I know that a lot of you guys like Group 5 cars from the 70's. I thought you'd like to have a look at the Carrera Dekon Monza from LeMans '78. I picked mine up at Mini Grid in Toronto today.
I haven't had a chance to get it on the track yet. I'm interested to see how it performs. Kudos to Carrera for another addition to their line of Group 5 cars. Their Pantera should be out soon as well.
I have always thought of Group 5 as a class for very light, high powered, highly modified cars. The Carrera bodies tend to be heavy, thick plastic, the running gear and drive train anemic. Much as they look good, I'll pass. I don't see how they could be modified to run with re-built Fly Group 5 cars, and other backyard/basement-modified wonders. That is what Group 5 means to me.
It's an interesting choice of subject for Carrera to model, but I'm not a fan of those '70's pre-school colors. And I'm with svanaken about Carrera's "ship's keel" guides. "Those" said the grinch "Are the first things to go".
I know that Carrera cars run like, well, Carrera cars. I picked up a static kit of a street Monza with the idea of building something like this. Sectioning a street car to make the fenders is beyond my modelling skills so I'm happy to have this car as a starting point for something better. The colours don't bug me so much since this is an actual LM race livery which is a class of car I collect. Here's the thing: if this were a one off then it would be hard to find cars to race with it. Carrera has brought us a string of group 5 cars to race against each other.
Thank-you SlotCarNews
The price is right and they look the part. The guide is easy enough to trim, or swap out for a SICH10.
That is an impressive lineup, Van! I had forgotten how many Grp 5 cars were made by Carrera. Since performance would be similar from car(rera) to car(rera), it makes sense.
How do the MRRC Toyota and Fly Lancia Beta compare?
Good question. I hope to do some testing in the coming week. The Lancia Beta is much lighter and a sidewinder chassis so I suspect it will run circles around these cars. Likewise for the Toyota. Gives me an excuse to bust out my Beta next time I'm at the track.
I am not a fan of Group 5 cars, but this Monza is an outstanding looking car.
I don’t understand why Carrera cars are not appreciated for their performance capabilities.
I have four cars prepared for GT1 racing, three are Carrera, two C6Rs, a Ferrari 575, and one is a Scalextric Aston Martin.
All the GT1 cars are stock except for Indy Grip tires. The Carrera cars have had the reverse switches removed along with the magnets, they now weigh the same as the DBR9. The pickups were modified to a single braid and made a little more flexible.
All three Carrera cars make between 5.5 and 6 watts of power as opposed to the Aston Martin’s 4.5 watts.
All of the cars turn lap times from 0.50 to 0.70 seconds slower than the stock Slot it C1 cars with orange motors on my track. The Scalextric Aston Martin DBR9 being the slowest.
Carrera's Dekon Monza
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