Power Slot came on the slot scene a couple of years ago as a small start up slot producer of car models not readily made by other brands. They started off rocky with quality control issues. However, they seemed to be listening to the slot masses as to what they needed to improve on their cars. I’ve reviewed PS’s Quad, 350Z and Opel releases. Each one has had its share of surprises both good and bad. This year Power Slot’s new selling point was their “Setup” chassis system. It consisted of a motor pod that allowed for the adjustment of the gear mesh and suspension of the rear axle assembly. However, I’ve yet to get a production release of a “Setup” chassis with all the parts needed to make an honest and complete analysis of its functionality.
I guess it was around the end of 2008 when I got word of the 2009 release of Power Slot’s Lola T-298. The prototype photos look very promising and I was immediately drawn to the Banco Occidental version of the car. I waited for months just like everyone else. I answered numerous emails or site posts as to when the Lola would be released.
I was just as hyped up about them and all those folks inquiring about them. Then the release date came and no Lola showed up. EMI was on vacation and I eventually got the Lola close to a month after its release to the slotting public. This is where I advise all readers that as with the “Setup” Nissan 350Z I last reviewed…the Lola was a sample car and not a production release.
So, as the title shot asks...
“Was it worth the wait or a washout?”
THE LOLA’S LOOKS
Personally, I love the paint job on the Banco Occidental Lola. It’s bright, vibrant and won’t be missed on the track. The paint overall is good, but could still be better. There is still obvious paint overspray with the white and lime green graphics.
The driver seems out of proportion. His helmet is almost even with the roll bar. That can easily be remedied with a Fly driver as I intend to do with mine. Plus, the Fly driver will improve the overall looks of the Lola. You’ll see what I’m talking about later.
The Power Slot Lola appears to be larger in profile and maybe also in length after viewing some pictures of the real life versions. The driver is without a doubt too big and tall. So, some scale issues seem to be present on PS’s recreation of it.
Looking down upon the T-298 you see the graphics running front to back on it. The open cockpit is well done. The roll bar, stacks and a vent on the rear deck are painted silver. As you can see on the vent, the silver paint was missed in some areas and the roll bar has some rough spots on it.
This is where I’ll point out the holes on each side of the cockpit. It almost seems like PS planned to have mirrors in those locations, but didn’t follow through with the plan. The real car did have the mirror in the position that PS supplied us with, but they also had a side mirror located in the positions I pointed out.
I didn’t find a picture of the real deal with mirrors in all 3 positions. However, almost every picture had an extra mirror on the driver’s side of the cockpit in addition to the mirror PS supplied on the Lola. I don’t know for sure, but maybe depending on the track the real race car moved the side mirrors to one location or the other.
Above is a close up of the primary graphics of the Lola up front. Looking this close shows the issues I’ve already mentioned about the overspray and some logo line up issues in the graphic above the Banco Occidental lettering. They still got work to do folks.
Sliding around to the rear of my Lola I was a bit puzzled and my first thoughts where, “The body post is in plain sight…what the heck!” I searched and search for a picture of the backend of this car on the web. I finally found a picture form a site overseas and low and behold my sample car didn’t appear to be missing a piece as I originally suspected.
This is poor design to me. The inside body post shouldn’t be visible from outside of the Lola.
Note: If I’m wrong about this opening and my car is in fact missing a piece let me know.
This shot also shows the short comings of my sample version Lola. All the pieces that should painted silver are not entirely painted silver. The body pieces on each side of the engine details are suppose to be a continuation of the body color and yet they are black like the rest of the car’s chassis. Yes, I can fix all these problems myself. I’m just saying once again, these are reasons for needing an actual finished production car for reviews. The supplied engine detail and tail light lenses are enough for looks under the large rear wing.
Speaking of the large wing on the T-298, it is solidly constructed and should survive most hard hits or off track excursions. However, more paint issues reside under it. The blobbed silver paint is obviously residue from the painter brush touching the bottom of the wing while he or she painted the engine details. Luckily, unless you flip the Lola over it will go unseen.
Let’s take a look inside the cockpit. They did a pretty good job inside the Lola with the extra details, but let us turn our attention to Jean Claude. What did I say the first time I saw the driver up close? “It’s a Playmobil guy.”
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
If a race car driver’s eyes are this wide and scared looking he shouldn’t be behind the wheel of a Lola, let along a Yugo. The driver just doesn’t work for me in scale and appearance. PS dropped the ball here in my opinion.
What about the shoes? I like the appearance of the Lola wheels with the deep lip and contrasting colors. However, if the wheels and rubber are not right on any car it becomes obvious before you finish the first lap. The T-298 reared its ugly head in this department.
The rims themselves are pretty true and free of flashing. The inserts are rough and as you can see one of mine is broken from going onto the axle too far. Where the rims have serious issues is being drilled off center. One of the rear wheels wobbled like a bobble head on the dash of a Hummer going off road. The rubber like the majority of Power Slots’ cars was the biggest issue. They had excess flashing from the mold that prevents them from seating properly on the wheels. I had also heard that axle ends where smashed when they were cut off. This also can lead to a wheel not fitting the axle properly and causing a wobbling wheel during assembly at the factory. My axle ends had the smashed ends too.
The tires are a reoccurring issue with Power Slot releases I have in my review stable. The Quad tires fit fine. The non-setup chassis 350Z had bad tires and I replaced them w/Ninco Pros. The Opel had much improved tires. They didn’t fit perfect, but I didn’t have to replace them. The “Setup” 350 Z had the same wheels and tires as the original release. Though I think the actual release had tires more like the Opel. Again, a sample car that wasn’t complete as the car was released to the public. Those got replaced with Slot It set screw rims and tires all around. 2 out of 4 releases had acceptable tires that didn’t end up getting replaced by me. Well, make that 2 out of 5 releases.
PERFORMANCE
This was my solution to the major issue on the Lola. I temporarily robbed my NSR Mosler of its shoes. They fit pretty close to the original parts of the Lola. Sadly, this requires another $40 to $50 to purchase the NSR parts. This cost on top of a car already in the $70 range is insane. $110 to $120 could buy a NSR, or 2 Slot Its or 3 Carrera cars.
I’ve also seen people use Slot It wheels and tires, Slotting Plus stuff, etc.
Below is a shot of the “Setup” chassis. If you reviewed the link above you will get a hint of what you have to do to get the motor pod working correctly. PS is trying what Slot It has perfected over the years and I give them credit for it, but they’re not quite there yet.
The PS-3 motor is 25K RPM at 14V and turns a 12 tooth brass pinion and 30 tooth aluminum set screw gear. The sidewinder setup does produce a good amount of torque just like the last Nissan 350Z I reviewed a while back. There is also a set screw axle stop which is another nice touch.
The guide caught me off guard when I first saw it. Almost thought it got turned around the wrong way by its appearance. I’m not sure about the significance of its shape and didn’t really notice a benefit to it on the track either. (shrugging my shoulders)
I didn’t get a shot of it, but the front axle has set screws in the top of the axle posts and in the bottom of the chassis that allow you to control the up and down movement of the front axle. I’ve heard some folks say that it’s still not enough to control the slop completely to their taste. I didn’t seem to have an issue, but can say there was still plenty of play up and down even after taking the set screws to their maximum settings.
TRACK TIME
This is where my testing is going to be inadequate because of the Lola’s original wheels and tires having the issues I mentioned earlier in the review. I ran it with the NSR parts and it ran pretty good. The PS-3 motor in the sidewinder position gives able torque and speed as their Nissan 350 Z previously reviewed. No track times since my track was dismantled and I had just setup a smaller test track for this review. This car finally came after I started building my monster track table. Sorry folks.
JUDGEMENT DAY
I asked the question at the beginning of the review…”Was it worth the wait or a washout?”
Personally, I would not pay $70 for this car knowing what I know about it now. Power Slot has quality issues with the most important part of any slot car...the wheels and tires.
They have very good parts in the pinion, gear, axle stop and bushing departments. However, I think PS needs to seriously consider doing wheels like Slot It has available on their cars. Other brands are using them or parts similar to them because they get the job done.
I also took into consideration that I got what appeared to me to be a sample version of the Lola for my review. I thought, “Maybe it’s just my sample.” However, I got my Lola about a month after it was released to the public and after reading some of the posts on various slot car sites my thoughts were proven wrong.
Every post I read hit on the poor quality of the Lola’s wheels and tires. One unhappy guy even mentioned how it will be a shelf queen until he can afford to replace the wheels and tires on his. That is just unacceptable after dropping that kind of cash on a car by any brand on the market. Sadly, I have to say the same thing about my Lola and until I can put together the money for the NSR stuff…mine will have to sit too. However, I got lucky in the fact that I didn’t have to drop the initial $70 to get mine.
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