| October 15, 2006 Review |
|
 NINCO Kart 'Birel' Review By Shawn Smith [Click here to chat about this item on our Forum] Appearance:  Hot out of the case and on to the track these NINCO karts are too cool for their own good. This 'Birel' cart, molded primarily in red, is a good looker sitting still but becomes even more fun at speed. Truth be told I wasn't 'sold' when I first found out about these larger scale NINCO karts but its times like these that remind me how much fun I've been missing.  Probably one of the most fun features about these karts has to be the working front steering. This feature, something that NINCO has done on other cars such as their open wheel Cart and F1 models, really adds to the level of realism and excitement when driving these cars.    Of course all of that steering response is the product of having the front wheels connected to the cars guide movement. Throwing the karts tail out in the turns becomes even more fun when you can watch the steering work and trust me that its not terribly tough to get the back end of these karts pitching out in the corners.  Even without the working steering these karts certainly look their role. Check out the small racing wheels and how low to the track the chassis sits in the picture above.  Added details such as the rear brake disc, exhaust pipe, engine and chrome accented bumper with number plate help to make these smaller scale replicas more believable when scooting around your track.   Our karts driver, a handsome fellow in his mostly white and grey racing suit, sits casually in his racing seat even though he seems not to be strapped in for safety. His arms are positionable, so his lack of right hand grip on the wheel can be corrected, and if you really want to see something funny you can pilot the kart around with both of the drivers arms straight up in the air as if he's going down the hills of his favorite roller coaster. In addition to the drivers arms being movable the drivers head can also be turned slightly left or right, or if you really want to see something odd while racing it, you can also fully remove the drivers head.  Now because I prefer a more tradtional look to my kart driver I kept his hands on the steering wheel and his head properly in place. Ironically my drivers right foot comes no where close to touching the gas lever however you can't adjust his legs so I'll just have to deal with it.  Now, for those of you more curious about the scale difference, you can get a good idea of the size of these karts when parked next to a NINCO 1/32 scale Mercedes DTM sedan. Of course karts are very small racers, even in 1/18 scale the kart is shorter in overall length than the 1/32 car, while width wise the NINCO kart is almost the same, if not a hair wider, than its 1/32 scale cousin. Performance:  Ok, time to take this thing apart and get a better look at what makes it go. Shouldn't be too hard as there really aren't many places to hide things in this cars design.  Flipping the kart over you'll notice two screws. The screw just in front of the motor is the longer of the two screws and holds in the driver through the bottom of the drivers seat.  With the driver and the seat out of the way you can then unclip the motor detail to expose the real motor hidden underneath. You don't need to fully remove the engine detail if you chose not to and as you can see below the whole assembly will rotate rearward to allow full access to the motor.   Now with the detail out of the way you can see the very different motor used in these NINCO karts. Obviously with space being a premium in these models smaller motors, similar in size to many HO-scale slot car motors on the market, make perfect sense in these light weight runners and do a really nice job of powering these larger scale karts around the track.  Those not new to NINCO already know that the angle-winder motor set up has been used in more traditional slot cars such as the Super GT line of cars and the NINCO BMW M3 line, and here again NINCO has mounted the motor at an angle and created special beveled gearing to provide the best mesh possible. In the case of these karts a 7/33 (pinion/spur) gearing combination helps put the power to the track and I found both the motor and gearing in the car to provide pretty brisk acceleration and more than ample braking.  Keeping the power and torque in check, sort of, are two very small button-style magnets placed just slightly under the karts modeled gas tank. The second screw shown in the image of the bottom of the chassis, the one just behind the guide, permits you to move the gas tank and gain better access to these magnets although I'm not terribly sure why you would want to. I said 'sort of' earlier when talking about keeping the karts power in check simply because these two tiny magnets, mounted just a bit farther forward than half chassis, truly don't offer a ton in the way of providing artificial downforce for these scale models.  That being said the kart beforms much like you would expect it to, with plenty opportunity for tail sliding action through the turns, giving you a model racer that you will need to drive and not simply hold the throttle down as it runs around. The NINCO karts are light weight and, while the motor won't break any records on most tracks, the light car and light downforce allow the motor to perform well providing ample fun and respectable speeds. The tires on my example needed quite a bit of profiling to get the best traction possible but once completed the speeds only increased.  And those speeds, considering again that these cars are closer to 1/18 scale, seem far more realistic when throwing the kart around your track than most other smaller scale slot cars. These truly are big fun in a small, but larger scale-wise, package. A couple of these side by side and you have a night of exciting and fun slot 'kart' racing. The Final Verdict:  While some may chose to pass on these karts due to the scale differences compared to the rest of their collections there is no denying the interest and excitement these cars can provide. I've spent entire nights at the local commercial track watching guys ignoring, for the most part, what other racers are running but as soon as someone pulls out something unique like a NINCO kart its funny to see guys stopping to admire these 'differently fun' slot car models. Again this 'Birel' kart, like other karts in the line, won't be likely to set any track records around your home track although for what its worth they don't need to in order to be fun. And since fun is what slot car racing is supposed to be about its hard to go wrong with something that looks this cool and runs respectably well to boot. Grab a couple NINCO karts, invite over a few friends and let the fun begin! Special thanks to MRC – Model Rectifier Corp for providing the new NINCO Kart 'Birel' for review. As always, feel free to contact me if you have any additional questions and I will be happy to answer anything that I can. Happy Slotting! Shawn Smith SJSlots@hotmail.com |
Back
to the main reviews section for a complete listing or
take a look at some listed below.
About SCG |
Swap Meet | Photo Gallery |
Home | Projects |
Forums |
Email
FAQ | Vintage Slot Cars |
My Tracks | Links |
SCG News | Web Ring Info |
Tips & Tricks
