We were very surprised to see a new Scalextric release from the 2019 range had hit the shelves already when we noticed the latest BTCC car was available. Knowing how fast the previous Pirtek BMW flew off the shelves, we were quick to dip into the Slot Car Club wallet and get this car into our hands before it was out of stock.
We are very pleased to say that it has arrived and we have had a chance to admire it in its full glory. Now we may be a little biased as blue and yellow liveries are our favourites, but this is a great looking car. It was very popular in the real series and this has translated perfectly into 1/32 scale as the shades of blue and yellow have been replicated exactly. Some of you may prefer the older Pirtek BMW as it came in a unique chrome blue which was really eye catching. We think this new BMW holds up well in comparison and is a great copy.
Our only gripes are two fold. The first is a similar gripe to all the other recent Scalextric BTCC cars, in that the tyres are plain and do not have the logo on them. For such a small detail, it does make a huge difference to the look of these cars and we think is a major omission. Luckily, we have managed to source some spare tyres from another slot car racer and we were quick to make the swap. As you can see from the picture, it does transform this little BMW racer into a true racing machine and it really looks ready to take on their other BTCC cars.
The second gripe is with the transfers on the side of the car. The Pirtek logo is over the car door handle but stops at the top. There is a distinct difference when comparing to the real car as the logo finishes above the door handle on the real car and therefore I think this could have been done slightly better. This may be a fault with the new style of decals that Scalextric are using, which have been critisied before and it is a shame that the letter R really stands out compared to the others.
Putting these issues aside, this car does look impressive and we are looking forward to getting it on track and matching it up against the other BTCC 2019 releases as soon as they become available.
