#11503
Lancia Stratos
"Chardonnet"
by
Daniel J. Dyke
Quality is not a word we associate with the maker Team Slot. If a person asks whether or not he should buy a car from this maker there will be someone who comes out with an emphatic no because they have had one of the cars and it was piece of garbage. I had one of their earlier cars and it was everything that anyone would not want in a slot car. Recently Bruce (Da Vols) Kraemer had a Team Slot VW that he put a new chassis under and now that car is just too cool. The other Bruce (Cincyslots) has been getting some Team Slot cars in and currently has 13 different models. Some have wonderful looking bodies and best of all he has been selling them on his specials page for prices ranging between $20 and $45. This a lot better than the MSRP which can go as high as $75.
Shouldn't you be a little hesitant in buying one? That question kept pounding in my head, but when I sold some computer junk I had enough money for the Lancia of this review and so to keep from buying junk food I bought the Lancia. Besides I knew I wanted this cute little bugger gracing my track.
Now the problem is that it has been reviewed extensively by others and so I would direct you to two earlier reviews to supplement and balance mine. The first review was done by a fellow named Rob who goes under the name Slotcarman. First off his car was a different livery, but the basic criticisms he offers are accurate. He had some mechanical problems with the rear crown gear, but I did not encounter that problem. He also had a problem with the front end lifting and so take his suggestion and put a small amount of weight in the car if you encounter that. The second review was done by Phil Insull for Pendleslot. This is an interesting read as it has information about the real car.
Now, what do I have to add? Is the car is worth the $45 Bruce is asking for it? Yes. It has straight axles, round rims, and tires. A great motor and good gears. Read the other reviews! Whatever they say, I agree.
PERFORMANCE
Rally cars must slip and slide and so I immediately removed the two magnets and then proceeded to lose them. Hey, I was at work during advising week waiting for students. Slot cars are a good way to waste time and get paid. Those magnets are stuck to something. Maybe a staple in a student's test paper?
When I got home I couldn't wait to test it. On my short twisty Ninco-Sport hybrid course this car is very good. The rally lap record is a 10.689 set by a Ninco Subaru. The Lancia started out with lap times in the low 12s without doing a thing other that prep the braids. After about 50 laps of running it was down to times in the 11.6 range. The first mod was to sand and clean the tires. The second was to turn the voltage down from 15 volts to 12. The times dropped to 11.2 seconds. Loosen the body you fool was what the subconscious was shouting and so I did. The thing did an 11 flat. I turned that time multiple times and the car stuck there.
Out of curiosity I got out a SCX and a Cartrix Rally car and cleaned the tires on both. The SCX got an 11.3 which is good as my course loves the SCX cars with their high torque motors, but I had to turn the voltage up to 15 volts. Each driver station has an adjustable power supply that goes from 0-15 volts and my rule is that it is the driver's choice where he runs his car. The Cartrix turned low 11s and just like the Team Slot it stuck at 11 flat. The Lancia in my opinion is a worthy opponent for a rally series.
DYNO TEST
The motor is the TS7 Titan motor and on the track it is wonderful. It felt more powerful than the NC-2/5/6 Ninco motors. This is a Mabuchi FF-180 type motor which means it has the same form factor as the Ninco NC-2 type motors. The Team Slot website is down and I have not been able to get their rating, but it was run on my in house test equipment. My equipment rates the motor at 25600 RPMs. It is about 28% faster than an NC-5.
MODIFICATIONS/FIXES
A good car can always be improved but this one does not need much.
1. The crown gear looks cheap and in fact is the only nasty looking part on the car, but it won't be changed unless I need a different ratio or it breaks.CONCLUSION2. The axles are larger that 3/32 and so to change crown gear or wheels you need to change axles and bearings. They came prerusted. I may narrow the track a hair so the wheels are totally covered by the fender flairs.
3. I also want to try different compounds such as the NSR and SlotIt P3/4s. The car is two wheel drive and so only the rear tires will get changed.
4. One of the cool features is that the motor bay will accept either an SCX RX42 motor or the Titan. It has a little adapter at the back that can be removed to allow the RX class motor. Supposedly in Spain they allow Team Slot cars to run in SCX classes if they are retrofitted with a RX class motor. This might be true as there is also an adapter made by Ninco to allow the same modification. I don't think anyone in their right mind would want to do this, but I have been wrong before.
I hope Team Slot sells this adapter as an extra as I have a bunch of SCX cars that could use a Ninco/FF-180 upgrade.
5. I may put an NC-2 in the car just so I don't have to turn the power down. The Titan motor would be perfect for my SCX Audi R8 on a veru fast track.
6. Conceptually I hate the floating front axles and this car has one. My Ninco cars always get faster by fixing the axle in place. It is worth a try someday to put a metal tube in to properly and precisely position the axle.
7. Zero Grip front tires will also be tried but I doubt they have much effect on a slow course.
8. Check the pinion gear that it is properly positioned. Mine was acceptable. but if it had been back a hair further away from the crown gear it would have chewed the crown gear up. I put mine in a gear puller and moved it a turn. This is probably what happened to the guy in the first review.
Buy the car if you like the body or the livery. There is
nothing that would link this car to the earlier blobs that Team Slot produced
and so any criticism of the older cars if applied to this one is invalid.
I like the car. It is fun and a true RTR car out of the box.
Fly should discuss the concept with these fellows as they are ahead of
Fly in this regard. Did I say I liked the car? Yes I do!
Dan Dyke
Spei Meliorum Temporum
Thanks to Bruce Yeomans at Cincyslots for the great service he provides the slotting community by providing us with his specials page. He has seven of these cars in stock for $45 each. Tell him you read the review. He also told me the Celica also uses the Titan motor. That is going to be my next review.
CAVEAT EMPTOR: The opinions expressed in this review are mine
and are based on this example of the car. Your results may vary.