 |
 |
|
|
| |
Product:
Renault
5 Turbo - Carlos Sainz
Manufacturer: Spirit
(S500602) |
|
Hot on the heels of the hugely popular and sought
after Renault 5 Turbo from Fly we have the version
by Spirit. Whereas Fly go for detailed model Spirit
produce cars that look good but without the huge
amounts of detail but offer top notch performance.
This has been true with all their releases bar their
first (the Lola 2QK). The Renault 5 Turbo also follows
on from their other much admired and class winning
Group B rally car the Peugeot 205 T16.
The actual livery for this car is of one that was
raced by the Spanish icon Carlos Sainz. This car
was driven by el Matador in his early part of his
career where he piloted this particular car to the
1983 Spanish Renault 5 Turbo Cup championship. It
is interesting to note that Fly have produced a
model of exactly the same livery.
How does it look
Aesthetically the car looks just like a Renault
5 Turbo - comparing it to the Fly version the details
as expected are not quite up to the same levels
but the over look is great. The tampo printing is
very crisp and there are no blurs in the paint scheme.
There are lots of vents covered by a black plastic
mesh.
 |
The driver and co-driver look like they are exerting
themselves greatly, and they occupy a nicely detailed
cockpit with the details we have come to expect.
The only exceptions are the wheels - the hubs are
a bit shiny and far too small. The fronts have thin
tyres on them and they look absolutely tidgee. This
helps performance in terms of lowering the COG and
aides grip but leaves a huge gap in the wheel arches
and gives the car an overall awkward stance.
However this car is much less for admiration and
much more for hammering round the track and the
wheel size will help it here. The tyres are slicks
and on my rally track offered minimal grip. I found
the tyres on the Spirit Peugeot fit happily but
I've found that these don't offer great traction.
I prefer to use Ninco rally tyres and found the
best handling of both of the Spirit rally cars with
the Ninco tyres on.
Under the bonnet
Anyway the chassis is where Spirit have been hard
at work. The Peugeot offered 4wd via a pulley system.
Surprisingly the Renault is 2wd but the motor pod
floats freely in the chassis supported at the rear
but two spring loaded suspension areas and at the
front just by an upper and lower movement limiter.
This is why there needs to be a lot of room for
the rear wheels and the arches to allow for the
considerable movement of the motor pod.
 |
The rims are plastic but very true as are the axles.
The crown is aluminium and the now standard drop
arm is of the robust configuration as found in the
latter Peugeots. The guide has an adjustable stop
height screw that aides set-up. The body is held
to the chassis by 3 screws and if needed allow the
body and chassis to flex independently very easily.
There is a magnet placed just in front of the motor
but this was thrown out straight away.
On the track
I put the car without the magnet on my rally track.
The lap record for this is held by the recent Ninco
Mitsubishi at 14.3 seconds with the SCX cars lapping
in just under 16 seconds. Good grip, ability to
absorb the numerous bumps and the ability to switch
directions quickly combine to make a good lap time.
 |
In stock form the Renault offered no grip and it
wheel span round most corners getting stuck if you
lost momentum - it was frustrating. I swapped the
rear tyres for the Spirit 205 treaded and found
the car much more responsive. I got a best time
of 15.6 seconds which compares with a best of 15.4
seconds for the Peugeot 205 T16. I then swapped
the rear tyres on both cars for a pair of Ninco
treaded prorace tyres and found a huge difference.
The car gripped much better and allowed the powerful
motor to really rocket the car along. I did loads
of laps finding the car really forgiving and very
difficult to de-slot. I managed a best time of 14.5
seconds for the Renault 5 and 14.4 seconds for the
Peugeot 205 T16.
I never thought the Ninco Mitsubishi would ever
find a competitor but the Renault 5 was a match
and a more enjoyable drive. In comparison to the
very differently configured 205 by Sprit there was
minimal performance difference with the 4wd maybe
adding a bit of traction assistance on the acceleration
out of the hairpins.
Conclusion
What a great car - if Sprit could sort out their
rear tyres then they'd be a class winner straight
from the box. However changing them to a pair of
Ninco rally tyres is a small hassle to give you
a great car. Keep them coming please.
Tucker Rating
| Quality |
Work
Req. to run |
Performance |
Desirability |
Total |
% |
| 8 |
9 |
9 |
8 |
34 |
86% |
| Good
= High |
Little
= High |
Good
= High |
Desirable
= High |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
| |
|
