunningAlan SchwartzBernard Sampson

Jason BoyeDan EspositoPat Dennis

Editors Emeritus:Rocky RussoJose RodriguezBob Braverman

Bill SippleJim RussellRon Klein

Albin Adams

Circulation & Dealer Contact:email: modelcarracingmag@hotmail.comModel Car Racing Publications, Inc.6525 Gunpark Drive, Suite 370-142Boulder, CO 80301-3346website: www.modelcarracingmag.com

Model Car Racing (USPS 020-443, ISSN 1538-9170) is published bi-monthly by Model Car Racing Publications, Inc., 6525 Gunpark Drive, Suite 370-142, Boulder, CO 80301-3346. Copyright 2015, Model Car Racing Publications, Inc.

Individual issue price $6.95. No current issues or back issues are avail-able from the publisher but a list of dealers who carry the magazine is on the website at www.modelcarracingmag.com. All sales and subscriptions are not returnable.

SUBSCRIPTION RATE: United States: 1 year (6 issues) $35.00. We can only accept Canadian or foreign subscriptions for the digital version of the magazine, which is $19.95 for six issues. We cannot accept subscription orders for the paper version of the magazine from countries other than the United States.

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POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Model Car Racing Publications, Inc., 6525 Gunpark Drive, Suite 370-142, Boulder, CO 80301-3346. Periodicals Postage is paid at Boulder, Colorado and at additional mail-ing offices.

Model Car Racing assumes that all letters, new product information, photographs of any kind, and other unsolicited materials are contributed gratis whether mailed or sent electronically. Model Car Racing assumes no responsibility for the return of unsolicited material. Solicited articles and photographs are paid for within 45 days after publication, at which time Model Car Racing obtains full publication rights. Unsolicited materi-als can be returned if adequate postage is included.

6 Model Car Racing

Race Tracks on a Tabletop:2-Lane Estoril Circuit on a 5 X 9-Foot Ping-Pong Tabletop for Scalextric Classic, Sport, SCX or Ninco, and for Carrera with (Optional) Digital Lane-ChangingThese plans are much-modified versions of the Estoril Circuit on pages 15-18, the current host to MotoGP and the site of the Portuguese rounds of the Formula 1 series in 1984-1996. There is only enough space on a 5 x 9-foot tabletop for the four turns at the ends of the straights. How-ever, on the Scalextric Classic, Sport, SCX and Ninco version, there is over 180-degrees of at least three different radius curves. The Carrera version has the largest possible radius through turns T1 and T2 with three tight turns at T3, T4 and T13. It will, then, take some time and practice to learn just how much throttle is needed for each turn. The plan is designed so it can be lengthened at the points marked “L” and there are four parallel straights so any increase in table length will re-

sult in four-times that length added to the lap length. If you have room for another half of a ping-pong tabletop, for example, the plan would fill 5 x 13 ½-feet and the lap length would be increased by 18-feet.

½½ Digital Racing Systems

There is room on the plans for Scalextric, SCX and Ninco track for two of the double lane-change track sections at “X” on the plan.

The Carrera plan also has room for two of the Carrera Digital 132 num-ber 30347 double lane-changers.

TRACK PLAN 2-Lane Estoril Circuit on a 5 X 9-Foot Ping-Pong Tabletop:

List of Scalextric Classic, Sport, SCX or Ninco Track Required

Key Quantity Description Key Quantity Description

H 1 1/2 Standard Curve E 2 1/4-Straight

S 9 Standard Curve D 3 1/2-Straight

O 8 Outer Curve B 8 Full-Straight

OO 11 Outer-Outer Curve A 2 Connector Track

F 0 “Short” Straight

L Track can be expanded in length by adding matched pairs of straight track sections here.

T Turns on the model versions of the track

X If you are assembling the track with Scalextric Digital, 1 1/2 straights at this point can be replaced with the C7036 double-crossover straight lane-changer plus a half straight.

If you are using NINCO N-Digital, the 40207 double Lane-changers can be substituted for any standard straight.

To build the plan with NINCO track you will need about 10-percent more space and you may need some additional short straights to get everything to line up properly.

TRACK PLAN 2-Lane Estoril Circuit on a 5 X 9-Foot Ping-Pong Tabletop:

List of Carrera Track Required

Key Quantity Description Key Quantity Description

H 2 20577 1/2 Inner Curve R1 E 4 20612 1/4-Straight

S 9 20571 Inner Curve R1 D 3 20611 1/3-Straight

O 3 20572 Middle Curve R2 B 8 20509 Full-Straight

OO 3 20573 Outer Curve R3 A 2 20583 Connector Track (analog)

OOO 2 pr. (4) 20578 Outer-Outer Curve R4

L Track can be expanded in length by adding matched pairs of straight track sections here.

T Turns on the model versions of the track

Model Car Racing 19

Digital RacingCarrera Digital 132 Race Management With An AppThe Carrera 30369 uses a free app to wirelessly display race information on your smartphone or tablet including lap counting, lap times, pit stops and more race management options, on any current Carrera Digital 132 track.

The Carrera 30369 Bluetooth adaptor is designed to plug-into the 30352 Carrera Digital Control Unit. It will not function with older Carrera Control units or Black Boxes or with any other brand of digital.

■ by Robert Schleicher

Model car racing has an advantage that rac-ing full-size cars does not offer, with model cars you have your own race track. You can manage the races just like they do at Laguna Seca or Daytona. Carrera offers this 30369 Bluetooth Adaptor so you can program all the important race management options on your smartphone or tablet.

To set up the system on your Carrera Digi-tal 132 track connect 30369 the Bluetooth Adapter to the Carrera racetrack 30352 Con-trol Unit (the controller and power-connector track). Note that the Carrera 30369 Bluetooth adaptor will not function with older Car-rera Control units or Black Boxes or with any other brand of digital. Download the Car-

rera Race App in the App Store (iOS) or from Google Play (Android)---all are free down-loads. With the downloads complete, follow Carrera's instructions and go racing. The app will provide the lap counting, lap timing, length of race and dozens of other functions.

(continued)

20 Model Car Racing

Profile settings

• Set up your own customized driver profile with a picture and name

• Be the race director or log in as a driverRace settings:

• Select training or racing• Set up lap total or best time races• Trigger a mobile start with a start-light countdown• Sound function (race commentator, realistic racing sounds)Car settings:

• Speed• Braking power• Fuel LevelOverview of Key Race Stats:

• An overview of all the most important race events:• Fastest lap• Leading car• Number of pit stops and more• Race history: Save or print out all your race resultsCompatibility of Hardware for Carrera Race App:

• iPhone from iPhone 4S and iPad from iPad 3• others: subject to availability of Bluetooth® LECompatibility of Software for Carrera Race App:

• from Android 4.3 • from iOS 7.0

Previous Digital Racing Articles;(Available on www.modelcarracingmag.com under the top bar "Sam-ple Issues")2012:

• SCX Digital-to-analog One-Minute Changeover, Issue #61• Carrera Digital 132 number 30355 Lap Counter, Issue #62• SCX Digital in SCX GT Cars, Issue #63• Carrera Digital 132 in Monogram Grand

National cars, Issue #64• Rules (to avoid six-car crash-fests), Issue #65• Scalextric Digital in MRRC GT Cars, Issue #662013:

• SCX Digital in Slot.it HRS/2 Chassis, Issue #67• 9x16-foot Scalextric Digital Austin Formula

1 Track "Preview", Issue #67 • 9x16-foot Scalextric Digital Austin

Formula 1 Track, Issue #68 • Slot.it oXigen System for Scalextric Track, Issue #68• Slot.it oXigen System Digital Chips for Any Car, Issue #69• Five Digital Racing “Secrets”, Issue #70• The Pros And Cons of Scalextric, SCX, Ninco,

Carrera and oXigen Digital systems, Issue #71• Live Action Pit Stops with Pit Walls for

Scalextric Digital, Issue #722014:

• Live-Action Pit Stops with Pit Walls for Carrera Digital 132, Issue #73

• Live-Action Pit Stops with Pit Walls for SCX & Ninco N-Digital, Issue #74

• Slot.it oXigen Digital Chips for Formula 1 cars, Issue #75• Carrera Digital 132 single curved lane changers, Issue #76• Action Pit Lanes for Scalextric Sport, Classic,

SCX, Ninco or Carrera Digital, Issue #77• Carrera Digital 132 wireless Control, Issue #782015:

• Scalextric Digital Chip Installation in Carrera F1 cars, Issue #79

• Carrera Digital 132 Wireless+ Control, Issue #80• Carrera Digital 132 Lane-Changer Positions, Issue #81

The Carrera 30369 Bluetooth adaptor will accept the Carrera app, which can be downloaded onto your smart phone for hand-held race information. The app can also be downloaded onto a tablet for a larger display.

One of the settings displays the position of your car in the race, the total time of the race, your most recent lap time, and the lap count and the positions of the other cars in the race.

Model Car Racing 21

Tech Tips:True-Running Tires

To true a plastic wheel, block the rear of the car about 1/8-inch off the track (here, with a wood ruler) and hold the car firmly in place so you can apply partial throttle. It is essential that the car cannot move or you will be making the out-of-round problem even greater.

■ by Robert Schleicher

There are certainly some racing “secrets” among 1/32 scale racers. One of the most important ones is the understanding that vibration is one factor that can make any car slower than the rest. You seldom notice an out-of-round wheel or a loose rear axle while driving, but that car will be spending a significant amount of time with the tires not touching the track because vibration will produce minuscule hops and skips---the tires have zero traction in the air so cornering speed will be reduced even though it seems to you that the car is proceeding smoothly around the corner. The first place to look to hunt-down vibration is to start where the rubber meets the road. Be sure the tires/wheels are round. There are some basic tune-up tips that are needed for every model race car on www.modelcarracingmag.com under the “New to the hobby?” link. There are 13 tips including tire mounting and truing. It will be difficult to achieve perfectly round tires, however, if the wheels themselves are not perfectly round and running true (without side to side wobble). Truing-up the plastic wheels on a car is easy enough and, with perfectly round and true wheels, you will know that any re-maining out-of-round or wobble is the fault of the tire. Given that, you can either change to another tire or sand the tire. You will need to buy a file with medium-cut teeth and with all four edges perfectly flat with no taper in any direction.

Larger hardware stores and online shops will have a “cabinet maker’s file” (with medium-cut tooth pattern on one face and on one side, a rough-cut pattern on opposite side and one smooth side) for less than $20. It might be the best investment you make in lowering your cars’ lap times. You will also need a wood ruler and a small block of wood.

22 Model Car Racing

Use a flat mill file to remove the offending portions of the wheel. Support the file on a block of wood so you can control its movement with some degree of precision. The MOST IMPORTANT technique is to just barely touch the file to the spinning wheel. The objective is to have the high spots on the wheel rub themselves away by hitting the teeth of the file. The rib in the center of the wheel is the area that will most likely be out of round because that is the point where the mold that made the wheel has created a seam or ”flash”. Use the technique of lowering the file just enough so the wheel touches the file to smooth the center of the rib.

With the center of the rib perfectly round, you can then gently move the file to the sides of the rib and, again, allow the wheel to touch the file to remove any high spots.

Finally, position file over the areas of the wheel on either side of the rib and be sure they are perfectly round.

Which leaves the front wheels and, honestly, there is no inexpensive way to be certain they are as round as the rear wheels. You can use one of the $150-$250 tire truing machines (like the Tire Razor from scrjon160@aol.com or Hudy from www.electricdreams.com or www.professormotor.com---in the January/February 2013 number 67 issue). However, just getting a perfectly round tire on the front will usually be enough to keep the car cornering smoothly. On most cars, all you can do is check the ribs on the front wheels to be sure there are no visible lumps by spinning the wheels with your finger. Spin the front wheels (with the tires removed) while holding a knife tip about 1/64-inch from the center of the ribs on the front wheels to see if the distance between the knife tip and the rib is constant---so you can locate the high spots, then gently file-away the high spots and recheck the wheels.

On some cars, you can fit the front tires temporarily on the rear wheels to sand them round.

Model Car Racing 23

Your TrackRandy Peterson’s 20 X 40-Foot 4-Lane Satan’s Turf RacewayRandy Peterson’s Satan’s Turf Raceway is as large as many commercial raceways but this one is designed for scale model racecars and it is right in his basement.

Randy Peterson’s Stan’s Turf Raceway is as large as some commercial race tracks but he can race on this one any time.

If you had most of a basement available, what kind of race track would you build? Randy Peterson had been racing since the seventies and, when he found the space, he created a track that had everything, from a 27-foot long straight to broad banked curves, esses and he built it out of wood, just like in the good old days.

Most slot car race fans congregated at 8-lane commercial race tracks in the sev-enties. Few had space to have long straights and massive curves that were avail-able by the hour at commercial tracks. Racing on a two-lane 3 x 6-foot figure 8 Revell or Strombecker or Monogram track just did not provide the same thrills and action as on the commercial raceways. Many of the folks that raced on the commercial tracks really wanted a track that big but they only needed four lanes, and they wanted it to look as much as possible like a real race track. A few lucky folks were able to have those massive tracks and Randy Peterson is one.

Carrera plastic track sections were used for the first two-lane Satan’s Turf but, for a four-lane track, it made a lot more sense to use MDF board as a track surface and to use a power router to cut the slots. In seventies, that’s how most of the tracks were built, but with rougher particle board rather than smooth-surface of today’s MDF panels. Randy built a supporting framework with 4 x 4 legs and 1 x

4 s placed on edge to form an egg-crate-like open grid that he then covered with ¼-inch plywood (like those on pages 38-42 of this issue) to support a two-lane Carrera plastic track with nearly identical shape. With the wood track, however, most of the curves were elevated and banked.

The MDF panels were laid on top of the table and in the areas where the track would rise for an overpass, or be banked for a turn, the MDF was supported by wedges of 1/4s placed on edge between the plywood tabletop and the MDF board. The slot were cut with a power router guided by a trammel rod for the curves and a 1 x 4 for the straights. The slots are spaced 4-inches apart to leave room for even 1/24 scale NASCAR cars to race. Mike Sikierski helped build track

The track is surrounded by rolling hills, which were shaped with Woodland Sce-nics Plaster Cloth, painted with latex wall paint and textured with ground foam glued tight with a flood of white glue and water. The trees and bushes are Wood-land Scenics and other brands sold by model railroaded shops.

Satan's Turf is host to several of the Chicago area model car racing clubs includ-ing the JYD Racing group (www.toys4slots.com) and the Great Lakes Slot Car Club (www.greatlakesscc.com). Most of the races are for specific 1/32 classes in-

26 Model Car Racing

cluding Formula 1, LeMans, Trans-Am and NASCAR but there are also regular races for 1/24 scale cars including BRM and ScaleAuto ready-to-runs as well as occasional retro car events.

The track surface is MDF board with the slots cut with a power router. Electrical pickup is provided by copper tape. Flexible plastic baseboard strips are placed on both sides of track to keep the cars from spinning off the tabletop.

The four lane track has a variety of medium and large-radius curves, with no two corners alike, to challenge the drivers’ skills. This ess bend includes the two tightest turns on the track, about the size of a Carrera R1 and R2 pair but, with a wood track, the transitions in and out of the curves are smooth parabolas.

The drive-in restaurant complex is from MDK. The hills and scenery textures are model railroad products.

The timing tower complex was built from sheets of 1/8-inch thick Masonite board with bass wood strips for the window frames and trim. The pit buildings are Carrera.

The track is illuminated for night racing with model railroad light standards along the edges and three tall Lionel floodlight towers.

Model Car Racing 27

30 Model Car Racing

Nick Faure, Steve O'Rourke, Bernard de Dryver and Jean Beurlys drove this Ferrari 512 BB LM to 12th place at LeMans in 1979---LAT Photo

Model Car Racing 31

Pit Board #82�����������������������All ThumbsI have a 5 x 18-foot Carrera analog two-lane track. Carrera only offers control-lers that are operated by pushing down with your thumb. Some of the other tracks I race on have Scalextric controllers that are operated with your trigger finger. I like the feel and response with the trigger finger but some refer the con-trol they get pushing with their thumb. Which is best, thumb or trigger finger?

Thank you, Ben Timonsen

Carrera (and Auto World HO) only offer thumb-operated controllers while Scalextric, Ninco and SCX (and AFX HO) only supply trigger finger-oper-ated controllers. Each of these firms obviously feels that their style is best.

The first slot car sets from Scalextric and Strombecker had a simple on-off push-button. In the mid-sixties the first “standard” controller with vari-able speed was a small blue thumb-operated plunger-style controller from MRRC in England and, later, similar thumb-operated controllers were standard in the early Strombecker, Revell and Monogram sets.

The late Jim Russell, of Russkit, developed the trigger-operated controller for mass production and he was proven to be very astute, most folks believe they have more control and increased hand-eye coordination using their trigger finger rather than their thumb. There, though, are some drivers who hold trigger-style controllers to operate the trigger with their thumb. And, just so you know, about one in twenty model car racers that use trigger-style controller operate the trigger with their middle finger.

Some of the lower-priced Carrera and Scalextric sets have controllers with just two wires, which means there is no brake circuit. That third wire con-nects to a metal tab inside controller to force car’s motor to act like a gen-erator to provide dynamic braking. I would, then, recommend that you upgrade to a Carrera Power Base that has three wires for each controller connection and, hence, brakes.

The PMTR2019 adaptor cable from Electric Dreams (www.electric-dreams.com) will plug-into the Carrera three-prong Power Base outlet and has a 3.5 mm socket to accept most brand’s trigger-style (pistol grip) con-trollers. You can make your own adaptor cables if you are wiling to “sac-rifice” your Carrera controllers to steal the plugs (or buy two new or used Carrera controllers). Cut off the wire from the Carrera controller close to the controller to leave as long a cable as possible attached the Carrera three-prong plug. Strip about ¼-inch of the insulation from each of the three wires. Plug the Carrera three-prong plug into the Carrera Power Base with the track power connected and a car in that lane to test the wire the con-nections. The Carrera controller's cable wires must then be soldered to a 1/8-inch (3.5 mm) phone socket like the Radio Shack number 274-274 to match the sockets and plugs used by Scalextric, Ninco, DS, Professor Mo-tor, Slot.it and others. You will have to test the wire connections to deter-mine which wire must be connected to which terminal on the Radio Shack number 274-274 socket, with the leftover wire being the brake circuit---when testing the connections, if the car runs at full speed with the trigger off, you have found the brake wire and one of the power wires. When you've found the proper connections, solder them to the tabs on the socket.

Buy the trigger-style controller you prefer; the Scalextric C8229 controller is the least expensive, but I’d suggest an upgrade to at least a DS-brand DS3502 or to a Professor Motor or Slot.it controller with a 1/8-inch (3.5 mm) plug.

Painting Clear Plastic Bodies, The TraditionThe article in May/June 1015 number 81 issue describing how to paint and mount a clear plastic body was excellent. However, I want to paint a few clear plastic bodies in the way it was done back in the day. The article says to simply reverse the process but it cannot be that simple. How do you keep paint from attacking the decals? And what kind of paint. And… Please let me know what is critical so I do not ruin the body or decals.

Thank you, Robin James

True, it is not quite that simple. Start by masking-off the headlights and win-dows inside the body with Microscale Micro-Mask as shown in the article. When that is complete, apply the decals. The decals have glue on the back so they must be soaked for a minute, slid from the paper backing and flopped

face-down back down on the glue side of paper before sliding them off the paper again and applying them inside the body. When the decals have dried overnight, gently scrub-off the traces of glue with a damp cotton swap and let that dry. If you are going to ink-in the panel lines, do that now and let the ink dry completely. Spray the inside of the body with Testors Glosscote to seal the decals (and any panel line ink) and, again, let that dry. Finally, spray on the final color, however, use an enamel paint, not the special paint for clear plastic R/C car bodies because that paint will attack the Glosscote and decals. If you want to use the R/C car body paint, apply it from inside just after the windows and headlights are masked and apply the decals and panel lines on the outside. If you are using Bare Metal for chrome or aluminum it must applied on the outside regardless of how you paint the body. The outside decal technique is a compromise but it is the way most builders use because it allows them to have nearly chip-proof paint protected by that clear body shell. Protect the decals on the outside of body with a brush-on coat of Future clear floor finish.

Race Track PaintI have a lot of grey Revell track pieces for 1/32 cars made in the 60s. I want to paint them black. Is there a particular black paint I can use that can also maintain traction?

Thank you, John Cobarruvias

If you want to recreate that Ninco-type rough surface you can do what mod-el car racers did in the sixties and paint the track with flat latex wall paint but with fine-grind walnut shells mixed-in. Paint shops can usually get the ground walnut shells (which are used to help create non-skid boat and pa-tio deck finishes) like TS-631 Shell-Tex (www.topsecretcoatings.com/) and Downwind Marine offers three ground walnut shell textures ( http://www.downwindmarine.com) but the fine is the one you will likely need. You will have to experiment to see how many ounces of walnut shells are needed for each quart of latex paint. You will, however, wear-out urethane tires quickly and the silicone tires may chunk on rough surface. If it is too rough, you may need to sand it down and repaint with just plain latex paint.

The Revell and Monogram (and today's Carrera) track was usually molded in styrene, which means that lacquers and other solvents can attack and dis-tort or craze the plastic. Any flat finish latex wall paint should be fine but it would be wise to keep it away from the slots so it does not build up to narrow the slot. Clean the track, first, with a wet rag and detergent, rinse it thoroughly, and a wipe it dry before painting. You can jam a single strand of insulated 14-gauge house wire into the slot to mask it. Automobile body shop paint suppliers can supply narrow masking tape like the 1/8-inch wide Scotch #1281 Fineline tape that can be curved to cover the curves but you will still need to apply two layers to completely cover each pickup rail.

You may be heading in the wrong direction searching for a rougher surface. The racers back the sixties realized that there was more traction available from an even smoother track so some tracks actually had high-gloss finishes---a compromise would be a semi-gloss finish. The tracks were usually painted light grey to simulate concrete and to allow skid marks to be visible. Urethane tires actually leave a microscopic thin layer of rubber on the track so the skid-ding paths of the tires would become visible after just a few hundred laps of racing. That walnut-shell-rough track would grind-off the rubber to leave similar skid marks but with ground-off tire dust rather than smudges.

New To The Hobby? There’s more information on pages 22-23 of this issue. There are some basic tune-up tips that are needed for every model race car on www.modelcarrac-ingmag.com under the “New to the hobby?” link. There are 13 tips including: How To Get Started in Model Car Racing, Two Driving Techniques, Perfect Pickup Braid, Tire Mounting, Cleaning Track Rails, Cleaning Track, Avoid-ing Disaster: Oil & Grease, Race Program Set Up: Color Coding & Racing classes, Reliable Wires, Chassis Set Up, Carrera Guide Shoe Mods. There’s lots more you can do, including changing to silicone rear tires with better grip, loosening the body-to-chassis screws and more.

48 Model Car Racing

Race Tracks For Your Home:HO 4-Lane Estoril Circuit for a 4 X 8-Foot Tabletop

■ by Robert Schleicher

This plan is based on the full-size Estoril Circuit, site of the Portuguese round of the 1984-1996 Formula 1 series, on pages 16-18 of this issue. This plan includes examples of the significant curves and it provides for two of the longest possible straights, by running them side by side. The curves at both ends of the main straight are the largest radius available in HO so you can expect a lot of speed around the outside of the course. The course tucks inside at turn T3 through a tight ess curve that opens-up a bit through turn T4. There’s another pair of tight turns at T6 and T 7 before the cars can accelerate out of turn T8 and around turns T11 and T12 onto the main straight.

The majority of the HO plans in the magazine cram as much track as possible into that 4 x 8-foot area. Any of them would be more enjoyable to race on with the straights longer than the typical six-feet or so. It can be difficult to design a plan for, say, 4 x 16-feet that can be shrunk to fit a 4 x 8-foot area. So we present them as compact as possible and hope that you’ll expand them to 4 x 10 or 4 x 24-feet to get those exciting

20-foot straight-aways. Most of the plans are marked with “L” letters indicating just where to insert the additional sets of straight track sec-tions to expand the track to any length.

TRACK PLAN HO 4-Lane Estoril Circuit in a 4 x 8-foot area

AFX Track Sections Required

Quantity Description Quantity Description

2 3-inch Straight 2 9-inch 45-degree Curve

16 6-inch Straight 6 9-inch 90-degree Curve

2 9-inch Straight 20 12-inch 45-degree Curve

16 15-inch Straight 13 15-inch 45-degree Curve

0 6-inch 45-degree Curve 8 18-inch 45-degree Curve

Model Car Racing 49

Club Directory ���������������������� Most model car racers prefer to race at home on their own tracks with a few friends. There are hundreds of model car racing clubs in the world but some of them are groups who race very highly modified cars on tracks routed from wood or PVC. The model racing cars you see on the pages of this magazine are all designed to be raced on plastic tracks (although they can be raced on most wood or PVC tracks) from Scalextric, Sport, Carrera, NINCO, SCX, Riggen or Artin or the older Strombecker, Revell or Monogram tracks 1/32 scale tracks or Tomy AFX or Mattel/Tyco HO tracks. The clubs that are listed here are groups whose main interest is to race out-of-the box cars and mostly on plastic tracks (although the club may also race on one or two hand-routed wood or PVC tracks). The group may have a modified

class where extra magnets are allowed or different bodies. We try to NOT list the clubs that primarily race cars with hand-made metal chassis and clear plastic bodies---those clubs are listed on various internet sites or you can find most of them through the Old Weird Harold site at http://www.oldweirdherald.com. There are hundreds of dealers in the country that have operating tracks in the store. We cannot list them all, but you can contact the ones in your area from the list of dealers that carry Model Car Racing magazine www.modelcarracingmag.com. If your group races out-of-the-box 1/32 scale or HO scale cars, with only oc-casionally events for modified cars) send us the information at www.modelcar-racingmag.com and we’ll try to include your club in the next issue.

California, Los Angeles (Glendale): OTHG – Farrout Slot Car Club. Contact Stephen Farr-Jones 818-416-9188, www.farroutslotcars.com/

California, Fresno area: Insane SCRC, Joe Cabral Joe_Cabral@comcast.net

California, North San Diego County: Nomad Slot Racing Club, Jim Cunningham (760)492-4619 jim@NomadRaceways.com www.NomadSlo-tRacing.com

California, North San Diego County, Escondido - “The Slot Outlaws” 760-747-4511 or email: rick_houston@hotmail.com

California, San Jose area: Devin Mauldin web@flyinghump.com

California, South Bay (Los Angeles): Stan Smith (310)812-1866 stan.dsmith@tw.com

California, South Bay (Los Angeles): ITG - In The Groove Slot Car racing, 324 W. Florence Ave., Inglewood, CA 90301. Contact: Marc Natividad (310) 200-6300. ftnzguru@aol.com

Colorado, Denver area: Rocky Mountain Slot Car Club (RMSSC) http://rmscclub.proboards.com/index.cgi

Colorado, Denver Area, Colorado Slot car Club, contact: http://coslotcarclub.proboards.com/

Colorado, Denver area: Front Range Vintage Slotcar and Historical Racing Club, http://monovell.proboards.com/index.cgi

D.C., Washington area: The Capital Racing League, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tcrl, contact: Warsteiner42@aol.com

D.C., Washington area (Alexandria): Classic Slot Car Association (CSSA), John Roberts, (703) 582-5504, jonrob-1@msn.com

D.C., Washington Metro area: Old Dominion Slot Car Club, 5322 Graystone Rd., Warrenton, VA 20187, contact: Chris Bowles (540)341-1405 or, info@nascarslots.com, www.nascarslots.com or www.metalracer.com

Illinois, Central area: Hotslots 1/32 Slot Car Shop, 1809 A. Philo Road, Urbana, IL 61802 (217) 355-2277, info@hotslots132.com

Illinois, Chicago area: Bolingbrook Speedway, Karl Staehlin, karlstaehlin@gmail.com

Illinois, Chicago area: Great Lakes Slot Car Club, contact: www.greatlakesscc.com

Illinois, Chicago Area: JYD Racing, contact www.toys4slots.com

Illinois, Peoria/ Metamora area: Peoria Model Car Raceway, (309) 573-1027, historybuff.stange@gmail.com, (309)712-3299 butterbean722004@yahoo.com

Indiana, Indianapolis area: (Jeremy Dunning) jeremydunning@hotmail.com

Indiana, Terre Haute area: Otter Creek Slot Racing Association, Bob Redman rredman427@aol.com

Iowa, Cedar Rapids area: Iowa Model Area Racers, http://imar.us/

Indiana, Fort Wayne area: Wallace Dale Monroe, wallmonroe@aol.com

Iowa, Cedar Rapids area: ERASR (Ecurie Road America Scale Racers) Art (319)626-6374

Iowa, Swisher area: IMAR (Iowa Model Auto Rac-ing), Jerry Hightshoe lowboot2@hotmail.com

Kentucky, Louisville area: Derby City Slot Car Club, www.derbycityslotcarclub.proboards.com/  Mark@derbycityspeedway.com

Louisiana, Lake Charles area: Lake Area Slot Car Auto Racing, Julian Guillory, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LASCAR

Maryland, Baltimore area: (Allan Schwartz) compass@bellatlantic.net

Michigan, Grand Rapids area: Rivershore Interna-tional Raceway, Alto, Michigan, Stephen Thomas, (616) 891-1632. email: sbbthomas@aol.com

Michigan, Kalamazoo area: West Michigan Slot Car Group, John Lacko (269) 344-5588, jalacko@aol.com https://www.facebook.com/groups/205657316120426/

Missouri, St. Louis area: (Carl Shorle) gsra@swbell.net

Missouri, St. Louis area: Monaco Grand Prix Miniature Racing Club, www.mgpmrc.org, email: mgpmrc@mgpmrc.org

New York, Binghamton Area: Tri-County Slots, Contact: gjtecza@yahoo.com

New York, Watkins Glen area: The Slot Car Club Of The Twin Tiers, Contact: Frank Spena, Jr., sc-cottt1@yahoo.com

North Carolina, Winston-Salem area: Road America Racers, King City, North Carolina, Tom Brooks, (336) 985-3867 or mrnova@alltel.net

Ohio, Columbus area: 1/32 Slot Car Racers of Central Ohio, Randy Horton, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/1-32SlotCarRacersOfCentralOhio

Oregon, Portland area: Beaverton Area Slot Car Club (B.A.S.C.C.),15430 SW Gull Ct., Beaverton, Oregon 97007, 503-330-6907

Pennsylvania, Allentown-Reading area: Allen & Allen Motor Speedway Racing, (610) 520-7247, Jallenenterprises@verizon.net

Pennsylvania, Chambersburg area. Sherman Collings modelersc@comcast.net (717) 377-1435

Pennsylvania, Harrisburg area: Homestead Speedway, Landisville, Pennsylvania. Ken Falco at KFalco@Studio5architects.com

Pennsylvania, Manheim area: D & B Raceways, Don Noll don_nll@yahoo.com

Pennsylvania, Philadelphia area: Mt. Airy Racing Association, Herbert Bigelow (215) 868-4464, herb310@juno.com

Pennsylvania, Wilkes Barre Area: NEPA Slot Car Club, 570-903-9182, nepaslotcars.com

Pennsylvania, Wyoming Valley Area: Wyoming Val-ley Slot Car Association, Nanticoke, Pennsylvania, wvsca.blogspot.com

Texas, Eastern area: East Texas Slot Car Association, Tyler , TX 75771, (903)882 0965 ETXSCA@hotmail.com

Texas, Houston (Northwest Harris County): Hous-ton Scale Auto Racing Club (HSARC), www.hsarc.net, (281)807-4026.

Northern Virginia-Metro DC area: Northern Virginia Digital Slot Racers, contact: Hayes Lewis, hayeslewis@yahoo.com

Vermont, Burlington area: Burlington Slot Dorks, Daniel, aircooled@pbfoot.com

Williamsburg Virginia area: The Barn Burners” Contact: Joseph Brimer vagators@yahoo.com

Washington, Auburn area: Rainier Raceways, Greg Gaub ggaub@ggaub.com

Washington, Seattle/Tacoma area: PSSRA (Puget Sound Slot Car Racing Association) http://pssra.webhop.net/ or Tony Kuljis, kuljis2@msn.com

Washington, Seattle/Tacoma area: NMRL (North-west Model Racing League). John MacKenzie (206)295-9980, jicemanmac@msn.com

Toronto, Canada area: Scale Sloters 1/32, chris.w@rogers.com

Vancouver, Canada area: (Luf Linkert) luf@telus.net

1/24 scale racing clubs:

Oregon, Eugene area: Pelican Park Speedway (541)349-0917 htm210@comcast.

Digital Racing Clubs:

Phoenix, Arizona area: DSCRC-Phoenix, Carrera 1/32 & 1/24 only, email lewbr2002@yahoo.com

Ohio, Mansfield area: Mid-Ohio 1/32 Scale Racing Club, chorp@ohio.net, John Chorpening (419) 289-6563

Northern Virginia-Metro DC area: Northern Virginia Digital Slot Racers, contact: Hayes Lewis, hayeslewis@yahoo.com

HO Clubs: The majority of HO racing on a club level in the US is home sectional tracks, using hard bodies and largely stock equipment. The majority are Thunderjet focused, although many do run the Life-Like, Auto World, Play-ing Mantis, G-Plus and Mattel/Tyco cars, these mass produced magnet cars tend

to be utilized by small round robin groups by invitation or as groups of friends. There are some excellent clubs across the US racing basically stock hardshell T-Jet cars for the most part on sectional home tracks. This is only a partial listing. If you have an active group racing hard-bodied T-Jet-style cars, let us know.

California, Bay area: M.S.C.R.C. - Model Slot Car Racing Club www.mscrc.orgemail: info@mscrc.org

California, Bay area: Shaunadega Racing www.shaunadega.com

California, South Bay (Los Angeles): ITG - In The Groove Slot Car racing, 324 W. Florence Ave.

Inglewood, CA 90301. Contact: Marc Natividad (310) 200-6300. ftnzguru@aol.com

Colorado, Denver area: Front Range HO (FRHO)

club. http://www.scaleracers.com/FrontRangeHO/default.asp

Illinois, Chicago area: http: nitro-racing.4t.com/

Indiana, Fort Wayne area: Wallace Monroe, wallmonroe@aol.com

Kentucky / Virginia area: http://www.thunder-jetracing.com/

Michigan, Lansing area: NASAR, Richard Leeper (517) 290-9952 or lansingNASAR@myway.com

Missouri, Kansas City area: http://home.kc.rr.com/jhabernal/mahor/

Missouri, St. Louis area: gsra@swbell.net

Ohio, Columbus area: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/colohhoscc/messages

Pennsylvania, Philadelphia area: http://vintagehoracing.mr-bigstuff.com/

Pennsylvania, Wilkes Barre Area: NEPA Slot Car Club, 570-903-9182, nepaslotcars.com

Pennsylvania, Philadelphia area: Mt. Airy Racing Association, Herbert Bigelow (215) 868-4464, herb310@juno.com

Winston-Salem/Greenville, South Carolina area: Upstate HO Slot Car Club, 403 Hill Lane, Mauldin, SC 29662 - (864) 967-7865 Richard Tabb at mrnova@alltel.net or Steve Lorch at youneedje-sus@juno.com

United Kingdom, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire

Burning Rubber, www.burningrubber.net

50 Model Car Racing

Le MansSlot.it 4WD 2013 Audi R18The Slot.it 4WD 2013 Audi R18 e-tron quattro has finally arrived. The car has been several years in gestation to be sure that the systems work because the car has a unique adjustable tooth belt drive to the front wheels and a clutch in the front wheel to be sure that the front tires receive power only when it will help increase their cornering grip.

■ Robert Schleicher

Four wheel drive is certainly not a new concept for model race cars; Ninco, SCX, ScaleAuto, MSC and others have offered four-wheel drive cars for over a decade. The SCX cars had a motor with an extended shaft so there were pinion gears on both ends to drive the front axle through a crown gear like the pinion and crown gear on the rear axle. Ninco and others used a rubber belt and pulleys on the front and rear axles so the rear axle effectively powered the front axle.

The Slot.it 4WD system does use the rear axle to drive the front but the drive is with a non-slip toothed belt, a miniature version of the belts that drive the camshafts in many modern cars. Slot.it has carried four-wheel drive one step further, however, by fitting ball bearings that will only rotate in one direction in the front wheels. The ball bearings allow the front wheels to rotate independently from the rear wheels when the brakes are applied or when the car slows significantly. The bearings are, in effect, a differential. The one-way action keeps the front wheels from creating any drag or scrub that can reduce the car’s speed in tight

corners. There’s more information about the car on the Slot.it website www.slot.it under “Models” on the left, then “AUDI R18 E-TRON QUATTRO” , then “Mechanical Instructions 4WD”.

We received the Slot.it car too late to perform a full Race Track Test but we do not intend to just test it with and without the downforce magnet. For this car, we will try it in four-wheel drive mode and test it again with the toothed drive belt removed and again with silicone tires. The first of those tests will appear in the next issue. I was able to run the car around the Carrera Laguna Seca track and it is quicker than the previ-ous two-wheel drive 2011 Audi R18 ultra from Slot.it with downforce magnets in both cars. The 2011 rear-wheel drive R18 turned a 5.80 sec-ond Qualifying Lap and the 2013 four-wheel drive R18 turned a 5.65 second lap. There’s a certain amount of dynamic realism with 4WD Audi because it usually deslotted nose first while the rear-wheel drive car spun when it deslotted. If you race the car without the downforce magnet, it will take some testing to determine how much additional

Model Car Racing 51

weight will be needed on the front of the chassis to keep the front tires’ grip on the track.

Whether the car is quicker or not, it is a fascinating piece of model car engineering and it is something that has tremendous (pardon the expres-sion) “play value". The 4WD Audi is only about $10 more than a stan-dard Slot.it car and, if you don’t like four-wheel drive, you can disconnect the drive belt and have a typically quick Slot.it car with the added ben-efit of independently rotating front wheels. You (and I) can experiment for hours trying different tires, different gear ratios (because the drive is standard Slot.it anglewinder so there’s a wide choice) and seeing which tires work best.

My experience with 1/32 scale four-wheel drive cars is that none of them were faster with the all four wheels driving---removing the front crown gear (on the SCX cars) or removing the drive belt (on Ninco cars) allowed the car to produce slightly faster lap times. Slot.it believes that the typical-ly slower speed of four-wheel drive models is the result of the front tires trying to rotate too much slower than the rears to produce unpredictable vibration and skids. There are 17 teeth or cogs on the rear wheel drive sprocket and 16 on the front wheel to insure that the front tires are revolv-ing just slightly slower than the rear so the car doesn’t “plow” or trip over its own front wheels. The Slot.it one-way ball bearings in the front wheels should allow the model to have the grip that four-wheel drive promises (it took four-wheel drive to win LeMans for the past few years). Since the chassis is essentially a typical Slot.it, it can be tuned for potentially lower lap times as described in the “6-Screw Hop-Up” in the number 69 issue (which is also on www.modelcarracingmag.com under “Sample Issues”).

It is a superb model with all the subtle differences that the 2013 R18 has compared to the 2011 cars including the incredibly low rear deck that was a hallmark of these Audi LeMans cars. The first release is a replica of the all-black car that ran at the LeMans Test Day in 2013. Later, Slot.it will release a limited edition of the Audi R18 that won LeMans in 2013.

Slot.It 4WD 2013 Audi R18

SPEC SHEET The Prototype (the real car):

The size the model should be in 1/32 scale:

The dimensions of the model:

Length: 4,647 mm 5.72 in. (145.2 mm) 5.91 in. (150.0 mm)

Width: 1,998 mm 2.46 in. (62.4 mm) 2.53 in. (64.1 mm)

Height: NA NA 1.42 in. (36.1 mm)

Wheelbase 2,914 mm 3.59 in. (91.1 mm) 3.68 in. (93.6 mm)

Track, Front: NA NA 2.19 in. (55.7 mm)

Track, Rear: NA NA 2.19 in. (55.7 mm)

Tires, Front: NA NA 9.9 x 19.8 mm

Tires, Rear: NA NA 9.8 x 20.3 mm

Weight: 900 kg. NA 85 grams (3 oz.)

Weight on Front Tires: 34 grams (1 1/8 oz.)

Weight on Rear Tires: 51 grams (1 7/8 oz.)

Magnetic Downforce on Carrera: 58 grams (2 oz.)

Magnetic Downforce on Scalextric: 100 grams (3 1/2 oz.)

Ground Clearance on Carrera: 1.0 mm (.040 in.)

Ground Clearance on Scalextric: 0.9 mm (.035in.)

Pickup Lead (pivot to rear axle): 111.5 mm (4.39 in.)

Gear Ratio: 2.55:1 (11/28)

SOURCE: 2013 LE MANS 24 HOURS, by Christian Moity and Jean-Marc Teissedre, GSN Publishing ISBN 9-78282726-897287

At a glance the car looks like a typical Slot.it anglewinder and, in fact, the pod and gears and motor are the same as in the similar Slot.it cars but this one has a toothed drive belt to power the front wheels.

½½ Tech Tips: How The Slot.It 4WD System Works

The toothed drive belt runs down the side of the chassis just behind the wheels. The tensioner is designed to be adjusted to maintain optimum belt tension so no adjustment is necessary.

Each front wheel has a special ball bearing that only allows the wheel to rotate in the forward direction---the front wheels only turn freely whenever the front wheels are rotating slower than the rear wheels. The front axle also has the same spherical bearings as the rear axle because the axle itself rotates at same speed as the rear axle---it is only the wheels themselves that are allowed to “free-wheel” when the car is slowing down. The inner race of the ball bearing is locked to the axle with an Allen screw in what looks like the hub of the wheel.

52 Model Car Racing

Those one-way ball bearings are, in effect, a differential that allows the front wheels to have power only when that power can be transferred into traction. Because the two wheels rotate separately, the bearings act as both a front-rear drive differential for the toothed belt drive and a left-right differential for the front wheels. You can check the action for yourself by simply slipping off the drive belt (to remove the drive belt completely, you must remove the right front wheel and the screw that retains the belt-tensioner). Spin each of the front wheels forward, then try to spin them backwards and you will see that the entire front axle must spin (with the drive belt in place the rear axle would spin as well). The front axle does have Allen screws in the top and bottom of each bearing so you can adjust the “ride height” so the pickup blade is as deep in the slot as possible. The ride height adjustment is critical on this car because you want to be sure that the front axle’s upward movement is limited and that all four wheels are touching the track. Since the front adjustment only controls the up and down movement of the axle it does not effect the toothed belt tension. The pickup is supported by the rigid top-mount bracket used on the Slot.it LMP Lola and some of their other new chassis.

The extra black plastic piece that runs along the side of the chassis acts as a tensioner to keep the toothed drive belt engaged with the front and rear drive teeth. It is not adjustable because the wheelbase is not adjustable. However, it is important to keep the motor pod screws tight or, if you loosen them, do so just enough so the pod has barely perceptible movement (which is the maximum movement needed even without the drive belt).

We ran the new 4WD Slot.it Audi R18 e-tron quattro against an untested out-of-the-box Slot.it 2011 Audi R18 ultra (a replica of 2011 LeMans winner in the May/June 2013 number 69 issue) briefly on the Carrera Laguna Seca track (in the July/August 2014 number 76 issue). We will run a full Race Track Test on car in next issue. The four-wheel drive version is quicker when both have downforce magnets. If you remove the downforce magnet it will be necessary to add enough weight to the front of the chassis to keep the front tires in contact with the track to overcome the spring tension of the guide brushes and the rear tires’ efforts to lift the front of the car.

The 2013 Slot.it Audi R18 e-tron quattro is a different car than the 2011 Audi R18 ultra. The front fenders and cockpits appear to be similar but virtually every panel and corner and seam is different on the two cars. The 2013 car is about 6 scale inches longer in the rear, it has slightly larger rear wing and the tops of all four fenders are open. Slot.it is has recreated both cars with incredible accuracy.

The first Slot.it 4WD Audi R18 e-tron quattro is decorated to match the all-black car that ran at the LeMans Test Day in 2013.

Model Car Racing 53

New Cars Shipped RecentlyThese are most recent shipments of new cars and products. Note that nearly all the cars announced for production in 2015-2016 are on www.modelcarracingmag.com under the left link “All New For 2015-2015 From The Toy Fairs”.

The Slotwings (Flyslot) 1975 Brabham BT44 arrived too late for a full article but we will have more information in the next issue.

Flyslot has shipped both the first painted version of BMW M1 the second in their series of cars with Avant Slot chassis with separate motor pod and inline motor but plastic wheels and gear hub.

MMK 64 Allard J2 USA 1951 #14 black (from www.electricdreams.com). There’s an article on all these new MMK Cad-Allards on pages 9-12 of this issue.

Ninco 50658 Citroen C4 ‘Kubica’ Sport

Ninco 50657 Seat Leon ‘Polar’ Sport---there’s an article on the model on pages 21-23 of this issue.

NSR 1193AW BMW Z4 GT3 silver

NSR 1191AW Corvette C6R #11 Exim Team China

Slot.it SICA09F Porsche 956 KH "Momo"

Slot.it SICA11G Alfa Romeo 33/3 2nd- 1971 Targa Florio #2

Slot.it SICA25C Porsche 962 IMSA 1st- 12h Sebring 1987 "Budweiser"

Slot.it SICA23D Porsche 911 GT1 EVO98 'Mobil' n.25 -2nd Le Mans 1998  

54 Model Car Racing

Slot.it SICA03H Porsche 962C LH 'FATurbo-Express’ 24h Le Mans '93

GMC A108 RTR Renault Alpine A108 #122 Tour de France 1960 (from www.electricdreams.com)

Racer Sideways SW32 GP5 Porsche 935/77A Jagermeister

Cartrix 0916 Talbot Lago #18 1950 British GP, Belgian Team, driver Johnny Claes

Cartrix 0945 Lancia D50 #26 Monaco 1955 with separate sponson sidetanks from the original Lancia build. We’ll have more on the car in the next issue.

MSC 6042 Subaru Impreza WRC #3

MSC 6020A/O MG Metro 6R4, Rally Canarias 1991, Camel

Scalextric C3596 Chevrolet Camaro GT-R

Scalextric C3604 McLaren 12C GT3

Scalextric C3602 Maserati Trofeo

Scalextric C3606 BMW Mini Cooper S

Scalextric C3663 Audi R8 in unpainted black for custom-painting

Scalextric C3586A Australian Mini Cooper - Touring Car Legends

NSR 1190AW Mosler MT900R EVO5 anglewinder NSR Racing #64 2nd Anniversary is available as an inline, sidewinder or anglewinder.

NSR 1186AW AUDI R8 LMS Spa-Francorchamps 2014 Winner #1

The Carrera 21224 Control Tower can be attached to the 30357 Digital 132 Position Tower or used as a stand-alone building for any analog track.

½½ 1/24 SCALE

BRM 036 'Sunoco' Team Penske Ferrari 512M #11

ScaleAuto SC7059 'DHL' BMW Z4 GT3 #40, 1/24 scale

½½ 1/43 SCALE CARS

Carrera 41368 BMW M3 DTM, M. Tomczyk, No. 1 Digital 143

Carrera 41369 AMG Mercedes C-Coupe DTM, J. Green No.5 Digital 143

Carrera 61275 AMG Mercedes C-Coupe DTM, driver David Coulthard, 1/43 scale

Carrera 61180 AMG Mercedes SL 63 Safety Car 1/43 scale

Carrera 41367 Audi A5 DTM, driver Mathias Ekstrom, No.3 Digital 143

The Carrera Ferrari 458 Italia GT2, "AF Corse No.54" in analog as 27481 and (with working headlights and tail lights) as 30715.

The Carrera Shelby Cobra 289 Hardtop coupe 1963, "No.03"in analog as 27482 and (with working headlights and tail lights) as 30716.

The Carrera 27484 Porsche 904 Carrera GTS "No.47", Nassau 1964 in analog as 27484 and (with working headlights and tail lights) as 30718.

Model Car Racing 55

GENERAL MOTORS Trademarks used under license to Round 2, LLC. PLYMOUTH, CHRYSLER and related logos, vehicle model names and trade dress are trademarks of FCA USA LLC and used under license by Round 2 LLC. © 2015 FCA USA LLC. Dodge and related logos, vehicle model names and trade dresses are trademarks of FCA USA LLC and used under license by Round2 LLC. © FCA USA LLC 2015. Christine ™ & ©2015 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All rights reserved. Beverly Hills Cop ™ & © 2015 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved. Vanishing Point © 2015 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved. AW AUTO WORLD and design is a registered trademark of Round 2, LLC. ©2015 Round 2, LLC, South Bend, IN 46628 USA. Product and packaging designed in the USA. Made in China. All rights reserved.

COLLECT ALL4 RACERS FROM RELEASE 15!

• 1958 Plymouth Fury - Christine• 1968 Dodge Charger - Christine• 1970 Chevy® Nova™ - Beverly Hills Cop• 1970 Chevy® Chevelle™ - Vanishing Point

Available at your local hobby shop or online at:

Grab your tickets and popcorn!NOW PLAYING

SHHH! The movie is starting!

autoworldstore.com

The lights dim…the popcorn is crunching…and the

excitement builds! If your veins are pumping with

gasoline and horsepower, chances are your favorite

movie featured the car of your dreams. Movies have a

way of harnessing our passion for cars like no other!

Auto World’s ThunderJet Release 15 features replicas of

four timeless vehicles that sped across the silver screen

while we cheered them on! Collect all 4 from the films

Christine, Beverly Hills Cop, and Vanishing Point!