| December 18, 2007 Review |
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 Carrera Opel Commodore Review By Eric Cropper Appearance:  The Commodore is a small car, until the front spoiler, fender flares, and jumbo jet sized wing are added to it. The car is around 5.5 inches and 6.75 inches long overall with all the before mentioned additions. The overall finish of the Opel is fantastic. The tampo is almost flawless. Colors are brilliant and opaque. They mixed in a little flat black on the front quarter panels, while the rest of the car is covered in a smooth orange peel free clear coat.  The front fascia is made up of a huge spoiler that rivals a snow plow. There are 2 air vents molded into it and a tow hook. The grill is another area where the flat black color was used for contrast. The front part of the quarter panels have a couple of body rivets too.  I thought Carrera’s Moby Dick Porsche had a crazy rear end. This wing might be overkill, but I’m sure it served its purpose. There are 2 black latches and a single Dunlop logo back here too.  Looking down on the Commodore you see just how slim a car it is minus all the extra appendages. Personally, even from above it looks like it is moving.  The roll cage seems too short and a skull knocker for the driver in a rough spill. The flat grey headers snake out from behind the front wheels. They help break up the long stretch between the front and rear rubber.  Above are the rear fender flares that allow for more rubber and a wider wheel base. The rims have a nice deep lip similar to the Moby Dick Porsche.  The front end does appear to be too high, but after referencing a picture Harry the Wise sent me…its not too much higher than the real thing. The placement of the chrome mirrors made me cringe. Like a lot of other cars they will probably be the first victims on the track. This is also where Carrera usually had spares in the back of the display case. Alas, Carrera packed the Opel without any spares. Either pop them off or once they’re gone, they’re gone.  The wheels came fairly true, though one of the fronts had a slight bobble. The rubber is decent and gave pretty good traction. However, sans one magnet or all magnets the traction might be less desirable. I’m just guessing here, folks. I didn’t try it.  Both the head and tail lights are nice and bright. Do you see any light bleeding through the body? There’s a reason you don’t and you’ll see way very soon. Below, you see the tri-colored tail lights.  Performance:  The chassis is held in place by 4 screws pointed out by the red arrows. Yes, the huge guide is here to stay and the reverse switch is still too tiny for a finger to flip. Also, at the front end Carrera seems to be labeling the chassis with the cars serial number now too.  The long running sliding magnet is a thing of the past for Carrera. It was replaced not too long ago with 2 separate bar magnets. Each is held in place by 2 screws pointed out by the yellow arrows. So, it is easier to tune Carrera cars to suit your personal track and driving style. Carrera didn’t include any extra mirrors, but they did include magnet shims of different thicknesses.  Now that I have the body off, I can show you a new area of detail Carrera has put into the Opel. The silver painted areas help reflect the light towards the light lenses and cut out body illumination from the lights. Nice touch Carrera!!!  Here’s the chassis minus the body. It’s a mess in here, but it all works. The headers are part of the chassis too.  Carrera also continues with the motor pod that is removable from the bottom of the chassis without having to remove the body. The Opel has standard Carrera gearing.  I’d say overall Carrera did an excellent job of recreating the Opel Commodore. Below, is a picture of the real thing via Harry the Wise.  Track Time: I ran the Commodore on the local shop’s Monza track. It’s a 4 lane Carrera course with MG Power Supplies powering each lane and I used my Professor Motor controller. I ran in the only open lane. I rarely run in lane 4 and from the side of the track that I had to run from, but it was run in it or not at all. Sadly, I didn’t get a video of the Opel going through its paces. The first couple of laps were ugly. The Opel ended up on its roof several times. The guide being behind the front wheels seemed to cause an unusual de-slot in some of the tighter turn sections of the track. The heavier rear end would show itself coming hard out of the tight turns if pushed too hard. However, after I got use to the track angle and lane I was able to handle the Commodore with relative ease. The car has decent acceleration and very good brakes. It took the bridge and banked curves like a champ. I had about a minute and a half left of my running time and the best lap at that point was 11.25 seconds. I buckled down and really concentrated on my trigger control and when time ran out I had turned a fastest lap of 10.90 seconds. Not bad for only 15 minutes worth of running time. I should be able to get low 10’s with more track time under my belt. Judgement Day:  Call it an ugly step-sister or a blind date gone badly when you wake up the next morning. Personally, I call it something old, something new, something different, and something that can be very fun. Whether it’s your cup of tea or not is up to you. However, it is a very good running car out of the box and Carrera’s pricing makes their line of cars even more desirable to me and others on a limited hobby budget. I give it a 4 out of 5. Thanks again to www.CincySlots.com for sending the Carrera Opel Commodore for review. Make sure to stop by www.cincyslots.com and check out what Bruce has to offer! As always, feel free to contact me with any questions or comments. Eric Cropper AKA legionofone ecropper@hotmail.com |
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