Rally racing is a difficult sport to follow in North America. It doesn’t receive nearly the television air time that it deserves which tends to keep it out of the public eye. Still, I’ve managed to end up with a few rally cars in my collection. Thanks to the popularity of this sport in Europe – home base to most slot car manufacturers’ head offices – slot car racers have quite a few interesting subjects to draw upon. Recently, the club at Mini Grid in Toronto started a bi-monthly series for rally cars so I needed to find the most effective tool for racing there. To do this I’ve reached into my collection a pulled out a cross section of 12 rally cars. Read More
Thanks Paul. These are not the most popular cars on this side of the ocean but with the rally championship revving up at Mini Grid it seemed like a timely review to write. It was interesting to get all these cars apart and just compare between the different manufacturers.
For anyone in Toronto, the next round of the Mini Grid championship is tomorrow night. We will be racing non-mag rally cars (10g downforce limit) and Group C (100g downforce limit).
Great review Van with lots of good info. The Renault (most memorable car I ever owned) will be on my buy list based on your review. As you noted Rallying is not big here and I am no exception but I can see the attraction. The group you race with in Canada comes up with the most interesting classes and it is always fun to hear the stories. Thanks for sharing.
Van, very nice work (or play), with solid technical info and high quality photos. Thanks.
I'm wondering if the mirage-like, low-rev "15k or 18k" Scalextric Mini slim can is really just the same old ~22k slim can we find in the F1 cars. And, as the proud owner of an SCX Alpine, I find its ability to corner without rolling over or spinning out gives it an edge over plenty of other low power cars that like to tip over or otherwise leave the slot.
I also note that no lead weight was added to these cars, a subject which should bring cheer to the ever changing crew of new guys who ask where to obtain lead. Lead is pretty much a last resort, in my tuning book.
Very cool, thanks for the great read, Van. There's a growing interest in our area to build a wood rally track so we can properly appreciate these nifty cars. I have a healthy respect for all racing drivers, but the rally guys (and girls) just boggle my mind with their talent.
Quick question about the Alitalia Lancia Beta Montecarlo -- wasn't that a Group 5 car? I'm thinking that was the road racing adaptation that won the works championship in '80 and '81, beating out the Porsche 935's and the like. The rally adaptation of the Beta was the 037, I think.
Thanks for the feedback. These articles are fun to research and write. It's also nice to get a dozen cars out of my collection onto urethane tires. I can't run the full season at Mini Grid owing to my work schedule but I should be able to run about four rounds. I'll report back with my results though I am not expecting much. The classes there are hotly contested with our race turnout pushing 20 guys!
Hi Kurt,
The car in my review carries a Giro D'Italia number plate and was driven by Gilles Villeneuve in the 1979 edition of that tarmac rally. Fasten your seatbelts:
Looks like the Porsche 935 is a rally car too! Back to the DrVanski Racing skunkworks....
Great stuff Van. Fantastic video clip. The really great bit for me is the other cars that could be in this comparison. I love the european rally lips we get to see.
from Team Slot
Alpine 110, Lancia Delta Integrale(4wd), Lancia Stratos, Renault 5
From MSC
ok they are very nearly released
Metro 6R4, Ford RS200
from Spirit
Peugeut 205, Renaut 5
from Avant Slot
Renault Alpine 310, Subaru, Lancer, Parejo and the Trucks
reminds me i promised my self a Renault 5 comparison article with Fly, Spirit and Team Slot cars.
Yeah, I can see it as a tarmac rally racer (really, any car can be a tarmac rally racer), but no doubt it's dead on dirt (he said, with alliteration). The tarmac guys get the benefit of fat, sticky rubber -- does that mess with the series at all, with the meathooks on the tarmac slot cars like the Lancia? Seems like they'd have a huge advantage at the outset.
That one Alpine A110 in the video reminded me of TeamSlot's version of the A110. Seems like they did a great job capturing that style of rally car.
Since Mini Grid plays host to drivers/tuners at a variety of skill levels, they use a bracket racing format for their series. For example, with the rally cars the breakout time is 8.5s. If a car laps faster than that around their 22m circuit then the lap is not counted. The closer a racer can get to the breakout time without going under the better they will do.
Too bad the Giro D'Italia was not part of the WRC. After parsing the rules more carefully, the car must have been a WRC combatant.
Since Mini Grid plays host to drivers/tuners at a variety of skill levels, they use a bracket racing format for their series. For example, with the rally cars the breakout time is 8.5s. If a car laps faster than that around their 22m circuit then the lap is not counted. The closer a racer can get to the breakout time without going under the better they will do.
Too bad the Giro D'Italia was not part of the WRC. After parsing the rules more carefully, the car must have been a WRC combatant.
Sweet!
Thanks, Van, I love learning more about rally stuff. It's so overlooked here.
The breakout sounds like a great idea for that series -- good equalizer.
I think I'll go back for another viewing of that video...
The Dirty Dozen: Rally Car Showdown
Back to the DrVanski Racing skunkworks....
Linear Mode
