New range offered in the 2020 catalog by Carrera, the Go Battery is located between the GO and the First while still being much closer to the GO Range. The GO plus being between the GO and the Digital 143, the GO Battery is therefore its equivalent on the First side. The GO Battery rails are GO compatible and vice versa, just like the cars. The difference is in the starting rail. It requires (like the First) batteries, 4 in number and type D (LR20).
The vehicles in this set come from a license already used by the First range, the Paw Patrol. For these cars arriving in the GO range, the Ready Race Rescue sub-license (from the film) is used. The story of the film is based on a race, which is quite appropriate for a Carrera circuit. The cars look like real racing cars. We are offered Chasse the police dog (blue car) and Marcus, the fire dog (red car).
The main technical feature of this set is its power rail. What strikes you first is this big red block on the edge of the track. Its role is to contain the four batteries. Second point, the rail is larger than the usual GO power rails. At 114mm, its length is multiplied by 3 to reach 342mm, the length of a standard straight line in the range.
While the First range also works with 4 batteries and only batteries. Here, Carrera has opened up a new possibility, namely, being able to connect a GO power supply, allowing you to do without batteries. Unlike the battery box of the GO range, it is not necessary to have a screwdriver to change the batteries.
Accessory included in this box, the brand’s new springboard (ref. 71599). The ramps are shorter than its predecessor ref (20061641). In addition, the height of the jump ramp is not adjustable in this new version. We also immediately note that there is no decoration on the ramps, and they are not the color of the track but a bright red. We don’t miss the springboard on the track.
Comparison of the old and new jumps
Here is a picture of the difference between the old and the new jump ramp. We will come back to the jump in another article soon.
Comparison of Paw Patrol First and GO vehicles
The Carrera First does not have an official scale, but we can estimate it to be around 1/50°. If we compare these to 1/50° RC karts, the size is very close.
The controllers
The controllers have a particularity compared to the GO range. They do not have a Turbo button. Small saving? Or small inconvenience less for young drivers? The turbo button can be annoying for the youngest who often press it involuntarily and end up off the track. So surely a double blow on the part of Carrera. Apart from that the shape remains identical.
The curves
The R1-90° turns provided are different from the GO range, not in shape or compatibility but in decoration. The vibrator decorations have lost their white color, only red remains. A small saving that does not harm the game, but the red stands out very little, it would have deserved to be more flashy otherwise we might as well push the logic to the end and completely remove the decoration.
Speed comparison based on power supply
For this test, I made an oval with a long straight line and I put at the end of the straight line a radar module of my own making to measure the speed of the car. For this test, Flash Mc Queen volunteered. He made 10 laps for each test. Here is the table of measurements in cm/s.
power supply | V min | V max | V moy |
Sector | 305,85 | 319,53 | 314,39 |
Alkaline batteries (1.5V) | 232,77 | 236,79 | 234,65 |
Rechargeable batteries (1.2V) | 213,31 | 221,87 | 216,91 |
I carried out the battery test with alkaline and rechargeable batteries. Indeed, many users choose rechargeable batteries to avoid having to buy batteries regularly. Since there is a voltage difference of around 0.3V between these two types of batteries, it is interesting to see what the impact is on the speed of the vehicle. There is a difference of around 8% between the two types of batteries. Concerning the difference between a mains power supply and alkaline batteries, it is around 33%.
This is what we can say about this GO Battery box.