Powerslot VW POLO S1600
Licensed by Volkswagen Germany

Hot on the heels of the of the Hummer H1, Powerslot lunch their second car this time its not quite as radical as its predecessor.

The VW POLO;Which appears in three versions:

VW POLO S1600 Show Car. 

The Blue model Runner-up of the Canary Islands de Rallies 2006, made for a Canary Island client of Volkswagen. And the BP model - South Africa Rally Championship.( I'll Leave Taxi to talk about this one).

We have to review the whole package, including the box it came in. This is too tall and could be made half the height and still have room for the car but that’s just being picky or is it? In this ever increasingly environmentally aware world maybe that is something that will be looked into in future models.
When I first removed the car from its box the windscreen wiper fell off in my hand which should be disappointing, but I must have just caught it wrong because it was put back, it slotted into place, now it seems safe, I was just ham fisted.
On first inspection the car has a nice stance the rear wheels protrude just a fraction too far, but the rest of the car is proportionally right. It has no decals to speak of so I’ve had to call a friend on this one as he has “South Africa Rally” version which has decals and Rob says”
The tampo printing is done to a reasonable standard. The colours are strong, vibrant and well defined, but not as crisp as we would expect from the big companies. The worst offenders are the front and rear bumpers - the colour is solid and bright but doesn't match the lines of the body leaving small but visible gaps at the top of each bumper which make the car look scruffy.
Paint and tampo are sealed with what appears to be a good coat of lacquer giving a nice tough glossy finish but my car had a few specks caught in the lacquer. Not a big issue and not unknown even with the bigger manufacturers, but it could be better.”
Cosmetically the Show Car has the VW emblem front and back, with bonnet & boot catches all painted up in silver, the registration plates these are all fine. When the light catches the bonnet a small indentation can be seen where the mount post is attached from the underside. The driver and co-driver are lightly decorated with the harnesses painted in, a flesh coloured face and hands, helmets and fire suits are in white. The whole car is actually quite pleasing on the eye Powerslot are not playing at this, to achieve this standard for a second car they are aiming high and are going to be a popular brand as the development continues.

The Motor is the PS1 - I think I have already said in my Hummer review that this little motor was fast. I don’t know how many RPM it is, though in this little body the same motor is great. Set as an Anglewinder it is certainly able to deliver the power to the wheels on my painted Sport track it is as fast as any of my 2WD Nincos.Note the motor is clipped in and also has a screw to hold it firm so no need to glue in place. The Chassis is quite rigid with a little flex around the rear axle. Though fitted with a magnet this one seems to lack any form of magnetism it is just like driving a none-mag car. As a Rally car it is great the back end is out on every bend however it is controllable and fun. In time I will just remove the magnet altogether. Out of the box the tyres need a little sanding to get them flat you can see the mould lines on the picture below, once flattened they seem to work much better.

To compare this car is difficult it runs smooth and fast is a little light and makes quite a bit of noise, performance is up there with some of my other Rally cars in league with some of the better Ninco NC5 models the noise is on a par with the SCX Models. I've not had the time to really work on it but I'm confident this is going to be one of my best 2WD Rally cars.

The Underside showing the PS1 Anglewinder.

One of the Partners in Powerslot is:
Juanjo Moya.
Who started his Slotcar life making 1/32 resin models in 1990 with a company called Mini Replicas.
Then in 1996 he then went to work in the 1:1 car business with SEAT in the technical design department, as modeller and technician of composites. Then several other automotive engineering posts in Spain, even working on the Prost F1 Team again as a technician in composites.
In 2004 he was the fonder of Cursa Models making 1:24 scale models, with some incursions into 1:32 market this company continues to offer high performance models at 1:24 scale.
In 2005, he joined the team that created the Lunar Roving Vehicle as well as the Mitsubishi Pajero for the Mitsubishi Company.
It was at this point that the team created "Powerslot" which began with the Hummer H1 now the VW Polo S1600 and the third project is the eagerly awaited Quad Bikes.

To be followed in 2008 by: the NISSAN 350Z, Land Rover 88 Series II (1965) Bentley EXP Speed 8 2003. Three Very different Models ‘ not sure this expansion is the necessarily the right way, or whether sticking to the Off-road/Rally scene may have been a good idea, until they get established, only time will tell.

Chipping, For those of us with a bias for changing lanes, this car has plenty of room to insert a chip it easily take my favourite saloon car chip.

 Though it is "pretty" in the plain red (my wife said so!) I feel this overwhelming urge to add some decals or maybe now I know how well it handles I may just get the South Africa Rally version too!

Summary
These cars lack some of the finesse of some of the bigger names in slotcars. However they are working very hard on quality control. For a fledgling company PowerSlot are really pushing hard to get a slice of the market. They are backing this up with excellent customer service (a point already proven with the replacement of all the tyres from the Hummer model). They are only to willing too help out with queries and questions, an attitude to be embraced by some of the more established companies. This car goes well and will certainly receive praise in the Rally Market at which it is aimed.

Now bring on the Quads!

Many thanks to Pendle Slot Racing for supplying the review model