Review by CoMod martinmm of Carrera DIGITAL 124 the Mercedes-Benz W 125 'No. 35', AVUS 1937 (23751)
With the Mercedes-Benz W125 StromlinieCarrera , is Carrera not only releasing Carrera a reissue of the 1999 Exclusiv model, but also a 'variant'. At least as far as the starting number is concerned.
The Grand Prix race car designed by Rolf Uhlenhaut in 1937W125 competed with driver Rudolf Caracciola on May 30, 1937, at the 6th International AVUS Race with full aerodynamic fairing. Also participating was the Auto Union Type C from Auto Union AG with start number 33, also featuring full fairing. The streamlined vehicles reached speeds of up to 380 km/h on the straight. Rudolf Caracciola secured victory with an average speed of 250.33 km/h. Bernd Rosemeyer set the fastest average lap speed to date in his Auto Union.
For 37 years, this was the fastest lap ever recorded in a Grand Prix car.
Apart from minor body modifications and new spoke rims, the car isCarrera identical to the W125 #36 released in 1999 W125.
Technology:
The car is equipped with the latest D124 chassis generation. The most striking features are the magnets, which are now located inside the body. As with the current D132Evolution models
, these areEvolution accessible only by unscrewing the body.
To do this, the motor mount must be loosened and the motor block removed. Then the center and rear magnets can be removed. The center magnet is still a three-piece design. The front axle is no longer oscillating but is now fixed. This gives the vehicle more stability in corners in its original condition.
Appearance:
I’m convinced that even people who aren’t fans of these classic cars will find them appealing. Visually, they’re truly eye-catching—especially when you remove the wheel covers and the very delicate spoked rims come into view.
Driving performance:
In their original condition with a full set of magnets, they run as smoothly as ever, almost as if on rails. There’s barely any margin between taking a fast corner at the limit and losing control. Without the magnets: the narrow, treaded rear wheels quickly reveal the limits of traction. The grooved tread reduces the contact area by another 50%—you’re essentially driving on bicycle tires. That doesn’t work.
You should at least sand the tires down until the tread is gone. Then it’s a bit better.
I experienced the best handling characteristics with the two outer center magnets and 10g of additional weight in the center of the chassis. The grip is sufficiently high; in the corners, you still need a light touch with your thumb to prevent the car from just sliding around. Acceleration and braking performance are very good, even on large tracks.
Outer edge strips are indispensable in the corners. And then it’s really fun!
The test car had some issues in that not all four wheels were resting on the straightening plate. The cause was a threaded bushing on the front axle mount that hadn’t been fully screwed in. After the correction, everything was fine. This had been noticeable due to severe rear-end breakaway during braking.
We can look forward to the Maserati!
CoMod Martinmm
****************************************
Test report by CoMod Mike... AboutCarrera DIGITAL 124 the Mercedes-Benz W 125 'No. 35', AVUS 1937 (23715)
In 1999, the Exclusiv Stromlinien models in the AVUS starter set were already a sales success. Until then, they had been relatively unknown in the slot car sector, and their historically futuristic bodywork also appealed to buyers at the end of the 20th Back in the 1980s, you really had to dig deep into your pockets! Unfortunately, the beautiful bodywork couldn’t make the dedicated slot car racers overlook the rather poor handling back then! The gear ratio—which was still too high at the time—combined with the electronics board, turned these streamlined cars
into rather mediocre racers, especially with the guide fin positioned far too high!
An additional magnet and, later, changing the gear ratio improved these beautiful cars’ cornering without having to ease off the throttle two meters beforehand!
Shimming the keels with washers was standard practice for me with these cars!
The announcement of the reissue gave me hope that
the new chassis redesign of this Avus steep-corner monster
would bring nothing but advantages
! And then they were here...
Right out of the box, they look great!
Compared to the old Exclusiv models, you can see subtle additional color accents around the intake and exhaust areas on the body! Basically, the body just needed to be modified at the screw studs and fitted with the usual threaded bushings. That’s great news: the old bodies can be equipped with the new chassis if you use the old screws here.
The only downside is the slightly orange race numbers on the old version and the bright red ones on the new ones. But this way, you can double the starting field!
But now for the durability and comparison test on the SG-Stern wooden track, where the old Exclusiv racers were almost undriveable.
Of course, the slight bouncing is completely normal, as with any mass-produced plastic rim. Nevertheless, it has quite decent straight-line stability. The cornering drift is very forgiving thanks to
the new leading edge angle, and the redesigned swingarm with spring ensures sufficient depth in the slot. Even stock, the Silver Arrow handles significantly better than its older counterparts with the old swingarm!
With sanded tires, the car whirs along almost as if it had aluminum cup rims! I’m definitely thrilled! If you want to take it to the next level, you can install a rear axle mount from various professional shops and use ball bearings. Up front, thanks to the fixed axle, a 6mm ball bearing can also be installed without any modifications. The problem, however, is likely to be the pot-rim wheels with their matching spoked-wheel look, so the tire covers will have to stay on!
But on theCarrera track, none of this is necessary, because with a little tire squeal you can have plenty of fun and
admire the now-beautiful
spoked rims without the covers!
CoMod Mike...
With the Mercedes-Benz W125 Stromlinie
The Grand Prix race car designed by Rolf Uhlenhaut in 1937W125 competed with driver Rudolf Caracciola on May 30, 1937, at the 6th International AVUS Race with full aerodynamic fairing. Also participating was the Auto Union Type C from Auto Union AG with start number 33, also featuring full fairing. The streamlined vehicles reached speeds of up to 380 km/h on the straight. Rudolf Caracciola secured victory with an average speed of 250.33 km/h. Bernd Rosemeyer set the fastest average lap speed to date in his Auto Union.
For 37 years, this was the fastest lap ever recorded in a Grand Prix car.
Apart from minor body modifications and new spoke rims, the car is
Technology:
The car is equipped with the latest D124 chassis generation. The most striking features are the magnets, which are now located inside the body. As with the current D132
To do this, the motor mount must be loosened and the motor block removed. Then the center and rear magnets can be removed. The center magnet is still a three-piece design. The front axle is no longer oscillating but is now fixed. This gives the vehicle more stability in corners in its original condition.
Appearance:
I’m convinced that even people who aren’t fans of these classic cars will find them appealing. Visually, they’re truly eye-catching—especially when you remove the wheel covers and the very delicate spoked rims come into view.
Driving performance:
In their original condition with a full set of magnets, they run as smoothly as ever, almost as if on rails. There’s barely any margin between taking a fast corner at the limit and losing control. Without the magnets: the narrow, treaded rear wheels quickly reveal the limits of traction. The grooved tread reduces the contact area by another 50%—you’re essentially driving on bicycle tires. That doesn’t work.
You should at least sand the tires down until the tread is gone. Then it’s a bit better.
I experienced the best handling characteristics with the two outer center magnets and 10g of additional weight in the center of the chassis. The grip is sufficiently high; in the corners, you still need a light touch with your thumb to prevent the car from just sliding around. Acceleration and braking performance are very good, even on large tracks.
Outer edge strips are indispensable in the corners. And then it’s really fun!
The test car had some issues in that not all four wheels were resting on the straightening plate. The cause was a threaded bushing on the front axle mount that hadn’t been fully screwed in. After the correction, everything was fine. This had been noticeable due to severe rear-end breakaway during braking.
We can look forward to the Maserati!
CoMod Martinmm
****************************************
Test report by CoMod Mike... About
In 1999, the Exclusiv Stromlinien models in the AVUS starter set were already a sales success. Until then, they had been relatively unknown in the slot car sector, and their historically futuristic bodywork also appealed to buyers at the end of the 20th Back in the 1980s, you really had to dig deep into your pockets! Unfortunately, the beautiful bodywork couldn’t make the dedicated slot car racers overlook the rather poor handling back then! The gear ratio—which was still too high at the time—combined with the electronics board, turned these streamlined cars
into rather mediocre racers, especially with the guide fin positioned far too high!
An additional magnet and, later, changing the gear ratio improved these beautiful cars’ cornering without having to ease off the throttle two meters beforehand!
Shimming the keels with washers was standard practice for me with these cars!
The announcement of the reissue gave me hope that
the new chassis redesign of this Avus steep-corner monster
would bring nothing but advantages
! And then they were here...
Right out of the box, they look great!
Compared to the old Exclusiv models, you can see subtle additional color accents around the intake and exhaust areas on the body! Basically, the body just needed to be modified at the screw studs and fitted with the usual threaded bushings. That’s great news: the old bodies can be equipped with the new chassis if you use the old screws here.
The only downside is the slightly orange race numbers on the old version and the bright red ones on the new ones. But this way, you can double the starting field!
But now for the durability and comparison test on the SG-Stern wooden track, where the old Exclusiv racers were almost undriveable.
Of course, the slight bouncing is completely normal, as with any mass-produced plastic rim. Nevertheless, it has quite decent straight-line stability. The cornering drift is very forgiving thanks to
the new leading edge angle, and the redesigned swingarm with spring ensures sufficient depth in the slot. Even stock, the Silver Arrow handles significantly better than its older counterparts with the old swingarm!
With sanded tires, the car whirs along almost as if it had aluminum cup rims! I’m definitely thrilled! If you want to take it to the next level, you can install a rear axle mount from various professional shops and use ball bearings. Up front, thanks to the fixed axle, a 6mm ball bearing can also be installed without any modifications. The problem, however, is likely to be the pot-rim wheels with their matching spoked-wheel look, so the tire covers will have to stay on!
But on the
admire the now-beautiful
spoked rims without the covers!
CoMod Mike...
