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I am not sure if I have just not been paying attention (quite likely that...) or whether this has just been happening somewhat stealthily:

Just this past week it has come to my notice that both NSR and Slot.it have released motor mounts designed for use with single flange bushings. As far as I can tell this happened with very little fanfare from the manufacturers or discussion on forums, which I find somewhat surprising. I have now ordered examples from both manufacturers in their Sidewinder incarnation and am looking forward to comparing the two executions.

Conceptually these seem very similar. Thus far I have only received the NSR mounts and I must say I am quite impressed:

1. Firstly I think these MUST be stiffer than the "open top" double flange mounts. And stiffness in this area can only be a Good Thing!
2. I have used it with the NSR branded and dedicated Oilite bushings and found them a very, very good fit. There is a decent "lead in" to start the bushing in the holder but once properly seated it sits very, very tightly indeed. On top of that, the two that I have tried line up beautifully. This unlike what I have often found with the traditional double flange setup where just about invariably some tweaking is required to get the two bushings to line up properly. With the new design I pushed the two bushings all the way in, made sure they were seated properly and the axle fitted perfectly.

I have now built up two cars with this setup (both Porsche 917's) but have not run them yet. Ergo, the advantages/benefits are theoretical only at this point. I hope to run the cars some time this weekend and will report back.

The Slot.it version holds a different attraction for me. The previous generation motor mounts already had a fully enclosed bushing holder so the strength was good. But spherical bushings generally are not favoured by the "go fast" set. So from what I have seen the new design retains the strength but now offers the ability to use different single flange bearings. I have ordered some of the recommended Slot.it ball bearings but I have also purchased some Champion Oilites to try.

I have not yet received the Slot.it mounts and bearings but I am expecting them this coming week some time. I will share my first thoughts once I receive these.

Does anyone have some experience with these two mounts and any comments/feedback?

Alwyn

I'm curious about that,too. But I have seen it mentioned more than once here on HRW as an aside talking about commercial tracks.

Alwyn, Thunderslot also has the same setup. I was very impressed with their setup. Have not tried the NSR yet I have them just haven't run them. We are actually working with the Slot it right now. I can't seem to be able to get many of the Slot it pods in at one time as soon as they come in I seem to sell out again.
Mike

Champion oilites and slotit axles are a match made in heaven...unless the axle is one of the bent variety.

I did see Chris W say he sometimes chops the fingers off the bearing housing and fits single flange oilites.

JK also make some nice brass bushes that could be worth a try.

Good on slotit and NSR for doing this.

This is a very complete, clear, and helpful answer Chris. Thank you for taking time to share your knowledge and experience.

Summer last year I received one of the new SICH115 short can SW motor mounts for a Group 5 proxy car I was working on. For this pod you need the SICH105 bearing, the same bearings you can find on the Slot It 4WD car.

During testing I found that the car had wheel hop, I spent hours (maybe days) on replacing all the usual suspects, and bracing all the usual items. I changed wheels, tyres, chassis, you name it, I did it. As I was coming up against the deadline, I was almost ready to enter the car, without the problem fixed. Only then did it occur to me that the one constant in all of this was the new pod with the bearings.

Went back to the regular motor mount with the spherical bushings and the problem was immediately fixed! On inspection I found that there was the slightest (tiny) amount of play between the bearing and the plastic, you would be hard pressed to believe it could cause an issue, but it did for me.

I also found that the Slot It axles would not fit the bearing, not without a significant amount of polish and even then it was an extremely tight fit.

Your results may vary, but for now I am sticking to the original.

Cheers

Chris