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The H.O.S.T. slot car club up here in the NH area has a class called 'Carrera Sports Car' meant to be an inexpensive class..

Cars must be Carrera (duh), inline motor, no prototypes or NASCARS.. and they may use Paul Gage or yellow dog tires..

I didn't have a car for this class, so when I was at the race this past Saturday, (which was held at the US HQ for SlotCarCorner)
I bought a brand new STIHL Mercedes and a pair of XPG tires to fit the stock rims.

I took the car out of the case and looked it over.. flawless finish with beautiful detailing. I removed the rear tires, installed
the Paul Gage set and put the car on the track. It ran fantastic from the word go. I had only 3 or 4 laps of practice and the
heats started. The car was competitive despite being brand new with no tuning at all.. No weight, no tire truing, no motor break in..
I won 2 of my 8 heats and tied for 4th in the overall points for the Carrera division in a field of 9 already established and tuned cars.

It's been a long time since I've purchased a new slot car but I can't ever recall being this happy with a brand new car fresh from the box..

This week I'll take it apart, do a proper motor break in, true the tires, and tweak the weight distribution.. Hoping for a podium next time.

Dave K if you read this, GREAT car.. seriously good value too as this car was $15 - $25 less than most new cars nowadays. :text-bravo:

Darn Good looking too!
Nice run Kev, the driving might have had a little to do with it too ya know!

Bob

Nice race review Kev.
Isnt it great when you get a car like that.
Those DTMs really look the part too.
Bob

I've got a few of them and all perform great out of the box. The DTM cars are great. Side by side racing lap after lap. PGT and minimal tuning, no mag.

Been saying this for a while. The Carrera GT3 and DTM cars with PG tires are the most equal in performance of any group of slot cars. Everyone can have a different looking cat but they all perform so close to the same. Two good drivers can run 50 laps or more with neither gaining more than a car length's advantage. Somehow my Aston Martin got a hot motor and I have removed it from competition.

Looks like a car that I "need"! Thanks for the out-of-the-box impressions with the XPG tires.

Allan

Most (I mean most) Carreras' run well out of the box. Almost all respond well to a little tuning. I just don't care for their pick up/guide system, I always change it. :angry-soapbox:

I'm glad people are enjoying the cars we make. And honestly the best compliment you can give us is that they perform well out of the box simply because we really do intend to sell cars to the broadest possible audience. We HAVE to sell outside the hobby market and that means making cars that people should (hopefully :) ) be able to enjoy having done nothing to them.
The fact that people with the most discriminating tastes and knowledge of how to do the most involved tuning can also enjoy the cars we make just means that someone on our end of things is doing their job and that's just super to hear of course.
The DTMs specifically have been selling VERY well since we decided to bring them 3 years ago now. At first... if you can believe it... the new 2 door DTMs weren't coming to the North American market. I saw them at ToyFair in Germany that first year and i was so struck by the job the design team did on the flat black BMW (especially that car, which was on display as a prototype at the show) and I asked my boss Ed if we could bring in "some" and he went with the suggestion and we did bring in the cars. They sold out quickly and we had the hit on our hands that I was sure we would.
I was pleased to hear from the designers that the cars would share a nearly identical mechanical design and that was the clincher for me. Having a number of decorations of essentially the same car is a natural for club racing. Having a wide, low car meant ( i thought to myself at the time, because you understand I hadn't driven the cars because at the time they were only prototypes and i could not even test them at the show) that i figured performance would be good. The guide placement was nicely ahead of the centerline of the front wheels... all the elements were (are) there for performance.
I fully expect the new BMW mold coming out late this year to be a nice performing car too. I haven't seen samples of the prototypes yet but i'm sure they're nice.
Thanks for posting this thread. And thanks for supporting us in your club.
BTW I will support any club with prizes if they contact me...
kennedy.david@carrera-toys.com

Likely the best thread about our little hobby on the web.

I agree, I had sworn off Carrera some ten years ago. I got one of these on advice of some other clubs and the fact that it has an option for a slot.it 3d chassis (in case my Carrera fears were still founded). I put it on the track and was blown away at how much better their cars have become, all while remain extremely low priced. I bought 4 of the DTM cars and will be introducing these as an IROC class next season in hopes of getting people interested in them.

I am definitely looking forward to getting mine on the track!
I don't have any PGT tires for it (yet) - so her first outing will be with stock rubber but with no magnet.
Definitely looking forward to it! :D

I liked the spinners!! Still have a few that I run from time to time.

I saw this slot car in the hobby shop case today. Very nice.
I'll be getting one soon.