8th-Apr-22, 10:21 AM
This image sent to us by the Scalextric Team is the first public appearance of an undecorated sample of Micro Scalextric's brand new Formula-E Spark Gen2 car. The model is officially licensed by Formula-E and the Scalextric design team were let off the leash to produce as accurate scale model as they could. What I can tell you is...
- The new car is a 7-part assembly - all bespoke parts, including the chassis
- The different colours are from the different moulds
- The scale is around 1:55 to preserve the lines of the Formula-E car
- The wheelbase is 60.2mm (2.37") - longer than any previous HO circuit racing car (the AW SuperIII Dallara IndyCars were 50mm)
- The rear track is 34.9mm (1.37") - typical for a Micro Scalextric car.
G1179M Micro Scalextric Formula E - Battery Powered Race Set. RRP £69.99. Scheduled summer 2022.
The set includes the Nissan of Sébastien Buemi’s and Oliver Turvey’s NIO - and can be upgraded to mains power with the G8043 accessory pack.
There's no news on whether a Micro Scalextric version of Spark Plug might be in the pipeline... however, plans to modify the standard Spark Plug to work on the 9-volt Micro system has been bumped up my 'To-Do' list. The Formula-E Spark Plug app would add a huge amount of brilliant gameplay to the Micro Scalextric set.
So where do these cars fit in?
The new 2019 Micro Scalextric system was always meant as a stand-alone program (see thread here), separate from the traditional HO track design. In my mind, it's a big step forward - but most of the established HO community will be sticking with the plastic or routed tracks they've enjoyed for 30, 50 or even 60 years. These new Formula-E cars deserve to be a massive hit with Micro Scalextric and Formula-E devotees - mostly young families and therefore the future of our hobby - but will the old guard be interested?
The new Micro Scalextric cars with their little N20 motor do run very nicely on traditional HO track - in fact, they are pretty rapid. Sure, the pick-up braids do need tweaking and taming, but here's no reason why the standard cars (with front axle mounts for 1.5" and 1.7" wheelbases) shouldn't be raced. Alternatively, the body shells can be transferred to other chassis - which is an increasingly common practice in North America.
Might these Micro Scalextric Formula-E cars be a step too far? The scales of HO cars have always been quite broad - anything from the high 1:50s into the 1:70s. And because of the geometry of the chassis underneath, the cars are often rather chunky, tall and too wide. The AW SuperIII Indycars came in under 1:60 scale, but - to be honest - were way too high and didn't look good. Similarly, the recent AFX Formula-N car is possibly one of the ugliest HO cars ever - a far cry from their sublime Panoz DP01 ChampCar. In comparison, the Micro Scalextric Formula-E is right up with the very best in terms of looks and stance. As someone running an HO club, I desperately want to include these fabulous-looking Formula-E cars in our open-wheel class in 2023.
The acid-test will be getting a car and running it on one of our AFX club tracks. We've used Micro Scalextric cars for much of the club's history and are used to easing in the rear track to 34mm and tweaking those braids. We've also run the AW SuperIII IndyCars... way off the pace, but they did navigate our 6" corners with no problems, despite the long wheelbase. I'm hopeful that the new Micro Scalextric Formula-E cars will fit in to our racing - and being a UK club, we're likely to allow a few small compromises to ensure we can run them. They look so good, it would be a crime not to.
A very big thank you to Marcus and everyone at Scalextric for sending us the images and answering my questions. Expect more Micro Scalextric sample images soon.
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