Ostorero GT chassis

Review by Chris Bruyninx

Ostorero launched a new universal silver nickel chassis for 1/32 plastic bodies. A universal chassis gives you the possibility to use a body that has a poor working chassis, often not suitable for competition and/or to match performance of different cars that raced together.

First thing you notice when you hold this chassis for the first time is that it’s very light and flexible. A while back I received a prototype to use with a Ostorero Nation body and though performance was superb, the lexan body didn’t protect the light chassis and a severe crash twisted the chassis completely. Easy to bend straight again, some may like it cause it adds realism in racing, most people wouldn't like it I guess. Ostorero made the GT chassis stronger by making the holes much smaller (see pictures). Also a plastic body protects the chassis much better and I couldn't twist it yet.

Ostorero offers 3 different versions of this chassis.

1. RTR with quality Slot.it parts (guide, yellow endbell V12/3 25000 rpm, 9 tooth pinion and bleu 26 tooth bronze inline crown)
2. Built rolling chassis with axles, wheels, tyres and bushings
3. Chassis kit (you have to buy the basic chassis plate, motor bracket and steel wire with clips to connect both pieces separately)

Body mounting system is similar to the Slot.it HRS chassis and the chassis comes with three different lengths of metal mounting bars (5, 6.5 and 8 mm). The basic wide of the chassis is approximately 39mm, giving total wide possibilities of 49, 52 and 55mm. Connecting cups are also from Slot.it.

The front axles can be placed in 3 different positions. Wheelbase possibilities are 80.7, 83.5 and 85.3mm. Total length of the chassis is 121.3mm.

The other specifications are:

• front wheels 13.5x8 with M2 grub screws
• rear wheels 13.5x10 with M2 grub screws
• 17x8.5 front rubber tyres
• 19x11 rear medium – B rubber tyres (soft – A are available as spares)
• Slot.it guide with spring spacer
• The RTR chassis has a weight of 55.3g.

I mounted my GT chassis on a NSR Mosler body. I glued the connecting cups on a piece of plastic and then on the body. The body has a minimal amount of movement in all directions, which should be good.

Off to the track.

My local club moved a month ago and now has a very nice 6-lane Ninco track.

Fastest laptimes on this track are 8.8sec for a Ninco Ford GT (built to Ninco WC specifications) and also 8.8sec for a Slot.it Lancia LC2 (built to Slot.it European Endurance rules). Both are anglewinders. The Ninco Ford GT was prepared for the 2009 Ninco WC by club members that finished 3rd at the 2007 Ninco WC. The Slot.it is mine and hasn't been developed thoroughly yet, but has a couple of races done and is so far the fastest Group C built towards the Slot.it rules.

I managed to complete a lap in 8.9sec with the Ostorero GT chassis. Considering it's inline and 'right out of the package on the track', seems very good to me. With some further testing and tweaking I'm sure I could fine another tenth of a second or two. The chassis feels very light and easy to drive. Not like driving a slotcar when you feel you have to crush the controller. Finding the perfect brake point is very important. Braking too late causes a gentle 360° spin. The noise (not much) doesn't sound plastic, which I personally like.
I find this first GT chassis by Ostorero very good. The new version will have more (5) possibilities to change the wheelbase.

Great news for Ostorero is that the popular OPV (Open Piemonte Valle d’Aosta) series in Italy will use this GT chassis as basic for their 2010 series.

Also a new ‘Endurance’ version for long can (NC2 type) motors is in the make.

And last but not least a shorter version for long can motors to start the 'Ostorero Porsche 997 Trophy' in 2010.

Is this the beginning of the end of the plastic 1/32 slot car chassis? Ostorero proved that a lightweight silver nickel chassis can work and I sincerely hope they continue in this direction. I can’t wait to try out a complete RTR 1/32 plastic body slot car with a full worked out chassis in this material. I bet it would kill the competition…

CB - January 2010