Radio-Controlled Microcar Review

An anonymous reader writes "ExtremeTech test drives the latest in techy toys: a new wave of tiny radio-controlled cars from Asia. The site's RC car showdown pits the MicroSizer against the ZipZap. ExtremeTech tested the stock version of each car, but also added a faster engine to the ZipZap to see if it would boost speed."

Comments

Just a passing fad

[Yusaku Godai]

I haven't seen either of the cars in the review, but when I lived in Japan lots of people had one called "Char-G" and it they were rediculous little things. Hobby stores had whole floors full of customizations for these things: faster motors, custom frame parts, etc... When it came right down to it though they're just not that fun to play with. They don't have the all terrain capabilities of regular-sized RC cars. When I played with my friend's Char-G it was only fun for about 15 minutes....and all I did was make it zoom around in a figure 8 for a bit and run it down a few flights of stairs "to test its durability" then it had to be recharged and after that I didn't really feel like playing with it anymore.

Not sure

[BaronVonDuvet]

The article says "Here in the US only two frequencies, 27MHz and 49 MHz are licensed for wireless toys, and are used. That means only two cars can race each other at once, because otherwise the signals will conflict. You can find Asian imports in some places that operate at the other three frequencies, but they are not FCC-approved for the US."

Sadly it is a real pain not being able to race more than 2 at times.

Re:R/C rice cars

[windex]

You know, I see more morons driving Dodges and Ford's with that shit (including "type-r" and "vtec" stickers, beleive it or not) on their cars than I see with asian car drivers. The most extreme asian car in my area has a "Honda" sticker on the front windshield, hardly over the wall, but there's a guy with a POS cavialer that has racing stripes / coffee can / etc. Mabye it's regional.

Oh, I drive a Acura RSX, and while it does have some work done under the hood, it looks exactally the way it did when it left the dealer on the outside. :)

Another thing for 3-year olds to choke on!

[100MHzperhour]

Come and get your suffocation cars. Only $15.99 to die a slow horrible death from choking! Maybe the 38,000rpm motors may make you choke faster?

Bit Char-G are the business

[iainl]

Don't accept any imitations - I've yet to see a single non-Tomy one with the same build quality as an official Bit Char-G. They are great - they may not have the range or manouverability of a larger car, as several have pointed out, but on my maple floor they go like a dream, and are small enough to let you do a decent course without having to resort to multi-room strangeness.

Obviously, the best are the limited edition Mario Kart ones - RC racing with Mario is so smart.

Claim to Fame

[NotTheNickIWanted]

I find it mildly amusing that while Radio Shack is virtually claiming to have "discovered" micro r/c cars and brought them to North America, reputable hobby stores such as this one have had them in stock for a while now.

Just goes to show you what a large-budget marketing department can do for your image!

Re:say hi to the master of the fucking obvious!

[cant_get_a_good_nick]

Faster motor means faster RPM at the driveshaft. This may or may not translate to faster car speed, depending on axel horsepower and a bunch of other stuff.