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Slot.it Toyota 88C - Gp C

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wixwacing
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Posts: 1871
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Slot.it Toyota 88C - Gp C

Post by wixwacing »

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Slot.it Toyota 88c
Le Mans 1988
G. Lees, M. Sekiya, K. Hoshino



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by Phil Wicks

The Toyota 88C, isn’t actually built by Toyota, but rather it is designed and built by a specialist company. In the case of the 88C, the Japanese Dome company were commissioned to design and build the car for the Toyota racing team, who are known as ‘Toyota Team Tom’s, for the 1988 Le Mans especially, although the car did race in other events. Starting eighth on the grid, the car finished a respectable twelfth in the grueling 24 hour race with Geoff Lees, Masanori Sekiya, and Kaoru Hoshino taking turns at the wheel. The car was powered by Toyota’s four cylinder DOHC 3S-GTM 2.1 litre Turbo 14 engine.



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Dome are not new to racing car design and have officially been building single seaters and sports cars for a variety of motor sport teams and events including leading names such as BMW (LMP) and Honda (NSX) since 1975. They have also been steadily building a wide range of open wheelers for several classes in Japan, as well as racing their own product internationally. The company was founded by Minoru Hayashi and like many great racing names, his first cars were conversions and tune ups of regular road cars like the Honda S600



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Toyota need no introduction and as always, the world’s biggest car manufacturer has wanted to reinforce brand identity and presence by appearing successfully in prestigious motor sport events across the globe. The 88C was a successor to an already lengthy list of competition cars and enjoyed moderate success in Japan, North America and finally, in 1989, in Europe at the Coupe de Dijon where they achieved fourth place behind Porsche (962) and Sauber (C9). As already mentioned, this is a model of the 1988 car as it appeared at Le Mans that year.


DOME.jp.co


Yet another nice model from Slot.it, and again, a model which will need a little care on the track if you want it to last more than a week-end! That’s a less than veiled hint at its very flimsy body. At eleven grams you won’t want too many racing incidents or you could find some very lightweight parts separating company and the model going home in a bag! No, matter, let’s pretend it is indestructible and move on.



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As always and starting with the outside, Slot.it have managed to pull off a nice finish reminiscent of some of the early fly models. There are one or two details the model lacks but these fall into the delicate category and are better left off. Side on it has a good stance and most should be happy with its on-track appearance. The Minolta livery is an eye catcher and Slot.it have modeled the wheel inserts in true likeness. The rear view mirrors are in the roll over zone and will be vulnerable along with the delicate rear wing and headlamp covers of which mine always seem to crack early on in their life.



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Interior detail is there as always even though it is barely visible, and the tampo is fairly crisp. The model has an in-line configuration and this has allowed the fitting of a standard traction magnet in the best spot, between motor and axle. The plastic front wheels are concentric and the tyres fit well with little truing necessary. The rear wheels are the usual alloy long hub type. For serious racing I would be inclined to upgrade the rear wheels and tyres the next width up (10.0 m.m.).



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Inside is pretty much standard too with the motor being the RTR standard 21,500 motor driving the rear axle through a 3.11:1 brass and nylon reduction giving the model a theoretical top speed of just over seven metres per second. For the non magnet racer you will be pleased to know that the motor is tight in the chassis as Slot.its usually are, and on reassembly the body and chassis fit together quite snugly and hassle free placing the body back on the chassis.




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I had the opportunity to run the model on the four lane ‘Four Seasons’ Carrera slotcar track at Eagleby south of Brisbane , and admittedly it was on a fresh track before practice for the days racing had begun. As expected the model was very predictable at all speeds and responded well to the professor motor controller I was using. If anything it had a slight tendency to step out on the low downforce track, but no where near as much as some models out of the box.



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A few more laps saw the dust off the track and the standard tyres working well. I would recommend though that for low downforce tracks like Carrera and Magnabraid that the magnet be changed for the Slot.it upgrade competition magnet. Those who race at home or at their local track where Scaley or Ninco tracks are in use, I think you will find the model well balanced straight from the box.



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So with no bad habits Slot.it have done it again and given us a model which looks good and goes well out of the box. It would be nice if it went well straight out of the wallet too, but at a time when all makes seem to be increasing in price, that becomes another story.



Slot.it Toyota 88C




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Once again another nice model from Slot.it. All you have to do is pick the livery of your choice, that’ll be the hardest thing you will have to do with this model!

Many thanks to fellow slotracer Mike O’Leary for the opportunity to review this model
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When I'm not racing slotcars,
I'm out in the back yard, burning food!!

When I win, it's because of my talent, not my car or my controller!
wixwacing
Marshal!!!
Posts: 1871
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:22 am

Re: Slot.it Toyota 88C - Gp C

Post by wixwacing »

Some useful information from good friend Kev in SA

"I have read your article on the Slot.it Toyota and thought I would throw in my 2bobs worth.I have the blue and white one that you tested and also the black and yellow one. The first thing I did with both was to throw away the fencing wire braid and the thick heavy motor lead wire.Braids were replaced by SCX Pro and also NSR soft braid.The motor wire is replaced by the NSR motor wire and eyelets as it is much thinner and softer and more flexible.One has the crown replaced with a 26t and still motor and Slot.it F22 tyres.The other now has a Slot.it Flat6RS 25k motor inline with 26t crown with NSR wheels and tyres.For this one I am waiting for an anglewinder cradle that I have coming and then the RS motor will go in that.It’s quick now but will be even better when it is anglewinder. On both cars the motor is bolted in as the cradles have holes for motor mount screws/bolts so no fear of them coming loose."

Kev.
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