NINCO N-Digital Corvette Z06 “Monza”

The latest from the NINCO 1 line, with a digital twist

by Kurt “El Secundo” Moser

NINCO returns to the entry-level ring with the second of its new NINCO 1 line, but unlike the introductory WTCC Chevy show car, this release is pure race car – the Chevy Corvette GT3 Z06 driven by Philipp Peter and Luke Hines. Dressed in black and decked out with a large rear wing, this is one of NINCO’s first forays into modern American muscle.

When you check out this car at your local hobby shop, the first thing you’ll notice is that NINCO is making an attempt at smaller packaging with the NINCO 1 line. The NINCO 1 packaging weighs in about 75 grams lighter than their standard package, at about 2/3 the volume. This should translate into lower packaging costs and lower shipping costs. And unlike the regular releases, the NINCO 1 line is much less likely to be kept as a shelf queen by collectors, so packaging is much less important. Also worth noting on the packaging: the official GM license, and the base screw that holds the car on the plinth during shipping. That’s right, no T-shaped lock that often breaks in transit.

Next thing you’ll notice once you pull the car from the base, the car has exceptional paint – smooth and glossy. Visually, the entry level car’s detail falls a little short of the standard releases, but not by much. You won’t see decals on the tires, and you won’t see an interior. The windshield is a translucent black plastic, instead of a coating of opaque black paint. The wheels also have brake disc detail, which is certainly a cut above most entry level cars. The front fenders have the vented look, but they aren’t actually vented.

One welcome addition on such cars is rubberized mirrors. Rubberizing the mirrors doesn’t guarantee they won’t break off, but it does improve their odds of survival. All in all, the car presents very nicely in full race livery – somewhere between fully-detailed racing models and other beginner cars. For fun, I snapped a couple of shots next to Carrera’s Corvette C6-R to see how it stacks up in the visual department, but keep in mind that the Carrera represents a C6-R, and the NINCO is a GT3 Z06 – don’t expect them to be identical:

Note the similar detail levels and accuracy (minus the interior).

Mechanically, the story is similar – not quite like NINCO’s standard models, but a cut above what I’d consider to be ‘entry level’. It’s not surprising to find NINCO’s laprene tires on this car. They’re meant for NINCO track, and as an N-Digital car, it will be spending its time on NINCO track. Four screws, fully exposed, make it easy for youngsters to take apart and reassemble the car. And once inside, we find pure simplicity. The gears have been lubed, the bushings oiled, and the N-Digital chip is packed neatly in its red casing. A nub on the underside of the chip casing pushes through a hole in the chassis, locking it in place. NINCO uses its sprung guide here, and we also find plastic bushings instead of NINCO’s traditional bronze. The chassis is perfectly flat, with vertical ridges running longitudinally in the chassis, connecting the front and rear bushing holders. And tucked in the rear ahead of the rear axle is a small but strong bar magnet, riding behind the NINCO 1 motor (the NC-11) rated at 16,000 rpm at 14.8 volts, with 100 g*cm of torque. This motor is certainly no beast, but it delivers enough power to be fun at stock N-Digital voltage.

Red = body screws | Green = digital chip mounting point
Blue = chassis attachment to base | Yellow rectangle = bar magnet

So how does it all add up? On the track, I ran into a problem right away. The car couldn’t get out of its own way on the corners, and deslotted very, very easily. Two things contributed to this – easy to find for an experienced tuner, but not so obvious otherwise. For a car marketed to the new guy or for kids, that’s a bad pair of problems to have. First, the braids are very stiff, and if they were turned downwards enough to make good track contact, they pushed the car up and out of the slot. Second, the guide’s spring was not springy enough. Stretching the spring allowed the guide to both plant itself in the slot, and put enough weight on the stiff braids to get good contact. Once this was done, the car ran beautifully. The motor is well matched to the stock power output of the N-Digital track, making the car controllable for all experience levels of racer. The Z06 can be pushed hard by the experienced driver, and it’s forgiving enough for the new driver in the family. It’s particularly well suited to N-Digital racing, in my opinion – relatively bullet-proof, and runs at a good speed for digital action. Handling is on the ‘tight’ side, so diving late into a corner to outbrake your N-Digital opponents is easy. The motor and gearing are well suited to smaller tracks, or larger tracks with lots of lane changers. With the magnet in place, this car does not get out of control easily, freeing digital racers to concentrate on more important things such as cutting off their opponents and talking smack.

And now, the bad news – price. MRC lists the Corvette at $69.98. I’m sure this will prompt plenty of discussion, and it should. For an entry-level digital car, that’s something of a whopping price tag. But if you’re one of the folks who uses N-Digital and you’ve been looking for cars that run with good control at a reasonable speed with the stock controllers, you’re in luck. You can run eight of these cars without straining the power packs, your track doesn’t have to be huge, and the action will be incredible. But if you’re one of those guys who changes the motor, the gears and the tires on every car, this NINCO 1 car will be a very expensive option for you. This car, more than many others, is intended for very specific needs. If you want an N-Digital car that looks great, is relatively robust (and good for kids), and needs very little tweaking out of the box, this is an excellent choice. If you need those things but aren’t willing to pay for them, well, move along. For me, I have several cars chipped for N-Digital racing, using NC-2, NC-5, and NC-6 motors, and I find this car with its NC-11 motor to be the most suitable for my modest 45 foot layout, followed closely by the car equipped with the NC-2. This meets my hopes and expectations for this range of N-Digital cars, so I’m really looking forward to the similarly-equipped Lamborghini expected to be released this year.

My thanks go to MRC and “NINCO Bob” Lewen for providing this car for review. Feel free to contact me on the board if you have any questions about this car, or any of the NINCO 1 line of cars.