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Avant
Slot are the latest company to join the slot car industry.
Based in Spain, their initial offerings are a range of Audi
R10s - both cars from Le Mans 06, a black Sebring test car and
a plain white kit.
The
car comes in the usual 'crystal' display box, very similar to
the type used by Scalextric but slightly longer. The car is
secured to the base with two small screws.
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The Audi
is a nice car, certainly impressive for a first model. The
body is light and nicely made, and looks good. The level of
detail is good, with the numerous grills and vents and other
details crisply reproduced. The whole body looks very cleanly
made, the only visible mould lines are around the nose and
these are quite minor.
The
paint finish is also of a high standard. The colours are solid
and smoothly applied. There's some very slight smudging
where the yellow and silver meet but the rest is flawless. The
tampo printing is crisp, opaque and very clear, easily as good
as most of the big name manufacturers.
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The
body is secured with two screws which are only threaded for
about half their length, so you have body 'float' as standard.
The chassis looks more like a 'universal' chassis, rather than
tailor-made for this model. It's quite a complex set up, with
a lot of clever features.
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Basics
first - the motor is a boxer/NC type, mounted inline and
driving the rear axle via 9:26 gearing. The contrate gear has
an alloy boss, similar to Slot.It gears, and is secured with a
grub screw. The axle is 3/32 diameter, the same as Slot.It,
Scalextric and most others. The rear axle runs in nylon bushes
which have small holes in the top surface for lubrication.
The
front axle is solid. The axle mounts in the chassis have holes above and below to take M2
grub screws to
adjust the axle height (similar to the Scale Auto Toyota GT
One).
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The
guide is quite large and long, with long braids. A fairly weak
return spring is fitted. The guide clips quite securely into
the chassis, so it won't fall out easily, but there is some
slop in its movement. SCX-type contact strips carry
current to the braids.
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The
motor, rear axle and magnet are mounted in a removable pod.
The front of the pod hooks into a ring on the chassis, the
rear is held in place by clipping the rear axle into the main
chassis. This arrangement means the pod feels quite loose and
has a large amount of travel, but it hasn't caused any
problems so far.
The
motor wires are fitted with eyelets and plug into the ends of
the contact strips running to the guide. The motor is secured to its bracket with two screws.
The gear mesh on my car was good, though the gear wasn't
central on the axle and needed to be moved slightly. The
wheels are plastic, in an attractive multi spoke design. Brake
disc and calliper details are fitted, and the wheels seem to
be round and true. The tyres are quite soft and only needed a
light sanding.
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On each side of the main chassis, alongside the motor mount,
are four square blocks (arrowed). The blocks nearest the axle have M2
grub screws fitted. These secure two flat steel 'springs' on
each side - the car has adjustable rear suspension!
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The springs engage on small tabs on the motor mount, under the
rear axle and control the upward travel of the rear axle. By
removing the screws and placing them in the forward mounting
blocks you get softer suspension. There are two springs on
each side so you can decide whether to use one or both (or
none) to adjust the car's handling.
You can lock the rear axle in place (this probably isn't
recommended). Unclip the motor mount and remove one of the
springs on each side. Refit the motor mount and then you can
just about slide the spring back into place under the tab and
lock the whole set-up. If you want to move or remove the
springs, oil them first, it makes it a lot easier!!
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| First
tests on my small Scalextric figure of eight track weren't
promising. The Audi's magnet is located ahead of the motor and
isn't very strong, so traction on Sport track is limited. The
R10 spent most of its time going sideways - fun, but not
helpful!
The
routed track was a different story. The car immediately felt
at home here - smooth, fast and predictable. Straight out of
the box it was running times comparable to a good standard
Spirit Dallara or Ninco car. It felt very smooth and unfussed
to drive, even though the tyres weren't ideal for my track
surface (quite a lot of wheel-spin under heavy acceleration).
Certainly a promising start for a new-comer...
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One
minor bugbear with this car - the front end sits too high. I
used my Dremel to take about 2mm off the front body post and a
little off the front of the chassis where it touches the body.
No photos of the car after I'd done this, but the car now sits
much flatter and without the sort of wheel drop shown in the
photo below.
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I
must admit I'm impressed. Avant Slot are a new manufacturer
but obviously a lot of thought has gone into this car, and it
all seems to work well. The Audi is not at its best on
magnetic track, it needs stronger magnet(s) to be competitive
there, but for light or non-magnet racing this car could be a
contender.
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