8th-Jul-21, 10:29 AM
Policar CT02a Subaru WRX STI - 24h Nürburgring Presentation 2014. RRP £37.95. Available 14 July 2021.
A rather exciting new release from Policar is this Subaru WRX STI in a 'presentation livery' that showcased the 2015 WRX STI prior to its racing debut at the 2014 Nürburgring 24 hours.
Subaru's motorsport arm STI has regularly entered the gruelling race on the Grüne Hölle in the SP3T class - for up to 2-litre 'Special' cars fitted with a turbocharger. The race is a perfect testing ground and an important shop window for new production cars and specialist racing versions. STI pride themselves on using over 90% of production parts on their race cars. In 2013, a WRX STI finished second in class. In 2014 Subaru took the opportunity to use the iconic race to present their new 2015 WRX STI model with plenty of fanfare and media coverage...
In the race itself, the car carried the number 118 and was driven by Toshihiro Yoshida, Kota Sasaki, Marcel Lasée and Carlo Van Dam.
The multinational quartet finished 32nd overall and fourth in class, behind three Audi TT RS 2.0s. Subaru produced a superb 20-minute film to commemorate the 2014 race and the battle for SP3T honours...
Policar have produced a smashing rendition of the 2014 presentation livery. Personally, I'd have preferred the Nürburgring race car... However, in terms of an accurate model, there are two big problems and one disappointment for me. Essentially we have the 2015 WRX STI rally car - which is, of course, exciting - but means the rear wing and the interior are wrong for a car racing at the Nürburgring 24 hours. The driver should be on the right and the co-driver shouldn't be in the car. The slight disappointment is the front face of the car - the air intake on the bonnet is just not pronounced enough for me...
I understand that this range of Policar models is designed to provide home racers with robust budget slot cars. The rear wing certainly looks like it will last much longer than a flimsy GT version, but it would have been nice to have the option of a single-driver interior.
Underneath the body is a similar chassis - but not the same - as that in the Policar Subaru BRZ / Toyota GT86 cars. It has the single piece layout with a 13.5k rpm S-Can motor clamped in, enclosed bronze bushings, Slot.it axles, plastic wheels and C1 tyres - plus the Policar easy-change braid and guide system... which is easy once you figure it out! Unlike the Slot.it cars, there is no provision for adjusting the front axle height or fitting suspension. I expect to see a full Slot.it-spec chassis available on the Slot.it 3D Shapeways shop in due course. There is one available for the BRZ / GT86 that is compatible with Slot.it inline motor pods only.
One big difference compared to the earlier cars is no traction magnet is fitted to the WRX STI. This is a surprise for a home racer oriented model. Having said that, the BRZ and GT86 are really good fun to drive with the magnet removed - much more so than a Scalextric, Carrera or Fly car with their magnets whipped out and no weight added. The low-power motor and quality wheels and tyres do help. The car is set up for a Slot.it Type C universal chip (oXigen, SSD & Carrera) to snap into the chassis - although the cables will require soldering to the pick-ups and motor. The WRX STI is advertised as being fitted with lights, but I can't see any connector from the circuit board on the chassis photo provided.
Retailing around £25-35, these Policar models deserve to be very popular. This one is the pick of the bunch so far - and if some tasty rally versions follow, a lot of people are going to sit up and take notice.
A big thank you to Jo for sending us the photos and release details.
![[+]](https://slotracer.online/community/images/bootbb/collapse_collapsed.png)
