08/24/2010
 On the back of the instructions it shows you that two different crowns and two different pinions are available. The alternate gears do not come with the car however and in stock configuration the Porsche came fitted with the 7z/30z gearing.  Of course this is not traditional gearing. The pinion and the crown do not directly make contact as they do in a traditonal car sense. No, the XLOT system incorporates a belt drive transmision, which as I mentioned earlier can be adjusted/tightened by loosening and sliding the motor bracket in the chassis.  Anyone reading this that has experience with Parma Whisperjet commercial track cars may have a bit of a flashback, as I did, but unlike the Whisperjets smooth o-ring type belts the XLOT belts are a 'toothed' belt. Prior to this review I've read comments but in favor of and against a belt drive system like this but I can say from having driven these even prior to receiving this car the system works great and the cars perform better than I expected.  Those who may have fear of the belts flying off I can say that so far, I have not seen it. The wheel side of the crown is flanged to keep the belt in place and on the axle, both front and back, are small metal axle collars which are serviced using the tiny 0,9mm allen key that came in the tool kit.  This would be a good time to stress that the set screws in these are tiny! And adjusting them should require just light pressure with the allen key to secure. While I had no issues with mine its easy to assume that over tightening these is not a good idea. Threads in aluminum are easily stripped so don't go wrenching on these with too much force.  What are also set-screw are all four wheels. The 1,5mm key will be used to remove the wheels from the car and to access the screw you need to move the tire and use the key through the hole in each rim.  As you can see from the images these wheels do not have the more widely recognized raised center hubs and in contrast have a groove where a raised rib of rubber inside each tire rides. The tires themselves provide for very respectable grip and thanks to the quality of the parts they ride on required very minimal work to get a good contact patch on the track surface.  NINCO uses a thin insert for wheel decoration and these have center posts that slide over the center hub of each wheel. When I first saw the flush fit in each wheel I began thinking of ways in which to sink these inside of the wheels a little more, create more of a visible lip on the wheels but its going to require some creative modifications to pull off the look I want. On that note, and something I will be quick to check out once they become available are new 5-spoke pattern wheels NINCO is showing as spares on their website.  And speaking of spares NINCO shows replacement guide wires, guides, axles, bushings, belts etc on their website. Even complete unbuilt Porsche and Ferrari body kits in all white are available. They also have a few potentially useful items such as a clear chassis set-up base and aluminum replacement gear combinations. Oh, and I just mentioned the Ferrari... its important to point out that the Ferraris, because of licensing, come as a 'need to assemble' kit unlike our test Porsche which comes complete and ready to run. One advantage to the Ferrari in kit form is it will give the builder a better understanding of how everything is built and functions.  But back to our Porsche; the body is back in place and its time to get some looks at it on the track. Believe it or not but this is actually the second edition of this #95 car. Yes, that's right, the initial release probably best portrays the car as it might be at the start of a race, 'clean'! This version of the body though comes 'weathered' to replicate what the car might look during or at the end of an endurance race.  Nothing like a brand new car painted to look like it's been through the ringer! In truth I like the effect and it would seem that NINCO has done an excellent job in the application of the asphalt and rubber build up paint as I tried to scrape some of it off with my thumb nail and the stuff just doesn't want to scrape off. It isn't that the black is clear coated as you can feel the surface difference between the gloss smooth roof and the more gritty feeling areas behind the four wheels.  Dirty or clean I like the looks of this car. And if this paint job isn't for you NINCO has a black/white and green version as well as a Jagermeister orange Porsche as well. In the Ferrari ranks the NINCO website also shows three different pre-painted verions and if you want even more variety there is rumor of a BMW model being added to the XLOT line in the future.  Detail wise the nose bottom lip of the air dam painted gloss black and hood pins are both raised details of the body and painted. The headlight lenses have a slight yellow cast to the plastic without making them look to amber in color.  The name of Paul Daniels is on the car, and it would seem by the helmet that Mr. Daniels is also at the wheel, fitted in his Recaro racing seat in the primarily white interior. The dash (below) is detailed on the center console and typical details like a roll cage and red fire bottle are fitted inside of the cabin.   The back of the XLOT 997 is highlighted by the large rear wing and clear red tail light lenses and two small bronze colored exhaust tips, actually attached to the body as seen earlier in the review, round out the exterior styling.   As mentioned earlier the car is provided with inserts, here the BBS design is accented with blue wheel nuts and as expected on the 'weathered' paint version the wheels too have taken a shot of the replicated road grime.  So let's touch again on the fact that the XLOT is not a 1/24 scale car nor is it the more popular 1/32 scale either. It's no secret that this car is 1/28 and NINCO states it clearly in its marketing and on the instructions that come with the cars. For some scale reference below you can see how the 1/28 scale Porsche fits on NINCO's own track type from above.  Clearly two XLOT racers could run side by side with some room to spare and comparing it to a more traditional NINCO 1/32 offering of the same style Porsche 997 (below) you can see that the XLOT is in fact larger, although not by a terrible amount.  While larger I have to admit that I like the lines of the 1/28 car much better and I think NINCO did a much better job with these capturing the shape of the Porsche over all. In this shot (above) you can see the difference in the roof line of the two models and that the XLOT is slightly longer and taller than its 1/32 scale cousin.  And of course chassis wise there is no comparison, and to be fair NINCO doesn't want you to really compare the two scales as they simply weren't designed to be run against one another. Nope... the XLOT was an intentional deviation from the standard in slot car racing and they're quite proud of it. I can't really say that I blame them as at first I was a giant skeptic and I ignored the initial releases as something I probably wouldn't like. I'll be the first to admit when I'm wrong though and in regards to the XLOT line I was wrong.  Having had the chance to run the XLOTs, both the Porsche and the Ferrari, I do in fact like them very much. They are very much a unique slotting experience being neither a traditional plastic-chassis car nor are they commercial track speed demons. NINCO rates the XLOT motor at a modest 25,750 RPMs at 14.8 volts and I think its a perfect choice for these as it gives them ample power without taking away from the cars drivability. I've run them now on both plastic home scale track as well as two different commercial wood tracks and they are good all around performers that I think deserve being looked at. If anything were to make a buyer second guess yes the price can be quite eye opening to many in the hobby but here again NINCO isn't trying to tap in to the toy-slot car racing market segment with these. No, NINCO wants those racers interested in the 'something different', the unique car with lots of adjustability and options and I for one think in that respect they have hit the nail on the head with the XLOTs. No, they aren't going to be for everyone, but I think NINCO is more than ok with that. Thanks to Model Rectifier (MRC) for providing the NINCO Xlot Porsche 997 for review. Please stop by the HomeRacingWorld.com Message Board to talk about this and all other models of slot cars. Happy Slotting! Shawn Smith - SJSlots Shawn@HomeRacingWorld.com Thanks Go To MRC For Sponsoring This Review!
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