WARNING: YOU ARE IN FOR A LONG READ!
Okay, okay... Well, I wasn't gonna write these parts of the review 'cos frankly, I felt sorry for Hornby. They obviously put a lot of investment into the bikes, what with the new moulds and getting in a new motor from Mabuchi. Also, the detailing is pretty darn good, and the drive system is impressive. HOWEVER, since Moped's crack at me...
QUOTE have deliberately not mentioned them for a while as I was waiting for the lotus03 review which has not yet appeared.
I decided to tell the world what I think. Ironic that isn't it moped?
Part 2:
Hornby Sport> This is the part that virtually evenyone was waiting for... so I have swapped it to part 5. Haha.
Hornby Classic> So Hornby Classic becomes part 2.
Following the orginal Carrera testing (see part 1) I was eargerly anticipating the running on Hornby track. I know it isn't the Sport that it was 'designed for', but surely they must have tested it on Classic too? Obviously not.
I have tried it on a home Hornby Classis and a club Classic track. The home track was quiet short but with as wider bends as possible, and the club track had long straights, but a mixture of sharp and wide bends. I won't go into detail, but they don't go around sharp corners. I cannot tell if it it the momentum of the mass of the bike, or the gyroscopic effect of the wheels, or even the lock isn't sharp enough of the guide, but they do not do tight turns. They tend to understeer, and, strangely, stay upright whilst doing it. It looks very odd, they just turn about 15 degrees and stop turning. They carry on across the rest of the track until the hit a barrier or fall off the track.
However, I can remember some cars which have done this before (though not to the same extent), but the worrying thing is, that cars will stop doing this if you back off a bit. The bikes will do this at even low speeds. Not very confidence inspiring. But we have already decided that the bikes prefer wide corners... Anyway, it doesn't really matter, because the bikes tend to have trouble getting to the corners. If they don't wheelie away causing an irritating deslot, they are likely to lift at a minor bump and become an unstoppable weapon of mass distruction. You know the feeling... the car lifts on the straight and you have absolutely no control.
Another point to consider was noise level. On a scale of 0 - 10 (10 being loudest), Carrera was about 3 or 4, and Classic/SCX was about 6 or 7. D'oh!
Basically, not impressed by their running compared to my little Carrera track, with a slightly deeper slot, and smooter surface. One thing to point out though; on Carrera track, the slot has isolating plastic strips inside. This pushes the rails further apart, and conseuently, the tyre wore quite funny. On classic, the rails are very close together, so the tyre is running on the rails only. I didn't notice a difference in traction from the plastic inner and the metal, but I did notice that it was slightly smoother if the back wheel slid, because there was less to bump over.
Conclusion: Rating out of ten (10 being most suitable for running the bikes) Classic = 6. (Carrera = 8)
Part 3:
Ninco Track> Another eagerly anticipated one, as many club tracks are made from it.
Tested on my home track, the super smooth, super big, sweeping Eastcote. Well, some corners are sweeping...
First impressions were as before. Wheelies out of the slot, and can't handle anything below outside radius 2. Not good... However, persistance showed that it was the first track that I could actually complete entire laps on without coming off. After a while, it seemed, dare I say it, drivable (don't get me wrong, it was still rubbish, but it could be driven).
The rails on Ninco are raised quiet a bit and I think this helped in two ways. Firstly, the tyre was only running on metal and when the tail slid, it bumped down instead of up. This meant that if a corner was slightly overcooked, the lip wouldn't throw the bike out of the slot. This makes it a bit more drivable, because you feel that the 'edge' is more clearly defined. Too fast and you are out, whereas on other tracks you must rely on a bit of luck to avoid the lips.
Secondly, only one skid is ever touching the track. This makes it wobble a bit, and could be corrected by adjusting the skids, but I like it like this. It reduces drag down the straight, and seems to make the bike more stable, as the skids aren't always trying to push the guide out of the slot.
Noise factor is about 11, at 'My ears are bleeding now' level. However, see final section for more on this.
Conclusion: Best track that I have tested on yet. Too loud and rough texture will wear the soft back tyre quickly. Overall rating of: Ninco = 8.#
Part 4:
Routed track> I think this was the making of a Moto GP bike. If they can run on a super smooth, consistant track, with flush rails then there may be hope.
There is no hope. My bike was made a laughing stock in front of everyone at Preston. This track has huge straights and no corner tighter than R2. Rails are braided and this didn't seem to have any effect of rear end grip which is good. The rest of the track is polyurathane coated. However, the flush braids meant that both the skids were touching the track at once. This obviously raises the guide out of the slot, which means there is less area to hang on to the slot. Not good. Decreased performance around wide corners. A point which amused me was the perfromance of the bikes around the raised corners (not to be confused with banked corners). Obviously not as bad as flat corners, but the bikes still manage to bail out somehow... god knows...
Noise level was about 3 or 4 which is good, about the same as Carrera.
Conclusion: Very disappointed with the performance on routed, because in theory everything should run on routed track. The lack of noise made is seem a bit more realistic, but the handling didn't. Routed = 4.
Part 5:
Scalextric Sport> The long awaited Sport feedback.
Now I must admit, that Moped had me fooled for a bit. I mean, surely Hornby tested these, and it would make sense to test them on their own track. Therefore, it seems logical to expect a reasonable level of performance. It SEEMS resonable...
The Sport layout was the 4 laner of Wrexham, which is quite twisty in places, but also has a few wide corners too.
Basically, it was disappointing. All the same flaws as other tracks, nothing sorted. I just cannot believe that they were tested by racers, as this would not be the end result. I agree that they would obviously go better on banking, but I can't see them becoming 'raceable'.
The close rails are similar to Classic and being absolutly flush presents the smae problems as routed tracks, but provides the advantage of no noticable 'lips' when sliding (up or down).
Sorry I can't say more, but it's all been said. No good.
Noise factor = 5, Conclusion: Sport = 6.
Back in a sec, I'm getting tired and I want to post this before I loose it all. Part 6 aka Final will be around in a minute or two which is about the final tuning of the bikes.
Ask any questions that you want.
Lotus
Okay, okay... Well, I wasn't gonna write these parts of the review 'cos frankly, I felt sorry for Hornby. They obviously put a lot of investment into the bikes, what with the new moulds and getting in a new motor from Mabuchi. Also, the detailing is pretty darn good, and the drive system is impressive. HOWEVER, since Moped's crack at me...
QUOTE have deliberately not mentioned them for a while as I was waiting for the lotus03 review which has not yet appeared.
I decided to tell the world what I think. Ironic that isn't it moped?
Part 2:
Hornby Sport> This is the part that virtually evenyone was waiting for... so I have swapped it to part 5. Haha.
Hornby Classic> So Hornby Classic becomes part 2.
Following the orginal Carrera testing (see part 1) I was eargerly anticipating the running on Hornby track. I know it isn't the Sport that it was 'designed for', but surely they must have tested it on Classic too? Obviously not.
I have tried it on a home Hornby Classis and a club Classic track. The home track was quiet short but with as wider bends as possible, and the club track had long straights, but a mixture of sharp and wide bends. I won't go into detail, but they don't go around sharp corners. I cannot tell if it it the momentum of the mass of the bike, or the gyroscopic effect of the wheels, or even the lock isn't sharp enough of the guide, but they do not do tight turns. They tend to understeer, and, strangely, stay upright whilst doing it. It looks very odd, they just turn about 15 degrees and stop turning. They carry on across the rest of the track until the hit a barrier or fall off the track.
However, I can remember some cars which have done this before (though not to the same extent), but the worrying thing is, that cars will stop doing this if you back off a bit. The bikes will do this at even low speeds. Not very confidence inspiring. But we have already decided that the bikes prefer wide corners... Anyway, it doesn't really matter, because the bikes tend to have trouble getting to the corners. If they don't wheelie away causing an irritating deslot, they are likely to lift at a minor bump and become an unstoppable weapon of mass distruction. You know the feeling... the car lifts on the straight and you have absolutely no control.
Another point to consider was noise level. On a scale of 0 - 10 (10 being loudest), Carrera was about 3 or 4, and Classic/SCX was about 6 or 7. D'oh!
Basically, not impressed by their running compared to my little Carrera track, with a slightly deeper slot, and smooter surface. One thing to point out though; on Carrera track, the slot has isolating plastic strips inside. This pushes the rails further apart, and conseuently, the tyre wore quite funny. On classic, the rails are very close together, so the tyre is running on the rails only. I didn't notice a difference in traction from the plastic inner and the metal, but I did notice that it was slightly smoother if the back wheel slid, because there was less to bump over.
Conclusion: Rating out of ten (10 being most suitable for running the bikes) Classic = 6. (Carrera = 8)
Part 3:
Ninco Track> Another eagerly anticipated one, as many club tracks are made from it.
Tested on my home track, the super smooth, super big, sweeping Eastcote. Well, some corners are sweeping...
First impressions were as before. Wheelies out of the slot, and can't handle anything below outside radius 2. Not good... However, persistance showed that it was the first track that I could actually complete entire laps on without coming off. After a while, it seemed, dare I say it, drivable (don't get me wrong, it was still rubbish, but it could be driven).
The rails on Ninco are raised quiet a bit and I think this helped in two ways. Firstly, the tyre was only running on metal and when the tail slid, it bumped down instead of up. This meant that if a corner was slightly overcooked, the lip wouldn't throw the bike out of the slot. This makes it a bit more drivable, because you feel that the 'edge' is more clearly defined. Too fast and you are out, whereas on other tracks you must rely on a bit of luck to avoid the lips.
Secondly, only one skid is ever touching the track. This makes it wobble a bit, and could be corrected by adjusting the skids, but I like it like this. It reduces drag down the straight, and seems to make the bike more stable, as the skids aren't always trying to push the guide out of the slot.
Noise factor is about 11, at 'My ears are bleeding now' level. However, see final section for more on this.
Conclusion: Best track that I have tested on yet. Too loud and rough texture will wear the soft back tyre quickly. Overall rating of: Ninco = 8.#
Part 4:
Routed track> I think this was the making of a Moto GP bike. If they can run on a super smooth, consistant track, with flush rails then there may be hope.
There is no hope. My bike was made a laughing stock in front of everyone at Preston. This track has huge straights and no corner tighter than R2. Rails are braided and this didn't seem to have any effect of rear end grip which is good. The rest of the track is polyurathane coated. However, the flush braids meant that both the skids were touching the track at once. This obviously raises the guide out of the slot, which means there is less area to hang on to the slot. Not good. Decreased performance around wide corners. A point which amused me was the perfromance of the bikes around the raised corners (not to be confused with banked corners). Obviously not as bad as flat corners, but the bikes still manage to bail out somehow... god knows...
Noise level was about 3 or 4 which is good, about the same as Carrera.
Conclusion: Very disappointed with the performance on routed, because in theory everything should run on routed track. The lack of noise made is seem a bit more realistic, but the handling didn't. Routed = 4.
Part 5:
Scalextric Sport> The long awaited Sport feedback.
Now I must admit, that Moped had me fooled for a bit. I mean, surely Hornby tested these, and it would make sense to test them on their own track. Therefore, it seems logical to expect a reasonable level of performance. It SEEMS resonable...
The Sport layout was the 4 laner of Wrexham, which is quite twisty in places, but also has a few wide corners too.
Basically, it was disappointing. All the same flaws as other tracks, nothing sorted. I just cannot believe that they were tested by racers, as this would not be the end result. I agree that they would obviously go better on banking, but I can't see them becoming 'raceable'.
The close rails are similar to Classic and being absolutly flush presents the smae problems as routed tracks, but provides the advantage of no noticable 'lips' when sliding (up or down).
Sorry I can't say more, but it's all been said. No good.
Noise factor = 5, Conclusion: Sport = 6.
Back in a sec, I'm getting tired and I want to post this before I loose it all. Part 6 aka Final will be around in a minute or two which is about the final tuning of the bikes.
Ask any questions that you want.
Lotus
