Released in fall 2024 exclusively in German-speaking countries, the Carrera HYBRID will arrive worldwide in fall 2025. Carrera is known for making road circuits (Slot) and radio-controlled vehicles, so what is this new HYBRID thing?
The term “hybrid” refers to something composed of heterogeneous elements, which combines different characteristics. So we imagine a hybrid of Slot and RC.
For the record, the Hybrid range was not developed by Carrera; it is a third-party product for which Carrera has formed a partnership. It was the company Sturmkind (https://www.sturmkind-shop.com/) that developed the concept and already offers a variant under its own brand, the Dr!ft range. Note that the German word “Sturmkind” means “child of the storm” in French.
Historically, Carrera has had good ideas, but they often fall short in execution. A great idea starts out, but the result isn’t up to scratch. We remember the GO+, the Build’n Race range (with cars to build), or the Challenge series (single-lane track), but what about the Hybrid? Deep down, I fear the worst.
If you can’t find the HYBRID range in stores, it’s easy to find a track on well-known websites. The “Speed to Hell” track, reference 50001, with its two Porsches (one green and one yellow), has arrived.
The Road Circuit (Slot) Side
As with slot tracks, the track is assembled with sections of straights and curves to create a circuit.
The Radio-Controlled Vehicle Side
The cars are small radio-controlled cars, not with a remote control, but with an app on a smartphone or tablet.
That’s all well and good, but I can easily make a track with sheets of paper and use a 1/50th scale RC car, and I get the same result. But there are features that go with all that.
The advantages of the Hybrid
You might think it’s just a classic RC car and an app to drive it, but no, there are extra features that make the word Hybrid spelled in capital letters: HYBRID.
The car is capable of detecting the track and its position, and that makes a big difference. A bit like cars and driver assistance. Depending on the assistance mode, the car (and the app) help you stay on the track. Be careful, if you mess up, you’ll go off the track, but if you drive at a reasonable speed and try to follow the track, the car will stay on the track.
Add to that a decent app. A well-designed and efficient app, which allows you to have something really good. (A little nod to the GO+ app, which was a disaster.)
The Carrera Hybrid app
After creating an account, we access the different sections. Everything is clear and easy to navigate; nothing to complain about there.
The first thing to do is enter your cars and track sections. It’s very easy and intuitive.
Track Construction
In spring 2025, there are only two types of track sections, or four to be precise: a straight line and an R1-60° curve.
Two straight-line references with the starting line (A) and the straight portion of the track. And on the curve side, the right-hand curve (D) and the left-hand curve (C).
In the kit, Carrera has printed 12 different tracks that can be created with the available rails, which is a departure from slot kits, which generally only offer one layout (although for the past few years, the GO range has offered a few variations).
After making your choice, it’s time to move on to assembly, and this is very simple: just add a slight angle between two sections, and the two parts fit together easily. A major advantage over slot kits is that there are no tabs that must be perfectly aligned to assemble and disassemble, otherwise they might break.
Race preparation
Before starting a race on the app, you need to specify the track layout to the app, and here we have several options:
Manual mode with the editor, where you specify each section of track to define the track. The editor is very well done, kudos to the designer.
Automatic mode, which is amazing. Just drive the car (which drives on its own) for two laps, and the track is drawn on the app. This mode is very, very powerful.
The Race
Now you can start a race, choose the game mode, its settings (we’ll come back to all the options soon), the track, and off you go.
The default mode for controlling the car isn’t really my preferred driving style. Steering the car with my smartphone isn’t easy; I don’t have the right sensitivity; I’m more used to good old-fashioned joystick remotes. Despite this, the car stays on the track. What’s surprising is that it feels like you’re driving the car; if you mess up, you’ll inevitably go off the track. But if you do your best, the driving assistance takes care of the rest.
After two warm-up laps, the cars line up on their own to form a starting grid; it’s amazing. The countdown begins, and off we go; you can continue laps until the end of the race. As with every race, the result will depend on you and your driving skills.
Evolution
After each race, you’ll earn experience points that will allow you to unlock challenges and options for your car.
You’ll be able to upgrade your car from beginner to legendary, and upgrade it in the tire, gearbox, brake, and boost categories. These new options will allow you to customize your car to suit the track. Details will be provided soon.
And much more
You can drive on a track or simply in free mode, in your living room, like a classic RC car.
There are two driving modes on your smartphone: one with a slider on each side for the brake and accelerator, the steering being controlled by the angle of the smartphone (default mode), or the other with two virtual sticks. But a third mode is possible: connecting a controller via Bluetooth and using it like a game console.
First Assessment
Perplexing at first, we quickly realize that every element of the concept has been carefully worked out. Even though the product is still only a few months old, if a community builds over time to sustain the range, new features could emerge in the future, whether in terms of accessories, cars, track elements, or even app functions. New cars and track elements have already been announced for the end of 2025.
We will return to more details on each function and option soon. In the meantime, you can find information about the range in the HYBRID menu of this website.
Official release in France this fall.