Mitsubishi Evo X No. 5
Pons 2009

By bleep

 

My previous experience with Avant Slot is limited to the Peugeot 207s these are great cars with so much potential, plenty of chassis adjustment options, but I personally could never just make mine work 100percent, I did buy several of them before giving up on it as a non-mag race car though, I can only put it down to the short wheel base not suiting my driving style as others in our club seemed to be able to get more out of them than I ever will. However they do look so good!

While considering this purchase I did look at the other two recent Avant Slot releases the Subaru in two different guises, telling the truth it was a difficult choice to make, they all look very close on size and dimensions, etc. So it was down to personal choice and I've always preferred the Mitsubishi over the Subaru.

Now I am hoping that this car will do for me what the 207 didn't quite manage, because it's just that bit longer and wider and has a relatively lower centre of gravity.

This was all before it arrived in the post. Now it has I have snuck it out (I'm not supposed to have it for a few days) It's "Beautiful" remembering I bought this car to race though it is certainly pretty enough to go on the shelf. It's got a fantastic stance, already I can see how much effort has gone into this car the detail is absolutely spot-on detailing is crisp and everything fits together perfectly. The rear spoiler solid and looks like it will survive, at least longer than the ones on the 207 did. The wing mirrors are "not" rubberised so I guess they won't last more than a few crashes. The roof aerial is positioned rearwards and is semiflexible so should take a few rolls.

The wheels fit the arches perfectly the rear gait is slightly wider than the front it's a perfectly proportioned rally car. inside the wheels the brake calipers are visible, the wheels are perfectly round even without gluing the tyres they perform very well, as part of routine mods for all our cars I'm afraid these will be replaced to race on our track but running on my Sport test track they worked well and I can see rally fans are going to love them.

The box is your typical crystal case with a card surround, the base is the AS green with no printing on it, they have the two miniature screws holding the car in place, I personally am not a fan of these I find them difficult to remove I'd much rather something that was a little easier "I want to get my new acquisition out quickly" not mess around with fiddly little screws!

The interior the Driver and co-drive figures are just the upper torso which are well detailed even down to flesh the tones, the co-driver is holding the now obligatory pace notes realistic seats. There is also a role cage fitted in the car though I'll check this later the body itself feels very light weight.

To get the exact dimensions I looked over at the Avant Slot site which is still under construction the English side of things doesn't work yet, as it hasn't for over a year obviously they have been concentrating on their cars, so I had to look through the Spanish side of things unfortunately it hasn't been updated for some time either and there is very little detail on the recently released cars. They don't give a list of the dimensions so I had to get my calipers out.

The motor looks to be the 20113 Republic motor it is still 25.000 rpm though it has two openings in the casing I can only guess that this is to allow more magnetic pull, but it's still not worth much to me as we race on wood and copper, though I do like the torque of this motor and still use the original from my 207 in my current Rally Race Car.

The Chassis is the more rigid plastic the same as the later 207's, to look at it is very similar though slightly bigger proportioned to match the cars size. Just like the Original 207 this one has the option of different positions for the motor but doesn't come with the parts to swap it round, so though I like inline motors this one is going to remain an angle winder for a while at least. The guide is designed for the rally racer with a drop arm a facility I don't get to use to its full potential as we race on flat surfaces though its adjustability is a great touch I prefer to get it to the position I need then fix it in place using the allen screw which holds the drop arm up if tightened there is a front screw for minor adjustments. 

I hate to keep harping back to the 207 but this car does have a minor problem that hasn't been corrected in that the body is held in place with three screws that seem a little crude they eat into the body mounts, if loosened they don't allow the body to rock, I have replaced mine with some lightweight racing screws which have a tighter thread and have a clear section of shank which allow the body to rock nicely.

Track test on wood Straight out of the box and onto wood this has not been a pleasant experience in the past but this car, felt responsive balanced and was easily controlled, with the standard tyres it lacked a little grip but that's to be expected. The motor and gearing was just right I can't wait till next time when I've put our tyres of choice on, I think I'll probably be racing it next week. 

Track test on Plexi track OH YES! this is what this car has been designed for the standard tyres are most definitely designed for plastic, this motor must have magnetic pull because It's an absolute dream to drive. I have to say it drives like a Rally car, loves the little twisty bits but can handle the longer straights too, I was just listening out for the pop and backfires from the exhausts. It's superb I can see those crazy guys that cover the track in cocoa powder absolutely falling in love with this car.