SOURCES
Athough not officially approved as a series yet, (@11/30/20) many members seem interested in the NSR Formula 86/89 cars as a 2021 series.

The cars are available from many popular retailers: Pendle, Electric Dreams, CloverLeaf, LEB Hobbies
CloverLeaf: White & Test $63 Decorated $70 (many liveries) Spares-limited
LEB Hobbies: White & Test $70 Decorated $77 (many liveries) Spares- $1~2 higher than others
Power Hobbies: White & Test $70 Decorated $75 – 85. Spares-limited
Professor Motor: White & Test $70 Decorated $85 – 95. Spares-moderate
Electric Dreams: White $75 Test $80 Decorated $90-100. Spares-extensive, some higher than others; many DECALS available for Test cars.
PendleSlot: US prices are competitive with Electric Dreams. Liveries & Spares-extensive
….
SCC – no current stock @11/30
132slotcar.US – no current stock @11/30

DISCUSSION POINT – WHEELS & TIRES
Once this series has been approved and a series-manager confirmed; I think we should discuss wheel choices.
During unboxing the rear wheels appear “tiny” and in fact the OEM wheels NSR5021(13d x 10w) have a 10mm diameter rim with a max OD of 13mm at the ribs. [Upgrades NSR5022 (13d x 13w), NSR5026 (13d x 13w drilled)] This is smaller than NSR’s legacy F1-rims, NSR5005 with a 14mm OD at the rib (12mm width).

Several reviews of the NSR Formula 86-89 cars mention this size difference as having a potential risk of rear-pan contact with the track (in climbs/drops). Basically if the rear tires are trued under a certain diameter, the end of the chassis may drag against the track in sections that are not flat.

It appears that the axle for the Formula 86/89 cars is the standard NSR sub-3/32 size[1]; and it appears larger OD tires would not interfere with the body, therefore it does not appear to be a hard *technical* reason why the NSR5005 14mm OD rims could *not be used.

NOTE: We previously used these rims and compatible tires (5220) on the 2016 Formula series (the NSR wheels were the same dimensions as the AllSlots). So members who raced the Allslot race in 2016 may have some leftover spare wheels and tires.
……….
[1] NSR and Thunderslot Axles = 2.37mm (2.99/32in)

In general I agree with the “stock” spec, except with the chassis clearance issues I mentioned above. Tire issues seem to be a recurring challenge and while I don’t want to have a situ. where people are spending a fortune on tires to be *competitive … we have had more than one series where many of us did spend lots of money trying to get good sets of tires, just so our car was not a dawg spinning on marbled or nippled rubber.

In this case, if the tires wear down to a point where the pan is contacting the track, I don’t want to be replacing tires every round (or every other round).

I would like to get input from John and Dave and whoever else actually has a 86/89 they can test and provide solid feedback.

Gear Options:
OEM 27/10 = 2.7 21,400/2.7 = 7,926
24/9 = 2/67 = 8,015
25/10 = 2.5 8,560
….
compared to a hypothetical 26z crown
26/10 = 2.6 8,231
26/9 = 2.89 = 7,405

SETUP NOTE – NSR FORMULA 86/89
Another oddity[1] with this car is:

As you will find out, the front axle height grub/allen screws are M2 (2mm diameter, 2mm length same as Slot.IT) and not the typical 4-40 (0.05 wrench head[2]) screws. Your car may come with a small bag containing the M2 screws.
There does appear to be enough meat to drill and tap the axle carrier section to use 4-40s.

[1] Other variations from NSR traditions: [a] 13mm diameter (at the rib/nib) wheels vs. the 14mm already in NSRs product line; –new tires to fit the new size wheels. [b] (as mentioned by 917) crowns are limited to 24, 25, 27 (missing a 26z?!)
[d] flexible/no-tear/crashproof parts do Not include the front suspension?!? // the good news is this part is cosmetic and does not contain the axle carrier./

[2] Diameter: 0.112inch * 25.4 = 2.84mm

NSR Formula 86-89 – Setup Phase-1
Sat Dec 12 I unboxed my NSR F 86/89 to see what challenges may be in the setup process.

GUIDE – the OEM guide is snap-in and has a short blade. I took out the slop with two Teflon spacers; during testing the guide performed fine.

FRONT AXLE ASSEMBLY
Tires and Wheels: The good news, the tires are heavy enough that nose ballast does not appear to be needed. The bad news, they have the typical NSR molding blisters, which may not be able to be totally removed from truing. The NSR Wheels use a 2.37mm (2.9858/32 inch) axle and hence I could not fit them on the large $400 double-truer.

I took out the fore-aft slop using 3mm axle sleeves. At first I tried some Slot.IT spherical bushings; they had a groove to snap into, but had resistance sliding vertically and did not stay in the uprights consistently. Bad News: The axle uprights are noticeably angled in (negative camber) which may add some binding.

Axle Height:
The axle uprights use M2 allen/grubs for axle height. These are Not the typical 4-40/3mm grubs used in other NSR chassis. The shipped 2mm(L)x2mm(D) screws are tiny so I threw them into my collection of Slot.IT grubs. I used 7mm SlotCarCorner oval-head M2s for the bottom adjustment (5 or 6mm would also be Fine); and 4mm for the uppers. The fit is *tight and takes patience to get the screws deep enough.
On my setup block, in the 0.015 cut, I flew the tires 1/2mm over track-height. Since our track is not perfectly consistent I cross-checked the height with my 0.025 cut, and they flew appx 1/4mm above track-height.
NOTE: The holes are very tight and a 0.91m torque-wrench may ratchet before you reach the desired depth. I had to use my NSR solid-shaft 0.91. The axle height process took at least 15 minutes to reach Goldilocks status.

WINGS AND BODY PARTS ETC
I pro-actively bought the no-tear flexible parts kit. I can’t really see any difference between these and the OEM wings; so I left the wings alone. The body parts are “electronically welded” and appear very secure. Only problem, if they come off in a wreck the anchor posts will come off with the part.

Round Steering Wheel
As some have noticed, the steering wheel is disappointingly a spindly generic round version. Some people may want to scratch-build a steering wheel from styrene, or suitable static model rectangular parts.
I don’t think there are many cockpit part kits with modern F1 steering wheels – for Scalextric or Carerra. AllSlot used to have a cockpit parts kit; but these don’t seem to be available.
?? Maybe Russ or Marc can make some up? : )

GEARS
The OEM gears seem to have a good mesh and are noticeably quiet. The calculated rear-wheel-RPM is 21,400/(27/10) = 21,400/2.7 = 7,926 @12volts.
Other Gear Options: 25/9 = 2.78 = 7,698 24/9 = 2.67 = 8,015 25/10 = 2.5 = 8,560

REAR TIRES
Again these use smaller wheels (13mm Dia) than the ‘standard’ NSR F1 tires offered as replacements for other brands. Visually they still look very similar in size. Because of the smaller axle I could not true them (yet) – surprisingly they were relatively True out-of-the-box and handled very well.
Minor Issue: The sidewall brand letters flake off quickly.

PERFORMANCE
At 11 volts the car was very stable in the corners; but the speed felt “sedate”. With a calc’ed wheel RPM of 7,266 (7926 x (11/12)) the perception seems spot-on.
At 12 volts the car was still very stable; and it’s overall speed seemed moderately faster than at 11v, yet not as dramatic as would be expected with a jump from 7,263 to 7,923 RPM. Best laps were 4.3-4.2 but that should improve with trued tires and after everything else is “broke-in”.