New chassis from Pro-Track Corp.

[HomeRacingWorld]

I care, I'm here Huckleberry :)

Look like magnets don't they?

[Jesla]

That's what they look like….and what I am afraid they will turn out to be.

To me it looks under engineered and over built but it ain't my baby.

Suggestions:
CNC the crap out of it so I could put the weight where I want it.
Make it a lot cheaper….it's not far from the cost of one of those European Erector Set chassis'.

[Modlerbob]

[FootScoot]

You would think that they would have found a better crown gear for such a nice chassis. $85 is bit much for a RTR chassis, maybe $65 without a body. You're right I believe most home racers will pass on this one. :)

[dreinecke]

Nice write up Bob. I appreciate the review.

I too will pass at the price point. I don't think my home track would be the best place for it. Somebody just repop an old 1:32 Revell chassis for Pete's sake!!!

[ElSecundo]

Bob, maybe you can confirm this, but looking at the construction of the frant axle carriers, there should be 8 possible wheelbases instead of 4.

Take each front axle carrier, rotate it 180 degrees, and mount it on the opposite side of the chassis. Aren't the carriers built to do this, or is there some detail we can't see in the pictures that would prevent this?

That would explain why the front axle carriers are drilled asymmetrically -- you'd get four distinct axle positions with just two drilling operations.

[Florida_Slotter]

[ElSecundo]

[Florida_Slotter]

[Modlerbob]

Later this evening or maybe tomorrow I will verify your observations about the front uprights.

[Modlerbob]

OK, flipping the front uprights around is possible and fairly easy moving both front axle positions forward 0.15" This makes the maximum wheelbase 3.40". You can calculate the three other additional wheel bases from this data. I drove the car some tonight with the Saleen body on it and it just seems to get better and better.

[Modlerbob]

Update from Pro Track. Yesterday, while I was at Greg Walker's "The Race Place" I received a mild surprise. Greg told me I had a $20 credit due to the fact that the owner of Pro Track, after gauging the market, has decided to reduce the price of the all up complete rtr chassis to $60. The bare chassis, less motor, axles, gears, bushings and etc. will be $30. The rtr chassis will be available with at least two different PLAFIT motors. The high rpm motor that I replaced in mine and the #8636 Pointer motor 2. I installed that motor in my car last night and it seems on par with the 14K Ninco 1 motor. Much milder and easier to drive. I plan to experiment with some different gear ratios as this motor seems to have tons of brakes.

At this price point and given it's versatility I think this chassis is a good buy. Whether it catches on remains to be seen.

[Czar]

Durability is one thing for the home racer, but stupid fast is something entirely different. If you can't enjoy running your car on your home track, why buy it? Are we actually pushing our way into another "Great Slots Divide"? Will there be a change in home racing because the manufacturers are pushing commercial track performance? Once the racing leaves the basements and enters the commercial arena we will have come full circle and slot racing will suffer in general as it did before.

[Modlerbob]

That bridge was crossed a long time ago. This chassis, I think, will be at home in both arenas. It can be built up optimized for home plastic tracks or for larger mdf routed club raceways and of course even larger commercial tracks. I can't imagine how it will hurt or destroy the hobby.

[Florida_Slotter]

This could be the begining of some new thinking.

Buy a single chassis, a couple of different
Bodies
Motors
Wheels/Tires
Gears

Then you could configure a car at whatever track you want to race at.

I like it.