| July 23, 2007 Review |
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 SCX 'Classics' Ford Sierra RS Review By Shawn Smith Appearance:  Ok, slot car time! The 'Classic Series'... Different from the Vintage series in that from what I can tell the vintage Corvette Stingray we looked at back in 2004 was supposed to be a complete replica of the way the car was originally made back in 1975 and in contrast this Ford Sierra is based on car that yes was produced some years ago however this time the intent was not to make it a replica of cars past but rather to give the car a remake with today's tooling and bring it to market in an updated package.  Well... providing my information is accurate it indeed looks as if the mission was a success. Making the 'old' new again the SCX Ford Sierra RS Cosworth is really a good looking car. Painted in a base coat of bright white the body is accented with varying shades of blue striped, silver stripes and a variety of other colors used for the many sponsorship graphics and decorations.  The overall body shape of the Sierra, at one time sold in the US under the name Merkur XR4Ti, looks well recreated and fans of the 1:1 prototype should have no problems identifying the car by its hatchback sedan shape and it's perhaps its most unique styling feature in the form of its high mounted, and rather large, rear hatch spoiler.  Getting a closer look at the front of the SCX Sierra the body work is styled with a variety of grill openings and other details. In the headlight openings the inner sections of the lenses are covered with a solid plate, on the real street versions these areas had dim marker bulbs inside of them, and right under the headlights what should be the Sierra's fog/driving lights are modeled wearing 'Hella' lense covers that no doubt kept the lights from taking the odd rock being thrown at them during daytime racing on the rally circuit.  And because this version is indeed replicating an RS competition car what rally car would be complete without its pilot and its navigator/co-driver strapped in tighly inside of the cockpit. Our drivers, decorated in basic white racing suits with matching helmets, are only shades of their former selfs being installed in the car from about their armpits and upward.  Inside the Sierra even more details can be found. Dual fire bottles are mounted behind each of the front seats and a simulated roll cage makes its way from the front dash all the way to the back where under the rear hatch a spare tire and rim detail has been molded and painted in to the interior tray.   Out back the giant rear wing stands tall, mounted about half way up the hatch glass, and because of its size used a fiberglass center pillar to make certain the wing was had the proper support. Other than the wing the rear boasts clear tailight details and painted on accents like the hatch securing clips and even more colorful decorations.  You may have also noticed from looking at the front shot of the car that each headlight detail looked as if there were LEDs installed inside of them and if you did you are correct. The front of the Sierra is fitted with a circuit board mounted to the underside of the hood area and the back contains its own cicuit board for the tailights. The one and only complaint? One of the headlights didn't even make a lap as it wouldn't light from the start. I played with several things on the circuit board and the connections but nothing helped... The Rears however glowed brightly and stayed lit through the entire test and beyond.   Performance:  Getting under the body will require the removal of five screws from the chassis of the Sierra and once out of the way the body comes free without the hassle of any wiring connecting the lights. SCX manages this via a network of metal contacts, both attached to the body and mounted in the chassis itself.  The motor is also a component that also works off of these metal contacts and if your car has any initial running problems I suggest adjusting the braids first then focus on the tabs attached to the motor to make sure they make a good connection with the power supplying rails in the bottom of the chassis.  The motor pod itself pops out of the chassis with some force and in my application was very snug in its mount and at first I wondered if it might break free before releasing. Thankfully it came out intact although in most cases you may never need to take the pod out of the car. The pod itself not only hold the motor but it also holds the magnet bracket and the entire rear axle assembly including the spherical bushings.  Above are the connections you'll want to check if, as I said above, the car seems to have trouble picking up the track power. My test car worked well right out of the box although I feel the need to mention it as previous SCX cars I've had benefitted from attention to these connections. I've even known some racers to solder these connections together for the ultimate assurance... in most cases once adjusted the cars will run fine.  All of the metal power connections ultimately connect to the SCX guide and the proper bending of the metal tabs give the SCX's guide a 'spring' feature that helps keep the guide in the slot. A double braid system is used by SCX although it's really one long braid routed through the guide to provide more than one electrical pick up area.  The Sierra's front axle is solid one and no excess of side to side play was found. Of course there are no wires to cause any binding or un-needed friction here and my front axle rolled well with no sign of wobble from either of the front wheels.  The rear axle was also free of any questionable slop and the gearing felt good although a little 'chunky' for lack of a better word. Nothing really new to me as almost all SCX cars I have owned have felt similar.  The Sierra's magnet is a simple item to remove, and being a rally car I know many will pull the magnet right away, and to take the magnet out all you must do is back out two decent length screws and out the c-shape magnet will come. For those of you who do decide to race it with the magnet the same long screws also mean you can lower the magnet if you so chose although I can't imagine anyone needing to.  Rims and tires; The eight spoke wheels were reasonably true and thankfully free from any flashing. The tires, all four slicks for the sierra (wouldn't tread help for rally events) were also reasonably true and needed only light sanding to get a decent contact patch on the track. With that done it was time to hit the track. Ok... I already had the magnet out for the picture so it only made sense to run it mag free for a handful of laps. As some of you might guess it performed relatively well although it was a little 'tippy', if not a tad 'top-heavy' but once I adjusted my braking and throttle points it smoothed out to a decent running car. Not creme of the crop non-magnet handling but a fun drive all the same. Best lap time, on 60-feet of painted Carrera test track clicked off at 7.790. Magnet back in laps times dropped by well more than a full second, fastest lap for the test showing as a 6.110, and that lap time places the car right with many of its SCX cousins on the Garage test track. An SCX Audi TT-R that I own runs cinsistent laps in the 6.0 to 6.2 range although its fastest recorded lap is a 5.985. Yet another SCX car, although a much lower center of gravity car, my SCX Audi LMP is a regular 5.5 to 5.7 car with a fastest lap of 5.493. Final Verdict:  It might be marketed as a 'classic Series' car yet thankfully it's built by today's tooling and clearly can run with the likes of other SCX cars in their traditional line ups. The SCX Ford Sierra RS Cosworth won't blow anyone away with its speed or torque capabilites but its a good running car that I'm glad to see make a reappearance. Styling wise the body and finish looks really good and the car has ample enough detail to make the majority of racers happy. Perhaps one of the cars most likable features is its price, with out review sponsor listing the car available for sale at the attractive retail price of $35.99 and they even have a $32.99 price reflected in their 'specials' section.. can't go wrong there! Thanks go to www.CincySlots.com for providing the new SCX Ford Sierra RS for review. Please contact CincySlots for availabilty and let them know you saw the review here on Slot CarGarage.com. As always, feel free to contact me at the email address below with any questions or comments and as always, happy slotting! Shawn Smith sjslots@hotmail.com |
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