Slot cars: Scalextric Aston DBR9

Aston DBR9 packs power, nice detail

Long-time exotic sports car maker Aston Martin returned to racing in 2005 with its sleek DBR9 racer modeled after its DB9 street car. The intent was to challenge the likes of Audi and Porsche on the road courses of Europe and the United States.

The car, racing in the GT1 class, used a lot of carbon fiber and aluminum to meet weight requirements and its 6.0-liter V12 created a massive 600 horsepower. First race out was the 12-hours of Sebring in the U.S. and then the 24-hours of LeMans in France. Aston Martin finished fourth at Sebring, but first in class, edging Team Corvette. In LeMans the DBR9 finished 9^th, third in class.

The Scalextric slot car version is the No. 57 with full team markings for Aston Martin Racing, complete with yellow nose trim, a Union Jack on the hood and side doors and decked out in a modified metallic British Racing Green that the team chose as its new color. This is the car as it appeared in the 2005 Sebring race, driven by David Brabham, Darren Turner and Stephane Ortelli. Their names appear on the car’s roof.

The Slot Car:

Scalextric cars are always smooth runners with sweet-sounding motors that whine like no others in the slot car business. The green DBR9 is no exception with its sidewinder Mabuchi SP motor. It looks great and runs well too.

I put it up against a variety of cars on my home track, one that’s full of tight turns. The Aston Martin ran competitive times right out of the case, just better than my SCX Opel GTM car, turning in 7.1 and 7.2-second laps in alternating lanes. Only two of my Scalextric cars were quicker. A similar Scalextric Maserati had a best lap of 6.8 seconds.

So its performance is good and the Aston holds the track well. I found it had a little more tail wag than the Maserati, no doubt slowing it a bit. It’s a tad longer with a flatter bottom than the Italian racer. I’d recommend silicone tires to give the British racer more rear traction. After adding some to my car, its times were much quicker

This one also has lights, so night racing is possible too and it’s a digital-ready chassis, so if you’ve got a digital track you can make it track ready.

FAST Stats:

Product: Aston Martin DBR9

Maker: Scalextric

Scale: 1:32

Stock No.: C2644

MSRP: $44.95

Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)