Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Slot cars that should never have happened
#1

There's a thread asking what your favourite current slot car is and why.

So in order to restore the balance of the Universe I thought it would be fun to explore our least favourite cars and why.

I'm not looking for the ugliest in terms of looks but the ugliest in terms of engineering and/or driving performance.

So here is my contribution.

I bring you the SCX Citroen 2CV chassis Nr 657.

   

Now on the face of it this potential beauty is great.  4WD, suspension, drop arm - this is, on paper, a cracking little rally car.

But OMG - did the engineer have the day off and they let the work experience tea boy design the innards?

Take a look....

   

   

The drop arm is too short and the leading edge of the guide can get caught on track joins. The "suspension" is not sprung, the axles are simply loose (the holders for the bushes are deliberately way over-sized) but captive so they will articulate but not in a nice way.  The 4wd is shaft drive and is noisy as a bag full of spanners.  But none of that is as bad as the drive gears - look - a motor that is RAISED ABOVE the axle line and uses transfer gears to pass the power from the pinion DOWN through a transfer gear to the contrate.  So now we have a raised centre of gravity on a very narrow and tippy car.

So handling is going to be a problem - it is likely to tip over mid-corner.

Well actually it doesn't.  Mainly because the damned thing doesn't make it to mid corner - it will proceed very noisily along a straight and as soon as it reaches an R2 bend simply falls over as soon as the front changes direction by about 5 degrees!!!  God knows I have tried but it does this time after time after time - and I am the most successful slot rally driver in our club (that's not saying that much by the way).

It is so bad it is laughable.  I only still have it because, in all conscience, I could not sell this to some unsuspecting buyer.

In fact I have bought a Chase-Cars chassis so I can enjoy the 2CV on a tippy slidey chassis that is designed to be exactly that and with the bonus that it corners all day without falling over.

I had to hunt for about 15 minutes for this car - it is so bad it has slipped right to the bottom and back of my slot car stuff over the years - but now I have found it I can give it a decent chassis.

So that's my car that should never have happened - what's yours?
[+] 1 member Likes Mr Modifier's post
Quote
#2

I am not sure anyone can beat your Citroen. You had me laughing halfway through the post.  

On my end, my least favorite or favorites are a couple of 1/32 Artin GT cars that now reside in my storage unit. They were slow and needed a bunch of work to make near mediocre.

Not to bash Artin, I do have several Artin 1/32 stock-cars in solid colors that are great for the kids to run. They needed some basic adjustments and tuning, but are solid little cars that take a licking and keep on running. 

Jim
Quote
#3

I dont think anything would beat that citroen.

For me I have never understood fad manufacturing by the major manufacturers.  Those bicycles by Scalextric around the 2012 Olympics, You-steer cars of the 60's, Teenage mutant thingiemabobs. It is like a drowning person clutching at straws. And I wonder if they improve revenue of they took a hit to profit when the stuff did not sell....
Quote
#4

I have one of those I disabled the 4wd and it runs a lot better - I run on a board track no magnet - it will make laps around my track without falling over.
Quote
#5

I actually have one of these and was wondering what was wrong with me as it could barely cruise... now I know..
I will look into the Chase Cars chassis...
Quote


Possibly Related Threads...
Thread / Author Replies Views Last Post
Last Post by BARacer
17th-Mar-24, 01:18 PM
Last Post by Top Down
21st-Jan-24, 04:13 PM
Last Post by munter
30th-Apr-23, 12:16 AM
Last Post by Qman
15th-Mar-23, 05:39 PM
Last Post by Kevan
8th-Mar-23, 12:19 PM
Last Post by autoavia
13th-Jan-22, 11:33 AM

Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)