By Michael Ashton
The original Trans-Am Racing Series was created in 1966 by the SCCA and reached its peak in the period of 1968-1972. The Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro, Plymouth Barracuda, Mercury Cougar, AMC Javelin, Pontiac Firebird, and Dodge Challenger were the predominant competitors. They raced on some of the best tracks in North America including Daytona, Sebring, Riverside and Pacific Raceways, to name just a few. The 1967 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 sponsored by the Alan Green Chevrolet dealership of Seattle, WA is a notable example of the wonderful automobiles that battled ferociously on these historic race tracks during this great era of racing. Now, Pioneer Slot Cars has recreated this little-known mighty machine for us in 1/32nd scale, and I will attempt to do it justice in the review that follows.
The Model
The ’67 Alan Green Chevrolet Camaro Z-28 is packaged in a crystal display case with an attractive cardboard sleeve suitable for static display. Also included is a vehicle data card which provides quite a lot of information about the mechanical specifications and history of the race car.
Taped to the underside of the display case base was a plastic bag containing a replacement guide with a 7 mm deep flag (the installed guide’s flag is 6 mm deep), one set of replacement braids and a 13 tooth pinion (the installed pinion is 12 tooth).
The overall appearance of this model is nothing less than superb. The Alan Green Chevrolet decoration is not complex. Nevertheless, the paint, Tampo printing, fit and finish of virtually every part is very well done. The only flaws that I could find were too minute to warrant mentioning.
Compared to every photo of record that I could find, the overall appearance and stance are just about perfect.
Detail is crisp, clear and quite faithful to the original.
Mechanical
Under the body, the Camaro is virtually identical to past Pioneer models.
The red arrow in the above photo points to the (D)igital (P)lug (R)eady cover. This mechanism will accept the Scalextric SSD DPR chip for digital operation in the Scaletric digital system. The top half of the following photo shows the underside of the body. In past Pioneer models (at least in the Mustangs), the interior was attached via screws to the chassis. This is no longer the case with the Camaro, where the interior is now attached to the body. Personally, I prefer this latest method.
Above we see what is now the familiar Pioneer mechanical set up. The very smooth and reliable 18K rpm Typhoon FC-130 motor driving the rear axle via a plastic 12 tooth pinion and 36 tooth spur in sidewinder configuration. These gears are relatively noisy (whiny) but they mesh well and run quite smoothly. The guide has a circular base with a 6 mm deep flag and a very tall post. It accepts [only] special purpose quick-change braids. The lead wires from the guide assembly are fitted with the “ferrite man” noise suppression components and terminate at the DPR plug. They exit the DPR plug and end at another ferrite man which is attached to the motor terminals. These particular noise suppression components are required only for the SSD system. A very strong neo traction bar magnet is fitted just in front of the motor. The rear axle spins inside brass bushings and what appear to be nylon bushings in front. There are nylon spacers on both ends of the front axle and on the non-gear side of the rear axle. A nice touch: the front bushings have oil holes, highlighted by the red arrow below.
Almost every slot car that I have encountered has at least one or two issues that are introduced during assembly at the factory. This Pioneer Camaro is no exception. Upon close examination after removing the car from its display case, I discovered three minor anomalies that required attention prior to taking the car to the track.
The first thing that I noticed was significant horizontal play in the rear axle. This was causing the spur and pinion gears to come uncomfortably close to disengaging, as shown by the red arrow in the photo below. I thought that it might be the result of wheels not being pressed all the way on, however, I could not press them any further so it wasn’t that.
The solution turned out to be twofold: First, I added a second axle spacer as indicated by the yellow arrow in the following photo. Second I moved the pinion outward on the motor shaft by about 1 mm. These two actions eliminated the axle play and allowed the gears to align correctly, as highlighted by the red arrow.
The next thing that caught my attention was a rough scratching noise when I rotated the guide by hand. You could feel that something was scraping the wall of the guide housing. The red arrow in the following photo shows that one of the lead wire terminals was bent forward which forced it into contact with the guide opening wall.
Bending the terminal back toward the guide post was a simple yet effective fix.
The final issue encountered was an obvious one. The front axle assembly could hardly be turned because the wheels were pressed onto the axle too far, causing the hubs and axle spacers to bind with the bushings. Moving the wheels outward by a minute amount allowed the axle assembly to spin freely.
Performance Testing
There was no sign of lubrication of running gear anywhere. So, the pinion and spur gears were lightly greased, and the motor and axle bushings were all oiled. Braids were flared slightly and bent down at approximately a 30° angle. The motor and gears were allowed to break in at 5-6 volts with rear wheels elevated for about 20 minutes. Nothing else was done to the car.
All testing was performed on my relatively twisty 61’ NINCO road course home track:
- Power: Pyramid PS-26KX @ 12 volts DC.
- Throttle: Parma Economy 35 and 25 ohm controllers.
- Timing: Lap Timer 2000 with homemade IR light bridge.
I ran the car for about 25 laps with the [very strong] magnet installed. I did not time the laps because I don’t usually run this type of car with a magnet. However, I wanted to be able to convey my subjective impression of magnet performance. With the magnet installed the car is very fast through the turns and requires minimum throttle control. As has always been my experience with strong magnets, I am able to perceive very little, if any, feedback prior to “snapping” out of the slot when exceeding the limit of adhesion in a corner. Regardless, I am confident that those who run their cars this way will be more than satisfied with its performance.
Next, with the magnet removed, I ran the Pioneer Camaro casually, without timing, for about an hour. Slowly working up to its limits on the NINCO track. The car runs smoothly with a definite feeling of control. It’s a little more tail happy than I expected, but I’m confident that the tires will eventually “true” themselves on the rough NINCO track surface and handling will steadily improve. When I finally decided to time some laps, it only took six laps to reach a fast lap of 8.195 seconds, and I wasn’t really pushing that hard.
This is already faster than my [well-tuned] Pioneer Mustang and is a very encouraging starting point for this track. I could be quite satisfied with the performance exhibited at this point. However, I believe that for those who run without the magnet on plastic track or on routed wood tracks, and/or always want to take their slot cars to the ultimate level of performance, there are additional gains to be extracted from this car. For example, truing the wheels and tires and finding the places where added ballast will enhance stability will undoubtedly lower the lap times.
A note on body float: I have found that one of the most important criteria for superior handling when running no-mag or on wood is adequate body float. As experienced racers are aware, loosening the body mounting screws to allow the body to float or rock freely over the chassis will “de-couple” the inertia of the body from the chassis. This tends to enhance handling by allowing the car to stay in the slot at higher speeds in the corners. However, in its stock condition the Camaro’s body cannot be made to float in the manner previously described due to two design characteristics:
1.) There are several “mounting clips” (indicated by the red arrows below) that hold the front spoiler in position. Because the nose of the chassis fits underneath these clips it is held in place and vertical movement is restricted. The front mounting screws can even be left out and the chassis is still secured to the body by these clips.
2.) The lower edge of the body panels fits over the edge of the chassis, effectively creating a “clamshell”, interfering with any potential float, even when the body mounting screws are loosened. This is different from the Mustang where there is room between the body and chassis edges, allowing the body to float freely over the chassis.
The required modifications to the body and chassis needed to introduce body float to this car are well within the capability of the majority of slot racing enthusiasts. Once this is accomplished the car should be highly competitive in serious no-mag and wood track racing. Regardless, in my experience, the Pioneer Camaro performed very respectably without the benefit of body float — or any other tuning for that matter. So there is certainly no serious mechanical acumen or exotic tuning skill required to really enjoy this car. Which is really good news for me. :)
Summary
For me the Pioneer Alan Green Chevrolet Camaro Z-28 represents the best balance among appearance, performance and price in a slot car that I have encountered in quite a while. While it did take a long time to finally appear, I am convinced that it was worth waiting for. If you are a fan of the original Trans-Am racing era or just have a soft spot for late 1960’s Camaros, you will do well to acquire this slot car. Whether this is your first Pioneer Trans-Am or an addition to an existing stable, I am confident that you will not be disappointed.
It’s nice to see Pioneer starting to roll out new quality products again. If this car is representative of what will be coming along in the future, then I think we have much to look forward to.
Thanks to BRS Hobbies for sponsoring this review.
_Michael Ashton
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