Carrera AMG Mercedes DTM Coupe - Home Racing World & The Slot Car Garage

11/04/2013

1/32nd Scale Carrera AMG Mercedes DTM "D. Coulthard, No 18"

The second model in the new Carrera DTM series has arrived. After testing the first release in the series, my anticipation for this one just increased and could not wait to see how it compared.

This car has a lot to prove. The BMW in this series is one tough customer and has easily become one of my favorite modern era models for our road course. I am optimistic though, if the car is close to what I expected then we should have a very close match up.

*NOTE* This is a digital car that was converted to analog. Conversion to analog is EASY by just pulling the trigger on your track 3 times.

Here is a quick video on converting digital to analog with the chipset still installed.

DIGITAL to ANALOG CONVERSION VIDEO

I will leave the digital chip in place for this model. I want the lights to function and do not want to install a new light kit just for that purpose. My first model had the chip removed, and custom lights will be installed.

DATA AT A GLANCE

Length- 151 mm (bumper to bumper 156 with wing)
Width - 61.50 mm (At widest section of rear fenders)
Height - 36.60 mm
Wheelbase - 85.70 mm
Total Weight - 100 grams

* Spare mirrors are located in the back of the case *

When I look at prototype photos of this car I cannot help but commend Carrera on this effort. To my eyes they look as good as you could ask for in our hobby.

Paint, markings, and gloss coat are all very well done. We sometimes take for granted how these cars look today, but looking back just 10 years ago makes me really appreciate what I see in front of me.

Wheels and tires look well enough and seem very round and true.

As with other cars from Carrera, aftermarket tires are easily enough applied. Paul Gage makes our favorite tire blend and the #21126 XD fit is as good as you can ask for.

As with almost any tire, some sanding will be needed to get it just right. These do not take much work and soon it was ready for action.

This chassis is very close to the BMW. In fact if you double check the data at the top, almost identical. 4 screws mount the body to the chassis. After removal we see a few differences such as body moldings applied to the chassis. But overall very similar. Standard E200 motor in the inline configuration with a 9 tooth pinion that mates with the 27 tooth crown gear.

The dual magnets are here with shims for you to adjust to your liking. They are the same as our BMW shown here so I will not waste time repeating it here.

Track Test
MIDMO International Speedway
4x16 - 3 Lane MDF - Satin/Flat Latex Surface
SCC Braid/Flush Mount - Pyramid PS26KX Aftermarket Power @12 Volts
2 Types Of Control For Testing - Professor Motor 2110 Controllers/Parma 25 OHM

I was hoping for a good platform to tune with and this car has that easily. A little wheel hop was present as usual but nothing out of the ordinary. After our tire change and some good sanding, the car smoothed out just fine.

There is still some work to do for wood track racers as the front wheels support the weight too much for my liking. Some quick chassis modifications and front tire sanding really helps and that is all the work this car needed. I am working on these tuning tips and will have them posted soon.

But for the average home racer, the car is just fine. The magnets keep it planted very well and you should have many hours of fun with it.

But out of the box the lap times were the same as the BMW with an average of 4.1 seconds. Things are looking good to me as I WANT these cars to be close competitors.

And comparing it to the BMW is only natural as that is the series it will run in.

My friend Tom and I raced these and we had some great action. The driver was the difference like it should be and we had quite the battle. We may not be experts on the DTM series but we think we know a good slot car when we race it and this is easily one of them.

It is not everyday we get exactly what we want, especially in our hobby. In this case though we DID. I wanted this car to be a close rival in scale as it is in the 1:1 world and that is what Carrera delivered. You might think that this is no surprise, but we see mismatched models in the same series, from the same manufacturer too often. And at much higher prices too.

Carrera produces just one more cool slot car at a price almost all of us can afford. There is not much we can complain about with these releases as they deliver exactly what we expect. Any home or small club racers should really look closer at adding this new series to their program. I plan on getting the third release to fill all 3 lanes and cannot wait to watch the action unfold.

-Harry

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Thanks Carrera of America for Sponsoring This Review!