- Scalextric C2478 Porsche Boxster
- By William Gamer
I had to test drive the new Scalextric Porsche Boxter. Gene sent me out the red one. He knows my 6yr old nephew is a slot-aholic and this is a perfect car for his age group.
First thing we'll discuss is the looks...
Some folks were saddened by the black windows and decaled headlights.
It is a 25.00 car right? Lets thank Scalextric for the thought of an entry
level machine.
I think it looks pretty nice actually, sure it's not a detail wonder,
but sharp looking. The red paint has a good shine, and the tampo printing
is without blemishes. Scalextric decided a one piece body was the way to
go so the windows are painted black. The side mirrors are small and tucked
in so they should last even the most horrific crash.
Scale is a bit off however. If you put it next to a 63-67 Vette or
a Scalextric Camaro the Boxster is to big. Overall appearance, it looks
like the real Boxster there is no mistaking that. Do I care the car is large,
no. Does the 6yr old boy that this is going to care? I highly doubt that.
The Boxster's wheels are what really caught my eye, on a 25.00 car they are good looking with a disk brake rotor molded right in. Tires are medium to soft and they are true enough maybe needing only a quick sanding.
Now how does it run?
It has Scalextric's new guide, (see above image) this is the first
car with this guide for me. Seems ok, we'll see how it really works. To tell you the truth for the last few weeks I've been running almost
nothing but NC-1 powered non magnet cars here at 11 volts.
I took my current favorite car out of it's slot and popped the Boxster
on. With only a braid adjustment nothing else I squeezed the trigger. (carrera
tracks rail are wider apart than other brands)
Holy crap! The little Boxster took off like a rocket towards the curve and deslotted coming to rest at the guardrail 3 lanes over. Oops. I picked it up and noticed the magnet in it was very powerful. Ok, so I have not touched a mag car in weeks but it seemed like it had 3 of the iron bars in it.
Back into the slot with a little more caution and the boxter was flying down the straight. Quite, for comparison it is much quieter than the old Black Window inline NASCARS were. The new guide was working fine too. I only wish Scalextric would make it deeper after the sport track release. This little car absolutely boogies!!! Way fast, can't imagine running it on a race set 15 volt wallwart.
I made 15 laps without deslotting and was really flying. Rounding a
carrera R3 it can almost be held wide open!! I can't believe how fast and
quite the little Boxster is.
Finally a deslot trying wide open on the Carrera R3 as the back was
sliding out the mag let go and the Boxster slid all the way around
the corner hugging the guard rails.
Wanting to see how it runs moving the magnet forward I was a little disappointed, the handling seemed unpredictable. Taking the Magnet all the way out it was much to light. Placing some lead inside up front behind the guide the car was smooth and once again predictable. Scalextric made a smooth running magnet racer with this boxter and at least to me a good non magnet (weighted) runner too. With no interior you have plenty of room to place weight just about anywhere you'd like.
Should you get one, well do you like speed? Do you like bright red
Porsches? Do you like having serious fun running a 25.00 car that will
dust cars twice it's price? This car simply flies. Right about now I'm
smiling ear to ear. I've been impressed enough I will be getting one for
myself.
