Yeam Slot Saleen S7R

Team slot produced the road version of the Saleen S7 back in November of last year, now they have followed it up with an attractive race version based on the Spanish GTS championship winning car of Palau and Castello, sponsored by MRW.

Team slot continue to improve with every new plastic release they make, and the Saleen S7R is no exception. There are no new body moulding changes from the road version but the lower road spoiler has been replaced with a larger taller spoiler complete with end plates. Body moulding is clear and crisp with plenty of detail features, although the side vents don't look as realistic as Fly's new version. Nice touches include roof aerial, wing mounted mirrors, (albeit in the wrong position) detailed lights, and covers, and metal grilles front and rear. The cockpit is a little Spartan with just a head 'n' arms driver figure, and while there is a bit of engine detail moulded into the cockpit it's all black and doesn't stand out, except for the white roll tubes. One other new item is the five spoke silver wheels complete with brake disc detail visible through the spokes. Livery is predominately white, with a blue band round the lower part of the car complete with red piping. The roof also sports a neat blue chequered pattern, and blue and red MRW, red Texaco, and blue ford logos make up the majority of the artwork. The race numbers, and lesser sponsors have yellow, black, and green tampo printing which make this a very colourful scheme. Quality wise the tampo printing is not Hornby or Fly quality but it's certainly very acceptable with just a few tiny blemishes on some of the more severe body curves. Team Slot Saleen S7

The chassis is a one-piece full-length affair complete with moulded rear diffuser tray, retained by two screws at the front and two at the back. Most surprisingly there are a couple of real innovations for Team Slot, first the old Long snout guide blade has bit the dust being replaced by an all new spring loaded long tail type guide which can only be an improvement on the old one. The second surprise is the use of a removable engine bracket to allow for the use of other types ala Ninco, and Cartrix. The motor supplied is also new called the TS6 it appears to be a re-labelled Mabuchi although I did get 21,400 r.p.m. From mine using a standard Ninco power supply & throttle. Magnetic force is still provided by two 6mm circular magnets which sit side-by-side just between the motor, and rear axle, similar to Team slots earlier Nissan R390. The height of the magnet can be adjusted manually by pushing them up or down through the chassis holes. Axles appear to be as per the Nissan, and tyres are the normal ribbed Team slot type. Dimensionally the Saleen has a 62.00 mm rear track, and a narrower 60.00 mm front track, wheelbase is 83.00mm, overall length is 150.40 mm, and height to the top of the roof intake is 39.20 mm.

Performance wise Team slot really don't match up to the likes of Hornby, or even Fly on a fast steel rail track like Wolverhampton, being about 2 seconds off the pace, but against cars with limited magnetic power like Hornby & SCX North stars, Fly Listers, and the like it's an interesting alternative. Team slot probably sells better to the collector than racer, and if you've got some of Teams earlier releases you'll certainly want to add this one to your stable. An excellent effort from such a small company, and as ever improving every time.