SRC Porsche 907 K - Home Racing World & The Slot Car Garage

17 FEB 2013

1/32nd Scale SRC Porsche 907 K #002.01

Although the name SRC is new to our hobby, it seems in this day and age they are already old news. Reports of the performance and scale detail of them have already been spread across the web including a couple reviews right here at HRW HQ. Being that I was fully aware of any issues some people had reported, I still chose to get one for myself.

Why? Because in my eyes I expected nothing more than a "Fly Classic". That means it is most likely not going to run very good out of the box. And like all the Fly classics before it, the performance out of the box did not mean much to me. I knew the model could be tuned and the appeal of the car was enough for me to invest the time, money, and effort.

That appeal of the model goes a long way. No one else seems to produce the models Fly did and SRC seems to follow that trend. To be very honest I have never seen anyone complaining there was not a 907 K in our hobby. It just isn't a car that ranks up at the top of many enthusiasts must have wish lists. Then again, neither did 3/4 of the offerings Fly made. Yet it was this vast selection that caught our eye and we marveled at the scale detail and the time period they represented.

So why this car? If I were basically making a Fly classic, might as well make one to go along side all the rest Fly has made. At least that is my take on it. You and I can easily make a list of a lot of models that a new company could or should have made long before this one. Especially for our side of the pond.

With the times ever changing, today it is easier for you to learn about a particular car. Since we are already online, go ahead and Google this model and you will find plenty of historical information on it. No sense in me repeating what you can find so easily. Now that you are educated about this classic, let us get to the 1/32nd scale effort here.

My model arrived safe and sound in it's attractive packaging. It has a soft plastic outer sleeve that surrounds the standard case.

Overall the model looks fine. Fine scale enthusiasts will always find faults of course as nothing is perfect. Looking at prototype photos tell me they came very close, or rather close enough for me.

So as always only you can make the call. Is it good enough?

What little paint work there is seems fair. Nothing better or worse than we see from most any other brands. There is a little bleed through on the front number meatball and some very light masking issues. Does it remind some of you veteran enthusiasts of anything?

SRC is proud of that wiper blade. For me it really isn't that critical. Spanish makers seem to do things like this. Concentrate on something like a wiper blade instead of making sure the tires are on the wheels correctly or that they do not rub the body.

Which they do. As the photo in the box shows the left front tire was not even fully mounted. The rear tires either. SRC has stated they are aiming at the collector so it seems odd they cannot even mount a tire correctly on a car that the so-called target consumer will never remove. Quality control? Well, we all know how we feel about that. I will say that IF I were just a collector, I would be rather annoyed that the car looked this way inside the case. If you are a just a collector does it matter? Are you just tucking it away to sell a few years from now or is this a display model for your shelf?

Wheels look ok to me and do have some brake rotor detail that will please some of you.

Tires are rather a hard compound, but it really doesn't matter much to me. I swap stock tires out all the time.

The seam in the center? Same thing. I cannot imagine not buying a slot car because of that. A little sanding which you will HAVE to do, it's gone. Furthermore, most people that intend to race it will be changing tires anyway, so no reason to complain in my eyes.

Underneath we see the sidewinder configuration and the bar magnet location.

BoxStock Testing

MidMo Speedway

Professor Motor Control - Aftermarket Pyramid 26KX Power

Testing this car from the box to the track revealed what I fully expected: Poor performance. In fairness I don't expect many ready to run cars to run well out of the box although many of them do. The first issue is I noticed some binding. The tires were rubbing somewhere I was sure of that. The tires had nearly zero grip on our track surface as well so the model had a good fish tail action. It also had bad wheel hop and the car chattered upon acceleration.

So how do I feel about this? I'm fine with it. It is nothing I did not expect. I have a wood track and with it comes responsibility. Hardly a car comes my way that doesn't need some kind of tuning. I cannot say this car is any worse or better than those before it.

If you are new to our hobby, you might be pretty disappointed. I understand too. We were all feeling the same way when we bought our first Fly years ago. But the fact is that this brand is almost just like Fly (Flyslot) and will not be 100% ready to run. Especially when the company itself claims that the collector is the primary customer, not you or me.

For you veteran enthusiasts? You should KNOW this model isn't going to be race ready. The only way you even know about this car is through the web. You have already read other reviews and first reports. You are a veteran, that is what you do. When a new company or model is released, you research it.

So in other words, no surprises for you.

Looking Closer

Removing the 4 screws we see a very nice chassis. First thing I liked was the solid front axle. Although speed racers like the independent systems, I am a middle of the road sort of person (if you ever raced me , you know this!). Tuning a solid front axle is easy and can result in great performance. So I am pleased to see this.

I also like how tidy the wiring is. This makes things easier than before as I don't have to glue them in place.

The front guide fits ok, with a spring loaded system. Most of you will remove the spring and when you do you will notice plenty of vertical free-play. You will likely shim this guide to the height you want, or replace it with a better after-market system.

The rear wheels and tires should look familiar. They are the same wheels found on Fly GT40 MKII models (as an example). This means any after-market tires made to fit those wheels will work here. There is still some sanding to do to remove the ever present flash molding of course.

Rear axle bushings are loose in the chassis and will spin under load. I would advise using a little hot glue or clear silicone adhesive to snug them up.

You never know when you might want to replace all of this with higher quality running gear, so I cannot tell you to use any permanent adhesives like Super Glue.

Speaking of that, our 11 tooth brass pinion turns the 36 tooth spur gear. Gear mesh is not perfect, but it will smooth out with break-in.

The motor seems to be around 18,000 RPM. In other words it sounds and performs like a Fly motor. I cannot verify this of course, just going on overall feel.

Braking is decent as well as acceleration. It does feel a little "softer" than any other motor in the Fly line, but without hard data I am just guessing.

A smaller bar magnet is in place and should be enough for most of you.

Quick Tune

I noticed the body was not sitting true on the chassis. After removing it I noticed that SRC really wants our driver to be safe. These might be the longest seat belts in history. The issue was one of the bets was pinching between the body and top of the motor. I trimmed it away and things were just right.

As usual I have every tire made except the ones I need. So I sanded the wheels to true them up and installed the stock tires and sanded again. I will say that they were pretty round and true and it looks like this car will not need a lot more invested in it.

Remember that tire rub I thought we had? Yes, it was rubbing. That is because they were not fitted to the wheel properly. After the wheel sanding was done and the tires properly mounted, we were fine. However, things are VERY close. Trying to fit a wider tire here will be a challenge. The body is very thin leaving literally no room to sand away material.

After this it was back to the track. The car ran very well even with the stock tires. Of course they did not last long, but mechanically speaking the model is now much better and just tells me we can go further with it.

So this model really did not need a whole lot of work. Wheels and axles seemed straight enough. Gear mesh will smooth out over time. Adjusting the front guide is something I do on almost every other brand.

As it stands I only need to invest in a new set of tires. Well, EVERY car in my stable has new tires. The extra few dollars for that isn't anything to really complain about.

Final Thoughts

I am sure some will disagree, but I still have to say this model is nothing more than a Fly Classic with a different name on the box. Newcomers should pass on this model as there are quite a few slot cars out there that run much better and cost less than this one. Unless you just have to have this model. And as you will find out you can never have enough slot cars. It doesn't matter if you already have 50 or more Le Mans classics on your shelf, you will feel the need to have this one too. We cannot explain it.

What amuses me the most about this car is that it is actually a better stable mate for your Fly Classic collection than the new Flyslot cars. Since Flyslot changed to an inline chassis, this SRC sidewinder model brings us back to old territory. This fact might be the reason they do stick around. Those of us who have a full stable of Fly classics now have a new model to join in the race.

So veteran enthusiasts have been down this road before. For years we have seen the complaints about Fly classics and no matter how much we complain, they never change. Neither do we it seems. We still buy them. We know they won't run well. We know we have to sometimes invest more money and effort to get the model "right". All of that and a larger price tag to boot. This model cost me $60.00. Yet that isn't that bad really. I am watching NSR owners changing out tires, gears, etc and they dropped almost double.

This model needed little to run well. Just like other brands I own. It COULD be better out of the box but can't we say that for just about any other model we buy?

I am pleased with my first SRC. Yet, it is nothing to brag about either. It will be a good running slot car when I am done and look forward to the years of fun it will bring. Fun is the bottom line as always and if part of the fun of this hobby is tuning then you should enjoy this model.

- Harry

Contact ME about this review or the hobby in general.