Ever since falling in love with the Spirit Dallara I have been working on ways to get one. For the last month and a half though I have become more and more involved with local racers who say the car has serious shortcomings and to avoid it if I can. I do have an LMP class car with my Gulf Audi R8, but the local club doesn't have a contemporary prototype class. So now I have to consider building an 80's and 90's era GTP car to run in their prototype class.

The choices are all from Slot It, and right now the dominating car is the Porsche 956/962. Of the 8 cars 6 are of that type, the other two are Jaguar XJR's. Not being one to go with the flow, I'm looking at the other alternatives:

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z262/FresnoPete/Sauber_b_ca06z.jpg

Mercedes Sauber C9

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z262/FresnoPete/Nissan_b_ca05z.jpg

Nissan 390

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z262/FresnoPete/956K_b_ca09z.jpg

Porsche 956K High Tail

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z262/FresnoPete/Jaguar_b_ca07z.jpg

Jaguar XJR-9 shown without rear wing but with wheel skirts.

The rules state there must be a rear wing present at the start of the race. They take into consideration the wigns breaking off during the race, but they don't indicate it must be the kit supplied wing, nor a minimum size. With that in mind I'm leaning towards the Jag. Otherwise I'm about 70% for the Sauber, 20% for the Porsche and 10% for the Nissan.

I'm not sure my entry will have Red Bull markings, it may be a return to AMG Racing, in which case the Sauber is definately a great choice. Purchase window in about 2 1/2 weeks.

The Slot.it's just dominate any track right now.....had the same thing going on back when I started looking for something else to beat the Slot.it's - for me, its been hard to find that holy grail. I'm sitting on a Spirit Dallara Sport, a ProSlot GT1, a FLY Porsche 911 GT1, and a Scale Auto GT1 - all of which I have been wanting to put up against the Slot.it's. Unfortunately, with work and other personal things, its been hard to grab some time to set them up and see how they run against those Slot.it's. I've gotten several people's feedback that they will put up a great fight and may even make it dead even against the Slot.it's, but they doubt they will dominate....I don't know, but I'm willing to try to break the cycle of Slot.it's. HAHAHA!!

As for your selection of Slot.it's, I can tell you or comment that the Sauber and Nissan are two of the HARDEST to setup of the Slot.it's IF you run without magnets. Those two cars are horribly unbalanced when you remove the magnets - great magnet racers, but horrible wood track non-magnet racers.

The Porsche on the other had is ALWAYS great out of the box and with a magnet removed and a quick truing of the tires! That car dominates at the local wood track running without magnets - freaking thing stays planted all the time! My 6 year old daughter ran with one, without magnets, never deslotted and came in 2nd (one place ahead of me, I might add) with a Slot.it Porsche! The Jaguar has been interesting - very mixed bag at our track. Some guys have the setup of the car figured out and compete very well with in non-magnet racing, but others I have heard just like the looks and its become their shelf queen. But I think it has a lot more potential than the Sauber and Nissan, personally.

Not sure if that helps any, but that's the two cents worth from our local track!

PD2:thumbsup:

I'm going to get some "seat" time this weekend in the Porsche, Jag and the Lancia. Decals are plentyful for the Porsche, there are a few sheets for the Jag and Sauber has just the one factory sheet. I'm leaning to the Jag now basically because of the wing and overall slick look, possibly in Castrol colors. Cincy Slots has them for under $50 so they're really no more than Fly cars, which I'm not really that impressed with at the moment. This will be a magnet class, they allow two neo bar magnets stacked so handling won't be much of an issue.

The wing is on the car in that pic, it's just black. Is the scoop functional???

I dunno, but I'm sure if it isn't it could be made so. And i see the wing now, couldn't before because I was looking for a white part.

Choices have been narrowed down to Porsche 956 high tail (1st), Porsche 962 (2) and Jaguar XJR (3). After an extensice drive off those where the best for my driving style.

Decal choices for the cars are:
Budweiser Porsche 956
Bridgestone Porsche 962
Castrol Jaguar XJR

We have a race this weekend where I'll drive a 962 in a one hour enduro, and the choice will be made from there.

Choices have been narrowed down to Porsche 956 high tail (1st), Porsche 962 (2) and Jaguar XJR (3). After an extensice drive off those where the best for my driving style.

Decal choices for the cars are:
Budweiser Porsche 956
Bridgestone Porsche 962
Castrol Jaguar XJR

We have a race this weekend where I'll drive a 962 in a one hour enduro, and the choice will be made from there.

Yeah, that's a hard choice between the 956 and 962 - both are excellent cars! Be sure to set them up similar so there's no preferential treatment to one or the other. HA! Curious to hear how this heads-up comparison goes.

Have fun and Happy Thanksgiving!
PD2:thumbsup:

The testing went well this afternoon. I drove a low tail 962 for about 20 laps then ran the high tail 956 for about 30 laps. Both were set up the same and both had "small" motors of only about 21,000 rpm and silicone tires. On the 120' per lap track my times were only off by about .35 seconds once I got warmed up. I already decided on the Budweiser sponsorship decals regardless of which Porsche I get. Right now it's looking like I'll pass on the Jag, unless I get totally owned by one on Saturday.

The testing went well this afternoon. I drove a low tail 962 for about 20 laps then ran the high tail 956 for about 30 laps. Both were set up the same and both had "small" motors of only about 21,000 rpm and silicone tires. On the 120' per lap track my times were only off by about .35 seconds once I got warmed up. I already decided on the Budweiser sponsorship decals regardless of which Porsche I get. Right now it's looking like I'll pass on the Jag, unless I get totally owned by one on Saturday.

Yeah, that's what I thought - hard to have any major difference between those two cars. Yet, they are both awesome cars! Good luck with the race tomorrow and definitely post up how you do!

Have fun!
PD2:thumbsup:

Talk about being owned...

I got shuffled down to a Spirit Reynard, the team I was supposed to drive for got another "more experienced" driver so I quickly purchased a new Spirit Reynard 2KQ, borrowed some silicones and added magnets to reach the 500g downforce rule. Actually I was light at 438g, but I figured the loss of downforce was enough to get more speed. I did OK until the Reynard seized up and I sat out two lane switches working on the fix. Porsches took the top spots and I didn't get any seat time. I finished out of the top 6.

I did better in the first event, which was an IRL event. Cars were stock with the exception of silicone tires and were about 135g in weight. I didn't get a lot of track time for practice, but after the second lane switch I picked up a lot of distance on the leaders and wound up second. I did some swapping for the IRL car I ran and plan on repainting it as a Penske-Marlboro car.

So the jury is still not in about my personal car. While the Reynard is a nice car it falls short of the abilities of the Slot It cars. It'll be raced until a better car is finally decided on.

Talk about being owned...

I got shuffled down to a Spirit Reynard, the team I was supposed to drive for got another "more experienced" driver so I quickly purchased a new Spirit Reynard 2KQ, borrowed some silicones and added magnets to reach the 500g downforce rule. Actually I was light at 438g, but I figured the loss of downforce was enough to get more speed. I did OK until the Reynard seized up and I sat out two lane switches working on the fix. Porsches took the top spots and I didn't get any seat time. I finished out of the top 6.

Wait a minute....you got taken out with those Slot.It's by Spirit Reynards in a magnets in class? Something does not seem right about that? And you had to purchase a non-Sport Spirit in order to be competitive with them? Hhhhmmmm? That's VERY interesting. Definitely dig into the cars and figure out what's up. Maybe the track you race on is not very conducive to Slot.It's?

PD2:thumbsup:

PD, the class was a ALMS 500 gram weight car, regardless of the maker. I took a couple of my cars but nothing in class. I bought the Reynard for $25 NIB and had all of 15 minutes to add magnets and set it up. I had a rear tire rubbing the body work for part of the race and that slowed me. The Slot It's and their drivers had raced on that track before and they were already set up. I have a Magnet-Master now, and my Reynard is pushing 510 grams, I need to do some body lightening to reduce the roll center and then in a week or so the Porsches need to watch out for me.

PD, the class was a ALMS 500 gram weight car, regardless of the maker. I took a couple of my cars but nothing in class. I bought the Reynard for $25 NIB and had all of 15 minutes to add magnets and set it up. I had a rear tire rubbing the body work for part of the race and that slowed me. The Slot It's and their drivers had raced on that track before and they were already set up. I have a Magnet-Master now, and my Reynard is pushing 510 grams, I need to do some body lightening to reduce the roll center and then in a week or so the Porsches need to watch out for me.

AH! OK - I see now. Not too shabby a deal on the Reynard, even if it was not a Sport version! Sounds like you will be better prepared next go round.

With our local club races, we only have one magnet race and its stock only - no switching out magnets or using Magnet Marshalls to increase weight, etc. Aside from that race, we race nothing but non-magnet, wood track setups. So its a little different when talking about racers like this.

Let us know how you do once that car is setup - I know you will do better next round!

Good luck!
PD2:thumbsup:

The Reynard is not a bad low bucks car, the other guy that bought one on the spot finished 4th I think. I've decided to be different and order a Slot It Lancia kit and do some body mods to it. I'm going to trash the existing rear wing and raise the strakes across the back and put a 956/962 style rear wing on it.

http://www.cincyslots.com/ImageSlots/MRRC-SLOITIT/SICA08B.JPG

Then I'm going to put a NACA duct on the top just aft of the cockpit and have it duct directly into the motor. I'm also looking at an additional aerodynamic device of some sort between the headlights on the front end, like the Porsche high tail has. So, basically I'll have a Lancia LC2 High Tail. :)

The Reynard is not a bad low bucks car, the other guy that bought one on the spot finished 4th I think. I've decided to be different and order a Slot It Lancia kit and do some body mods to it. I'm going to trash the existing rear wing and raise the strakes across the back and put a 956/962 style rear wing on it.

http://www.cincyslots.com/ImageSlots/MRRC-SLOITIT/SICA08B.JPG

Then I'm going to put a NACA duct on the top just aft of the cockpit and have it duct directly into the motor. I'm also looking at an additional aerodynamic device of some sort between the headlights on the front end, like the Porsche high tail has. So, basically I'll have a Lancia LC2 High Tail. :)

HAHA!! Now that ought to be an awesome looking mod'ed car! I definitely want to see the build up and final car on that project! I have a Lancia too and I know what you mean about the wing - little weird to me, but I kind of like your idea.

Enjoy the new project Pete!
PD2:thumbsup:

The scoop on the top will more than likely look like an inverted P-51 belly scoop but a lower profile. Right about where the antenna is...

Just a follow up on my old thread...

When I began talking to the sanctioning body about my plans for the Lancia they pretty much shot them down. All cars, including the Jaguars, now have to run the stock (OEM) rear winds in stock locations. And no extra motor cooling.

So, here's my Lancia LC2. Basically stock, Red Bull paint.

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z262/FresnoPete/Lancia.jpg

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z262/FresnoPete/MVC-686S.jpg

It won't look like this for long, the next race is over the weekend. I'm sure the mirrors and antenna will be the first things torn off...

Just a follow up on my old thread...

When I began talking to the sanctioning body about my plans for the Lancia they pretty much shot them down. All cars, including the Jaguars, now have to run the stock (OEM) rear winds in stock locations. And no extra motor cooling.

So, here's my Lancia LC2. Basically stock, Red Bull paint.

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z262/FresnoPete/Lancia.jpg

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z262/FresnoPete/MVC-686S.jpg

It won't look like this for long, the next race is over the weekend. I'm sure the mirrors and antenna will be the first things torn off...

Pete,

That car looks great bro!! When I saw it I was like, I want one! VERY awesome job bro!

As for the things they shot down - it sounds like they are doing what my local shop does....keep it mostly stock. Its nice they let you at least have a unique livery. And as far as the mirrors and antenna - if that rubber antenna gets ripped off during racing I'd love to know what kind of intense racing you guys do where ya race?!? WOW! My antennas have all stayed on all of my Slot.it cars without any issues. If I'm not mistaken (don't have my Lancia in front of me right now) I believe the mirrors are rubber to, so there should be no issue.

Eh, regardless, you should have tons of fun with that car! Great paint job and livery!

PD2:thumbsup:

The mirrors and antenna are flexible and I put them on using CA, they may stay put, they may not. I crashed an SCX F1 car with flexible parts and tore it up. At the track we're racing this weekend there are no "safer barriers", just armco.

The car has a 24,000 RPM motor and the slot it stock rear tires are very nice and sticky but I have silicones as well just in case. I just bought a Professor Motor controller so I'm ready to go!

The mirrors and antenna are flexible and I put them on using CA, they may stay put, they may not. I crashed an SCX F1 car with flexible parts and tore it up. At the track we're racing this weekend there are no "safer barriers", just armco.

The car has a 24,000 RPM motor and the slot it stock rear tires are very nice and sticky but I have silicones as well just in case. I just bought a Professor Motor controller so I'm ready to go!

Sounds like you are Pete! Good luck in the races this weekend! Let us know how Team Red Bull does! Good luck!

PD2:thumbsup:

It took about an hour to get this set up:

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z262/FresnoPete/MVC-687S.jpg

I added two small rounds and one small bar neo magnets forward of the motor, between the front end bell and the front axle. For obvious reasons you don't want a magnet under the front axle so the first round is behind the body mount post.

I also custom ground the front tires to get them a little closer, and thus also increased the total weight of the car. Indy Grips are SPEC rear tire. The car weights just 79 grams, so 421 grams is magnetic. For you HO guys this is the difference between an old T-Jet and a Super G-Plus. The weight isn't my idea, it's just the rule for the sanctioning body. But I did what I could to put my weight on the middle of the car, only a 100 gram magnet is forward of the CG. In 5 attempts the car ran between 485 and 502 grams, they will take an average which puts me at 492 grams in my set up tests.

Didn't do too bad tonight. I didn't qualify but it wasn't a driving issue. In part of the qualifyer I lost a braid wire and it took about 10 laps to replace it. The next lane rotation I hit a Spirit Reynard hard enough to dislodge one of my traction magnets and lost the handle. I missed the main by 6 laps, or about 35 seconds, half the time I had spent on fixing the braid wire.

The main saw a two Jag, two 956 battle with the Jaguars taking the lead after the first set of lane rotations. In the second set one of the Jags broke a motor wire and one of the Porsches crept back into the fray. But in the end Jaguar ruled the night.

I was extremely happy with how the Slot It Lancia held up, and I did break off both mirrors when I hit the Reynard, but it was a very hard, nearly head on impact. It broke the roll bar, mirrors and drivers head off the Reynard, so I came out in better shape. I have one minor scratch on the finish, not even down into the paint. I tell you, Future floor wax is pretty tough stuff.

Even though you did not make the main, it sounds like you had a great time Pete! Tought break on the braid wire. That seems a bit unusual - I hardly ever see that happen when we race, especially with a Slot.It. Any ideas why it did that?

I still cannot believe you lost both mirrors, but compared to the other guy's car, I agree - you came out winning that smash up! LOL!!

The Lancia is a great car and since its a Slot.It many people will say its because of who made it. I just think that Slot.It has chosen some great cars that allow their users to dominate the track with.

Great race and thanks for posting the update!
PD2:thumbsup:

I don't think I had it completely reseated from an earlier adjustment, but the good thing was I didn't have to remove the body to effect the repair, just pulled the flag out and plugged it back in. The traction magnet was stacked but not glued, it dislodged and stuck itself to the front axle which caused its own problems. The Reynard didn't run right the rest of the night but my crash with it was only part of his problem. I spent the rest of the night kidding him about having Rich Vogler as a driver. We are a sick bunch of guys, I have to tell you.

I'm going to order a Porsche high-tail after New Years for a spare. I lent my Lancia to another driver and he said it was actually faster than his 2nd place finishing 956, I just need to learn to drive and part of it is my adjustments on my Prof. Motor controller. What a complex piece of equipment that is.

I'm going to order a Porsche high-tail after New Years for a spare. I lent my Lancia to another driver and he said it was actually faster than his 2nd place finishing 956, I just need to learn to drive and part of it is my adjustments on my Prof. Motor controller. What a complex piece of equipment that is.

Which PM controller did you get? I'm just curious as I have an older one that has brake controll only. I also got a Parma Plus controller that has not knobs of course, but has been VERY smooth. It's a 45ohm controller.

You'll like that Porsche by the way. I bought a low or regular tail one, raced it and then bought another for my daughter to race and its wild how the two are practically identical in feel! Probably the most consistent cars on the market no matter how many you get.

PD2:thumbsup:

It's a Silver Series electronic controller, with I believe 10 positions of adjustment knobs and a place on the board for an adjustible brake. I have about 5 of the knobs in place to adjust my top end kick-in, the adjustible braking pot is another $25 and will be installed later. I have brakes, just no adjustment.

Brakes? We don need so stinkin' brakes! And I've seen you drive, except for the esses you don't need brakes on Dan's track. When is you track going up?

My track is going up shortly, I finally decided a layout, I need to get a Ninco lap counter/timer and then I can start building. It's the last one in this picture, with a lap distance of about 50', or 1/3rd mile scale.

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z262/FresnoPete/RedBullSeries.jpg

AH! I thought you were going to change up between all of these designs, but you know what, that last design does look challenging and pretty fun! Great choice Pete!

PD2:thumbsup:

PD, we started that series, ran about 3 of the tracks then got to "El Diablo", the last one. Once everyone ran that one they wanted to keep racing it. For it's layout the track is very fast, especially will all standard corners most of it can be run flat out even with 300 gram cars. The bad thing is there's not much space for landscaping so it will be a "slot car track" rather than a "scale raceway". The big end is banked slightly so you can really fly 3/4th of the way around the layout.

That makes sense Pete! Everyone loves it when they can open up the car and see what they really can do. But its nice to see the challenging switchbacks or 180's. Is that one big end the only banked curve?


PD2:thumbsup:

PD, unfortunately yes. Because of how close the rest of the track is to itself it was the only one I could throw some pitch into. This is a drifting track for cars that have small magnet signatures so having at least one high speed section was crucial.

AH! OK, that makes sense! Still, I wouldn't mind take a few runs on it! How big of an area does it cover, square? If you would not mind, I might try to build it here at home on my plastic track just to see what its like. Just gotta make sure you are cool with me doing your design and if I have enough room.

Awesome stuff bro!
PD2:thumbsup:

PD, it lays out on a 12'X4' layout, running length is 48.25' in the longest lane, 46.75' in the shortest. For all intents and purposes we're calling it 50'.

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z262/FresnoPete/Bigone.jpg

This is the arrangement with a Grand Chicane, that's the only part of the track that's still up for review. The start track is the starting place for three jumpers that link it with the middle of three straights. Distance on the jumpers is only about 3' total even though they cover 15' of track length. This track will have a Ninco lap counter and timer instead of the SCX system originally planned. All of the turn and straight borders are going to be plywood, and will be seemless all the way around except where the layout comes apart for storage and transport.

The width is perfect, but the length is a bit longer than I have room for....at least where all my hobby gear is. But I could temporarily set it up in the dining room. HA! My wife will love that! HEHEHEHE!!!

I'm gonna take inventory of the track I have and see what pieces I'd need to buy to setup this layout. I definitely want to try it out!

Thanks for sharing Pete! I really appreciate it!
PD2:thumbsup: