by SuperSlab » Sat Dec 15, 2012 1:23 am
So this evening I found the answer to my original question. i.e. "what have I brought on myself?"
It turns out that what I brought on myself was a boatload of fun and one great little slot car. I took a number of cars (including the WiIliams) to our regular Friday evening races. A quick few selected lap times of some of the generally known cars I took for perspective (all cars are unaltered other than body float and urethane tyres):
Pioneer Mustang: 8.916 seconds
Scaley 1970 Camaro: 8.663 seconds
Ninco Porsche 997: 8.829 seconds (bit disappointing: will have to do something here)
MB Slot Pagani Zonda: 7.949 seconds
NSR Ford GT Mk IV: 7.745 seconds.
And to again give some perspective: anything that does a lap under 8.5 seconds is a pretty quick car. Under 8 seconds is very, very quick: there are probably only like 3 of us in the our regular racing group that get under that.
So where did the WIlliams fit in tonight's spectrum? Well, how about 7.943 seconds!
Guys, this is one seriously fast slot car. In a straight line you can feel the power losses the drive train causes compared to the Lotus 78 for instance. But my Wiliams handles ever so slightly better than the Lotus. Best lap time for my Andretti Lotus is 7.997 seconds, so in spite of the "transmission losses", the Williams is marginally quicker than the Lotus because the handling makes up just a hair more than that.
And on that topic: the handling of this little car has to be seen to be believed. The guys were totally blown away by the performance of the Williams.
And yes: it is a bit noisier than its Fly running mates (March and Lotus 78). But it is not a bad sound, nor is it particularly loud.
So the verdict?
A great little car: I am a VERY happy camper!