42011 Race Car - Pictorial Review

[Splat]

A few days ago the Toys'R'Us (US) website briefly had the new 42011 Race Car set for sale, but they seem to have removed it now. I was lucky enough to place an order, and I got this set delivered to me on Friday.

I present my pictorial review of the 42011 Race Car, including a few pics of the new pieces. These photos were taken in a rush without my normal photo setup, so I apologize if any of them are a bit blurry or a bit dark. All pictures can be clicked on for a larger view, and are viewable in my Brickshelf folder (once moderated).

Set: 42011

Name: Race Car

Theme: Technic

Year: 2013

Pieces: 158 (+6 spares)

Price: US $19.99, CAD 24.99

Links: Lego Shop@Home (US) Lego Technic Website Lego Technic Instructions Brickset Bricklink Rebrickable

Pictures: Brickshelf (once moderated)

The Box

A fairly standard looking Technic box, measuring 26cm x 14cm x 4.5cm (10.25" x 5.5" x 1.8"). The back of the box shows you how you can combine this set with set 42010 Off-Road Racer to create a dragster, while the left side feature the word 'Race Car' translated into French and Spanish.

Front and back:

Top and bottom:

Left and right:

The Contents

• One small bag of pieces
  
• One larger bag of pieces
  
• Two x LBG Technic, Liftarm 1 x 15 Thick loose in the box
  
• What looks to be a new pull-back motor (I don't have any previous ones to compare)
  
• One sticker sheet
  
• A supplementary booklet (12 pages)
  
• A single building instruction book (48 pages)
  

New Pieces

• Four of the new smaller panels, numbered 21 and 22. The Lego part numbers for these are 6022750 and 6022752 respectively.
  
• What looks to be a new pull-back motor. I don't have any previous ones to compare, but it looks similar to Pullback Motor 7 x 5 x 3 (Motor 6) or Pullback Motor 8 x 5 x 3 (Motor 6a), although it has different mounting points.
  
• What looks to be a new Technic, Gear 8 Tooth
  

The new smaller panels have two pin holes on the sides, and an axle hole at the end.

The pull-back motor takes about eight turns to wind it up, and with the diameter of the wheels on this model, that equates to about 1 metre (40") of pull-back required.

This appears to be a new Technic, Gear 8 Tooth, and it has the marking '4' and '01' on the sides of it's teeth.

Previous 8 Tooth Gears have looked like theses (image from Sariel's Gears Tutorial):

Sticker Sheet

There are 12 stickers on one sheet, and the grey in the pic is actually a shiny silver. The sticker sheet is 10.5cm x 11.4cm (4.1" x 4.5"). I did not apply the stickers to my model.

Supplementary Booklet

The booklet has 12 pages, and shows a few 'play' situations together with 42010 Off-Road Racer, some pages showing other sets in the 2013 line-up, and the back page shows how the two sets can be combined (similar to the back of the box).

Building Instruction Book

The building instructions are fairly standard, presented with part call-outs and the typical light blue background. We get the new graphics on Page 2 reminding us to sort our pieces, which was was also seen in the new 10233 Horizon Express instructions (review), although we still get the GEWINNE! kid on the back page.

Only some pages are shown here (there are 48 pages in total). I'm sure the full instructions will be available on the technic.lego.com website soon.

The Race Car

Spare Pieces

There are six spare pieces, but interestingly the only two gears in the set are spare pieces (one Worm Gear and the new 8 Tooth Gear). They are shown in the last step of the instructions, and I can only imagine that they are used when combining this set with 42010 Off-Road Racer. The rest of the spares are fairly standard pieces.

Conclusions

This is only a small Technic set with 158 pieces, but I can imagine this appealing to kids that want to race their friends (as shown in the supplementary booklet). I don't have any previous pull-back motor sets, so I can't compare the performance of this model vs others, but on low-pile carpet this model would go an average of 7.85m (25.75'), and on smooth tiles it would go 8.55m (28.05'). Upon releasing the car on tiles, the rear wheels seem to spin a tiny bit, so the model could do with a little bit more weight over the rear wheel for better traction, or it could just be that my wheels were getting a bit dusty/fluffy after running on carpet. Aesthetically the race car looks quite nice, which wouldn't have been possible without the new smaller panels, and it's good to see little details added such as the drivers seat and steering wheel, the engine details, and the rear light at the back. Apart from the pull-back motor, there aren't any other functions in this model (no steering, suspension, etc). I'm interested to see how this set combines with 42010 Off-Road Racer (it looks like it uses both pull-back motors), and how the new 8 Tooth Gears perform.

Update: The 'Dragster Combi Model' only uses one pull-back motor.

Update: My 42010 Off-road Racer Pictorial Review is now available.

Update: My 42010 + 42011 Dragster Combi Model Pictorial Review is now available.

Hopefully I have covered most angles, but if you want any more photos, just let me know.

Edited April 10, 2013 by Splat

[Kevinatorrr]

Oh that eight tooth gear is wonderful. I'm glad the teeth extend from end to end

[piterx]

omg!

i DEFINITELY want the KTM bike :D

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/slfroden/42011-Race-Car/021.jpg

when are these models coming out?

[Conchas]

Thanks for the review!

These photos were taken in a rush without my normal photo setup, so I apologize if any of them are a bit blurry or a bit dark.

Definitely you should not apologize for the photos quality! I'm amazed with them. It look you have a powerful light focus so you can easily remove the surroundings over a white background.

And finally TLG made something to solve the problem with the 8t gears!

[JunkstyleGio]

Excellent review on a set set that appears cuter in real life...

Please keep on posting technic reviews like these!

[Lost_In_Noise]

Excellent review, and nice pics. I'm really looking forward to getting this set myself now!

[DLuders]

@ Splat: If you use the pullback motor to make jumps (as shown in the instruction booklet), does the model stay together well? Or, does it break up into various pieces?

[efferman]

sweet and good looking model. how much does you have paid for it?

[Legoboy1999]

This is a very cute and simple Technic set which I think i will definitely be getting! Thanks for the great review!

[Technic Gearhead]

Excellent review - thanks for posting! I saw that set along with the 42002 on the TRU website that same day and was tempted to get one. Good catch on the gears. The pull back motor looks slightly different than the ones I have from the 8473.

[Zerobricks]

What i like the most is the new gears! They should be stronger and less jerky side to side!

[rm8]

Thank you for review!

Technic set for my little boy:) i will buy it!

Edited November 18, 2012 by rm8

[Technic Gearhead]

That's a nice pile of 9398 the car is jumping over!

[Front]

The text 01 and 4 on the gear 8-tooth, are just the mould number and cavity number.

Great pictures

[Splat]

Thanks everyone for your comments.

when are these models coming out?

These are 2013 models, so they should be coming out either late this year, or within the first half of next year. More info here.

@ Splat: If you use the pullback motor to make jumps (as shown in the instruction booklet), does the model stay together well? Or, does it break up into various pieces?

I have made a jump that is about 30cm (12") high, and while the car doesn't go flying through the air for too long, it does stay together in one piece when it lands. The only thing that might need adjustment is the rigid hose at the front, and this is what holds the front of the nose in place, but only slight adjustment. Everything else is pinned together fairly well.

sweet and good looking model. how much does you have paid for it?

I paid US$21.99 + sales tax. I bought it from Toys'R'Us which has a reputation of being a little bit overpriced, so you might be able to get it cheaper once it is more widely available.

What i like the most is the new gears! They should be stronger and less jerky side to side!

I agree that the design of the new 8 Tooth Gear should help keep it located between liftarms, and it also seems to have quite a lot of 'clutch power' when put onto black and LBG axles which should also help keep it in place.

Edited April 10, 2013 by Splat

[z3_2drive]

Finally! New 8t gears! I'm tired of them breaking/bending on my crawlers. Pull back looks nice. Might just get this set :)

[skylinedan]

That 42006 looks very interesting, here in the states we call that an orange peel. they use them in scrap yards picking up the scrap metal and loading it in to what ever. I wonder what new pieces they have hiding in it ?

Dan

[SheepEater]

Reminds me of the 'technic' Racers sets of the early 2000s.

Among the new sets, only the orange dirt bike looks like a must-buy. Will be nice to have off-road tires on 8051 wheels. The large formula race car is ugly and looks simple. The grabbing-machine and backhoe are 'MEH'.

Edited November 19, 2012 by SheepEater

[07jkearney]

Reminds me of the 'technic' Racers sets of the early 2000s.

Among the new sets, only the orange dirt bike looks like a must-buy. Will be nice to have off-road tires on 8051 wheels. The large formula race car is ugly and looks simple. The grabbing-machine and backhoe are 'MEH'.

Seconded, that orange bike's tires

[allanp]

The grap prix racer is actually more complex than the silver champion (not a great feat i'll grant you) and also comes with some great new wheel hubs. The front ones look great for the more usual suspended/steered/driven wheels plus their larger size compared to the older hubs will make everything more stable and in scale and the rear ones look great for all kinds of wierd and wonderful designs, especially for those aiming to get perfect geometries like Nicjasno. Plus there's lots of white! I wouldn't write it off just yet. I think it's gonna be awesome!

[Edwin Korstanje]

Thanks for your great review, and like the new 8 tooth gear

[dhc6twinotter]

Thanks for the excellent review, Splat. Great pictures too. I'm digging the new 8t gear.

[DLuders]

Nice video review! Your daughter is a good presenter. Did you get this 42011 set in Canada, or in the USA (where it was briefly sold by Toys-R-Us)? The Lego Group will probably sell TENS OF THOUSANDS of this set, since it's fun and reasonably priced.

[JunkstyleGio]

That is a fun way of presenting Technic to a younger audience.

[Edwin Korstanje]

Great revieuw and your daughter is a very good presenter :thumbup:

Edited November 28, 2012 by VFracingteam