Spirit Lola B2K/10

03/14/03

It seems that black is in fashion this Spring, and Spirit is following the trend. And if black isn't the trend, then producing a Lola is. The most obvious difference in the Spirit Lola over the MG Lola released by Scalextric early this year is it's high nose. The two real cars differ even more-so, in that the MG Lola utilizes a 2.0 Liter motor, where-as the B2K/10 is motivated by a 4.0 Liter motor. Surprisingly, the B2K's reported 590 horsepower only dwarfs the MG Lola's by about 50 horse power! Still, if the Spirit version ran well enough, it would make a good running partner for the Scalextric MG Lola, and possibly FLY's version whenever it comes out.
	It would have to do quite well, though. The Scalextric MG Lola has set the benchmark for this type of car, and turns impressive lap times with considerable ease, with very little preparation. With Spirit a newcomer in the market, to even think of keeping up with the veterans their first time out would be a lot to ask. We would see... The Spirit arrived in a larger than average box, held to the base of the box with a large screw that required a
screwdriver to remove. Being basically void of sponsor decals on it's black finish, it isn't the most exciting livery Spirit could have picked to do for their first car, but it works. The clear coat only showed one small speck of dust, but otherwise is deep and shiny. The tampo's are sharp and bright. Overall, I'd say the finish is very well done, for such a simple scheme.

The interior looks quite good, with detailed dash, fire bottle, steering wheel and seat. The driver figure, though painted very well, lacks molded detail compared to other driver figures on FLY and other makes. There are some nice details around the body, such as a red tow ring on the front, painted latches on the body panels, head and tail light moldings, and even metal tail pipes. The biggest complaint I have with the appearance of this car is that it appears to be a bit tall. The pictures of the actual prototype I have seen show this car to sit lower and flatter than this model.

The body is secured to the chassis with four of the longest screws I've ever seen on a slot car. The rear screw secures the wing onto the car. The chassis is a basic plastic pan, inline drive, with a bar magnet behind the motor. The rear axles run through metal bushings. Power is transferred from the motor to the rear tires via 9 tooth pinion gear and a 27 tooth crown gear. The most noticeable difference in the Spirit Lola from other cars is the two metal strips holding the front axle down,

serving as a suspension. I can't say if this does any good, or hinders performance, but it almost seems unnecessary. Though Spirit took the time to place shims in the front axle, there was still a bit of side-to-side play. A little more shimming might be beneficial. The guide is recessed upward into the chassis just a bit, and in size is very close to that of FLY's. The mount for the guide looks as though it may not take to many hard hits should the guide get stuck somewhere off track, or between tracks. I haven't had any problems with it, but it looks vulnerable.

Preparing the car for racing, I oiled the bushings and gears, and went to the track. I found that the tires needed significant amounts of truing. There were high and low spots all around the tires. On the track, there were other problems that required attention. My biggest problem was that the car did not want to maintain electrical contact

around the track. I had to fight with the braids to find a position that they would work consistently, and even then it was hit and miss.

The other thing I noticed was that the car made an unusual amount of noise on the track. I was hoping that it would go away a bit with track time, but it persisted. Upon searching for a cause, I noticed that the rear axle bushings were somewhat loose, allowing up and down movement. I glued these in

place with superglue. I also noticed that the motor was loose in it's mount as well, so a little super glue was in order for the motor as well. Once done, the noise was cut in half.

	Once all the bugs were worked out, I found the car to run quite smooth. It still had some gear noise, but no louder than a Scalextric, only different. Almost like the difference between a 2.0L and a 4.0L. The Spirit accelerated smoothly, showed good braking, and cornered very well. It doesn't hold the track as tightly as the Scalextric, and requires to be driven a bit more.

While I was able to do lap times of 2.5 seconds on my 32 foot Carrera layout with the Scalextric MG Lola, I was only able to manage a 2.7 second lap with the Spirit Lola. The difference might be the difference in the magnets. The chassis allows for plenty of tuning possibilities, and the package seems to be a good one for just that.

Overall, I have to say that I really wanted to like this car. I do like it, but feel that Spirit needs to take a close look at what they have, where it needs work, and make the next one better.

They need to tighten up the motor and rear axle mounts, and work out the electrical contact problem. I can live with the smaller detail issues, they can't all be FLY's or Scalextrics.

	If you are interested in this type of race car, and have a little more than average experience with tuning, the Spirit is a car you'll have a lot of fun with. More colorful liveries will make this car hard to resist. Since this is Spirit's first attempt, I'll give them a solid B+ for their effort, and I look forward to future releases from them.

Thank you to Jon at Rad Trax for sending me this car. I recommend you check out his website for Spirit and other great cars.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to eMail me at ken@slotcarillustrated.com.

Ken

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