1/32 Ninco Go-Kart slot car review at SCG

Ninco Go-Kart 1/32 Slot Car Review
Item #50215 - Belson #47

Features:

Anglewinder style chassis layout
Tomy Turbo HO type Mabuchi motor
Two small neodymium round traction magnets
Runs on 1/32 & 1/24 track but actually 1/18-1/20 scale
Highly detailed chassis - [photo of bottom of car]
Ackerman-type steering (front wheels follow the guide flag)

Overall Rating:

4 out of 5 tires

Purchase this item from Slot Car World

A few into slot cars also are kart enthusiasts so this new release from Ninco bridges the gap and has another hit with the slot car crowd.

Lane	Best Lap Time	Average Lap Time	Chronometer
1	5.572	5.823	1:02.436

This slot car is highly detailed and would make a wonderful piece for anyone into collecting go-kart items and not just slot cars. A great debut of a 1/32 slot car for the American market of a go-kart. A few enthusiasts who are into slot car racing also enjoy karts or kart racing so this will make them very happy. I have memories of racing karts at the local amusement park but I can't tell you how the "professional" go-karts should drive. I didn't really expect much from the slot car because of the small tires but they grip well and the traction magnets provide good downforce near the front of the car. Another feature Ninco included in this car is Ackerman-type steering which means that the front wheels steer with the guide flag. This system is of high quality and well thought out from looking at how it operates and the design, works very smoothly.

Click for Larger View

This has a very nicely detailed chassis and suspension with the use of a small HO slot car motor to make it even more realistic. The larger Mabuchi S motor that most 1/32 slot cars come with would have interfered too much with the design. The motor looks to be a match for a Tomy HO Turbo Can-Motor. Do not make the small size of the motor fool you!!! These kart slot cars are fast. They drive very nicely and I would think pumping up the voltage to 18volts would make these cars fly! (no pun intended) Slot Car World donated this car for review and Ed from ER Raceway gave me a HO green wire armature to try in the motor at a later date. This car was tested stock as-is for this review and later on I plan to put in the green wire armature (when I get some time) just to see what it would do. I haven't taken apart the chassis yet to see more closely if the motor is the same but it looks that it is.

Click for Larger View

So you are wondering how this 1/32 slot car kart drives? The car is not that hard to drive and is quite fun. This kart slot car has decent power throughout the layout but I can reach the motor's top end going down my long straight. The problem will not show up on most home tracks since they are shorter in length on the straights. The car is best suited for racing against another Ninco Go-Kart. Don't get me wrong about this, the car is great and I love the way it handles but is is no speed freak. The car is fast for it's application and the Tomy HO motor gives the car decent power and speed around the curves, etc. The best or worse part about this slot car is that the back end likes the slide a bit but you can't deslot with it much. The back end will whip around the curves when you apply the throttle (this is where you might lose some time) but then it will straighten itself out for the straight. A fun slot car indeed. Get a couple of these together on a 2 or 4 lane course and you will have loads of fun with your buddies even if you don't care for kart racing. I can see it now, people will start painting these up like their own karts (NASCAR maybe?) or their favorite kart driver :) They are great little slot cars!!!

I'm giving this car a SCG 4 out of 5 tires rating - why? The car is highly detailed and I credit Ninco for releasing a fantastic "Go-Kart" slot car for 1/32. This car can be fun for anyone even if you are not a die-hard kart racing fan. The only drawback is the performance of the motor but that can't really be helped and the slightly slide happy rear end. Still an overall recommended item for your 1/32 slot car track, get one today from Slot Car World.

Upgrades? I recently changed the motor in this go-kart to a Tomy Super Turbo Motor #AFX18899 (comes with pinion). The wires were soldered on so I just switched the cans, you can just re-solder the wires if you wish. I also had to swap around the wires on the guide flag so it would go in the same direction. The Tomy HO motor has a smaller armature motor shaft so I had to use the Tomy pinion gear since the Ninco motor has a smaller one. Check below for the track times compared to the stock motor, it will be harder to handle but with a little patience quicker too :)

1/32 Ninco Go-Kart (about 1/18 scale) - stock	5.572	5.823	1:02.436
*upgraded with Tomy Super Turbo Motor and Pinion	5.183	5.368	0:56.465