Revoslot Quality Issues

[Wet Coast Racer]

This is not the first time a customer of Revoslot cars has had a bad experience with their product. As I read about the may problems with the F40 and it's quality control issues, customers who have purchased cars that would not even run due to misalignment of the bearings and gear/motor mesh and now tire clearances with the yet to arrive in the US of the Mercedes CLK GT1 (another one I really want), is it really a good idea to push for a class of just Revoslots?

Well there's some trash talk. I'm wondering if you really should be spending your hobby dollars, and hours or work, doing something you don't understand too well. I haven't met a slot car yet that wouldn't benefit from a bit of tuning by the purchaser. An NSR with factory magnet (and slightly loosened screws) probably come closest, judging by my experience.

I'm so thankful many of you in the club have has excellent results and much satisfaction from your Revoslot purchases. But as a racer and someone who had long been involved in building and maintaining HO Racing clubs, what I am seeing from this company is not encouraging.

Frankly, I think that both Mark & Ed have a lot to learn about building good 1/32 cars.

And, as Rick Foster remarked in that thread:

A final thought of my own: After Keith's round of the Fly Classic proxy race, we held a RevoSlot race for fun. My Porsche hasn't had any attention for nearly 2 years, and in that time it went through the full IHSR proxy series. I cleaned the rear tires and pickup braids and ran it as is. It went well and managed third place, behind Keith's winning Ferrari 333 SP and Ron's Porsche GT3, and ahead of three or four other entries. So, once fettled, they seem to remain that way pretty reliably.

I have a question for Ed. This is the second time that you've deliberately initiated a thread in order to trash a product on SCI. Previously, you suggested - on this website - that members should be purchasing product from a major distributor in the UK, and to import this (without advising US Customs about it so as to evade the duties). Now, you're trashing Revoslot, right here on the website that Alan maintains to support the hobby. And if you want my honest opinion, it's because you don't understand how to set up a slot car.

I have been an SCI Mod for a lot of years, and always try to maintain a sense of humour. But I have no idea why you're still an SCI Member. Your behaviour disgusts me.

Sincerely, Paul aka WCR

[dangermouse]

I own 9 Revoslots - my most recent 2 purchases were a Ferrari F40 and a Mercedes CLK GTR.

Those two required the most attention of all the cars I have purchased. On the F40 it needed the front wheels loosened up and the gear mesh sorted. It runs a lot smoother now. The Mercedes was a different kettle of fish. I usually loosened the body mount screws on my Revos - big mistake on the Mercedes. The car wouldn't do a lap.So tighten them back up and give it a run. Not as good as my other cars but not bad enough to make me think the whole brand was no good. By comparison my Ferrari 333 set a lap record straight out of the box and the JPS Supra was very close. I like to run the cars OTB first and if they are rough I tune them and if they are smooth I keep running them

The Mercedes well it will need a little bit of work. Probably blue print it and see how it goes then.

cheers
David

[Mitch58]

Well, I only know first hand my own Revoslot experience. I own three, the Toyota GT1, Marcos, and Viper. The Marcos I never had to turn a screw. Out of the box it was fast smooth and quiet. The Viper was a bit louder and the Toyota sounded like a cement mixer. All I had to do was Loosen the Motor mount screws on the bottom, slide a strip of paper between the gears and retighten the screws, now all three are as smooth as a Slot It or NSR, much quieter too, though not as quiet and an NSR but that it part of the design, metal chassis and all.

Though a tad slower than my fastest NSRs I can run them lap after lap without coming out and in the long run that is a good thing.

Over all I like them very much and would recommend them to a racer with little tuning experience but wants to be competitive from the start.

[slotbutton]

[QUOTE=HO RacePro;n1683521 I was told that, yes, the cars were expensive, but they were of such high quality that they could be raced out-of-the-box without the traditional race-prep parts upgrades and tuning.
Ed Bianchi[/QUOTE]

You believed a car could be raced out-of-the-box


Unless you race magnet cars on the track they are built for, no car is race ready out of the box! Give your head a shake!

[Kevan]

I just don't understand anyone who's obviously a Slotter, complaining that you can't buy a car you don't need to do anything to it and be race worthy...they don't exist. Revoslot don't have a team of experienced racers setting up every car before sale, the only cars you can put straight on the race track are the ones prepared by someone.

They are a great starting point, one of the best in fact, up there with NSR F1s. I have a Marcos, it was second hand and already race prepped...I didn't like how it went so started from scratch again and it's beating some guys Moslers.

The one weak point is the guide rotation isn't quite enough, if you push the car really hard because they instil such confidence, on a sharp bend the back end can whip round and the guide blade will snap. Mine now has a slotingplus guide and the chassis ground a little to allow more rotation.

Spurs, guides and tyres are consumables, the stock tyres are fantastic but do tend to ball up but doesn't badly affect handling like a plastic chassis car.

[vision34]

I have a few revos and they are all FANTASTIC! The one thing I always and say again ALWAYS DO ON ANYYYYYY car is. I TAKE THEM ALL APART COMPLETELY!!! Down to a bare chassis. To me it doesn't matter what car or brand. They all come apart.. And I put it together. That way you can see first how it's assembled and if you have issues you can take it apart on the fly That to me is the most fun on being a slotter!. I can't believe just put it on track and expect it to run like a rapped ape. ????????????

[Balr14]

I have no issues with the quality of RevoSlot cars, But ,I agree with Kevan about the guide rotation. I remove quite a lot of material around the guide post to get adequate guide blade rotation and use sloting plus guides on all of my cars. It isn't a big deal, but it's a pretty obvious design flaw and certainly something I thought they would have addressed by now.

[Scaleracing]

I have to ask what track are you running on. While I understand the comment regarding guide rotation we have had no problems here. But on a low grip track with aggressive driving I could see racers hitting the steering stop. Those same racers may experience broken guide posts on plastic chassis cars. But to understand the issue clearly. What track, what power, what tires, and skill level of the racers. We never hit the steering stops, but on a tight technical low grip track I could see this happening. Have you tried higher grip tires, either from RevoSlot or other after market companies?

Trying to understand the issue in its complete sense, as sideways is not forward, but as with any slot car, and any track ( like real racing too ) understanding the problem helps give a better answer to solve the issue.

Please clarify what track, power, controllers, etc. so I can better help you.

[Scaleracing]

As the Importer for RevoSlot and owner of this Site, you can reach me every day at 1-253-255-1807 or at my Store www.132slotcar.us. We fully support RevoSlot and their product and are here to help given the chance.

[Balr14]

This problem has persisted over two tracks. The first was 44', 3 lane MDF with very tight and uneven radius turns. The track surface was only primed and not painted, so it felt like MDF. It had an adjustable power supply set to 10.5 volts. Most of the cars ran NSR rubber or PG Urethane. A few ran stock tires. Traction was reasonable, but not outstanding.... cars could drift some. The RevoSlot cars ran stock tires, which seemed to work as well as the NSR or PG tires. A good speed on this track was about 5.5 seconds.

The second track is pretty new. It is 66' 3 lane MDF, much faster track, but still with some challenging turns. It is primed and finished with 3 coats of semi-gloss latex and is very smooth. It has dedicated power supplies for each lane set at 10.5 volts. A good speed on this track is about 6.5 seconds. As it has been run on for a time, I found I was having traction issues, so I have switched to silicone on all cars. By the time I started really noticing traction issues, my RevoSlot cars had all been fixed by grinding metal away around the guide post.

The controllers used on both tracks are Professor Motor 35 ohm resister and DiFalco 301. The skill level of the racers that chose RevoSlot cars is good to excellent. The less skilled don't like them because they aren't fast. Most of my cars are NSR, plus I have Sideways, ThunderSlot, Slot.it, RevSlot and a few "Frankensteins" (heavily modded cheaper brands). I have not had this problem with other brands, or I would not have mentioned it. I'm pretty sure it's a combination of weight and limited guide rotation that other brands don't have to deal with. Just as an experiment, I ran my RevoSlot Marcos on stock tires, with the stock guide, on the slippery track, after grinding away metal for guide clearance and had no issues with binding or breaking despite some serious drifting (about 60 degrees).

I hope this helps.

[Scaleracing]

Glad you are able to modify your cars to suit a low grip track, as this sounds to be the issue. Yes RevoSlot cars are heavier at about 100 grams than NSR etc and were never designed to compete with Plastic chassis cars. So possibly driving them to attempt that is part of the issue. They were designed to be a class of their own, a throw back to the original Slot Cars from the 60's.

Not saying you should not race them with other brands as to each their own.

With regard to broken chassis / guide parts we see way more problems with customers breaking Scalextric, NSR, Slot.it cars etc. Usually the guide loop will snap if cars are driven aggressively into the steering stop. We do not usually see that here as our tracks are rubbered in hi grip tracks. But on Scalextric and Carrera track we see it alot. Especially on fast tracks with long straights as when entering into a tight curve when the magnet lets go and the car snaps sideways.

[Kevan]

The less skilled don't like them because they aren't fast.

That doesn't make sense, less skilled drivers prefer faster cars! These ARE fast, they're geared to still be accelerating at the end of our 15' long straight

[Balr14]

That doesn't make sense, less skilled drivers prefer faster cars! These ARE fast, they're geared to still be accelerating at the end of our 15' long straight

The unskilled racers on my track always want the fastest cars, even though they are unable to control them. They see the way other cars cover my 13' and 15' straights and those are the cars they want to use. My RevoSlot cars are my slowest cars. Slot car racing isn't very popular around here, so you kind of have to take what you can get as far as racers. I'd say there is one excellent racer, one real good and one OK. The rest are a crapshoot. I do my best to coach and help the others, but when they go off the track every other lap, it's always the cars fault! I wish I had 3 or 4 real competent racers to compete with, but the odds of that are about as good as flying monkeys emerging from volcanoes in New York City and pooping rainbow colored marshmallows. I do my best to provide the best cars, the best controllers and a good track, to attract more racers. So, it may not make much sense to you, but that's what I have to live with.

Sorry.... I get a little carried away voicing my frustrations!

[slotbutton]

So you're comparing cars that don't run stock rubber, to a car that does??
Perhaps you should run like against like?
At 10.5 volt how difficult can it be?
Most slotcar motors are measured at 12.5 to 14.5 volts?

[RichD]

Most 1/32nd RTR cars are intended to be run with traction magnets on tracks with steel rails. You can run cars with weak motors that don't have traction magnets at higher voltages, but if you use higher powered motors at 12-14 volts even a well tuned car would be very difficult to drive.