NINCO1 Series Mini-Review

[dreinecke]

[Jesla]

Great write-up David with some very valid points.

Thank you, Sir

[Florida_Slotter]

David,

I completely concur with your write-up.

Fortunately (?) we were able to run one of the cars almost all the way around our 65 foot track. I think our laughing was so hard that we decided not to finish the lap. Kind of like watching a car with square wheels on all 4 corners run around the block. It wasn't pretty.

We started an assembly line to re-work the cars. I would pull the bodies and tires, then hand the car off to ModlerBob who ran the wheels on the sanding block to straighten them out. I know he had to glue several wheels on in the process. Once he completed that, I mounted some Yellow Dog" 2101 tires on the car, did the Super Glue and oil tip on the rear wheel bushings. I also glued the bushings and motor in place. Once we got done, the cars ran quite respectfully.

The question I kept asking myself throughout all of this is thus: These cars are supposedly aimed at the new racers in 1/32nd scale. With no interiors, the price should be very low. If a new person were to buy these cars, they would more than likely be disillusioned with slot car racing and 3 of the 4 cars would not even run a single lap. In my opinion that is a quite disappointing.

We brought these cars to our club as we are going to do some "D.R.O.C." racing. That is where the cars stay on a lane and only the drivers change lanes. A driver will have to drive all 4 cars during a race.

Bottom line: At just under $80 for the set of cars, they are a good candidate for club racing after doing a lot of work on the cars. At about 2 and a half times the price we paid for them, not a good deal. I'm happy with the deal and now that they have been tuned and tweaked, they run quite well at about 12 volts.

Thanks for your evaluation. It lines up pretty much with what we found.

[dreinecke]

Just hoped to help someone out. If you register at Top Slots and Trains, you get their newsletter and special code. I just looked and they still have the set in stock and individual cars priced at just about $19.50. They still have lots of liveries left too if you're looking for individual cars. Not to say you can't shop on this side of the pond, which I always encourage, but for someone looking for a great bargain and a good shop to do business with, I highly recommend them.

One interesting note regarding wheels and tires: when Harry did the original review, I do not believe his wheels and tires had these issues. Sounds like a quality issue in my case and also the ones Marty and Bob have.

The point about a beginner struggling with a car that won't run is actually very common it seems. I've had other brand cars that always ran perfect out of the box not work well in more recent releases. Quality is an issue, but so are our expectations as enthusiasts. Let's be honest too: most parents are not going to spring for a $300 set, they want the $50-80 set which limits the scope of what they can buy and what their expectations are regarding the performance of the cars.

Luckily, HRW is one place that can help those folks that do a quick search to find out why things don't work on little Johnny's new racetrack.

[BRS Hobbies]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the cars.

I have run quite a few NINCO 1 slot cars over the years. All the wheels on my cars have always been really true and tight on the axles. I also haven't experienced any tire fitting problems. We have sold quite a few of the NINCO 1 series cars to newcomers to the hobby and always get good feedback on the cars. One of the reasons, that I like the series so much is I have found them to need very little (if any) tuning since they normally run so great out of the box. You can look at all the NINCO 1 reviews posted on the Internet and other than the cars having a slow motor (which some prefer), high price, stiff braids and no interior, the cars are generally rated very favorably. It is possible that the cars from Top Slots and Trains may be seconds, from a bad batch or defective in some way.

I understand that you are just posting your experiences with the cars but wanted to let everyone that it isn't the norm with the NINCO 1 series of cars.

Best regards,
Brian

[dreinecke]

Brian - I don't doubt that quality can swing both ways and I'm very glad to hear the ones you've had have been good. I can say that three tires all exhibited the issue I showed. I believe it is a problem with the mold and it is possible these were made as a mold was going bad after many parts were made.

I have dealt with TS&T and know they don't sell seconds without ever posting them as such, so I just think that perhaps some of the later ones have these issues. Again, nothing I can't fix, and certainly much better than the Scalextric Yunick Camaro with the guide flag hole being so big that the guide cannot stay seated. That car is unable to be driven at all and is still awaiting a chassis transplant.

Like I said, if the normal pricing were in line with what you get, I think these things would be the sleeper series of the decade. Too bad that hasn't been the case, because they are nice cars.

[mfogg]

...

[HomeRacingWorld]

Great job on the review. Call it like you see it.

I always liked them (this series). The only thing that has stopped them from being more popular is the price. I like the motor, I like the bodywork, and with a little tuning they delivered some great fun on our smaller track.

Your check for this work is in the mail.

[dreinecke]

Oh goodie! Money, er...parts!

I've spent the last hour in the basement fiddling with these more. Again, I've nothing against the cars - they are really nice once tuned up. I was just disappointed that the didn't run out of the box. Now that I've run some more laps I like them even better. They are so even it is crazy. I am breaking in motors today and that loosens them up a little, but probably not a big deal for most folks. The motor is an absolute treat in these things! On my wood track, once the tire issues are sorted out on the inside, the rubber is excellent on my track. Most NINCO tires are though, so no surprise there. I'll not be switching these to urethanes now that the major problems are fixed.

The price is the bigger issue. If they'd list these at $35 as the MSRP, they'd sell them all, and I'd probably own them all.

[ListerStormGT]

[goosenapper]

[BRS Hobbies]

Bibbster,

Thanks for the update.

NINCO cars come with a front axle set up that has some up and down play which is beneficial since this axle float acts as suspension on a textured NINCO track. For racing on a much smoother wood track, you will find the NINCO cars will run a lot better if you take the axle float out of the front axle as Harry has done in a lot of his reviews of the NINCO cars.

Best regards,
Brian

[BRS Hobbies]

Bibbster,

Generally, the NINCO 1 slot cars run great out of the box, especially on a NINCO track. Not exactly sure why some of these cars that were purchased overseas are having problems. I have at least 5 or 6 NINCO 1 slot cars and all have been great with little if any tuning. I enjoy driving the cars so much that I plan on selling some of my more expensive 1/32 slot cars since they seem to need more aftermarket parts, tuning and aren't as fun to drive on my track.

Best regards,
Brian

[Florida_Slotter]

Brian,

Whether these issues are amplified in the particular package that was brought to our attention in the first post of this thread, I do not know. I do know that I had received an email from Top Slots N Trains announcing their sale of this particular product.

After spending some time on them, I like all 4 of the cars. It was a lot of fun tuning them.

I totally understand the fact that some folks will read this thread and automatically assume that the Ninco1 cars are not suitable for their needs. Unfortunately in the consumer world impressions are quickly made - whether correct or not - by writeups such as some of the comments made by myself and others. I know that if my grandson bought a set of these cars, he would have been disillusioned by them and probably would have lost interest.

Personally I am in favor of low cost slot cars. I have a couple of sets of the Scalextric Start Cars. I find all 3 pairs of them to run very well. Now, in my opinion, out of the box they are at best, rough. After spending some time with them, all of them run very nicely, are smooth and quiet.

I do believe that the majority of folks that have purchased these cars, myself included, have them for use by visitors that are new to slot car racing. Many of us do things like have "Children's Races" where there is no charge for use of cars, controllers nor track time. We are simply promoters of the hobby. This is an excellent product for us to use. I think the information that was shared here was directed towards others of similar knowledge and talent to aid in the tuning of these cars. I think if you look at the bottom line, the Ninco1 cars that were talked about here came from Tops Slots N Trains. As such, they may have been 'culls' from manufacturing that did not meet certain QC criteria. I do know that after our ministrations, the cars are quite capable performers. Perhaps this can serve as information for people that choose to purchase this product, which results in a $20 slot car. Yes, work by the purchaser is required, but the bottom line is that the design of the product, perhaps not the implementation of this particular source of the product is not in question.

To me I would like to have this type of information available, if needed by someone that purchases this product.

Of course, all of this is my opinion.

[BRS Hobbies]

I understand you guys are just reporting your finding with these cars. In my opinion, NINCO has made a lot of mistake over the years but one thing that I felt that they did really well was the NINCO 1 series even with the high price. I have helped a lot of customers get started off with these NINCO 1 slot cars and have always gotten great feedback for it. I also have several reviews and articles on the NINCO 1 cars at our blog. It is just disheartening to hear that if you guys would have started the hobby with these cars that you would have switched to another hobby. I have been involved with slot cars since the late 70's and am very passionate about helping others to get the same level of enjoyment with slot cars that I have over the years.

Best regards,
Brian