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Scalextric Lotus Evora

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wixwacing
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Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:22 am

Scalextric Lotus Evora

Post by wixwacing »

Scalextric
Lotus Evora



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by Phil Wicks


If I remember correctly I have touched upon the rise and rise of the Lotus car company on another review, the Exige I expect; and the almost fanatical fervour with which Colin Chapman pursued his passion could have no other outcome than total success in the field of motorsport. And as we all know, motorsport is the father and mother of modern auto technology.

The real Evora has all the mod. cons and has banked with the reliable companies when it came to motive power. The Engine is a mid mounted V6 Toyota 3.5 litre twin cam engine and the transmission is six speed in both manual or auto, made by the Japanese global transmission maker, Aisin Keiki. For the scale racers amongst us looking for a class, this model has raced at Le Mans (2011).






With the death of Colin and the eventual withdrawal of the Chapman family from competitive motorsport the marque and its innovative products was continued by its new owners to the point where the company still pursues motoring excellence. The Evora follows on in this tradition and Lotus have added another excellent model to the genre they are renowned for. But have Scalextric done the same?...... let’s have a look.



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From the outside Mr Scaley has plumped for an old favourite livery. Ever since the cigarette company John Player sponsored Lotus back in the seventies, the classic black and gold livery has enthralled motorsport fans for years, only this time there is no hint of cigarettes, just the tastefully clean lines of the body curves and the black and gold.



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As to be expected the tampo is well applied and there is nothing which seems out of place. The lights and the fine photo etched grilles are well executed and fitted, and other detail like the fuel fillers and wheels do not alarm!



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Once the body has been removed the layout is standard Scaley, not a bad thing in many ways, as those who have a few Scalextric models will appreciate there will be no surprises on the race track. Inside all is neat and bless my soul, the motor is loose in its mounts; something least expected from Mr Scaley and something us non magnet racers avoid like the plague! But that is a simple fix and I won’t condemn the model for that.



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Wheels and tyres are very concentric and there is no noticeable flash from the moulding process, and as a consequence the tyres fit the rims well with little necessity to grind them true; but I do think Mr Scaley could have made a bit more effort with the wheel styling. The tyres are also a nice soft compound and when I tested it on Scaley Sport and painted board track it hooked up well on both. The traction magnet is also the standard magnet and I would expect the serious racer to change it for the thicker and stronger aftermarket option currently available through eBay.



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Scalextric still persist with the single strand lead wire at the guide end. Once again, if the model just does hot laps at home there isn’t too much of an issue, but to date, and since this type of guide has been in use, I have had three or four break leaving the model dead on the track in the middle of the race; the first time being with the McLaren M23 GP car. Now, if I race one of these guide set ups I make sure I have soldered the coloured lead wires to the contacts in the guide (after they have been removed), and dispose of the single wires!!



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I noticed several other things too while the model was apart. The motor has a short shaft at the pinion end? Would this be an issue if upgrading the motor? The little posts which Scaley use to hold the rear axle bushes in have one mounted in the body and one in the drivers tray? Would this affect running the model with the body loose. As a precaution I might just put a spot of superglue on the rear axle bushes to keep them in place.



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The rear axle has its fair share of side play and I would shim this down to barely perceptible movement just for my own peace of mind even though the rear axle bushes seem to be fixed firmly in place. The front axle runs in the chassis so those expecting to put a few miles on this model might like to keep some lubricant in the form of a light grease or Vaseline applied here as they can soon wear the slots.



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There are a couple of small ’vents’ for want of a better word, which are fixed to the chassis behind the front wheels. These are not well fixed and could become a statistic very quickly, as indeed one did on this model. A strange decision by Scalextric to mount them as they did. Even with the body on they are unsupported at their tops and are susceptible to side impacts, so check them out each time you come off the race track!! And lastly, the light boards are loose in the chassis mounts and can be decidedly annoying and fiddly when trying to replace the body. Simple fix here is once again a small spot of superglue in the mount and fix the board in place



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On the track the model was fairly predictable, not too stuck down for Scaley and fairly well balanced on Ferrador, but it will need attention to be successful on either. One thing which has proved a bit of a pain is the Scaley guide. For use on most plastic tracks it is fine, but once you get on to some of the more technical routed tracks it weaknesses are revealed.



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The guide is not deep enough and there is no option to upgrade it to a Ninco or a Slot.it or similar due to the design and fit of the , and again I have had a couple snap off at the guide base!!?? This happens if you oversteer deslot too often. As the model swings round in the slot, if it is a heavy model as some non magnet racers can be, the weight of the model is arrested by the guide coming to the end of its travel while in the slot; and when this happens, the weight of the model strains the narrow width of plastic which connects the blade to the base, and eventually, sooner or later, it will give way.



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There is not a lot of room to add weight inside either so it is essential to get the tyres working well, this might be by regular cleaning or lightly coating the tread are with CRC or WD40 and wiping off the surplus after a couple of minutes. You should find this softens the tread area quite nicely, imparting extra grip. Also, don’t forget, if you are gong to race this model, you will need to get the front tyre grip as low as possible, it should smooth the model’s cornering ability and win you extra 100ths at each corner.


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So what are we getting for our money? Well, a nice model for a start, and something that drives well out of the box, but other than that it could be one of a hundred. If you love to race your Lotus then thirty minutes or so should be enough to ‘blueprint’ it and get yourself on the podium! I’ll give it 8 out of ten!

Many thanks to John (Moby) Magriplis for the opportunity to review this model
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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!
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