Test report by CoMod Lotus on the Carrera DIGITAL 132 and Evolution Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren GT TRG Motorsports 'No. 71', 2009 (30567/27363)
Ever heard of TRG Motorsports? No?
Carrera Neither had I—until I started researching the latest design variant of the McLaren SLR
. On Facebook, TRG is listed as a “professional sports team.” That’s a nice way of describing a very high-caliber racing team. The team from Mooresville, North Carolina, competes in NASCAR and the Porsche GT3 Cup, among other series.
The stunning dark blue metallic SLR with the number 71 is a car that TRG plans to field alongside Circle B Motorcars of Texas in the SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT Championship. Normally, the 21 existing vehicles were used exclusively in the SLR Trophy, a racing series for owners of the “standard” SLR 722 and, as such, members of the very elite SLR Club. Anyone who’s in on this really has plenty of spare change. ;-)
CBR/TRG, on the other hand, wants to enter the car in the World Challenge. To do so, the engine—originally tuned by RML to 650 PS—will be detuned to 550 PS. TRG sees the SLR’s participation as a demonstration of what’s technically possible and hopes that some other owners of “production” SLRs will bring their cars to the track rather than just letting them gather dust in car collections. This, of course, will be under TRG’s leadership—after all, they bring the necessary expertise and experience to the table: “TRG has the full capability to race and service customer SLRs as well.” (Quote from Kevin Buckler, owner of TRG Motorsports).
Let’s move on to the modelCarrera
:
As our colleague, CoMod Mike..., already wrote in his club report on the SLR back in 2009: “TRG Motorsports, together with RML, prepared an SLR 722 GT this year for a Speed GT race in the U.S.” I hope this isn’t a one-off and that we’ll be seeing this car more often. Maybe even in this beautiful dark blue race version on theCarrera track back home
!
Well, his wish has come true! Finally, this blue racing version is available for theCarrera
track. I’ll spare you further praise of its looks—just take a look at the pictures; there’s nothing to fault about this car. The SLR demonstrates its famously smooth handling: it runs very smoothly thanks to the long front end and the front-mounted stabilizer fin. It’s nearly impossible to throw it off course with a magnet, and without a magnet, gentle drifting is possible.
Let's hope that a few more color variations of this excellent race car will hit the market!
CoMod
Lotus**********************
Review by CoMod JoergW of theCarrera DIGITAL 132
and Evolution
Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren GT TRG Motorsports 'No. 71', 2009
(30567/27363)
In the fall of 2007, the SLR 722 GT was unveiled—a racing version of the standard 722, limited to 21 units. At the British racing firm RML Group, more than 400 parts were further modified to transform the “standard 722” into a race car for the SLR Club Trophy.
The SLR 722 special editions are intended to
commemorate the victory of British racing legend Stirling Moss in the Italian endurance classic, the Mille Miglia.
The starting number of the original 300 SLR was 722, which
was assigned based on its starting time of 7:22 a.m. It’s not just the original that has changed significantly compared to the car that inspired its name. Especially with the 1:32-scale models fromCarrera , you can literally experience the technical progress made in recent years.
Since there are already several reviews of this model, here’s a brief summary of my impressions
:
The paint job is cleanly executed and matches the photos I’ve seen of the original
(I’ll probably have to wait a while longer to see a 1:1 model in person).
Decals and lettering are crisp and well-defined.
Tires and rims have no annoying flash (they’re ready to run even without sanding).
The suspension geometry and keel angle are very well balanced (it does break out at some point, but you can get it back under control).
See you later,
CoMod JoergW
Ever heard of TRG Motorsports? No?
The stunning dark blue metallic SLR with the number 71 is a car that TRG plans to field alongside Circle B Motorcars of Texas in the SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT Championship. Normally, the 21 existing vehicles were used exclusively in the SLR Trophy, a racing series for owners of the “standard” SLR 722 and, as such, members of the very elite SLR Club. Anyone who’s in on this really has plenty of spare change. ;-)
CBR/TRG, on the other hand, wants to enter the car in the World Challenge. To do so, the engine—originally tuned by RML to 650 PS—will be detuned to 550 PS. TRG sees the SLR’s participation as a demonstration of what’s technically possible and hopes that some other owners of “production” SLRs will bring their cars to the track rather than just letting them gather dust in car collections. This, of course, will be under TRG’s leadership—after all, they bring the necessary expertise and experience to the table: “TRG has the full capability to race and service customer SLRs as well.” (Quote from Kevin Buckler, owner of TRG Motorsports).
Let’s move on to the model
As our colleague, CoMod Mike..., already wrote in his club report on the SLR back in 2009: “TRG Motorsports, together with RML, prepared an SLR 722 GT this year for a Speed GT race in the U.S.” I hope this isn’t a one-off and that we’ll be seeing this car more often. Maybe even in this beautiful dark blue race version on the
Well, his wish has come true! Finally, this blue racing version is available for the
Let's hope that a few more color variations of this excellent race car will hit the market!
CoMod
Lotus**********************
Review by CoMod JoergW of the
In the fall of 2007, the SLR 722 GT was unveiled—a racing version of the standard 722, limited to 21 units. At the British racing firm RML Group, more than 400 parts were further modified to transform the “standard 722” into a race car for the SLR Club Trophy.
The SLR 722 special editions are intended to
commemorate the victory of British racing legend Stirling Moss in the Italian endurance classic, the Mille Miglia.
The starting number of the original 300 SLR was 722, which
was assigned based on its starting time of 7:22 a.m. It’s not just the original that has changed significantly compared to the car that inspired its name. Especially with the 1:32-scale models from
Since there are already several reviews of this model, here’s a brief summary of my impressions
:
The paint job is cleanly executed and matches the photos I’ve seen of the original
(I’ll probably have to wait a while longer to see a 1:1 model in person).
Decals and lettering are crisp and well-defined.
Tires and rims have no annoying flash (they’re ready to run even without sanding).
The suspension geometry and keel angle are very well balanced (it does break out at some point, but you can get it back under control).
See you later,
CoMod JoergW
