| April 14 2004 Review |
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 Click Here To Buy This Item Now Ninco ‘GT MAX’ Track Set By Shawn Smith Click here to have Genie read this review out loud to you in Microsoft Agent AUDIO! [Click here to chat about this item on our Forum] Appearance:  So here is what you get! From the picture above you can see all that is included in Ninco’s GT MAX track set. For those of you wanting an itemized list: 1-Quarter Straight (10 cm) 1-Lap Counter Half Straight (20cm) 3-Half Straights (20 cm) 1-Connection Straight (40 cm) 8-Standard Straights (40 cm) 15-Standard Curves (45 degrees) 2-Outer Curves (22.5 degrees) 4-Inner Curves (45 degrees) 1-‘Sprint’ Electronic Lap Counter 2-55 ‘Plus’ Controllers 1-Power Pack Wall Unit 9-Red Guardrails 9-White Guardrails 14-Outer Borders for Standard Curves 4-Border Ends (2 in each direction) 2-Ninco Guardrail Signs That’s a whole lot of stuff for those who are keeping track. For Ninco’s premiere track system though should anyone expect anything less?  The back of the Ninco GT MAX track set shows Ninco’s layout of the GT MAX circuit as well as alternate recommended designs. In addition to those there are also now 5 different track extension packs to make dozens of variations to suit your space and needs, some of which are shown in the included instructions and documentation that comes with the set.  In the picture above, shown from left to right, is the colorful Ninco Track System booklet that showcases five of Ninco’s track set options, a black and white track booklet with track system instructions as well as additional accessories, a booklet detailing how to use the Ninco ‘Sprint’ Lap Counter and a colorful insert detailing the benefits of becoming a Ninco ‘Club Member’.  Time to get the track together! The Ninco track pieces are a simple yet effective design that allows quick and easy set up. Each track section has opposing molded tabs that slip in to adjoining track sections as well as act as the track clips to hold everything tight. These tabs are a huge benefit over my current track system as small separate clips that are difficult to put together hold my ‘other’ track pieces together.  Now I needed some room. My Carrera test circuit already has claim to the elevated and carpeted table tops so I had to find an alternative solution for the GT MAX set. I pulled out a section of carpet remnant I had in the garage and was hoping it would be large enough… ‘Whew! Just barely!’  All thirty feet of track fit snugly on its new temporary surface and was completed in roughly ten to fifteen minutes. I was both shocked and impressed at the fit even if the rolled up ends of the carpet section wanted to bank both ends of the racetrack. Once it was all down it was time to add the details.  The boarders and guardrails couldn’t be any simpler to install. The aprons, which are molded in white plastic with red safety stripe details, easily mount to the side of each track piece by the small molded hooks on each section. They do not lock together however so if you have an uneven racing surface you will have elevation variations with these borders. This wasn’t a major problem on most of the track sections, just the ones near the ends of the carpet that tended to rise up.  The guardrails were a little more difficult to put on although they too were very simple compared to the track system I have been used to. The guardrails, like the borders, attach using molded-on tabs to the sides of the track pieces.  The separate red and white guardrails also easily snap together to give the impression of a continual rail around the bends. Just like the guardrails themselves the included two Ninco guardrails banners simply snap between both rails for a nice finished look.  Performance:  Now with the circuit completed it was time to hook of the power and controls. On the Ninco Power Connection straight you have several things to pay attention to. Each controller plugs in on opposing ends of the red terminal section. To the inside of the left controller is where you plug in the cord from the power transformer and to the inside of the right controller is where you plug in the cord for the lap timer. In between off of those is probably the nicest feature in Ninco’s use of a built in polarity switch! No more wishing you could make your cars run in the opposite direction as a simple click of the switch has you racing in the other direction! That I like!  The Ninco ‘Sprint’ Lap Counter is a nice touch as well. While this particular unit won’t measure lap times in tenths of a second, it does allow for timed races ranging from one minute to nine minutes as well as lapped races up to 99 laps in length. As you can see from the picture above I got in forty-three laps in 3 minutes on the outside lane. That amount improved as I got more used to the cars and surface.   So let’s talk about the cars. The GT MAX set comes with two matching Porsche GT3’s to help you start racing. These cars both look good and seem very durable.  Popping them open only takes the removal of two screws although one is slightly obstructed by the guide.  Those of you already familiar with Ninco cars will not find any surprises here. Ninco’s red-labeled NC-2 generates it’s 18K of RPMs in both cars via a brass pinion and brass rear axle bushings. A button magnet sits just in front of the motor on each car and these magnets do just enough to help stabilize the cars rather then make them feel too stuck down.  Up front we find the solid front axles that for some might have just a tad too much up and down and side to side free play. Just as I found with the recent Ninco Subaru and TT-R reviews I had to pop one of these front axles back in to its place prior to running the car. This little trend will be frustrating to some although it was about the only problem I had with the set.  Rims used on the Porsche GT cars are again the usual fine work from Ninco. While the rims might not authentically recreate the wheels used on the real ALMS cars they do a good enough job for most people. Tires are a ribbed design and were pretty soft although I didn’t get the amount of grip that I normally like from a tire. I tried to correct that with little success.  So now it was time to run the cars. My first impression was that the cars needed more magnets. Being used to a smoother surface I wasn’t quite sure how to run on this Ninco track but it didn’t take long to figure out. The 55-ohm controllers shot the cars off quickly but until I learned where to use the braking the cars fell victim to several off road excursions. Even after my braking points were learned I still felt that the cars were ‘too light’ in certain sections of the track and too much throttle sent them straight off of each lane with little provocation. My first instinct was to ditch the ribbed tires for some racing Ninco racing slicks.  Let me be the first to say that this didn’t fix the traction problem effectively. Using a racing slick on this surface is like using bald tires on a gravel road. The Ninco track surface is very coarse. Picture thousands of small triangular shaped points sticking up from a flat surface in random patterns. My wife looked down at the track and asked what was wrong with it as she said it looked strange from section to section and she was right. In certain lights the flat surfaces of the tiny triangular shapes reflected differently from other track sections they were next to. It’s certainly a unique surface although I don’t see it replacing the beloved ‘asphalt like’ smoothness of my other track system. I used a comparison to a gravel road just before and that’s exactly how I would describe it. Cars are quick to loose traction when run too fast and even too much throttle down a straight-a-way seemed to lighten most cars enough to find their way free of the slot. The Ninco Pro-Truck loved it for acceleration though as fast pulls on the trigger saw the Pro-Truck sag down in the back and launch off in a hurry. Most other cars didn’t know what to make of the surface though and I put many a car up on their side or roof trying to ‘skate’ a car through a turn only to see the pointed track surface catch a tire edge and flip it up and over. The Final Verdict:  If you’re looking for your first set and want all of the bells and whistles this set makes a good place to start. The GT MAX track set is the highest priced out of all of the Ninco sets although you get just about everything you could want out of a first set. It has a lot of track, durable cars, easy to use borders and railings and a fun little lap counter that tells you when to go and either how many laps you did in a specified time or who got to the maximum number of laps first. While the track surface still needs some getting used to I did begin to get comfortable with it and set some good laps. The track layout in the GT MAX design is a bit challenging especially if you change track direction and have to negotiate that tight inner-turn at the end of the front straight yet once I got more used to running on it the track was just about as much fun as you could ask for and that’s what new people to slot car racing are looking for. Thanks go to the folks at Model Rectifier Corporation for providing me this new Ninco ‘GT MAX’ track set . This new track system will be added to the track tests run on miscellaneous cars as they arrive for review and I’m hopeful that the added evaluations offer some unique perspectives on upcoming new cars. 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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