"Kart Racing Buggy"
Street Price: $27.99 US
Manufacturer: Shen Qi Wei
Mfgr's recommended min. age: 4+
Our recommended age range: none
Primary use: Indoor
Radio: 27mhz
Includes:
- Vehicle
- Transmitter / charger
- Instructions
- 6 AA batteries for the transmitter
Initial Impressions
I couldn't stop myself from buying this little gem off eBay for under $30 (shipping included). At about 4 1/2" long, this buggy is the perfect "mini" size. It's really compact, yet large enough to have nice details, good proportions, and believable styling. It has nice wheels and real rubber tires with aggressive dirt-biting pins in the rear and sand-carving ribs up front. Most impressive to me, though, was the suspension, which features soft independent springs up front and a spring-suspended solid rear axle. This thing is sure to soak up all of the bumps I can throw at it!
Preparing to run
The controller has a charging cord that extends out and plugs directly into the car. This is pretty common in micro-scale cars, so I was pleasantly surprised to see such a system in a vehicle of this size. I like the charging jack itself, too -- it's round like a headphone plug and doesn't have to be inserted at exactly the right angle, so there's no hassle, no fuss!
Testing
After having great recent experiences with a Air Hogs Mini Terrain Titans buggy that's half the size of this one, I was fully ready to see some off-road capability, so I started off trying to drive on carpet right away. Bad idea. It barely moved! It felt like the battery wasn't charged, even though I had made sure it was on the charger for the right amount of time.
I moved to a smooth kitchen floor to see if it would do better there, and it did, but only barely. Accelleration was downright painful, and its top speed is unimpressive for its size. Even worse was the steering radius, which was so poor, I could barely turn around in the main area of my kitchen without backing up a couple times.
After the battery ran out, I gave it a few minutes to cool down and put it on for another charge, hoping the first run was a fluke. Sadly, the second was no better, nor was the third. I literally couldn't bare to run it any more after that.
Conclusion
Shen Qi Wei has made some good-looking, inexpensive small RC cars in the past. This is one of them. Unfortunately, its beauty is only skin deep, as the driving experience is downright ugly. Even though this "Kart Racing Buggy" (available in many different colors & body styles, by the way) was inexpensive, I'm still completely disappointed and feel like I was robbed. I recommend this car to no-one! Don't buy it. Just don't!