Here is a car made in Carrera with an original function, steam. It will not help you iron your shirts with steam, sorry. But on the box, we see smoke coming out of the car. We have to test that.
If clearly my attention was focused on this steam function, looking a little more at the packaging, I see that there are drift tires included, and we see a tire next to the car in the box.
After removing all the elements from the packaging, we discover a well-represented Audi R8 GT3 LMS Evo II. The body is not made of classic thick plastic like many first-price cars but of thin plastic like in model making. This gives it a shiny side and we have the impression of having a racing car. Accessories such as the spoilers and bumpers are well integrated into the body. In terms of looks, nothing to say.
It is time to get down to business and run this car, I find in the packaging 2 AAA batteries (LR03) and 6 AA batteries (LR06). We can salute this custom of Carrera to always incorporate the batteries in its car packaging. No frustration of having forgotten to buy the battery format that is necessarily missing at home. Then we can ask ourselves the question of the choice of batteries for the car while we tend to find in many RC vehicles, batteries that can be recharged.
Now it’s time to turn the remote and the car “ON”. Wow, I didn’t know the headlights came on in the front and back.
This car has many surprises in store for us and these lights give it even more of a competitor look.
First turns of the wheels, we start by adjusting the neutral of the steering which is not done on the remote control but under the car. This done, let’s see how the car reacts. We note that the steering is not proportional but all or nothing. I hope that this will not harm the precision of the driving too much.
First turns of the wheels
In the house on the tiles, the car accelerates well but it is difficult to go long distances at full speed. The 18km/h announced are more than enough indoors. The rubber tires give good road holding on bends. It is really a shame that the steering is not proportional, it harms the precision of the driving, we are forced to give small turns of the steering wheel.
Head outside to test on the tarmac, let’s go, there is more space, so it is easy to judge the top speed. 18km/h is not extraordinary but with its scale at 1/16, a rather small size, we rather have an impression of speed.
Where its small size is clearly a handicap, it is at the level of the gravel or small stones that can be lying on the road. The car can get stuck on it, and be deviated from its trajectory if a tire hits one of them. It is quite unpleasant and you have to favor clean trajectories.
Steam
That’s not all, but we haven’t tested the steam or smoke function, which is more suitable for a car. It’s not a train or a steam car! To make steam, you need water, so the first step is to fill the tank. To do this, you have to open the access cap under the car (at the back), and with the pipette provided, add water. After closing, you can put the car back on its wheels.
Now it’s time to look at the remote control and on the top there is a big red button with a steam logo. Just press it and instantly a jet of steam comes out of the back of the car. When I say jet, I mean a jet. It’s not very diffuse, like the smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe, which is more of a cloud than a jet.
On the plus side, it’s just water and it’s not toxic, but the steam is very white and not necessarily very visible. Unless you stay still for a long time, the steam doesn’t drop on the ground. It’s a bit like a fogger.
If you leave the steam on for too long, it automatically cuts off after 30 seconds. This is to prevent the device from running without water.
When the car is moving, the smoke is a little more diffuse with speed. Depending on the brightness and the color of the ground, it will be more or less visible.
Drift
Well, it’s time to test the last function of the car. The one that will highlight your true driving skills. Drifting. Stop at the pit on the living room table. I pick up the 4 drift rims and the cross wrench that will allow you to remove the rim nut. The wrench seems to be made of soft plastic, which is quite disturbing to handle when loosening and tightening the nut. Concerning the nut, be careful, usually on RC vehicles, the nuts are of the nylstop or brake type, which prevents it from loosening with vibrations. Here, this is not the case, Carrera has chosen flange nuts. So I advise you to periodically check that the nuts are tight.
The tires themselves are not made of rubber like the classic version, but of hard plastic, just like the rims. So no grip on the road. What I like about these tires is that you drift and you feel like you’re driving on ice.
The 4 rims are changed, I put the car on the ground. I accelerate very gradually, the car moves forward, and the turns are very wide. A good burst of gas and there, it goes into Drift directly, it hunts, you have to steer, counter-steer to keep the car in the right direction. It’s a real driving pleasure but also requires constant attention because you have to avoid hitting furniture to avoid damaging the car.
This needs to be tested with more space, heading out onto the tarmac. Either we accelerate hard and the car takes time to accelerate (and we will consume a lot of energy, and harm the battery life) or we accelerate more gradually and overall we reach top speed more quickly.
Then comes the time to negotiate a bend. If we turn in small jerks we can keep the car in the direction of movement but the radius of the bend is large. However, we want to drift so we want the car to chase from the rear.
To do this, simply give a small turn of the steering wheel to one side then the other to see the car go sideways and make long slides. We then control the direction of the car as best we can.
In any case, we will have to use our driving skills, but it is a real pleasure to see the car drift, slide. Above all, keep a safe distance when driving to avoid hitting walls, posts and any other obstacles to avoid damaging the car.
Summary
the – :
the non-proportional steering.
the wheel nuts
the +:
the smoke
the drift tires
the look of the car
the headlights and parking lights
Indicative price 50 euros
reference: 370160148
Note that Carrera offers another model with the steam option but without the drift tires.
Steam Rider reference 370160145
A sporty gold-colored look, really cool.
It is given a little less fast 15km/h but comes with a battery and not batteries, which is a plus.
Indicative price: 52 euros