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.