Ascari are a relatively new name in the world of supercars and motorsport. Built in Britain, the KZ1 road car is a mid-engined, carbon fibre rocket with a £200,000+ price tag to match. Powered by a modified BMW V8 developing over 500bhp, it was almost inevitable that it would be developed into a racer. Enter the KZ1R which will run in the British GT, Spanish GT and the FIA GT3 series.

The Ninco model looks good to my eyes, but not perfect. The body shape is nicely reproduced, with some neat details like the open vents at the front, sides and rear. But there are some moulding lines visible on the sides and front, which is a bit disappointing. Body is put together well, the head and tail lights fit neatly, along with flush-fitting windscreens. Tampo printing is generally very good, sharp and clear with nice solid colours, but gets a little scruffy above the rear lights. The paint is generally smooth, no runs or patchiness, but my car at least suffers from some 'orange peel' on the roof. All of the minor flaws mentioned here are invisible from more than a few centimetres away.

Ninco have been criticised in the past about the size of their cars, are they really to scale? I checked the Ascari website, but they only publish the size of the road car, which doesn't have the front splitter or extended wheel arches. To 1/32 scale the measurements are: L 134mm, W 58mm, H 36mm - the model measures: L 135mm, W 61mm, H 34mm.

Ninco have obviously put a lot of effort into this model, but I can't help thinking they need to tighten up their quality control. The Ascari is without doubt a nice model, but with a little more care it could be even better...

The interior is a half depth tub with driver figure, seat, steering wheel, roll cage and some basic engine detail. The driver is new, in a more 'active' pose, so he looks more like he's driving the car rather than waiting at traffic lights! Detailing in the cabin is not to AutoArt standards, but it's not bare either. The dash board has moulded and painted instrument clusters, and some moulded detail on the centre console, plus the obligatory bright red fire extinguisher.

Three screws attach the body to the chassis, two at the front and one at the rear. To achieve any body 'rock' the sides of the chassis will need to be sanded or trimmed because they body is a fairly tight fit on the chassis. 

The chassis is the now-familiar angle-winder set up, but with much more bracing than previous models, including bracing behind the motor. This gives a much stronger chassis and a lot less flex, though the flex isn't completely eliminated it's a big step forward. The bearings on my car were slightly loose on the axle, and both axles were slightly too long and needed trimming. The motor can twist in its mount and will need to be glued in place.

The wheels are a nice design and have photo-etch brake discs fitted. The tyres are the usual Ninco offering and seem to work better after being sanded. 

Let's face it, most people don't buy Ninco cars for their looks and detail - they buy them to race! So let's see how it fares on the track...

The first test was on my small Scalextric Sport figure of eight track. Ninco cars don't usually do very well on this track, the combination of powerful motors and small magnets works against them, and the Ascari is no exception. On such a small track the KZ1R spends most of its time sideways in a series of wonderfully controllable drifts. Fun? Yes! Fast? No! 

I've had a lot of fun with Ninco cars on larger Scalextric Sport tracks in the past, the cars seem to need a bit more room to get the power down effectively.

On my routed track the Ascari seems right at home. The KZ1R is fast, reasonably quiet (with the motor glued in) and predictable. The NC5 motor has plenty of torque and power, so acceleration, top speed and braking are all impressive. The Ascari is a relatively short car with a long wheelbase (82mm) so it feels stable and secure. It's nimble too, attacking corners and powering through them without the nervousness of some small cars.

The real question is 'how well does it perform against the other Ninco cars?'

I spent a whole evening running the Ascari against the Ninco Mosler, Toyota Supra, Honda NSX, Nismo 350Z and Ferrari 360 (reviewing is such a tough job!!).

All the cars covered 50 laps each, timed in 10-lap lots. The Supra, NSX and 350Z all came in around the 9.8 sec mark, give or take a few 100ths, with the Ferrari trailing by a tenth. The Ascari and Mosler both hit 9.5 seconds, the Mosler edging the KZ1R by 2/100 of a second! But I was getting more consistent lap times with the Ascari, Supra and NSX, so it would be hard to choose which one to use in a race!

I like this car. I can live with the minor flaws in its appearance, though they will continue to annoy me from time to time. It needed a little work (trimming axles, gluing motor) to get it running how I want, but now it's running properly it's going to get a lot of use. I think Ninco have produced another car destined to be very popular.

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