The Magazine For Slot Car Enthusiasts
HO RacePro Rattler Mark I - Long-Term Report
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By Brian Ferguson
Like the 1:1 car mags do, I thought I'd do a long-term report of my experiences with Ed Bianchi's Rattler Mark I (#64 of 64) that I've gratefully possessed since January 11th of this year. Initially, my reaction was that of the collector - find it a safe, prominent display space, and forever protect it from the world. That attitude didn't last long - a racer can only look at a car for a certain time period, then out of the box it comes!
The first time my Rattler saw active duty was during a brief visit to RaceWorld in Toronto's north end. I had hoped to get some chat time with the owner, Ernie Mosetti, with whom I go back many years, but he was unfortunately not in the shop that day. The car, however, drew interest from some of the clientele and I borrowed some lapping time to check the car out. It was an instant attention getter. Out of the box, with only a quick once-over and oiling, it ran at much the same pace as the 1/24 rental cars in the hands of a decent driver. That may be slow in 1/24 circles, but it is NOT slow for an HO car! I know that I could have been much faster that day but the car was new and I did not want it bent. I also had not yet learned the intracacies of driving the car.

Much time passed. And the car, safely back in its box, remained preserved albeit prominently displayed on a shelf next to my home computer. One day, while staring at it, I came up with the not-so- original idea of building a modular, routed HO slider track. AutoCAD was a mere click away, and the slider track was set into motion. The whole project was greatly accelerated after I looked into Chris Moellering's Online Racing Series (ORS). The idea of having an actual racing stimulus, after being without it for two years because of where I lived and the nature of my job, was too much to pass up. I quickly finished the first two modules....but needed a car. The Rattler was elected. Its humble early showing in the ORS (an 8th, and two 5ths in a series joined in progress) were, I think, due to my "rust factor", and not the car. When the next series started I entered the first race with a Tomy SG+ converted to a slider. That turned out to be a mistake - the car was unpredictable and difficult to drive. After one race and a fourth place, I switched back to the Rattler. I scored two back-to-back wins. The Rattler was a better racer.
Which brings me to why the Rattler is special and unique. First off, it is unlike any commercially available car you have ever owned. It is direct-drive, meaning that the rear wheels are mounted directly to the armature shaft and the motor sits sideways in the car. Without gearing, the car has a long, slow acceleration curve that ultimately terminates in an amazing top speed, but it also has little in the way of dynamic brakes. As a result, you must brake much earlier than you would with a geared car but you also must maintain as much momentum as possible. This sounds contradictory at first but is accomplished by radically altering one's driving style. The Rattler reminds me of front-wheel-drive 1:1 race cars. You can enter a corner at fairly high speed if you are gently decelerating and the car will turn in very nicely. But if you continue to decelerate the back end will come around and you'll either end up with a half-spin or else the sponge-silicones will suddenly grip as the rear slides out and jerk the front out of the slot. You must gently get back on the power immediately after the car enters a turn and it will drift through the corner in a tidy, controlled fashion. As you near the exit of the curve, slowly squeeze on full power. If you get too ambitious with the throttle in mid-turn, the car will likely lift its nose and head straight for the weeds. When driven smoothly, the Rattler
does not like to deslot - and if you are sensitive to the amount of drift angle, it is also not likely to execute a half-spin (which is the most common indication of over-driving that the car gives). In short, you must first learn the pecularities of direct-drive, and then focus on being smooth, maintaining momentum, and avoiding over-exhuberance with the throttle in mid-turn. The Rattler will reward you with amazingly fast lap times. I have been unable to get within 4-tenths of a second of it with an SG+ slider on my 48 foot track. The SG+ is also less predictable, harder on tires, and seems to be more sensitive to tire cleanliness.

So what about setup and maintenance?

Well, I initially did nothing to the Rattler until I got to know the car. I came to realize that the car was a bit unstable in the middle of very fast corners and traced it to the fact that the front tires did not touch the track surface - the car would lean over until the outside front touched, which meant little or no contact on the inside rear and also put the guide flag on a slight angle vertically which gave it an easy ride up and out of the slot. I gently bent the front axle tubing until both tires touched the track and ensured that all four tires were on the same horizontal plane. The instability in high speed turns disappeared.

After a couple of thousand laps, I noticed that the double-sided tape that connects the motor to the chassis was beginning to lose its adhesion to the brass of the chassis and was also losing its firmness - the motor was squirming around. I separated the two ends of the car and removed the foam tape with a product called "Goo Gone" - it dissolves anything gooey and sticky. I made sure any residue of the cleaner was gone by wiping the chassis and motor faces with a little lighter fluid. For replacement tape, I chose RC servo tape - it has high adhesion and was slightly thinner and less flexible than the original tape. The joint has remained solid for some time now and the whole car is stiffer. Lap times indicate that this is also a performance modification.

I refuse to do anything to the car of a visible nature and have made no other modifications. I have also not thought of any, or had any reason to look for any.

I have replaced the rear tires once - the Wizzard LAWG-442s lasted about 3-4 hours (curiously, my main SG+ slider chewed up a set in under 2 hours - I suspect the SG+ spends more time both spinning the tires and also locking them under braking even though I run it with dynamic braking switched off). Before replacements arrived, I bought another hour or two of track time by recoating them with a thin layer of regular clear silicone which surprisingly worked very well. When changing wheels on the Rattler, I found that it was important to limit the amount of sideplay in the armature by keeping the wheels very close to the motor or adding spacers. I found that too much sideplay made the car jittery in corner transitions, probably a result of the entire chassis moving from side to side on the armature (it is, after all, the rear axle too!).

The lead wires, which are also the pickup "braids" on a Slide-Guide car, are still original - they have just now worn enough to warrant replacement. An occasional "dressing" with a small stiff brush keeps the pickups in good shape for optimum electrical contact.

The Rattler has only four oiling points - both ends of the armature and the front axles. I use Thunder Oil on the motor (it does not displace easily and thus does not get "thrown" into the endbell and onto the commutator or brushes) and regular 5W-30 motor oil on the front axles. The combination works well for me and oiling is a very infrequent task.

The Rattler now has a total of 7-8 hours on it, and is running flawlessly. The Bruce Beaulieu-painted Ferrari 512M lexan body is still in mint condition, perhaps a testament to the Rattler's preference to remain in the slot!

Bottom line? The car is a very unique slot car. It demands a very serious attitude adjustment from the driver, but rewards adaptibility by running fast, smooth, and consistent. I keep experimenting with other cars, but when I need to pick one for an ORS race I keep turning to the Rattler. I can rely on it.

While the Mark I is not a car that you can buy today, Ed is currently working on the Mark II and indicates that he plans to produce a larger number of them. If you want a very unique and interesting car you may well want to consider getting one when he releases them. If you aren't a "slider" racer, the car is an "interesting piece" to own. If you do race sliders, I think you'll find the car to be a terrific performer. My Mark I sure is!