NINCO Lamborghini Gallardo Flatex - Home Racing World & Slot Car Garage

Thursday May 08, 2008

When some of us think Lamborghini, we think exotic Supercar. And rightfully so as they have produced some of the most beautiful cars in the world that truly are in a league of their own. However, these cars also see plenty of racing action in several different series and this latest release by NINCO is one of them.

My first impressions of this model were very positive. The sleek lines of this car are very appealing, perhaps seeing this car in race trim makes a difference for me, but I think most enthusiasts should appreciate this effort by NINCO.

Paint work here is very well done although some very slight bleed through was noticed near the edges of the hood on the left side. Nothing glaring really, but must be mentioned for those that care. The Tampo stamped markings are very crisp and opaque with a very clean clear-coat sealing everything in place.

Scale-wise NINCO has done a decent job. I have seen some photos with slight differences in the wing supports along with the window vents omitted, but still they have captured it in our scale quite well enough for me.

Detail level here should please most of you, and might even surprise some veterans of the hobby. The interior has plenty of extras to look at with full roll bars, fire bottle, well detailed driver figure and even some visible markings on the dash. The rear engine compartment is very impressive with fine screen print exposing some of the engine detail. Simulated carbon fiber panels in the front and rear are also a nice touch.

Wheels and tires are standard NINCO trim and appeared to be fairly round and true. I did notice the rear tires VERY close to the body. I could not see any contact being made so we will judge this after our road test. Some work will always be required to get things just right, but out of the box all appeared ready to run like it should.

Finally, we turn the car over to see what we have for power. We see that the now standard NC-5...NO! Surprise! This new model is equipped with the NC-6 "Crusher" motor (23,500 rpm) in the angle-winder configuration instead of the NC-5. Is this motor going to be the new standard for NINCO? Only time will tell.

This motor is usually found in the new Pro-Race series of cars but it looks like NINCO is stepping up the speed factor in the stock line, or at least with this car. NINCO does need to realize that we would like a standard so that the cars that should run together in a series have an equal power plant.

Box Stock Test Run

After a quick braid adjustment it was time for some action. On our 4 x 16 4 lane track the model functioned as intended although the Crusher motor is a little much for our smaller layout. Lap times were in the 4.2 second range which is pretty identical to other Super GT models from NINCO. This car on a larger track with long straight sections will most likely be superior as then the extra RPM's of this motor will take over. However, on a smaller, tighter course a milder motor just might be the choice.

One item we found is the car is loud. It has a loud rattle to it and the gears need some break-in time. I also noticed there was some slight tire rub to the body on the left side. Not a lot, but it is there. Perhaps some tire and wheel sanding will help.

Looking Closer

3 screws mount the body to the chassis and are easily removed. Inside we see the standard button magnet in the mid-chassis position along with our Crusher motor mounted angle-winder style. It has a 12 tooth pinion that turns a 32 tooth spur gear. The gear mesh was set right, so I am guessing some normal break-in will quite things down.

The front axle does have some of the common free-play most all NINCO models have. Minimizing this free-play makes a more stable platform for my driving and it is easy to do.

The first step is to add tubing under the front axle to clean up the vertical free-play. I like to use Evergreen 5/32" tubing for this. We cut 2 small sections and place them under the axle as shown. We glue them in place using super glue, but any good adhesive will do the trick. This does rid the car of all of the free-play but about 95 percent. This allows a very slight amount for float and seems to work well on a variety of different track surfaces.

The second step is to add a 3mm nylon washer to each side of the front axle. I remove one wheel and slide on a washer, then add another and re-install the wheel. When you re-install the wheel, add a light drop of Testors model adhesive to the end of the axle. This will hold the wheel firmly on the axle when it has dried. Why nylon? Because sometimes the amount of free-play is different on every car. If the washer is too thick, preventing the wheel from mounting fully, you can hand sand the washer and make a near perfect fit.

After Re-Installing The Axle, Add A Light Drop Of Oil On Each Side

Finally let us look at the wheels and tires. I noticed several bumps in the tires indicating we had some flash molding issues on the wheel. After removing the tires, sure enough we found our culprit. This is easy removed with a Emory board or light sand paper.

Once these wheels are cleaned up we can re-mount the tires and give them a good sanding to make things as round and true as possible.

Back To The Track

The first few laps told us we had a hot rod on our hands now. We clicked off lap after lap and had the car easily in the 4.0 second averages. This is pretty impressive for a model like this and most of you should be pleased. Braking and acceleration are very crisp allowing you to dive deep in the corners and really come out of them hard and fast. I loosened the 3 screws to add body float and after a few laps dove to a 3.9 average. This float also allowed the body to rest slightly higher and prevented the earlier detected tire to body rub.

After cleaning up the free-play in the front axle and oiling it, things were much better in the noise department. I also added some Turtle Wax Polishing Compound to the gears and after 75 laps the car is much improved.

Wood Track Testing
3 Lane MDF Routed Wood - Flat Latex Surface
Copper Tape Conductivity - Aftermarket Power @ 12 Volts PARMA 25 OHM Control

First impressions of the car on our wood track were favorable. The car was very smooth indicating our wheels and tires were about as round and true as you could ask for. Lap times averaged in the 5.3 second range which is more than acceptable. Since our track is small (4 x 16) the extra power on the Crusher really could not reach its true potential. After-market silicone or urethane tires (depending on your track surface and preferences) will make the biggest impact on performance. Then you can tune the car with lead until you find that "sweet spot".

Bottom Line

This is a very attractive model that certainly has plenty of power and ready to tune to your liking. Since I like my cars with light magnet or none at all, the NINCO line of cars are some of my favorites. I am happy to add this to our current collection and at least one more will join it. This model has plenty of good things going for it, most of all it is fun to drive and fun is always our bottom line.

-Harry

As always feel free to contact me about this article or just the hobby in general at harry@homeracingworld.com, or better yet drop into our Message Forum and share your thoughts with other enthusiasts!

Thanks Go To MRC For Providing Us With This Sample!