Ninco BMW X5 ‘Isostar’ Slot Car Review by Shawn Smith

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May 15 2005 Review

Ninco BMW X5 ‘Isostar’
By Shawn Smith

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The latest RAID truck in the Ninco product line might still be coming off of the assembly line in Spain but thanks to NincoBob of MRC one of the new BMW X5s was brought back from his recent trip to the Ninco headquarters and days later it showed up at my door for review. Interestingly the first Ninco X5 came to Slot Car Garage almost 8 months ago so in some ways I was expecting this truck to have undergone some changes... it doesn’t look like it has. Not that it’s a bad thing as the first BMW X5 was great!

Appearance:

The only thing really different between this ‘Isostar’ liveried truck and the original ‘Motor Cadi’ BMW X5 is, quite simply, the livery. Both the original and this latest X5 are both predominantly blue although they are a different shade of blue. And since the paint jobs look to be the only thing different we can skip some verbiage and let the pictures do the talking.

So while the paint job has changed the end result has stayed the same. Both trucks have fantastic finishes with well applied graphics and completed with a great clear-coated shine. All of the details have stayed the same as well with chrome accented grill work, separately applied headlight and tail light lenses and the ‘almost legible’ driving instructions on the co-pilots clip board.

Performance:

Again the formula for success has been unchanged and everything from the 3 screws to keep the body secure to the chassis down to the quiet band-drive all-wheel drive system has been retained on this latest Ninco BMW X5. I’m going to start sounding like a broken record but it has to be said... no changes is fine by me as the original was a blast to toss around the track and so is this latest.

Piloting one of these trucks can be entertaining to say the least. With suspension springs on all four corners the trucks demonstrate a form of ‘body roll’ not found in ordinary slot cars. While some aren’t fond of the novelty almost everyone watching me test this truck certainly liked it.

And because there is some ‘leaning’ involved with driving one of these trucks the Ninco ‘ProArm’ drop-arm guide system is a necessity. Also remember that Ninco has specialty ‘off road’ track sections manufactured to get the most out of the trucks suspension. These track sections, as frequently seen in the exterior shots of the truck, have both a bumpy ‘dirt road’ surface and special placed to add bumps and simulated rock piles for these trucks to negotiate. When using those you couldn’t make one lap of the track without the travel of these Ninco off road trucks and their drop-arm guides.

Probably the most interesting thing to me is that Ninco uses a totally different magnet style in these trucks than any of the rest of their product line. Instead of a cylindrical button-style magnet the X5, ProTruck and Mitsubishi Pajero all use a very strong bar magnet that clips in to the bottom of the chassis.

I honestly would like to see Ninco take this rectangular magnet style and implement it more with their line up of modern GT cars and leave the round magnets in their classic series but what do I know? In any event the bar magnet is just as much a factor in the rolling antics of these trucks as easily removing these bar magnets allows the trucks to slide around the corners just like any normal non-magnet rally style slot car does.

The Final Verdict:

I liked them 8 months ago and that opinion hasn’t changed. Yes they have their ‘gadgets’ that some slotters will discount but for anyone who can pick up a ‘novelty car’ and enjoy it for what it is this slot car is just a plain blast to drive. Testing this X5 at the commercial track drew a bunch of on-lookers commenting on how the truck whips through the corners on 3 wheels, how fast the trucks fly down the straight-a-ways and just how great it is to see something fun and unique buzzing around the track. If you missed out on the previous versions of this truck I can’t suggest enough that you need to at least give one of these a try. They can be a bunch of fun if you let them!

Thanks go to the folks at MRC – Model Rectifier Corp for providing me this new Ninco Ninco BMW X5 ‘Isostar’ slot car 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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