Scalextric Toyota TF102 #25 (C2456A)

Submitted by Lawrence Attrill

The Toyota is the 3rd F-1 team of the 2002 F-1 season whose cars have been featured in the Scalextric 'Sports' range, and the TF102 car is available as either #24 Salo or #25 McNish. A new team to F-1, the robustness of the TF102 was proven early on in the season, with Salo bringing the car home to a points finish at the first race of the year in Australia. As the season wore on, and other teams progressively got better in terms of both speed and reliability, the Toyota gradually slipped down the grid, and gained only one other point in the rest of the 2002 season.

Close-up of the new wheel hubs

Walk around

I reviewed the Williams FW23 in 2002. and at the time said that Scalextric had raised their game, and moved a step closer to the standards seen on the Fly cars. With the Toyota TF102, I'm pleased to say that Scalextric have progressed again. A example of that improvement is shown in the picture comparing the back ends of the Sports Williams v the Sports Toyota. The rubber hasn't changed, but you'll notice that the Toyota wheel hub has superior detailing, including slots in the wheel rim.

The nose cone and front wing are a one-piece item, and like the other F-1 cars in the range detaches just before the front suspension wishbones. The tyres on the #25 are the wet weather pattern Michelins, whilst the #24 Salo is fitted with the grooved dry weather tyres. Large front brake ducts add to the realism at the front of the car. Detail around and inside the cockpit is of the same high quality as the rest of the recent F-1 cars, and leading towards the back of the car the profile of the airbox is true. The detailed rear wishbones are modelled beautifully, the rear wing has almost scale thickness for the uprights and aerofoil section and quite sad to mention, but the exhausts pipes are fantastic. Whereas other manufacturers, as well as Scalextric, have in the past been happy to mould a small dip, then paint the exhaust area black, this car has real pipes that curve down to the underpan, a detail truly buried under the bodywork. (For the factual, they extend nearly 2cm into the car body!).

The fashion for the real F-1 cars during the 2002 season was to reduce the rear engine cover size to be as small as possible, and as low as possible. This resulted in the covers taking on lumps and bumps to avoid rubbing the engine and other internal parts. Likewise Scalextric have had to give the motor cover has a few lumps and bumps, the forward bulges being there to clear the electric motor, and the rearmost lump to clear the rear axle contrate. The pattern of the red and white colour goes some way to camouflage the existence of these additions which aren't present on the full size version..

Cleaner rear end than the Williams FW23

Track performance

All three of the current Scalextric F-1 cars of the 2002 season have the same chassis dimensions that count towards track handling (Wheel track, wheel base and guide position).. It can be fair to say that all three cars handle very well indeed, however I found the Toyota an easier car to drive. David Coulthard has his lucky underpants - I have my lucky colours. The truth is that a predominately white car like the Toyota is easier for me to see on black track than the black and silver of the McLaren, or the Dark blue and white of the Williams. The car is supplied with a second button magnet, which can be added to the car just behind the guide, but this has the effect of making the car a powered plastic sled. I race at a club that bans such additional aids, so I moved the bar magnet from its rearmost position to the forward position, which is just behind the driver. A word of advice on opening this car to move the magnet. The drivers tub has to be removed from the underpan to gain access to the forward magnet point, and when putting this back together again, the front suspension parts, and the 'barn doors' support get in each others way. It takes a little time and practice to get the car back together again, so this is a job that needs to be done with adult supervision, if small hands are doing the work! Once done, the new magnet position gives a more central point of downforce, the result being a car less likely to de-slot, but more likely to lose the rear end on a corner.

Exhausts and suspension arms

But there was a snag..

One of the first things I do when getting a new car is to remove the guide, and put the car on a small flat surface, and see just how close to the track the car will ride. When I did this with the Toyota, I was surprised to find one of the front wheels in the air. In fact looking from the front, the whole chassis seemed to have a twist, which was somewhat disappointing, as this is the premium version of the car. I took the car apart, finding that the screw at the front of the right hand sidepod had been threaded, checked each piece was OK and when re-assembled, the twist had disappeared. I had fixed the threaded screw post, and I thought that this, along with the simple task of re-seating the front suspension unit had done the trick. It wasn't until I went bargain hunting in the new year did I spot what I think was the real cause of the problem. Quite simply, the retaining screw from the box base to the underpan (under the right hand side sidepod) had been done up too tight, pulling the car out of shape, and threading the nearest bodyscrew. I only spotted the problem when I was looking at a standard version of the McLaren in the clear plastic box, and saw the same twist to the front wheels. The pulling force of the screw had distorted the underpan so much that the right side was a millimetre or more closer to the box base than the rest of the car. I then looked at another F-1 car, the right hand side axle bearing was out of it's mount because of the same problem. So be warned, if you do get this car, and never intend to remove it from the box, at least loosen off the retaining screw a little to release the tension on the chassis!

Summing up

The quality of Scalextric cars is improving with every release, and this Toyota is no exception. The superb detail, crisp tampo printing, and performance makes this a "must have" for any F-1 slot car collector. In the earlier F-1 releases from the 2002 season, (C2334A Williams and C2263A McLaren), I thought we had seen the best from Hornby. I'm very glad that Hornby feel they can do even better, and have done so in producing the TF102.