NINCO 350Z 'Tuner' Review by Shawn Smith

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December 12, 2006 Review

NINCO 350Z 'Tuner'
Review
By Shawn Smith

First it was the silver NINCO Tuning Series Mitsubishi Lancer. Next in line came the orange Tuning Series BMW M3. Later NINCO released a green Tuning Series Toyota Supra followed by the metallic blue Tuning Series Honda NSX. Now NINCO has adapted their GT based NISSAN 350Z in to a new Tuning Series racer and its here now for us to check out!

Appearance:

The newest of the NINCO 'Tuning' cars is sure to get some looks on the track. If nothing else... it will be nice and easy for the driver to see on the track. Painted in a base coat of bright yellow the car is accented with red and dark blue accents that make for a nice contrast.

Styling-wise this Tuning version 350Z brings with it all of the details of the previously released race versions. a red tow-hook pokes through the nose of the body and separately applied 'canard-syle' front wings flank both sides of the solid filled front grill opening.

The cars hood shares the open vent work of the race versions as well and comes decorated with a large 'Z' graphic and a pair of triangular painted accents shooting backwards off of the cars headlamp sections.

Checking out the side of the NINCO Tuning-Z the door handles have been painted silver and the rest of the painted accents are all done in the same dark blue as found on the rest of the car.

In the rear the giant wing is carried over from the race versions as well as is the rear tow hook that matches the one placed in the front of the car. Obviously the driver of this particular Tuning car seems to think everyone is 'gunning' for him... as you can see he has a 'target' on his back!

Wheels for this Tuning edition are yellow painted versions of the NINCO named JGTC 2+2 rims, each having chrome finished brake-rotor details tucked in behind.

In many web images the roof color appeared black to me but in person the roof is certainly a nice rich dark blue. The back window is solid black plastic, again like the race versions, although the roof clearly shows this car comes packed with Ninco's 'Tuning Style'.

Overall appearance: the car is certainly a good looking livery although mine did have a few areas where paint coverage of the dark blue could be improved. Even so the car is eye catching and really stands out. As somone mentioned on one of the forums all this car needs is some numbers slapped on it and it would easily pass for a race livery.

Performance:

Looking under the hood presents you with perhaps the biggest difference between the Tuning cars and the race livery versions. While the Calsonic, Xanavi and G'ZOX versions all come packing NINCO's NC-5 'Speeder' motor this car, like all other Tuning edition cars before it, comes equipped with the extra 3,500 RPMs of the NC-6 'Crusher' power plant.

The rest of the Tuning-Z's chassis matches the others in the line having the same angle-winder gear ratio, same chassis x-shaped cross-bracing, same magnet set up, same spring loaded guide flag etc....

The Final Verdict:

If you're a fan of NINCO's GT line up of cars this 350Z is hard not to like. The NC-6 might carry a hair too much punch for my track but once I sanded the tires to my liking the car drove very well with good braking and more than enough power to fishtail out of any turn on my track. NINCO cars are, and will more than likely remain, very light magnetic cars so be ready to 'drive' and the laps should prove to be very rewarding... especially if you get good at driving them FAST!!

Special thanks to MRC – Model Rectifier Corp for providing the new NINCO 350Z 'Tuner' 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

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