These reviews are done on my custom Carrera 1/24 Exclusiv road course layout.  

Test Drive Results - Ten Lap Sprint:

* Data does include some minor wrecks during the course of the trial run...

Test Drive Observations:

Here is another of Carrera's new 1/32 slot cars for 2000.  This time Carrera takes a stab at the vintage segment with their Mercedes Benz.  From Mercedes-Benz, "All the the experience from the W 196 went into designing the non-formula 300 SLR racing sports car. It achieved a spectacular double victory in its first race, the Mille Miglia. A triple victory in the English Tourist Trophy followed. In 1955 Daimler-Benz withdrew from racing after winning the Manufacturer's Championship."  This car in 1:1 scale featured a 302hp Eight cylinder motor with a top speed of 300 km/h.  You can view an actual photo of this car on the Mercedes-Benz museum site.

I was very eager to try this car out since the other 1/32 scale Carrera cars released for 2000 seemed to run pretty good on the track.  The car looks great with a highly detailed body, interior, drivers, and decals.  Looks does not mean everything as it was evidence while on the track.  The Mercedes has good speed down the straights but it likes to fishtail (oversteer) any opportunity it has.  You will need to also take care when punching the throttle even going down the straights because it will tend to whip the backend around.  I really had poor results with the magnet in the front position with a best lap of 6.181, average lap of 7.080, and a time of 1:14.290 so I was not all that happy with the handling.  Finally the best results came from adjusting the magnet to the rear most position and lightly sanding the wide rubber tires with some spare sandpaper.  It had helped the handling and speed a bit but still has the same problems to a bit lesser degree.  

So you might think the car is a little hard to control but the main problem comes when you try to push this 300 SLR a bit.  The car loves to flip over.  If this was a car made specifically to do stunts, it would get a dazzling review.  Running around the course, proved to be a task.  You need to watch the curves, basically taking it easy, with carefully hammering it down the long straight.  The other problem this has is poor brakes, you need to watch when slowing down for the curves.  I took my time trying to navigate the course but the fishtailing, poor brakes, and the ability to flip over on a dime can give you a nasty headache.  I just have to laugh at the way the car likes to flip over, its not really Carrera's fault but could be the small design of the car itself as a 1/32 slot car.  All in all if you really have to have a Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR for a decent price, Carrera is the way to go if you can cope with the problems with the car.

I am giving this car a 3 out of 5 tires rating because of the problems with the handling of the car especially the roll-over factor (remember this is not a SUV).  You can cope with fishtailing and poor braking but pushing it to the limits proves pointless.  I still like the car but wouldn't really like to run it with other vintage style 1/32 slot cars unless you are willing to cope with the problems.

Slot Car Garage Review Rating:  3 out of 5 tires!!!

Head back to the main reviews section for many more reviews of slot cars and related items...

Some Other Past Reviews:

1. Carrera Evolution 1/32 Audi R8R and BMW V12 Le Mans '99 slot cars including 1/24 BMW V12.

2. 1/32 FLY Panoz LMP-1 Roadster
3. 1/32 Ninco Go-Kart

4. 1/32 Pro-Track Spider Chassis with 1978 Firebird Trans Am model kit body

5. 1/32 FLY Porsche 917K Martini #22

6. 1/32 MRRC Shelby Cobra 427 "Blue"

7. 1/32 Scalextric New VW Beetle PIRELLI #3

8. 1/32 Ninco EVITA #50198 Porsche 356-A Coupe

9. 1/32 ProSlot Toyota GT1 Esso Ultron #17

10. 1/32 MRRC Chaparral 2 "White" #MC-9906

Other Reviews Features:

1. Return to Main Reviews Section - Read more of my personal reviews and others of related slot car items including cars, sets, parts, etc. regarding all the scales (1/24, 1/32, HO)

2. Slot Car Test Drive Results - Current data from testing on my Carrera 1/24 Exclusiv track.  Includes results from 1/24 and 1/32 scale slot cars.  This is a run-down of the various slot cars I tested with their average, best lap times and the total time it took the car to complete the ten lap run.

3. Old Slot Car Test Drive Results - This is an archive of the various slot cars I tested with their average, best lap times and the total time it took the car to complete the ten lap run listed from when I had my Riggen 1/32 layout.

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