The Griffin Moto TC Rally Car definitely got my attention at CES, since it was actually a decent size remote vehicle. The booth display had a closed track on a table with one open section to put cars or choppers on the track and pit. That open side wound up being one of the most interesting section because the cars would “rub” (ed. note: Rubbin’s racin’!) while racing or the driver would be a bit off and the cars would shoot off the tilted track like it was a ramp, catching at least four feet of air before landing in the booth! With most RC cars, that would probably be the end of it but not these, they just picked them back up and put them on the track. They were so durable that one of them was thrown across the booth, picked back up and put right back into use. Despite all the punishment and hours upon hours of use, these same cars were still running great at the end of the week showing a punishment test that spoke for itself.
Moto TC Rally Car Description:
This USB-rechargeable car combines real world and in-app driving excitement, using impact sensors that detect damage from other drivers and obstacles. Interact with your environment like never before! Communicate using Bluetooth, and your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch becomes your remote. That means no extra remote to lose, and no batteries to replace.
Features:
- Racing alone or with friends (additional cars sold separately)
- Drive using your touchscreen’s steering wheel or tilt your device to steer.
- Configure and balance your car’s speed and armor for your ideal setup.
- Drive solo or race an opponent, using your car and the MOTO TC Rally App to attack the other driver. Inflict virtual damage that changes the way the Rally car handles.
- Earn Bonuses (Repair, Shield, Turbo) and Attacks (Flip Controls, Random and Snare) as you drive.
Hands On:
We have hardwood floors in half our house and, if you have never driven a remote controlled vehicle with some speed on a hardwood floor, you are really missing out on some serious fun. I would take the Moto TC and have it do really tight donuts then straighten out the wheel, start the car cruising into the next room then crank the virtual wheel and drift it around the corner out of sight. I then listened for a collision with a wall, throw it into reverse, then when it comes back into sight I would crank the wheel and watch it do a backwards drift, throw it into forward and watch the wheels spin as it came racing at me. I kept doing this for a full charge (around half an hour) then charged it and did it some more. The tires are designed with great grip and on the carpeted floors in our house it really stuck the turns and braking. Personally, I loved watching the loose handling on hardwood floors.
To get the true experience out of this car you really need two of them because Griffin has really done their best to make this car feel like a video game come to life. You can set virtual armor and balance it with speed then race opponents doing virtual damage to them and earn power-ups to get such things as shields or turbo or attacks that can snare the vehicle, “damage” sections of it or reverse their controls. So your vehicles start driving and performing wonky dependent on damage it didn’t really take. Then when the race is over you reset your vehicles and they drive perfectly normal. I don’t have two of the vehicles but luckily I got to see this at play as one of the cars looked like it was starting to drive a bit rough after one of the races, they reset it and it started driving fine again.
The main reason all this is possible is that sensors have been placed in the sides of the car to detect impact and the car has four wheel independent suspension. These are relatively unheard of features in a remote control car and Griffin definitely deserves props for figuring out some great uses for the technology. You can also turn on the lights and honk the horn, all with your iPhone or iPad.
Last Call:
One of these cars is a lot of fun but if you can get two the fun is more than doubled. Siblings and friends can make their own tracks, have battles that cause their cars to act all crazy but when all is said and done the cars are really tough and the body can take a lot of abuse without showing it. This is a next evolution if RC vehicles, not just the Bluetooth iOS control but the fact that you can make virtual video games out of them. I could see it becoming a new standard in RC vehicles.
[easyreview title=”Griffin Moto TC Rally Car Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”5″ ]
[button target=”_blank” style=”” link=”http://gamingshogun.com/gamingshogun-rating-system/”]Learn About Our Rating System[/button]
