NASCAR RC racer - 1/64th scale
Street Price: $9.99 US
Manufacturer: JADA Toys
Mfgr's recommended min. age: 8
Our recommended age range: 6-8
Primary use: Indoor
Top speed: n/a
Radio: 27mhz
Includes:
- Assembled car
- Controller/charger
- Instructions
- 2x AA batteries for the controller
Initial Impressions
I often try to keep my eyes open for cheap deals in RC -- things that are sold at "stocking stuffer" prices. I picked up this miniscule car at Toys R Us for just $9.99 mostly because of the price, but also because it was a pretty good looking vehicle for a micro RC. It's an officially licensed car and available in the styles of Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, and the Dale Earnhardt, Jr. version I picked up, each of which is on a slightly different radio frequency so they can run together. At 3 1/2" long, this car is actually a fair amount larger than the "1/64th" scale claim, but it's still small enough to fit in even a child's pocket.
Enhancing the low cost even more is the fact that only 2 AA batteries are required to run this thing, and those go in the controller, which doubles as a charger for the car.
Testing
When I first ran this car, it pulled strongly to the right, so I had to turn the trim dial on the bottom of the car all the way to the left. Unfortunately, the way it's constructed, the piece can come out of the car if you turn it as far as it will go! Thankfully just putting a small piece of tape over the piece solved this problem. Next I noticed that it would still turn one way much better than the other. This is actually a very common issue with ultra-micro scale cars, and is caused by minute differences in the way the tires fit the wheels, causing in more weight and traction on one or two tires. Just moving the tires around a bit, taking one off & putting it on another wheel, shuffling them around, will eventually improve the handling and make it more even.
With the car tuned up, it ran great. Acceleration is a little lacking off the line, but the top speed is great, and steering is responsive. Now that I think about it, if it had too much acceleration, with the non-proportional throttle control, it might just spin out. I'm happy with the way it is.
Video
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Conclusion
I thought this car ran really well, especially for the price, but I do have to dock its rating for the little bit of work I did up front. If it was set up just right out of the box, it'd be a perfect low-cost micro RC car.