Thunder Slot Lola T70 MKIII Review

[HomeRacingWorld]

[Retro Racer 44]

Wow! What a great looking slot car?

My first instinct was to check the scale. This is easily done by comparing the wheelbase on the 1:1 car and dividing by 32. It works out to less than a mm difference. A purist would also check length, height and width the same way, but I didn't do that. The Fly version of this car always seemed big to me, but having never seem one in real life, maybe it was big compared to say a Ford GT, that was really also a Lola.

The one thing I really wondered about was whether Ernie Mosetti had any hand in the design of this car. I had heard that his next MRSlotcar would be a Lola, and the chassis of this car has more than a passing similarity to the MR McLaren's, especially around the front end. If Ernie was not involved, then Thunderslot has scooped him on this one. My McLaren is my fastest car, and I expect these would be right up there.

I look forward to seeing more offerings from this company.

Cheers,

Keith

[mikeinclover]

Another great review Harry, a lot of information.
Mike

[SlotCarCorner]

Thank you for taking the time to put together such a comprehensive review for HRW readers. Much appreciated!

:text-thankyouyellow:

[TuscoTodd]

Great review Harry! Thanks!!!

[goosenapper]

My red car is a lot less shiny than Harry's example. I don't know if it's the lighting in his shots or the luck of the draw, but mine is more matte finish than glossy- a lot like a Le Mans Miniatures paintjob, which is a great thing in my opinion.


A 1.3mm hex hex driver will work to get those torx screws undone, so you don't have to buy a new tool specifically for this car.

Between the body screws and motor pod, this car has more float built in to it than any to come before it. The utilized shaft screws allow for a great degree of unhindered movement.

I ran mine on Scalextric Sport, and the pointy guide will click in the joints unless they are as snug as can be. Most cars don't care whether track joints are fully or partially seated, but it makes a huge difference to this Lola. I even had one occurrence of the rear of the car jolting slightly in the air as the guide got caught up on a joint, so take care to check that track joints are snug prior to running on plastic. It wouldn't hurt to run a flat-head screw-driver around your slot regardless of track material before running the car, as any foreign object in the path of that guide is going to cause an issue.

I agree that the stock motor is fantastic, and the unsanded stock tires grip the Sport pretty doggone good, so I'm in no hurry to replace those. A lot of cars fishtail like the Duke Boys are behind the wheel when driven stock and without magnets, but this one is very controllable.

It's an interesting business model: offering a car that drives well enough as-is, but building in areas for upgrade pieces to be installed. Essentially that gives the consumer a chance to experience the car in stock form, and then teases them with the wonderment of what the add-on parts could possibly do to improve performance. Racers looking for that .01 edge will undoubtedly be drawn in by it, while parade lappers like me are satisfied enough with the stock car. In this way, Thunderslot is able to appeal from everyone from carpet-runners to Blue King champions.

[HomeRacingWorld]

Thank you guys for the feedback. It's nice to see.

And Mr. Goose... :text-goodpost:

That kind of field report is what we need and is solid gold to enthusiasts.

[HRWJim]

Great review Harry. Look forward to running this car. Jim

[SuperSlab]

[HomeRacingWorld]

Good report. I was wondering how soon someone would just do a wheel swap.

[SuperSlab]

[HomeRacingWorld]

Agree with that. This past weekend we did battle and the same thoughts were echoed. It's truly difficult to dislike the model as it just runs so smoothly.