[StuBeeDoo]

I've been given a Team Slot 11706 Celica for Christmas, and to say I'm disappointed with it is an understatement.

It has a TS11 motor, and in spite of the interior being far too high in the shell (the driver's and navigator's heads are wedged against the roof), the chassis doesn't fit in the shell properly because the motor is too tall.

Is stuff like this normal with Team Slot? If it is, I won't be getting any more of their offerings. For the money my wife spent on this one (nearly £40 IIRC) I would have been happier with an SCX or Scalextric car.

Are there any alternative motors I could try, or should I give-up on this particular car and put it down to experience?

TIA
Stuart.

 

[DJ]

Team Slot quality has been discussed on here quite often, I must say in my experience (I have a few) they are very poor. The only reason to buy a Team Slot car is if they model a car you want and no other manufacturer does, like the Celica. Wheels are poor, chassis not good, driver figures are rubbish, etc.. Out of the box they drive rubbish too.

With a lot of tinkering you can get it to run reasonably well but it will never be great.

 

[alexis in greece]

QUOTE (DJ @ 29 Dec 2011, 12:00) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Team Slot quality has been discussed on here quite often, I must say in my experience (I have a few) they are very poor. The only reason to buy a Team Slot car is if they model a car you want and no other manufacturer does, like the Celica. Wheels are poor, chassis not good, driver figures are rubbish, etc.. Out of the box they drive rubbish too.

With a lot of tinkering you can get it to run reasonably well but it will never be great.

Ditto.And it makes me sad to discover that they seem to carry on doing the same mistakes,look at the new Stratos poded chassis,i bought 3 of them,just carp,what a disapointment.

 

[nigeldangar]

i tend to agree with all that s been said my first purchase was a stratos kit that was very poor the magnets never did fit a the meshing of the gears was rank my second was a rtr stratos very noisey and third is a lancia delta thats not to bad but not as good as scaly or scx i would not bother with them again they look got but build quality is very poor more people should let them know that is down to the racers as well as the sellers there input would be good as well

 

[Mr Modifier]

I have Team Slot Saleen basic car version and I agree on poor buiod quality. The body is a fiddle to refit to the chassis - it's a poor fit.

I bought my wife the Team Slot Alfa GTAM basic version for Christmas as a joke. It's baby pink - only reason I bought it. It sounds like a bag of nails out if the box. Paint job was disappointing - I do better with a rattle can.

BUT I would say that both cars are FAST. They have cracking motors. The Saleen needs serious sorting to become competitive on a Sport track and I don't know if I can be bothered. The Alfa is actually very good on my track. Sticks well and has awesome acceleration. Tyres were well out of true. I think it will be in the top 10% of lap times once I get the tyres replaced with urethanes and trued.

I probably won't buy any more of this brand simply because there are loads of better cars out there.

 

[PJF]

I only have one team slot car & its a Toyota Celica.

I think its very good. I have left it standard, added some weight, glued & trued the tyres. I was going to swap the tyres but they are fine.

I race on wood & its about as good as Ninco rally cars, if not a bit faster. Another member of our club has a Stratos & that was very poor out of the box.

Paul.

 

[Stevieboy80]

I only have one team slot car a Renault 5 with the TS-9, initially had problems with it with a rear wheel falling off then crown gear stripping however since sorting those out it has been very good. At home on scaley classic it is up there with Ninco Focus and SCX Delta s4. It also won an 80's rally club night.

Cheers

Ste

 

[Slots-O-Fun]

I bought and painted a white TeamSlot Lancia Stratos kit and found the only problem was with the windshield fit. Otherwise I like it!

 

[StuBeeDoo]

Thank you all for the speedy replies.

Having read them all I've decided to try a PCS32 chassis in the Celica and delete the other Team Slot cars (Ascona and Stratos) from my wish list.

Cheers
Stuart.

 

[driver#8]

I've got the deeply beautiful and massively wide Renault 5 Turbo 'NewMan' which has revised chassis and TS11 motor but haven't run it yet. I just look at it and sigh a lot!

Also picked up a bargain Quattro Grp.4 (Stig Blomqvist). Not as pretty as the Fly A2 but it's the earlier body style and my favourite driver. Again, haven't run it yet, but managing my expectations!!

 

[not alone after all]

I owned a few Team Slot cars quite a while ago. They were rubbish but no one else was making the models they were back then. I had a few hoping that at least one of them would run alright. None of them ever did and it saddens me to hear that even now people still have the same problems with them. It's not like they're cheap either. I'm going back about ten years or so to. Buck your ideas up Team Slot!

 

[Mr Modifier]

I paid £20 for the Alfa - brand new from an online dealer.

I bought the Saleen used but it was absolutely mint - no sign of use - £10 on ebay.

Maybe I got lucky.

 

[brembo]

Hands up I am a fan of Team Slot Cars and whilst the quality has improved dramatically in recent times they are not a brand you should expect to buy and run. They require fettling and loving care, if you are a budding sloter these are the cars you cut your teeth on. If you can get one of these working well you are on your way.
I had hours of fun with the dremil on my Pink Alfa GTAM and it was worth every minute when I leant it to one of our younger club members and he beat all but the club Champion in our standard Historic Road Class which is dominated by Scaly Camaros. The GTAM ran on its original wheels and gears by the way!
I replaced the engine cradle in my Stratos Kit with a Slot.It sidewinder cradle and that is a sweet little runner.
The Renault 5s I have are standard and run brilliantly.
At the end of the day its horses for courses I run on a wood non mag track and expect to spend time truing glueing and fettling EVERY car I want to run. Team Slot make some unique Rally Cars from my favourite era of Rallying so keep them coming and I will keep buying them.
brembo

 

[driver#8]

QUOTE (brembo @ 30 Dec 2011, 00:51) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Hands up I am a fan of Team Slot Cars and whilst the quality has improved dramatically in recent times they are not a brand you should expect to buy and run. They require fettling and loving care, if you are a budding sloter these are the cars you cut your teeth on. If you can get one of these working well you are on your way.
I had hours of fun with the dremil on my Pink Alfa GTAM and it was worth every minute when I leant it to one of our younger club members and he beat all but the club Champion in our standard Historic Road Class which is dominated by Scaly Camaros. The GTAM ran on its original wheels and gears by the way!
I replaced the engine cradle in my Stratos Kit with a Slot.It sidewinder cradle and that is a sweet little runner.
The Renault 5s I have are standard and run brilliantly.
At the end of the day its horses for courses I run on a wood non mag track and expect to spend time truing glueing and fettling EVERY car I want to run. Team Slot make some unique Rally Cars from my favourite era of Rallying so keep them coming and I will keep buying them.
brembo

Doug, we really need a 'Like' button, you know!

 

[Aberstone]

QUOTE (brembo @ 30 Dec 2011, 00:51) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Hands up I am a fan of Team Slot Cars and whilst the quality has improved dramatically in recent times they are not a brand you should expect to buy and run. They require fettling and loving care, if you are a budding sloter these are the cars you cut your teeth on. If you can get one of these working well you are on your way.
I had hours of fun with the dremil on my Pink Alfa GTAM and it was worth every minute when I leant it to one of our younger club members and he beat all but the club Champion in our standard Historic Road Class which is dominated by Scaly Camaros. The GTAM ran on its original wheels and gears by the way!
I replaced the engine cradle in my Stratos Kit with a Slot.It sidewinder cradle and that is a sweet little runner.
The Renault 5s I have are standard and run brilliantly.
At the end of the day its horses for courses I run on a wood non mag track and expect to spend time truing glueing and fettling EVERY car I want to run. Team Slot make some unique Rally Cars from my favourite era of Rallying so keep them coming and I will keep buying them.
brembo

Amen to all Brembo said - I love the Stratos` and with a bit of fettling mine finished second in Slot Rally GB Modified class 2011.

They produce cars we want. I`d rather run a Team Slot in competition than say Auto Art

Cheers - Phil

 

[Ember]

Only TeamSlot I own is a Celica St185 white kit. Can't really comment on build quality as I built it myself, but I did notice some oddities with it. I replaced the motor with a Ninco NC2 because the car was destined for a rally proxy. I figured I'd be able to make use of the TeamSlot motor elsewhere. However, the TS chassis is very long from motor mount to rear axle, meaning the motor shaft/pinion combo is very long and so the motor won't fit in much else.

The kit didn't fit together particularly well and had bits missing, but once all together (with some scratch replacement bits) it looked great. Replaced wheels with SP Americas and axles/gears with Slot.it (remember it was for a proxy and had to last). Car finished up driving really nicely on my track. And so far it is surviving its thrashing around other states.

Still undecided on buying an off the shelf job, but I'd buy another cheap kit.

Embs

 

[alexis in greece]

QUOTE (Aberstone @ 30 Dec 2011, 02:06) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> They produce cars we want. I`d rather run a Team Slot in competition than say Auto Art

Cheers - Phil

Sure,that's why they are still in business.Re Auto Art their finish is waaay better.And i was very much surprised when,during the recent Wolves Classic Saloons event,i tested a GTam with a Ninco sprung guide,it was fast and steady with standard motor and tires,if it was alloed i would have raced it.

 

[StuBeeDoo]

QUOTE (brembo @ 29 Dec 2011, 22:51) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>they are not a brand you should expect to buy and run. They require fettling and loving care, if you are a budding sloter these are the cars you cut your teeth on. If you can get one of these working well you are on your way. QUOTE (brembo @ 29 Dec 2011, 22:51) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I replaced the engine cradle in my Stratos Kit with a Slot.It sidewinder cradle and that is a sweet little runner. QUOTE (brembo @ 29 Dec 2011, 22:51) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>At the end of the day its horses for courses I run on a wood non mag track and expect to spend time truing glueing and fettling EVERY car I want to run.
I don't have a problem with 'fettling', none of my cars have hit the track straight from the box. What I'm objecting to here is the fact that on my Celica the chassis doesn't fit into the shell.

The weird-looking interior I can live with - after all I want cars to use on my track(s), not sit and gaze at. Why should we have to replace major items on a brand new car just to get them to run right?

It's not just this particular Team Slot car I've had issues with, either. My Avant Slot Pescarolo cost me the thick end of £40 and I spent over £30 (and numerous wasted hours when I could have been using my other cars) replacing the chassis just to get it to run right. My Spirit Peugeot 205T16 came with wheels and tyres that were way too small - they didn't even touch the track! Again, a £30+ car needed almost as much spent on it to make it remotely useable. .......And I'm not talking about using the cars for 'real' racing, here, just playing around at home.

As well as another 2 Team Slot cars, I also have a couple of Revell ones and a couple of MSC on my want list. If I'm going to have to re-chassis any (or worse, all) of them to make them drivable, I'll not bother. At least with SCX, Scalextric and Ninco I know what I'll be getting. OK, they may not be considered to be the best on the market, but I've yet to buy one (I've currently got over 40) that needs anything other than tyres and/or wheels replaced.

QUOTE (brembo @ 29 Dec 2011, 22:51) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Team Slot make some unique Rally Cars from my favourite era of Rallying so keep them coming and I will keep buying them. They do indeed, but personally I feel it wouldn't take much extra effort or cost in production to get them nearer to RTR. I wouldn't object to paying, say, £40 for a car that is currently retailling for £30 if all it needed was a bit of lubrication and trueing before it was used in 'anger'. What I do object to is a £30+ car becoming a £60+ car before I even start to use it. It's now happened to me 3 times and I feel that the (virtually) £200 involved would have been better spent expanding my SCX/Scalextric/Ninco/Fly collection by at least 5 cars.

VBR
Stuart.

 

[StuBeeDoo]

Having been granted a day-pass to the attic by She Who Must Be Obeyed, I've sorted it - at no additional cost!

An SCX 83770 Impreza, which I bought and regretted, has donated its motor and front axle. The Celica is now proper 4WD and since the motor is 3mm shallower the chassis fits properly. Fortunately the wheelbase on the 2 cars was within 2mm, and amazingly, the SCX motor is a direct replacement for the Team Slot one (although the can is shorter).

Happiness has been restored to the StuBeeDoo attic.

 

[Mr Modifier]

Interesting.

Any chance of a photo of the converted innards?

I would love to see what you did