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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."
At least they decided to use 4 different frequencies. With 2 brothers, I can't tell you how many times we fought about who got to use their car at that time. It made for frustrating races when an annoyed benchwarmer would turn on his controller and flick the controls.
But I wonder, when will I be able to add whale-tail spoilers, glasspack mufflers, 4-inch tailpipes, single-windshield-wiper mods, blue turn signal lenses, and Type R/VTEC logo stickers to one of those ZipZaps?
In Soviet Russia, Jesus asks: "What Would You Do?"
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.
Pretty cool, I always like when "serious" sites review toys and neat gadgets - although I usually check out Dan's Data for that kind of thing.
I was kind of surprised to see it on Extreme Tech this morning.
Sadly it is a real pain not being able to race more than 2 at times.
Pocket-sized radio controlled cars, available for $20 or less with controller -- and infinitely customizable -- are now taking the New World by storm
These things are only $20? For a radio controller and car, that's a pretty good price. Hot wheels sets can cost $10-$20, you get more cars but they don't actually do anything.
The next trick will for somebody on slashdot to post a page where they've made a *car mod* for their laptop/etc to interface with the RC
are the shriner's included, or sold separately?
Back in the late 60's / early 60's Mattel struggled and then succeeded in developing a quick-charging small electric toy car. Although you couldn't steer these (ie - not remote controlled / ran on Hot Wheels track), Sizzlers were the first in the "quick charge run for a few minutes on battery power" category of small toy cars.
Loomis
"The television is the retina of the mind's eye" - Videodrome
These cars are fun, but do not try to do many stunts with them, or else they will not work that well. They do work wonders on a flat surface.
they have an Audi TT and Subaru Impreza WRX... much faster than the ones reviewed here - 10mph!
certainly, a larger r/c car is much more fun to play with, but it's been a long while for me.
That would be worth paying for.
Roving Web-Teleoperated Robot
to a freaking ANT the thing is going like 100 mph
You'll have to excuse me, since I'm just in one of those moods. From a technical standpoint, a mile is a mile, regardless if you're a human or an ant. However, if you meant the lesser known unit of measure, the ant-mile-per-hour, you would be correct that it would appear to be going 100 amph.
Well, i have a pair of Bit Char-G (which are the same as the MicroSizer cars), and a pair of IR controlled Digi-Q cars. The Digi-Q cars are much faster, much more maneuverable, and run for a much longer time.
Plus, they come with "pistol-style" remote controls, and have four "IR Channels". They run for much longer too, 5 minute charge gives you about 15 minutes of play. Their IR control gives them a much longer range compared to the Bit Char-G.
I had mine imported from Japan, but i think Thinkgeek stocks them once in a while. Only thing is that the Digi-Q is about $40 or so, twice that of a Bit Char-G
Probably not as manuverable as the old cars (the old cars would drive the opposite wheel of the lane that they were in, pinning them to that wall.)
Had to be one of the more fun pursuits of my childhood. I recall racing with the Star Wars set - an X-wing fighter and Darth Vaders Tie Fighter. If the Tie rear ended the X-wing, the top would pop off and the Dark side won the day. I still have those cars..x-tra fun with the 'Jam Car' a Corvette that would drive around and randomly change lanes.
Does anyone know the dimensions of these cars? My idea wouldn't work if cars can't pass each other. Either that or a parts source for the old cars..;)
OT?: Does anyone remember the Fat Wheels? An RC car with inflatable wheels that would bounce like hell. Great fun.
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.
"I Know You Are But What Am I?"
At this tiny size and the relative speed they're going, steering is a real issue. You have to pulse the steering button really quickly for small turns and still end up with pretty sizeable direction changes. They would be a lot more driveable if they had proportional steering, but that might be too much asked at this size and price point.
With their tiny size and relative lack of any bleeding edge R/C car tech all these really are is just toys.
If you are serious about R/C and being competive take a look at 1:12 and 1:10 scale "hobby quality" Electric R/C cars. My car runs 40+mph on an indoor track no bigger than 40x100ft. If I let it rip outside with the proper gearing it will climb to over 60mph.
If you get really into them you could also look at nitro R/C 'argueably' not as fast as electric, nothing can beat the sound of a nitro motor screaming by at 35,000 rpms.
you just told a gazillion geeks that if they go to thinkgeek they are going to see a nice pair on display.
lets not slashdot thinkgeek.com
There's nothing Intelligent about Intelligent Design.
I can't wait until an enterprising Japenese company makes similar-scale r/c helicopters. I'd buy one in a heartbeat(+ a bunch of spare rotors)
Just wait....
Someone will figure out how to put a strategically (and painfully) placed surface mount resistor or capacitor and shift the frequency up or down a bit from factory.
Then you could race these with more than one person on the same frequency band.
I have an amateur radio license (HAM). Technically, I'm allowed to use a wide range of frequencies for R/C or other 'remote control' use. Maybe I'll make mine work on the 2 meter band and I can control it at 100+ watts (or through a repeater)
I'll have to be on another frequency with a friend miles away to tell me where my car is steering.
At work, we have a bitchar-g racing table made from three small ikea square tables and some duplo blocks. It's a nice compact race area, but anything faster than the 1.0 motors (10,000 RPM) tend to spin out around the curves.
Sure, I once used to have very and involved debates about why "warp engine" was a misnomer and it should be "warp drive" or "warp motor". But then I got laid.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
I have had one of these for about 2 weeks now and continue to have a lot of fun. The nice thing about it is it only annoys the dog, does not scare her. After chasing her with it for some time, she just lies down and ignores it. :)
I have been getting around 5 to 8 minutes run per charge and the car works great on tile or wood floors, fair on a short berber and crappy on anything deeper. I also picked up the 'performance' kit and the higher end motor and gearing does increase speed with some decrease to run time.
I also found a nice site that has been covering these cars and also has a nice little forum for discussing issues. There is even a post from some RS folks discussing how they have tweaked the cars.
I have to use this cause I can't afford a real sig...
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.
It's here.