Real FX Slotless Racing

The cars are fast and accuratly to handle. They also didn't take any damage after the first couple of crashes. As the cars are working as usual RC cars we could build races looking as we wanted, abusing books and other stuff for walls.Remote and car take 3 AAAs each, so you'd have a lot of batteries ready when starting but they last long enough to play a couple of times before changing them.On the down side there is no display for showing stuff as the ranking (or the extras like fuel left etc.), so every information is shared my the audio of the remote. A big plus for the big variaty of languages to be chosen from for the commentary. Another issue is that the lap counter is easy to cheat and sometimes doesn't count properly. The biggest disappointment is the carrera mode for me, as this was a great part of my motivation buying this product. The carrera mode is not working well, you leave the track super easily and getting back on it is very inconvenient getting back on the track again without switching the control mode away from carrera.All together it was worth it's money for me but there wouldn't have been a big difference getting two RC cars for the money and racing with those.

Got this for my 11 year old son for Xmas. I think it's pretty good but it hasn't held his attention as I'd hoped. But then what does in the age of computer games? Seems to me it's a step up fun-wise from Scalextric which I find pretty tedious but it's not as fun as it looked in the demos on YouTube.Putting the track together is fairly quick and easy but not all that sold with the little tabs. The racing is either complete free (R/C mode) which is too hard for us or slot-racing style with a bit of extra control so you can choose a line which is the big step up from slot racing.However in reality one of out cars is faster than the other so that one wins no matter how well you drive the other. And after a month, the system has gone wrong and they've had to send a tool to recalibrate it. They really should include that with the set since so many people have had the same problem.Overally it's OK. It's a bit plasticy and not all that tough but a great idea. Fun whilst it lasts.

Definitely an improvement on the slot racing type. Cars can be used on the track or off the track like radio controlled cars. The track is wasy to put away and does not take too long to assemble. Probably 5-10 mins max. The cars know where they are on the track. In novice mode the cars do not need to be steered and can follow the track. On expert mode the cars need to be steered. Which takes time to get used to. The controllers play audio tracking your lap times and position. It even has a pace car mode, where you can race a other car as it goes around the track. The only negative is that the batteries need to be pretty high on power otherwise the controllers lose connection with the cars. However, this is not a big issue. Would recommend rechargeable batteries. Plenty of laps can be raced before new batteries are required. Definitely worth it at £30-50. The track layouts are large too. I would watch some videos online to gain a scale/size of the tracks. Enjoyed playing with it a lot with my son over Christmas.

Update: after Christmas test I increased the rating 1 star; for the current price (50), considering it is 1/3 its competitor (150) it is pretty good. It is a lot of fun and has worked as promised. I would not pay 3x for something a little bit better + also that requires 1 phone/tablet for each car! For the money it is great value.- Coming from slot racing, you may find the fact that you need to control the cars (left/right) around bends/chicanes hard. But you get used to it ;)- Pace car (aka computer controlled) is slow so not hard to beat even on "expert". Will easily lap it unless you spin out.- Pace car can also be "obstructed" when overtaking/etc. which requires racing to stop and re-position.- Some interference on 2.4GHz, make sure you switch off any kids toys that are also "wireless" and may create interference.- Cars track better on black than white so prone to jump out of chicanes even at low speed.- Cars (1:32 but more like 1:30 Chevy?) and track relatively big - you require a lot of space even for the starter set. Make sure you clear up plenty of space especially at curves where cars can jump out - e.g. go under furniture, etc. thus hard to get out.If the competitors reduce prices somewhat (e.g. 100 or so) I will gladly invest in a competing set to test. Otherwise for 50 I'm more than happy with the Real FX. Perhaps I will buy a 2nd set for 2 more cars - pity the extra cars are not cheaper... ;)--As others I got this for Christmas so only performed a "quick test" to avoid possible disappointment on the "big day".Firstly, Scaelextrix (!) is dead, long live the new king! IMHO this is the "future of slot car racing" and either Anki, RealFX, or similar is what is going towards; while digital (DCC) like model trains is a logical progression - it is too small a step/evolution while these are a revolution. In any case unlike real trains that still need a track (except magnetic Maglev-like models) cars don't "run in slots" anyway. While we had model cars (in the US at least) that could follow a track decades ago (e.g. draw line with pen on paper and car follows) - it has taken a long time to see slot-less car racing.RealFX seems to be the cheapest (1/2-1/3 of Anki Overdrive) and uses controllers not phones/tablets + app which is self-contained and cheaper. While the Anki app allows a lot of future expansion, I can see ending up buying some very cheap Android phones/tablets just to serve as controllers for the cars - which seems a bit silly (and not cheap). Perhaps future RealFX will support phone/tablet app control also - though not sure it would be worth it?On the other hand with RealFX you need to buy a car+controller which costs (Dec 2015) as much as the entire set! Which again seems a bit silly, I get that they could be taking a hit on starter-sets - and make up in accessories - but to get 2 extra cars means spending 3x cost of starter set! You are better off buying 2 sets and re-painting 2 of the cars?Also while Anki cars all look different (and have different weapons/power-ups) - all current RealFX cars are the same, with a different paint job which is disappointing and thus somewhat poor value. At least you won't have kids (grown-ups?) fighting over the same favourite model. Perhaps they will add additional car bodies - but on common "platform" - just like real cars? (BTW I wish they had LED front/back lights - the promo/box pic seems to indicate them - but they are just silver paint - so not easy to mod either)Anyway - I wish them well - and will update the review after the real test at Christmas!