Le Mans
![Image](http://www.slotcarouthouse.com/photos/LanciaLC2Top.jpg)
By Phil Wicks
I must admit I’ve never had my finger on the motor racing pulse and disciplines I once watched religiously have fallen by the wayside and for various reasons others have come to the fore.
Le Mans was one of those events I followed as a small person in the sixties and with the advent of other things more fascinating to a mobile teenager I soon lost track of what was quick and what wasn’t. There is consequently a large hole of knowledge regarding Le Mans in the seventies and eighties and this car is part of it. If you had asked me last year if Lancia raced this category I’d have replied probably not. Check it for yourself:
Le Mans Lancia
The Le Mans register reveals exactly who did and didn’t race what and when and who was driving and a whole bunch of other fact. Engine size, laps completed, cause of DNF etc etc etc….
For instance. The car was a Lancia LC2-84 Ferrari. It was powered by a 3014c.c. turbocharged V8. It was entered in class C1 by Recidence Malardeau of France in conjunction with the Scuderia Jolly Club of Italy. The car raced for ten hours and completed 117 laps before retiring with a failed head gasket!! It was ranked 40th overall and the three drivers were Pierluigi Martini, Italy. Xavier Lapeyre, France and Beppe Gabbiani, also of Italy. Its stiffest competition would have been flat 6 turbo charged Porsche 956’s.
Le Mans Lancias
So where does that leave us, back to the model! The model called to me from the lower shelves of Red Racer Hobbies at Clontarf, just outside Brisbane. I went over for a social visit to see how the new 6 lane Carrera shop track was shaping up and there it was. I don’t have many yellow cars and this one is definitely yellow and combined with the green BP sponsorship livery, it looks very nice.
Slot.it (and most other manufacturers) make a nice model. I think it would be a bit passé now to go into detail about tampo and everything. With legible tampo printing that takes me two pairs of glasses to read, I think that art form has been well and truly mastered! So it only needs now to cover the plusses and minuses of the model!
We’ll do the minuses first as these are the things we might dread when shucking out some HEC (hard earned cash) on an above averagely priced model. The first and most obvious are all the ‘sticky out’ bits which are just asking to be scat off in some minor incident, leaving the model looking sullied and dirty! Just look at the rear view mirrors. Come on Mr Slot.it!! ‘Cor blimey! Scaley have set the trend with their ‘rubber’ door mirrors on the JGTC’s, therefore I think ALL other manufacturers should fall into line immediately!! The mirrors are fixed by some very dainty heat welds and it shouldn’t be too much of an operation with a low wattage soldering iron to remove them surgically before racing.
![Image](http://www.slotcarouthouse.com/photos/LanciaLC2LHR.jpg)
Next, a ‘rubberised’ antenna?? We got that right Mr Slot.it! I will give it a 50% chance of survival anyway, because of its location. The rear wing has two vanes to it. The first is thin and doesn’t sit properly over the pylons which are separate and part of the chassis. The wing is in actual fact attached at either end to the body moulding. The second vane is immediately behind it and VERY thin. Avoid rear enders!!
Lastly, the cooling intake at the front contains a vulnerable tow eye and front aerofoil. Statistics in the raw! But what the hell, we bought this to race!! Or did we? This gorgeous model says ‘Race me, race me, race me! But under your breath you are saying don’t crash, don’t crash, DON’T CRASH!! Look at the pics and judge for yourself.
![Image](http://www.slotcarouthouse.com/photos/LanciaLC2LHF.jpg)
I’m trying not to be negative, but as a non collector (who’s he kidding!) I would like to see this model as (an intact) shelf queen after its early days are done. But anyhow, that, believe it or not, is about the limit of my negativism. On to the rest of the model and time to live it up!!
Slot.it have had the formula right for a while now. Two screws to hold the chassis in (magic!) a good tractable motor, which will still allow the model to fly on a one amp power supply (magic!) and a choice of rubber! (MAGIC!) Yes, a choice! I haven’t had it officially confirmed but the model seems to come with natural rubber tyres all round and a pair of silicone rears (unless I’m mistaken) taped to the underside of the box!!
![Image](http://www.slotcarouthouse.com/photos/LanciaLC2driver.jpg)
Once the top is off, all the pre requisites are in evidence. An inline motor (my favourite) mounted on a sub-frame. This is held to the chassis proper by four short screws. Silicone lead wires held in place down both sides of the chassis, the front assisting the guide in self centring. A rigid front axle, (I would liked to have seen some kind of independently rotating front wheels here, like the ‘Wixle’ system I use on my scratchbuilds). A conventional guide with tinned braid. I don’t know why, but tinned braids seem to last longer and don’t clog like some of the so called soft copper competition braids while staying more conductive! A classy ‘grub screw’ fit contrate and a moderate ‘neo’ traction magnet.
![Image](http://www.slotcarouthouse.com/photos/LanciaLC2chassistop.jpg)
Wheels are concentric and there is no sprue remains sticking into the tyres. The tyres, too, are good. A nice soft compound which will take to board and plastic alike, especially the smoother surfaces of Scaley sport and Carrera. Wheels are nicely detailed and the discs are portrayed in a bronze colour behind. The axle bushes are a snug fit too. This model has one of the better drive trains that you are likely to come across and very little attention is needed to prepare it for its first outing.
The front wheels barely come into contact with the ground on a flat test block. I fully expect that on a raised rail track like SCX and Classic Scalextric, they will be well clear. This is an idea Proslot also used successfully on their 1/32 models several years back. In this instant, the front axle can be removed and a couple of sleeves under the axle can be removed to allow the wheels to contact the track surface if this is what you like.
![Image](http://www.slotcarouthouse.com/photos/LanciaLC2chassisunder.jpg)
Underneath, too, the model is very tidy and neatly laid out. There is a minimal neodymium magnet between the contrate and the motor. This may well prove effective on fast sweeping Scalextric layouts but is a bit lacking for Carrera tracks where the model spins out at the slightest provocation. There is a place for the magnet to be mounted in front of the motor but I am of the view that if you want less downforce then do away with it altogether. Also, for the digital boffins amongst us, there is a ready made hole in the front chassis midway between the motor and the guide.
As I look at the business features of this model I find I am smiling to myself, or maybe it’s just wind? A track test will tell!!
So, on to the board track for its first outing. As always, the track has had some good use before the test. This has cleaned it up and refreshed the ‘blue groove’ and left the track in ideal testing conditions. Setting off fairly quickly it is immediately evident that the tyres need sanding and the guide needed attention. The tyres are concentric but it seams most rubber mouldings seem to have a shiny ’crust’ on them out of the mould. The guide, believe it or not, was scraping the bottom of the slot on some sections. Not wanting to loose the total depth, I chamfered a slope on the front edge to help it ‘ride’ over the couple of shallow spots. So after doing twenty laps or so and noting the best time of 7.592 we move onto stage two. This is tyre sanding and chassis tuning. Not as important on a smooth board track but still worth a couple of tenths per lap.
This is more like it. The tyres are biting and the tail out posture in bends is greatly reduced and the straight line acceleration has improved markedly. Another twenty laps sees the best lap time drop to 7.446. Nice……. So all that’s left is stage three which is mainly tyre cleaning. Result, on board track you could be forgiven for thinking the model was running silicones but the truth is the model is stuck fast in and out of bends. Deslots are a sideways straight on deslot. Not sliding and not understeering as such but just letting go into a bend. Best remedy is to back off a fraction earlier and drive hard for the rest of the bend. Best lap was alongside its stable mate at 7.189 secs!!
Like the Sauber, this model is well thought out and is aimed more at the racer than the hobbyist, who may not appreciate or use its full potential. The extra $20.00 for this model is as good as negated by its overall appeal and performance and in my books I rank it above some dearer models such as Fly in desirability. Yes, I’m still smiling, and it’s not wind!
Stats. Wheelbase 84.0 m.m. Front Axle width 60.0 m.m. Rear Axle width 60.3 m.m. Overall weight 77.0 gms. Front axle/guide load 29.0 gms. Rear axle load 48.0 gms Front/Rear weight dist. 38% / 62% Pinion 9z Crownwheel (yellow) 28z Final drive ratio 3.1 : 1 Rear wheel diameter 19.5 m.m.
![Image](http://www.slotcarouthouse.com/photos/LanciaLC2Rear.jpg)
A good all round slot car. Unlike a couple of its predecessors, this model behaves on plastic and wood and long AND short circuits! I have renewed interest in Slot.it products as the R+D department are obviously doing their homework. I’m looking forward to future models from this company and I fully expect this not to be my last Slot.it purchase.