A Tale Of Two Porsches

[SlotsNZ 115]

Health Warning: Epistle follows

 

I took two examples of the latest ScaleAuto models of Porsche 911 GT cars for a tune and test comparison

First I am opening up this "Home Series" car, to see what you get for slightly less than what a basic Scalextric will cost you. **

** That is NZ pricing, I'm not sure of the price comparison in Oz.

I will do the setup on the "R" series car in a separate article.

Take the paper protector off the underside of the box, you can then remove the clear top, and remove the 2 screws securing the car to the

base. Don't throw them away. These are the same screws as used to secure the body to the chassis, and they are "half-smooth shaft",

to eliminate "catching" of the chassis when setting up the body for "float". - what a useful idea. Point the first +1 to ScaleAuto

The car sits nice and low, and has great detail in the photo etched parts. +1

 

Look at those two part body latches. They look like they swivel to open. The body is nice and light, keeping the COG low. +1

The body is a 2-screw mount, using those smooth half shaft screws, and rocks nicely, with no apparent obstructions.

Under the lid we have a sidewinder setup with a 20,500rpm S-can. It is a regular FC-130, with a bell at one end - BUT, it is a "Can-end" drive.

Driving from the Can end where you have a brass bush set into the metal gives a more robust structure for taking the load. It is much

preferable to my thinking than the bell-end drive we see so often. +1

ScaleAuto have altered their plastics composition in the past two years, and the result is more rigid chassis which are better for wood racing.

Almost hidden under the rear of the motor is a small magnet, which gives medium down-force, but not as much as a Scaley.

There is a matching pocket forward of the motor. Then I noticed another almost hidden item.

There is a screw securing the motor into the pod, turning it into a bracing element for the chassis. +1 Mr ScaleAuto

Now to the things that propel it forward. Above you can see the simple nylon pinion and spur, they mesh nicely, but there is also a small dob

of red grease smeared on the chassis right where the gears meet, and as I started the car up at 3 volts, the white pinion turned pink at the

contact point. +1 for this.

The wheels are press fit plastic, I tried turning them, but they felt very tight and I was fortunate I didn't snap one as I applied a lot of force

trying to move it. Then I pulled - AHA. Off it came.

The rear wheels have an axle with a large "flat" keyed into it, as has the wheel. This prevents the wheel ever slipping on the smooth shaft,

and I think is a better alternative than knurled axle ends. +1 In this case it is also absolutely necessary, as there is ZERO slop where the axle

passes through the bush in the chassis.

I see "claws" - you know, claws, like on a Slot.it pod. And yes, inside those claws, guess what we find.

Yep. self aligning bushes, just like the Slot.it ones. +1 hhmmm... I wonder. Into my war chest, out with a Slot.it axle and a selection of the

older brass and new version sintered bronze bushes. Yes, they slide exactly onto the ScaleAuto axle, as does the ScaleAuto one onto a Slot.it

axle. No slop, equal fit. CLICK, and yes, the Slot.it ones fit perfectly into the claws in the chassis. That's handy. We now know the axles,

and these bushes are interchangeable with Slot.it parts. +1

Therefore so are both brands of wheels. Note that the axle has a reduced diameter through the centre section to provide sidewinder motor

clearance and make it lighter +1

The wee red things are 1.5mm nylon spacers to set the drive train width and eliminate sideways movement of the axle. It is the same as we

go up front, more spacers to set the track width there. +1

As you see in the bottom of the picture above, there are chassis holes, which are to make it compatible for the main digital systems

- Scalextric, Slot.it and Carrera. +1 Just inside the main axle posts are two movable and removable axle holders that have axle size holes to

prevent vetical play. But look what else we have, holes for M2 grub screws either side for setting front axle ride height and eliminate axle slop.

There are matching holes underneath, so into the war chest for some M2 3mm long grub screws - it only needs 3mm ones; and so I set the

ride height with these and took out the slop. +1

I have opted to remove those small axle holders and use just the grub screws, as I prefer the way the axle spins very freely with this method.

Others may want to retain those holders, and use only lower grub screws to lift the axle enough to fully lower the guide into the slot.

You do however risk the axle holders tramping up under corner load and sticking.

The lead wires are pretty thin, similar to Scaley ones, but then the motor isn't exactly cranking amps.

They are neatly routed up the sides, secured by clips, and under the axle for safety. +1

The guide is a typical press-fit job with brass eyelets. The braid is too stiff for my liking, and a bit thick. I will swap that out. No score here.

The front wheels are not keyed. I guess as they don't have to bear the load of rotational stress.

Ah, the tyres, low profile as needed with these big 17mm wheels, the fronts look fine. The rears are a soft "rubber" but of the kind that feels

like a silicon tyre. They will be fine for plastic track racing, but will need swapping out for wood racing.

 

That is a score of 14 good things I consider ScaleAuto have done in the developing these "Home Series" cars

The chassis seems fairly flat, but one front wheel looks slightly high, so I will give the chassis bath to flatten it.

Oh Oh #@(%* and @(%, @#% and $(%

I took out the motor screw and just twisted and pushed. "CRACK" Snapped the chassis right where the motor screw goes through.

Lesson for all - do this bit carefully and don't twist the chassis. I haven't any spares yet, so out comes the "gel" superglue;

a quick repair is done. It should hold, this gel glue is very strong, like a welding element.

Into the hot bath it goes for a couple of hours slow cooling.

Bath done, I cracked it again refitting the motor, so re-glued with the motor in place and added a brass strap along the edge of the motor to

hold the front and back of the motor mount rigid. I have fitted Slot.it 1172 N22 tyres to the rear hubs, glued and trued as I forgot to go to

the warehouse and grab the ScaleAuto ones from stock. I have kept the original front tyres, which were easy to true, less than 5 minutes each.

Everything reassembled, front axle height set, about 6 grams of lead added just behind the guide as first estimate, It spins up very smoothly

on my static bench, and on the resistance board it shows no signs of anything untoward under load. Ready for a track test.

 

Where The Rubber Meets The Road

Thanks to Peter for the use of Circuito Bahia Vista for testing the Porsche.

Circuito Bahia Vista is a very technical 20 metre track with about 10 turns, and only two places you can open the throttle - briefly. The car

sits nice & low, and first laps told me it is easy to drive. It was pretty smooth first up, and my only fiddling was with the amount of body float.

Once I had familiarised myself with the handling on track I was able to go sub 7 seconds, ending up with a 6.8. The only things I think it

needs now, are a little more weight up front - I think another 2-3 grams behind the front axe; and I will need to add a dot of glue to one rear

wheel as all my assembling and disassembling has left it with a not very tight fit on the axle and it began to work loose under cornering load.

All in all, the car is pretty competitive with only the addition of some better rubber, soft braid, and a swap to grub screws for setting the front

axle height. I am pleased with what can be achieved with a Home Series car and a bit of track tuning.

[Roger Miller 2]

Hiya,

 

Great article.

Mine came pre cracked.

 

This is probably an earlier one of homeseries.

 

I put IT on par with FLY.

 

[dangermouse 95]

Thanks for the review - I am impressed by what Scaleauto are doing. I am looking forwarded to getting some of the 'Home' series 1/24 chassis I think they will be a useful addition to getting some 1/24 kits I have going....

[Caddo 33]

Great review guys. Most 1/32 non-mag racers I know love the sidewinder set up. The anglewinders are just too torquey for small/medium home tracks.

 

The EURO trend is towards high magnet down force AW motors with tall gearing for magnet racing. Scaleauto have gone this way too. Their previous racing options were all sidewinders.

 

I really like that NSR offer the same model in 21k AW, 25k SW & sometimes 21k IL. Well that is to say their website does.

 

Most of the SLOT retailers in AUS must choose to stock generally only the AW option.

[David Carter 84]

great review Mark

more of this for the new cars that come threw your shop would be great to see

just what this forums needs

[Drifter 30]

Great article, thanks for posting.