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Slot.It Alfa Romeo 155 Ti - Nordschleife 1993

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wixwacing
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Slot.It Alfa Romeo 155 Ti - Nordschleife 1993

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Slot.it Alfa Romeo 155Ti DTM
Nordschleife - 1993




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By Phil Wicks

The DTM series in Germany was the climax of a series of European racing events starting with touring car racing back in the sixties and culminating in the spectacular show of major brands in the German Touring car circus, which travels Europe every year. The regulations are impressive but basically the cars must have a 4vpc V8 engine with a displacement of 4.0 litres.

DTM regulations - 1993

Back in 1993 the then new class 1 regulations were introduced things weren’t too different with the exception that the engines were only allowed to be 2.5 litre V6’s. Bodies would be sourced from models which had achieved a production run of at least 25,000 units; and rules regarding engine mods were quite liberal and mods were allowed providing they didn’t alter too greatly the exterior appearance of the car. Alfa Romeo took the rest of the pack by surprise and hit the ground running with the 155 Ti, with Nicola Larini being the man to beat; and who convincingly won the series that year.

DTM Series results - 1993

The team fielded by Alfa was the Factory ‘Corse’ team. ly formed in 1938 it was, for some time, run by Enzo Ferrari. As we now, Enzo was to go on and become the builder of his own race cars, and, unless you have been asleep for sixty years, you will know he made a half decent job of it! Alfa was eventually purchased by the FIAT group in 1986. Management eventually passed over to FIAT’s Abarth wizard Giorgio PIantia, but he was unable to convert his talent to success on the track, and eventually after an average showing in the world sports car championship, in 1992, the company reverted to Touring cars for a change of luck.

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After moderate success in the Italian CIVT series with a 155 GTA, Alfa entered the 1993 DTM series with their AWD 155 Ti . They also created a 155 super tourer which won the Italian Touring car championship, the Spanish Touring Car Championship and the British BTCC. Alfa were to withdraw from DTM in 1996





Slot.it have decided to reproduce the second of the 1993 Corse team cars as driven by Alessandro Nannini and raced at the Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit, which I find odd, as Larini was the outright winner that year in car 8, and after what must have been a terribly disappointing season which included eight retirements and a DNS from twenty two races, Nannini could only manage eighth overall in an identical car. But DTM is a particularly high stress form of motor sport and it possibly took its toll of both car and driver.

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So what have Slot.it put together for us this time Mmmmmmmm? Well, we have firstly to admit that it is a nice model and very well finished considering its low cost. The model is super lightweight and tends to flex a bit when you pick it up and no doubt the 19 gram body is at minimal thickness to help keep the weight down. (The Ninco 155 is 78 gm and the Scalextric 155 is 87 gm)

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External detail is well presented and the only items I can see that you may be concerned about during you racing forays is firstly the rear wing. There is not a lot holding this to the car and I feel it would take very little effort either on or off the track to accidentally dislodge it! Let’s hope Slot.it will have plenty in their spares box for us!

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The other bits which are vulnerable are the four exhausts at the rear of the chassis, a rear ender would also see these parts become the subject of an infield treasure hunt no doubt, but as they are part of the chassis moulding, this time it will require more than a spare part to repair! It is rumoured on one website that on the real car these protrusions were sought after by other teams; a gentle nudge at the rear during a racing incident would see the exhausts close up eventually causing the engine to shut down! The good news is that the often errant door mirrors look fairly indestructible for once and they should enjoy a happy and prosperous life.

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The simple red and white colour scheme is crisp and unblemished, the red being the colour of the plastic and the white the tampo. If anything it would have been nice to see a coat of clear on the model just to give it the same sparkle as the pictures on Google show it to have.

Alfa 155 images

Interior detail although barely accessible is good also with a very impressive driver’s tray and roll cage. But one thing that does make me wonder is why do slotcar modellers reproduce touring car/sedan drivers with full face helmets? It is my understanding and observation that this is incorrect? Also, very few slotcar manufacturers ‘pose’ the drivers head; we end up with drivers staring at sun visors when they should be watching the road ahead! But I jest. I know we are only talking model cars here but hey, one day, even the best of well raced models can end up on the shelf so they must look their best!

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Looking inside I am firstly impressed with the gussets which strengthen the body mounting posts; all that is needed for a race model is to sleeve those spindly posts so they don’t split down the sides or snap the threaded ends off. The driver’s tray is well fixed but the body creeks ominously when handled off the chassis. If it were my model I would be inclined to spot the heat welds with some superglue on the tip of a modeller’s knife just as insurance.

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The chassis is pretty orthodox being in line, and whereas it will be possible to change the pod and upgrade to a boxer motor, I suggest the traction magnet will need up grading at the same time. The inline configuration is, in my mind, the better option for non magnet racing as side and angle winders place too much model weight in front of the rear axle leaving the front too light, which then needs counter weighting near the front, making the model heavier than it need be. Also, the model comes with alloy rear wheels with appropriate inserts while the front wheels are plastic. Both front and rear wheels are quite concentric, as are the tyres, but once again and especially for non magnet racing, a quick spin on the tyre truer will pay dividends.

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The model comes with the new V12/4 black motor. This is supposed to be rated at 21,000 rpm @ 12v, but if you read the forums, the jury seems to be out on this. The motor torque rating of 150 gm. cm. is marginally above the orange motor output. The black motor end bell is a new moulding and seems to support the new IR component mounted on the top. But best of all, Mr Slot.it has decided to fix the motor firmly in with the help of what looks to be hex drive, two gauge, cheese-head PK screws at the can end! The end bell end also looks to have been ‘beefed’ up. No more motor jump outs at a critical juncture in the race! The inline mount for the Boxer motors has a 0.5 m.m. offset.

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All else is familiar; a nine tooth brass pinion drives the yellow brass hubbed 28z crown gear and the rear axle is held in place in self centering bushes. The front axle has a degree of adjustment which all Slot.it owners will recognize. This allows you to adjust the contact the front wheels will have on the track. Anywhere from just off to full on, It also comes in handy when racing plastic tracks as the various manufacturers of these tracks have varying degrees of conductor rail height above the track surface.

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The traction magnet is adequate for Scaley/Ninco and if you still have some….SCX track, but low density magnetic track like Carrera and especially magnabraid, which varies dramatically from venue to venue, will probably need upgrading to the sport magnet to help you cut down on those annoying deslots. Remember, if you deslot when racing by yourself, you will deslot twice as much when racing against someone else!

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Lastly, Slot.it supply an ample guide but you may need a deeper one when racing on routed track, as these tracks are normally faster and non magnetic! (usually); again, the Slot.it replacement traction magnet may well be a pre requisite for magnabraid. The guide is also self centering which is achieved by routing and fixing the lead wires equally at the front sides of the model. Braid material may need revising as some braids get ripped to shreds especially on older braided tracks. I have more than several times seen models glide unexplainably to a halt mid race only for the owner to find one of his (her) braids missing! Visually the low point of the model is the poor fit of the wheels in the arches. If you look at pictures of the real thing the arches are stuffed with wheel! On this model not only are the wheels undersize (or are the arches too big??), the front wheels are well behind the centre point of the arch. Mmmmmmmm?

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In order to capture greater market volume Mr Slot.it has offered several opportunities to upgrade the model to more suite a greater variety of slotcar racing. The first is digital ready. As well as their own Oxygen® system Slot.it have adapted the chassis to allow access to the Scalextric SSD® system and the Carrera D132® system. The model can also be converted to lights for the night racers amongst us; and if that isn’t enough there is a spares option to run it AWD (like the real thing) and with suspension! That would make it one busy model!

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For the newcomers amongst us and possibly those under thirty it has to be explained that the Slot.it Alfa 155 isn’t actually the first time this car has been created in slotcar form. Indeed, I myself have a very capable Scaley 155 which is more than a threat in our local BTCC ‘Tin Tops’ class. There is also an extremely drivable Ninco NC1 powered version which came out in the nineties. On a technical circuit this is a very difficult model to catch. So its horses for courses, and whereas the above models’ forté is on various types of tracks, the Slot.it model has so many tuning options that it should be compatible on all types of circuit.

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Alfas on Ebay

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So there we have it. To top it all, Slot.it also produce a ‘white’ kit. This will give the builder more scope for his favourite livery, and talking of liveries, what about the Martini version Mr Slot.it! There are also ready some upgrade parts, these include

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Polycarbonate Cockpit
Transparent parts
Inline chassis 
Wheel inserts 155 V6 TI speedline type 
Wheel inserts 155 V6 TI OZ type
So, love ‘em or hate them, you cannot deny that Slot.it are making a concerted effort to produce what the punter wants. Let’s hope they follow it up with some other DTM contenders from this era like the Mercedes 190E, Opel Calibra, Opel Astra, BMW M3,

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Thanks to fellow racegroup member and racer Perry for the opportunity to review this very nice 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!
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