Lego Hot Flame Racer
A few weeks ago I was at RadioShack, where I bought a Lego Hot Flame Racer R/C car (an exclusive there). It’s a pretty nifty little car. It was on clearance for $40, though I don’t think I would have paid the full $80 price.
I think the most exciting part is that being made of Legos there is plenty of opportunity to rebuild the vehicle with other Lego pieces—at the very least I can add a driver! Three frequencies are available, so it’d be best if you only had two friends who also owned them.
The car uses a fully proportional system, so just like the “real” rc’s you have complete control over the throttle and steering to put the car exactly where you want it.
The transmitter is unique. It gives you normal steering and throttle control, as you would expect. As you can see in the photo also included are two buttons, just above and inside the throttle and steering control. Pressing the left button will momentarily shift the car into reverse. Pressing the right button will momentarily shift the car into reverse and turn the wheels right. Neat for tricks if you don’t know how to work the steering and throttle, I suppose.
With “doing tricks” in mind, the Hot Flame Racer will easily pop wheelies and flip-flop its rear end around. Some tiny Lego wheels let the car ride a wheelie easily. Where the rear end attaches to the rest of the chassis there is a pivot point. Without any shocks (indeed, no suspension at all) the rear end is free to flop around on this pivot point. When riding a wheelie or going from reverse to forward the pivot point changes and the car rides differently, as you can see in the photo. One motor drives each rear wheel, though they work in combination to drive the car.
As I said, no suspension. Like the rear pivot, the front has a pivot. Technically, I guess it’s articulation; about 1” of it. Without suspension I wouldn’t drive it over anything rough since it’s sure to break. Even running the car around the inside of our apartment losing pieces is common. It’s definitely not tough, but for the price I paid and Lego expansion/rebuild flexibility it’s pretty cool. The steering block even has a little lever to center the steering.
The car is pretty quick for its size, and is about 6-1/2 inches wide and 10-1/2 inches long.
Comment from Nick Nguyen on May 7, 2004 at 3:41 PM
Hi,
I saw this car on sale at the Shack on-line, searched the Internet for more info, and found your site. Thank you very much for the very informative review.
Great job!
Nick
Comment from Caz on May 8, 2004 at 9:44 AM
Hi there,
also bought one at Radio while on holidays in california. Unfortunately the box missed a bag of the smallest pieces which i never managed to totally replace, despite the help of Lego customer care service. My HotFlame thus misses those tiny wheels you mention, that would obviously be useful when "wheeling" around.
Anyway it's a very fun RC toy. I would not dare using it outdoors, though.
I also wanted to dedicate a webpage to it. Yours is very complete!
Caz
Comment from todd on January 3, 2005 at 6:49 PM
well my kids recieved the hot flame for Christmas and being a dad I wanted to play with them too but I cant get them to work I wonder if you might be able to offer some advice? I mean I am preaty mechanical and I followed the directions to the T but the cars wont do anything even with new batteries. Just wondering thanks
Comment from Dan Wolfgang on January 4, 2005 at 6:50 PM
Assuming the antennas and batteries are correctly inserted into the charger and the receiver/car, the first thing I'd look at is the frequency switch--both components need to be set to the same frequency.
Comment from john on January 30, 2005 at 12:11 PM
i bought the same car only my directions were missing anyway you could email them to me ?? thx john
Comment from Laz on April 10, 2005 at 12:56 AM
Hi, I was just wondering what "todd" mentioned too. I bought the Lego Hot Flame From Radioshack because of overstock and the car can only run its wheels only if it is in the air, but on the floor it needs a push to run until it stops just a little, then it still needs you to push it, and that's with new batteries! Everything is inserted perfectly and I followed the instructions exactly. Please give me some advice.
Comment from Deryle on December 20, 2005 at 9:11 PM
my son took his outside and slightly got it wet; drove it up the driveway, we took it inside. later that evening - nothing works but the steering...
Comment from Billsy on March 31, 2007 at 7:10 PM
i was dissapointed with my new lego creation because, like "Laz" my lego racer only works if you give it a push but it will spin its wheels if i hold it in the air. Billsy
Comment from Billsy on March 31, 2007 at 7:15 PM
could someone please contact me at billsy_is_the_best@hotmail.com to tell me what might be wrong with my lego car. Billsy