Carrera Go "Disney "Cars" Slot Race Car Set 1:43 Scale
by Carrera Of America
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Our Price: $229.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Hobby See more product details |
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Toys and Games Reviews of Carrera Go "Disney "Cars" Slot Race Car Set 1:43 Scale
Customer Review: would be better if cars were slower
Summary: 3 Stars
I bought this for Christmas for my 4 year old. He absolutely loves it because it is Disney Cars themed, but we are both very frustrated that the cars come off the track so easily.
The cars in this set seem to have 3 speeds, "fast", "too fast", and "way too fast". You can't make them go slow because the powerful magnet sticks them to one spot. In fact, they are so heavily magnetized that there is no warning when they're about to come off the track. One lap you're fine, and the next lap (at the same speed) the car goes flying across the room. Note that we have only setup a simple oval, not the full track since other reviewers say the cars fly off some of the features of the full track even more easily. I had a slot car set when I was growing up in the 70s, and these cars are much different than what I'm used to. On the set that I had when I was a kid, the cars were lightly magnetized and went relatively slowly. You could see the cars go around the corners & could tell when they were about to come off the track (they'd go sideways).
The other difference between these cars and what I remember are the electrical contacts on the bottom of the cars. The cars I'm used to had solid metal plates with light springs to push the contacts onto the "rails" built into the track. These cars have braided metal mesh scrunched up under the front end. When the cars come off the track (which they do all too often), the braided mesh tends to come out of position, meaning the cars won't "go" when placed back on the track. Sometimes the braided mesh prevents the front end of the car from fully contacting the track, meaning that the pin is not far enough down in the slot, and the car will come flying off the track even more easily. Sometimes a wire will come loose from the mesh and short the contacts together while you're driving, causing the car to just stop on the track. My 4 year old cannot manage to adjust the braid by himself, so I'm in charge of "fixing" the cars when they "break".
I'm planning to do some research into slot cars & see if I can find some slower, less magnetized cars with traditional contact plates that I can transfer the "Cars" bodies to. If so, I think the set would be much more fun.
If I had it to do over, I still would have purchased this for my 4 year old because he loves Disney Cars. I'm disappointed because it could have been a much better experience if the cars themselves had been better.
Customer Review: No GO!
Summary: 1 Stars
As a car entheusiast and long time slot car fan I was thrilled to find this beginner set to play with my child. Now we could share the fun and not destroy my premium cars that cost more than this whole set. Sadly, even with lowered expectations, the Carrera Go! Disney "Cars" Race set was a complete let down. After spending over an hour deciphering the cryptic assemply instructions and patiently placing every part my child and I were ready to race. Unfortunately the "cute" factor of Pixar's "Cars" makes a great movie but a poor race car set. The McQueen car is so top and rear heavy that it would never make it past the "fly over" after the corskrew turn. No matter the speed, slow to moderate, McQueen would just roll off the track at the cross over section of the overpass. The "Chick Hicks" car has much better balance and a lower center of gravity. It was able to stay on the track slightly better. Unfortunately both cars are designed with bulky electrical contacts on the front undercarriage. This wire mass prevented the front tires from contacting the track which makes the guide pin the only source of contact. Since it too was pushed up by the wires (yes I flattened them as much as possible) there was little to keep the cars on track. Even the superior "Hicks" car would constantly come off track. The final nail in the coffin for this set was the fact that the electronics were such that the cars would not run independently. One controller would run both cars which makes racing an impossibility. The turbo button on each controller could also be called the "fly off track" button since it's burst of momentum would send either car sailing off the edge even on the start/finish straight. The golden lining of this story is the wonderful customer service from Amazon. Completing the online return process was painless and they even covered return shipping. Kudos to Amazon! Back to the drawing board for Carrera.
Customer Review: A fun and great racing set-just takes a little patience
Summary: 4 Stars
I've been a fan of CARS since the movie came out. I received this slot car racing set for Christmas as a gift and was it a surprise. Ok, so I'm an adult, but one thing I learned from my late mother (bless her heart) is to never lose the kid spirit in me. Life gets serious enough-have fun!
I agree on two counts with other reviewers. The instructions being cryptic is right on target. What I did was lay the box down beside the pieces and laid the pieces in place. Once I did that,the assembly went just fine.
Secondly, the plastic pronged strips designed to hold the track pieces more securely together was an absolute trip. I'd get one end together or a curve tightened, then pop! The ones just down from it would pop out. However, with patience it DOES come together and is worth the end result. I can also look back at it and laugh.
It's fun using the turbo button NOW THAT I'VE LEARNED HOW TO USE IT CORRECTLY. Whew, it took some time to realize what other say here-the turbo is great on the straight away sections. Avoid use of it nearing or on the curves and it doesn't take a constant press to get it going. Just a "turbo tap" suffices to create increased racing fun.
The criss-cross tracks did drive me crazy. It's like I created collisions every third time around. Ok, now if I were about ten years old, I'd get such a kick out of seeing them wreck all the time. HOWEVER, being older now, I don't have that much patience! :) I went to Hobbytown and bought two straight tracked extensions and changed them out and now it's much better for me. :))
If you're a CARS fan especially, this is also a great treat.
From a new slot car racing fan,
William
Customer Review: No problems... yet!
Summary: 5 Stars
This was a Christmas gift that was assembled this morning and played with throughout the day; I would estimate it's been played with a total of about 4 hours today. I did buy one of the extension sets so my layout is not the same as what is showing on the Carrera Go "Cars" box. As far as cars flying off the track, I'm in agreement with another reviewer in terms of these cars possibly requiring a "break-in" period. I also agree that the turbo-button is useless unless you WANT to see your cars fly off the track. Seems like the more time we spent racing the cars, the more reliable they became as far as staying on the track, both Lightning and Chick Hicks. Every few minutes I'd check to make sure the contacts were laying as flat as possible. By the end of play today, we were logging 20 or more laps without either car leaving the track. I have several sharp turns as well as a fly-over on my layout. I did not use the high banking turn but I am using the 45 degree banked turn that came with the extension set. I also purchased the Carrera Go Batmobile and Mario Kart Peach individually. The Batmobile sticks to the track like GLUE!!! I don't think it flew out of the slot one time today. It's seemingly much faster than the other 3 cars. "Peach" is also a good performing car; a "fun" car to see zipping around the track but nowhere near as fast as the Batmobile. I did have to add a little more height to the flyover because Peach requires more clearance. If the enthusiasm continues, I will most certainly be buying more Carrera Go cars and extension track. I like the fact that the cars are reasonably priced and the track is easy to assemble. Bottom line, this race set is a hit with my kids, ages 10, 9, 8 and 6!Customer Review: Fun with a bit if work...
Summary: 3 Stars
My 3 1/2 yr old son is really into the Cars characters and racing because of the movie. He likes to play with the track but not as much as I had anticipated. There certainly are days that go by and he hasn't even attempted to touch it. I believe part of that is due to the maintenance required to play. Almost every time he wants to race we have to fiddle with the controls and their connections to get them to work as well as the cars and their magnetic pieces. It wouldn't be such a big deal except it can take up to 15+ minutes to get everything working correctly. In that time frame not only has it dampened his excitement, he generally moves on to something else leaving one of us trying to stir his interest again. It also makes it hard for the kids to go and play anytime they wish to do so because we are needed to help with it. Additionally, we have found that the cars come off the track at higher speeds more than they stay on and that is without using the power boost button. We only use that function when we want to be silly and run the cars off the track on purpose, never for its intended use. As far as the quality, the added accessories that make things more attractive do not tend to stay in place unless it isn't played with at all which defeats the purpose of having it. On the flip side of all that, when it does work immediately, which is very infrequent, he will play with it for a long time given everything continues to run smoothly and not require maintenance. The product is a great idea and would be excellent if it didn't need to be adjusted each time it was played. Despite the work involved, it is a great toy for getting the family involved and spending silly time together.