[CMOTD]

People moan about the current domination of Mercedes in F1 but that has nothing on the Nissan Skyline during the Group A period of the Japanese Touring Car Championship. Between 1990 and 1993 the car won every single round, 29 in all. It was so dominant that everybody else eventually gave up and 1993 basically became a one make affair. It also won the Bathurst 1000 in 1991 and 1992 and stuffed the DTM BMWs at Macau in 1990.

           

As one of the all time great saloon cars it is a little surprising that no slot car manufacturer has produced one before now but Slot.It has finally brought it in from the cold. The Macau winning Castrol version has been available for a little while but I wasn't keen on that livery and held off buying one until the iconic Calsonic version was released.

Where does it fit in the scheme of things?

It is a new departure for Slot.It and, although the specification of this car is very similar to the existing DTM cars, it never actually raced against any of them so currently its only true racing partner is another Skyline. Not to worry though, I can run whatever I like in my little fantasy slot car world so it will be taking part in a historic saloon car series on the track.

   

Accurate model?

Mostly but with a couple of provisos:

The driver is a bit odd. He is nicely decorated with helmet and overalls both carrying sponsor logos but is way too tall. His helmet is jammed against the roof above the roll cage and the poor chap would suffer severe injuries in a rollover.

   

It looks near scale and the sponsor livery seems to be spot on but I am not entirely sure that the colour is 100% accurate as it it is a lighter shade of blue than expected. Colours can be deceiving on web photos of the real thing but they look to be a deeper shade than the model. Here is a comparison shot with the Takata/Scalextric Calsonic 250Z which is more like the colour I would expect:

   

Slot.It are usually pretty good with colours though so I could be completely wrong about it.


What's inside?
All mechanical parts motor, gears etc are identical to the current DTM cars but the chassis is slightly different in that it is stepped rather than the usual flat ones. The wiring harness also has a white plug and socket arrangement which I assume is to enable easy digital chip fitment.

       

How does it go Mister?

The track is a couple of mm narrower than the DTM Merc and it is two grams heavier. The stepped chassis would indicate a slightly higher centre of gravity so my initial thoughts were that it wouldn't be as fast as the Merc but I was very pleasantly surprised when I gave it a run.

After minimal preparation (oiled the relevant bits, slackened the chassis and pod screws, changed the standard tyres to F22s and ran it in for half an hour) it instantly put in consistent 5.4 second laps on my 50ft track with no trace of any nasty handling characteristics. Pushing the envelope got it down to low 5.3s and this is almost identical to the performance of the Merc. Ever so slightly faster in fact. At the extreme edge of my limited talents it would roll rather than snap sideways like the Merc but I try not to go there too often. Straight out of the box this is a really superb bit of kit and you can't say that about several other slot cars on the market. A few tweaks and modifications would no doubt improve it further for serious competition but for home use it is near perfect. Well up to Slot.It's usual standards and an object lesson in slot car manufacture to some other makes I could name.

And Finally....

The usual bag of bits under the plinth contained a couple of grub screws/allen key for the front axle plus a black bit of bent plastic and a silver pipe thing. No idea what they are for, anybody know?

   

[rallyhub]

Nice review, Brian.

I think that grey pipe can replace the existing twin pipes.
Maybe Nissan has used both exhaust types for their racing Skylines.
The black strip with bended part is a part for fastening a digital decoder.
The other parts are not clear to me.

Hub

[Savage GT]

The tendancy to roll at the limit can be offset (or the limit moved) with some weight in the chassis.
Pro weight tuners would probably advise some either side of the pod and a bit upfront.
I run both of mine with about 8 grams in the space behind the front axle axle, but that is just my preference.
I also noted the "skid plates" on the bottom of the chassis in front of the front wheels are already in place on this model, on the Castrol one they were supplied separate.

Unfortunately mine suffered from a stripped wheel thread on one rear, something I thought I could rectify by changing to the other side thread .... that had been stripped too  .
No doubt Maurizio or Sean would have sent me one had I let either of them know, but as I had a parts order due at Pendle I thought I would just order a new set.

[slotloco]

Nice review as usual Brian

Just a couple of points - Firstly, if your rear track IS 2mm narrower, it is simply the setting of the wheels on the axles.
I have done a fair bit of prep on these, to add them to the race roster of our DTM Classic National invitational race event next month.
With the wheels set just inside the rear arches so they are not visible from above, and rocking/tilting inside the arches when you have body roll/lean, these, the Mercedes, and indeed the CA45 Alfa and the Opel all come out at 58mm and change to outside width of the 10mm N series tyres.
So for anyone who worries that a narrow rear track will handicap it - don't. 

Like you, I was surprised at how they perform. Seeing the higher chassis, and not being able to make use of the "sliders" since we run our cars on wood tracks, where they always perform best with 4 wheels planted, and no "tilt" in the front axle, I expected them to be less stable than the existing models.

They have run against more than the BMW in 1990 at Macau in 1991 where they ran against BMWs'  Mercs, and the odd Sierra.
For the 1991 race, they were invited back, but put on a "good behaviour bond" in the form of 140kg of weight penalty.
That sorted them out.... :) 

So while there were 2 sets of rules in play in the race - Group A and DTM, - the weight penalty brought the field much closer together, and this history adds a bit more relevance for the purists, to be putting these on the track with the other Slot.it DTM cars, and indeed those of Fly, Ninco and Scalextric.
Macau 1991

And of course, they were running against a pretty wide field of Group A rules cars at Bathurst, with the winning car from 1992 due out this year. 
It was ruled winner on count-back despite crashing immediately before the red flag, much to the Dick Johnson Shell Sierra awarded 2nd place.
The Bathurst fields also included the BMW

The CA47c car, is from Spa 1990. The Nissan ran there 1990 - 1992. 

Bottom line for me is, as you say, a lovely model that no maker has done previously, and performance puts it squarely in the mix with the intended running mates from Reggio Emelia.

[CMOTD]

"Firstly, if your rear track IS 2mm narrower, it is simply the setting of the wheels on the axles."

Dimensions taken from Slot.It specifications:
Merc 190E - Track 60mm front and rear.
Skyline - Track 58mm front and rear.

Looking at my example doesn't seem much scope for widening but will give it a go.

[slotloco]

"Firstly, if your rear track IS 2mm narrower, it is simply the setting of the wheels on the axles."

Dimensions taken from Slot.It specifications:
Merc 190E - Track 60mm front and rear.
Skyline - Track 58mm front and rear.

Looking at my example doesn't seem much scope for widening but will give it a go.

Specs can only get you so far. 
I cannot get any of them to 60mm, not even the Opel. You would have to have the tyres right below the body and rubbing when the body rocked in corners.
- I have about 9 or 10 units set up for racing, or as bench mules for scrutineers to use as benchmarks.
The pic below makes the Nissan look wider - but that's just an optical illusion from the camera lens angle, hand holding the phone.
The Nissan was at 58.7, the Merc at 58.5, but I could have shimmed the Merc just a poofteenth more.



Bottom line is as you already said, it is surprisingly competitive and stable.
Do you set yours up so the "sliders" touch the track and stabilise it in corners?

[CMOTD]

Doh! Should know better than to trust manufacturers' specs.
Took the micrometer to the cars and you are perfectly correct - 58 mm and a  poofteenth track on Merc. As supplied the Skyline is 56mm so 2mm difference to start with. The body width of the Skyline at the rear wings is a tiny fraction less than the Merc so I wasn't quite able to get it out to 58mm without fouling but near enough as makes no difference.

I have no idea what a 'slider' is, would you care to elaborate please?

[Savage GT]

   

Those.
on mine set so I don't use them, you would need smaller front wheels and/or have them tucked right up into the arches.
But they do add a tiny bit of extra weight below the axle line, every little helps 

[CMOTD]

This is what I know as a slider.     Tastes a lot better than bits of plastic.

I thought those things on the chassis were fixed in place but now discover that they are removable - you learn something every day in this hobby. Is this a new thing? What exactly do you do with them once you have taken them off?

[slotloco]

This is what I know as a slider.  Tastes a lot better than bits of plastic.

Best sliders I ever had were in the Chokdee Belgian Beer bar in Vientiane . . .  just saying like



Oh, sorry, thread drift. Your fault, You made me hungry.

Please somebody, stab me with a needle, twice, soon......