[s1255]

Yup I bought one, after my last purchase of the SCX DTM CLK Merc I just had to get it a partner to race with!!!

First impressions niccce, runs a bit smoother from the box than the Merc, and it came with slick tyres(the Merc came with them treaded(or should that be dreaded type!),

Anyway after a quick strip(the car not me) and lube(again the car not me!), and I got it on the track for a few hours, I noticed that the Astra seems to corner sort of smooth/faster/maintain more speed through the corner better than the Merc does hard to describe but it just feels better in the corners(how that for a scientific description!),

So I am very happy with my latest purchase and out of these two cars I'd say the Astra is the one to go for*!!!!!

*ie if you like A, SCX cars B, DTM cars

Regards
Sunny

 

[moped rider]

The Astra is the better performer out the box. Try swapping the tyres over to see if that evens things up a bit. And remember that you can also adjust the downforce to help the Mercedes keep up. One final thing. Stick an SCX Turbo motor in the Mercedes as they are meant to improve performance. However that is open to debate as the 2003 SCX standard motor is slightly hotter anyway.

Moped

 

[Intergrali]

not impressed with my pro turbo tbh. although I paid £8 and have barely used it.

mind I'm never impressed until I see 25k+rpm

Rob.

 

[s1255]

Well the Merc now wears a set of slicks on the rear courtesy of the front wheels of the Astra!!! still the same though, I've also had a fiddle with the magnet height but I dont like to lower it to much, as it can quite easily rob the rx motor of response a bit to much for my liking, still I think they are close enough performance wise for it to be the drivers skill(or lack off) which will determine who shall be victor!!!!

Ah Pro-Turbo already tried one of these, got one in my Subaru Impreza(its one of them snow effect creations

a 2001 model I think?), and it was a marked improvement over the standard rx-81 motor, but as you say SCX motors of recent seem to be a bit quicker,

Now not wanting to be accused of commiting slot car blasphemy(sp?), but I only have a fairly small home track and there is no local clubs to race at, and I have done the putting in hotter motors thing before and to be honest(for me) I havent got the track lenth to really reap the benefits of sloting in faster motors(unless I add magnets and create a stuck down bullet which zip's round my track so fast I can barely see the bloody thing!!!!) so I tend to leave the stock motor in, and concentrate on getting them running smoothly/predictable,

Infact I've actauly detuned a few of my cars by putting in slower motors

but in my defence the standard cars I done this to handled pretty bad anyway and other was me dipping my toe in to running without magnets

Regards
Sunny

 

[Mecoprop]

No blasphemy whatsoever there!
What you are exhibiting is excellent common-sense as applied to home racing.
The more magnet needs more motor, needs more magnet spiral/syndrome results in, as you say, basically not much fun after the first few seconds' novelty of blinding speed wears off. Far more satisfying to work with less (or no) magnet and standard motors, where you can see the cars clearly and concentrate on actually driving them to the best of your ability.