The Slotcar Outhouse

A 'no bull' site for 1:32 slot car racing. Home of the 'Slotcar Legends'

'Sideways' Riley MK XX Daytona Prototype

Post Reply
wixwacing
Marshal!!!
Posts: 1871
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:22 am

'Sideways' Riley MK XX Daytona Prototype

Post by wixwacing »

`SIDEWAYS’
Riley Mk XX

Daytona Prototype

Image

By Phil Wicks


Riley have been about for some time now and have focussed on producing racing cars mostly for the home market. They have been quietly beavering away in the back ground and achieving results by stealth and to date have an impressive list of customers AND results. After a decidedly difficult period in the closing years of the twentieth century when they were bought and sold a couple of times, the owner Bob Riley, reformed a new company bearing his name and trading in his tried and tested products. The Riley chassis can have a variety of motors fitted to it and the model depicts the Pontiac powered Mk XX of the Riley Matthews motorsport team.


Riley Technologies


So how does this compare to the Fly model?? Mmmmmmm, Chalk and cheese well….. yes and no? In the slotcar stakes, both are very good slotcars. The Fly is a well balanced model straight from the box and both are ‘in line’ models. They both weigh in about the same and the split is very equal too. On the track the Fly model can haul some pretty quick times straight out of the box and if you run it for a while you can clip the odd tenth off your personal best for the next ten minutes. The Sideways model, on the other hand, comes from the box in race winning trim! Just as balanced and just as drivable.



Image



The difference to me is that the Fly comes with a torquey boxer motor which can be a handful on the more technical track whereas the Sideways Riley comes with the Slot.it red engine, Faster than the boxer but a lot less torque, and combined with the higher final drive ratio, this model is more predictable in the corners when racing on the edge. I took the opportunity to run this model on the four lane ‘Al’s Paceway’ Clontarf craftwood circuit. A technical but fast circuit requiring a lot from model AND driver.

Within laps of putting it on the track the model was lapping at 11.1’s which puts in the category of super car for this circuit. There are only a couple of classes which run faster than this on race nights!! Without anyone to push me along I ran it as fast and as safely as possible, Sure enough, it was running within a couple of tenths lap after lap. Now the Fly Riley runs this fast too, but at this speed you have a model which drives amazingly well but every now and then you get the feeling of impending doom, whereas the Sideways model was rock steady lap after lap. The tyres were hooking up well and it wasn’t going to take much to get this model into race winning form.



Image



Apart from that, the Sideways model is far superior in finish to the Fly car. Body colour is good and even. Tampo as expected, is impeccable and all the moulding detail like rivet heads, over centre clips, rear wing stays, rear view mirrors and antenna are well modelled. There are however some details which are best left concealed.



Image



The driver is a cousin of the Racer pilot which has elephantine proportions and large moulding flash lines around him and legs akimbo. Cockpit detail is sparse and a bit reminiscent of the Proslot models ten years ago. The other minus was for the rear wing. This has very pronounced moulding lines underneath. The saving grace is that you can’t see them under normal racing conditions!



Image



Headlamps are modelled well (unlike the 'stick-on' Fly lights) and there is what appears to be a very nice photo etched grille (instead of a photo of an etched grille) between them. Overall I would give the body nine out of ten for presentation. Critical observations would be that the rear of the model is made up of several thin pieces of moulding. I would rate them and the front etched grille amongst the early casualties, along with the rear view mirrors and the roof antenna.

Image



So, enough of the shiny bits, how is this model going to do the business. Quite simple really, just get Slot.it to supply the motive force. This comes in the form of a pure unadulterated Slot.it chassis and running gear. The chassis is the usual fare. A reasonably rigid chassis with a drive pod. The pod comes complete with what I can only describe as a red motor. It looks orange to me, until you put it along side an orange motor. Confused? I thought so!! So you’ll just have to trust me.



Image



The motor pod is Slot.it, held in by four screws. These screws can also allow you to alter the chassis running height for added traction. Be warned, if you run a Slot.it controller, lowering the chassis too much will cause the magnet to short the conductor rails and in turn, quickly burn out the controller fuse!!



Image



The rear end is a 26z contrate on a brass hub driven by a 9z pinion. Axle bearings are the ball type. These pop into the pod bearing housings which hold them firm but still allow a little bit of movement to help the bearings stay central to the axle.



Image



There is a strong magnet which, similar to SCX, can be lowered to the track rails buy some judicious pod screw loosening. The pod and chassis is in line but the main chassis has cut outs to allow the fitting of an anglewinder set up for those that prefer it. Moving forward is a somewhat benign `H’ frame with four screws in it. I deduce this is for converting the model to the Scalextric digital system. The decoder and sensor should fit in nicely once the frame has been removed.



Image



Moving further forward, the front axle is held in place in its elongated mounts by four tiny screws. Two screws come up from underneath, and two screw down from the top. This, no doubt, allows you to fine tune the front axle height depending on your preferences.



Image



The rigid height of the front axle can be moved a mil or so on these screws or the axle can be left loose to slop around if that’s what you prefer. No doubt this function is to help set up models on different types of plastic track, as their conductor rails vary in height from track to track from make to make. You can also use this adjustment to hold the front wheels clear of the track if that is your preference!



Image




Another observation here would be that the rear wheels are alloy fixed with grub screws whilst the fronts are push on plastics!! A word of caution though. If you have the front wheels off for any reason, be careful when refitting them as the wheels will push hard against the axle mounts if you are not careful, causing the front axle to bind. Last up is the guide. An old favourite. Quite deep enough for most tracks and with the lead wires set in channels in the chassis, you should get a reasonable self centring action. A marshalls delight!!



Image



There we have it. A few too many screws when viewed from underneath but a fine model all the same. The chassis is held in with one screw front and one rear. This negates using the pod screws for board racing but as mentioned before the magnet height will benefit from ten minutes experimenting with the pod screws.




Image



Image



Image



This is Mr Sideway’s (Racer’s) first attempt at a plastic body and a good one too. This model will make the Fly Riley work hard for its keep and I would like to be an onlooker in the event of a serious challenge. It would be hard to guess the outcome.


Many thanks to Q32 and Legends racer Norm Cash for the loan of this great model.
Image

When I'm not racing slotcars,
I'm out in the back yard, burning food!!

When I win, it's because of my talent, not my car or my controller!
User avatar
Cyph
FIGJAM Expert
Posts: 213
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:31 am
Location: Launceston
Contact:

Re: 'Sideways' RileyMK XX Daytono Prototype

Post by Cyph »

Looks like a great car, I'll be sure to try and pick one up to go alongside my other ones.

That is pretty horrible flash lines on the rear wing but at least the bloody thing is better built than the ones on the Fly!
The Racer Administrator
Perro
Team Strategist
Posts: 140
Joined: Sun Sep 21, 2008 11:25 am

Re: 'Sideways' RileyMK XX Daytono Prototype

Post by Perro »

Is that a side by side comparison of the Racer and the Fly I can see on the horizon? Both would appear to be very good cars and with 2 different approaches with the same outcome of being good driving models. I can put up a Fly if you want to conduct he comparison Phil.
wixwacing
Marshal!!!
Posts: 1871
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:22 am

Re: 'Sideways' RileyMK XX Daytono Prototype

Post by wixwacing »

Hi Glen, I think we might have to make a date to do an objective 'head to head'
Image

When I'm not racing slotcars,
I'm out in the back yard, burning food!!

When I win, it's because of my talent, not my car or my controller!
User avatar
Cyph
FIGJAM Expert
Posts: 213
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:31 am
Location: Launceston
Contact:

Re: 'Sideways' Riley MK XX Daytona Prototype

Post by Cyph »

Is this head to head going to happen? :D

I figured I'd post up a picture of the one I just received, which I was giving a test drive out at the Alpaca Park Raceway. As it's the only place that's got any real scenery yet down here for any of the tracks I go driving at.

Image
The Racer Administrator
wixwacing
Marshal!!!
Posts: 1871
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:22 am

Re: 'Sideways' Riley MK XX Daytona Prototype

Post by wixwacing »

Hi Cyph
I think we are near to having a Daytona Prototype event sometime and this would be an opportunity to trial them!
Image

When I'm not racing slotcars,
I'm out in the back yard, burning food!!

When I win, it's because of my talent, not my car or my controller!
Post Reply
cron