Review: 8466 4x4 Off Roader
Posted by Huw,
What's the next number in this sequence: 853, 8860, 8865, 8880, 8448, ...?
They are the first five Technic 'super cars', sets that are revered by fans and spoken about in hushed tones. The first was released in 1977 and the last in 1999, but what happened to 'super cars' after that?
In 2000, 8458 Silver Champion, the first of the 1:8 Formula 1 cars, was released, and the year after that saw this metallic green 8466 4x4 Off-Roader. But are they 'super cars'? I guess it depends on your definition of 'super car'.
In 2002, the Racers theme encompassed Technic cars and at least four (8461, 8653, 8674, 8145) that could be considered 'super cars' were released under that banner in the next five years. Then, following that theme's demise, several contenders for the name were released under the Technic theme again (8297, 8070).
8466 4x4 Off-Roader was certainly a full-featured vehicle with full suspension, steering including through the steering wheel, gull wing doors and last but not least, a 6-speed gearbox including reverse. On paper then, it was on a par with set 8448 Super Street Sensation.
However there's something about it that I don't really like, and I have a feeling that it's not held in the same regard as the 'super cars' that went before it.
The colour scheme certainly doesn't help. It's admirable that LEGO tried something different to the usual red, blue or yellow, but metallic light green? It's a bit yucky, isn't it? If it had been metallic red, it would have been a different matter altogether.
The first generation panels are, as we have discussed before, awful too. Together with the silver flex-rods and tubes, they certainly give it a futuristic look but it's supposed to be a road vehicle, not a space buggy, isn't it?
It has a studded Technic beam chassis but the majority of the design features studless beams which, by 2001, had been made in most straight lengths.
The trunk/boot area is very empty and looks unfinished.
From the front, the body looks totally out of proportion with the tyres and the light-sabre-blade lights don't look right at all.
The damped gull wing doors are very neat, though.
It's not one of my favourites then, and now it's been dismantled and bagged up, it's probably never to see the light of day again.
However I may be in a minority in my views as it seems to have a lot of glowing reviews. What do you think of it? What do you consider to be 'super cars' after 8448 ?
This is likely to be the last of my reviews of old Technic sets: I've dismantled most of those that I intend too, and now look forward to constructing the Volvo Wheel Loader and, for that matter, last year's crane which I haven't made a start on yet.
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23 comments on this article
For my money, i'd have to suggest 8070 is the natural heir to the Lego Supercar throne.
None of the others ( 853 , 8860 , 8865 , 8880 , 8448 ) intend to replicate a particular real life car (like the Ferrari sets do), 8466 would be the only off-road vehicle in the line up, and both that set and the Racers Formula 1 style cars don't sit well with the 'street' feel of the others.
While i don't own all of the first five sets mentioned (yet), it IS a goal i wish to attain one day. :)
But i kinda like that metallic green though.
A supercar has to be an actual CAR, and this isn't one.
Ok, that is fairly nasty looking up close. And that color-- I'm willing to bet it was one of the first to go in 2004. Just plain ugly. Although, I would love to see Technic doing spaceships and whatnot-- one of the reasons I don't collect it is that there's hardly ever something genuinely new in the lineup.
Still, it's an OK set. Silver tubes are useful, and I love me some angled beams and huge wheels. Too bad the ugly panels are an ugly color, giving a double whammy almost as bad as being abducted by aliens shortly after seeing your mother die, ala Guardians of the Galaxy's opening scene.
I had an opportunity to buy that set when it was out. Didn't because people complained the suspension was too soft. Why I didn't buy it anyway. Darn 13 year old brain :(
Soooo... it's not your favortiee model. Maybeee it can be some ones favorite ;D
This one I have had on display since release. I do consider it to be a super car. As you said, the doors are its really great feature and the transmission remains unmatched to this day. I'm fine with the color scheme and also love the little buggy released at the same time. To me they go together. My one complaint is its pitiful turn radius. Another thing about it that I really love is the crazy amount of vertical clearance. It puts even the Unimog to shame!
I do not consider any of those Racers sets to be super cars or even Technic.
Well, I have an 8466 (as well as an 8448, albeit disassembled), and I'm very fond of it.
While the 1st-gen panels are indeed hideous with those gaping holes (they were created at a time when ribbed hoses, which fit in those big holes, were the big fashion in Technic), their metallic green colour is IMO just gorgeous and I'm sad that it only used in this set, the smaller 8465, and some Bionicle models. It just transpires class and luxury. This, the general shape, the light sabres that look like those thin LED headlights, and the gull-wing doors, make it look like a high-end off-roader like a Range Rover... and it's funny that the latest Range Rover, which came out quite a few years after the 8466, look quite like it!
Technically, it does have a few shortcomings: like said above, its suspension is too soft, and the front shock absorbers are under strain, slightly bent. Also, the balloon tyre used for the HOG steering, with its axle hole made of rubber, just can't handle the torque required for such a heavy vehicle. The ideal for this would be a double-bevel gear like recent sets use.
Regarding the back being too empty, it is made that way to accommodate set 5218 to make some kind of off-road tow truck (even though the towing arm would theoretically be bursting through the rear windscreen!). Without a 5218, it's just a spacious boot, and I don't know what could realistically go there, besides a spare wheel (which fits nicely).
Comparing to the 8448, I don't think the 8446 is worse. Sure, the engine can't be swapped between the front and the rear, but it's more than compensated by 4WD with three differentials. and, about the suspension, the 8448's isn't perfect either: the front wheels rub against the mudguards when their absorbers are fully down. In the matter of wheels, I think the 8448's futuristic rims are equally cool as the 8448's gigantic tyres: at the top level of "cool".
As for whether or not the 8466 is a "Technic Supercar": my opinion is a definite "yes". Sure it's an off-roader instead of a sportster, but it represents the pinnacle of Technic technology (alliteration unintended) for its time, with the most true-to-life transmission and suspension. Probably TLG wanted to improve the 8448's mechanics without making yet another sports car. While later sets like the 8070 have better looks, they don't have the same realism. To me, "Technic Supercar" implies top-of-the line insides, not top-of-the-line body, and the 8466 undoubtedly has them (objectively the insides, subjectively the body).
A Technic Supercar doesn't have to be a 'supercar' - 853 has plenty in common with a Ford Cortina - it just needs to have one wheel in reality, and this doesn't. It's not hopeless but it ain't great, either. I have the first five, and love them all, but I'll continue to happily give this one a miss.
Some interesting comments, particularly yours @lippidp, "I do not consider any of those Racers sets to be super cars or even Technic."
Sure they say 'Racers' on the box but that's just marketing, and they were probably labelled Racers because Technic doesn't sell well in the USA (so I hear).
The Williams F1 is 90% identical in construction to the Silver Champion, so how can it not be 'Technic'?
@AVCampos, a great analysis, thank you. So if we discount Racers in our list of 'Technic super cars' for a minute, after this set, what comes next, 8070 or 2008's 8297 ?
It's been great to see so many Technic articles over the past couple of weeks. It's a shame that so many people treat Technic like the dotty aunt that needs to be hidden away out of sight and not spoken about.
Keep 'em coming, I say!!
^^ Regarding which Technic Supercar comes next to the 8466, between the 8070 and 8297, hmm... I'd say it's the 8070 that comes closest. But, in my opinion, the 8466 is still to this day the last true Technic Supercar TLG made.
While both are mechanically similar (four-wheel independent suspension, rear differential, front cylinder engine, some PF gimmicks), by all rights the 8297 should be more complex due to the simple fact that no true off-roader has just rear-wheel drive, and thus is less realistic.
Plus, the 8070 makes better use of PF with four motorised functions, while the 8297 has just two (and lights, which, truth be said, it has the honour of being the only model to include them). This leads to more mechanical complexity (even if unrealistic), which is always a positive point in Technic.
Longtime lurker on Brickset but signed up just to post this.
I'm loving these Technic retrospectives. I was a huge fan in my teens but like most lost interest but am back with avengence. 8880 one of my favourite sets as it had so many features (V8, gearbox, independant suspension, 4 wheel drive etc).
I'm with the above, keep them coming if you can Huw. Also looking forward to the Vovlo loader review, I'm torn between that or a Tumbler for this years "treat"!
This 8466 is the last Technic model I purchased. To me it was a "super car". The hallmarks include piston engine, functioning gearbox, suspension, and steering. The general scale was a match as well. 8466 is a super car. It makes me think of the Local Motors Rally Fighter with regards to styling.
On the Super Car discussion:
I have been getting most of the Technic sets back to the Expert Builder days, and have seen all the sets as they have been issued. One thing that doesn't get mentioned in that LEGO alternated colors from red to black on the first "big cars" as I used to call them. It became a predictable pattern.
853 Auto Chassis (red), 1977
8860 Auto Chassis (black)
8865 Test Car (red)
8880 Super Car (black)
8448 Super Street Sensation (red), 1999
When 8448 came out I waited and waited for another black "big car". It never happened.
Then came 8070 Super Car in 2011. I think it should have been black.
Will 42028 Bulldozer or 42029 Customized Pick-Up Truck get reviewed here too?
Not quite sure how the demise remark is meant. I own both an 8297 and an 8070 , and both are excellent sets.
I did mod both rather heavily, but that's what I do with absolutely any LEGO set at all, so I'm accounting for that when I say they are excellent out-of-the-box.
Now, I never owned an 8466 , so perhaps I'm completely missing a point here, and while I can appreciate 8880 for both what it was at the time and what it meant for the entire Technic line going forward, it's really just quite hideous by any sane standard of today. There is no shortage of sets that have aged more gracefully.
So yeah, the 8070 is even called "Super Car", and I don't think it's false advertising or a misnomer at all.
That said, I totally see AVCampos's point and could get behind it, it's just that if our definition of choice is "top-of-the line insides, mind-boggling complexity and realism", then clearly the one and only Super Car is the 8043 Motorized Excavator. No two ways about it. And it will age extremely well, too.
(Disclaimer: my 41999 is still sitting sealed in the cellar, so I can't comment with any confidence on where it fits in. But everything else being equal, it will probably lose to the Excavator just because it has much more room to work with.)
It's not really a "car" the way the Ferrari's and Supercars are, is it? The two sets named "Supercar" sound the most "Supercar" to me. :P
And the green looks good.
Nobody has mentioned 42000 :(
I like it and it's aesthetically pleasing. But I guess so far the consensus is being big and looking good are not the whole criteria for being classed as a supercar.
So what defines a Technic supercar like the fabled five of old? Back then the models pushed the boundaries of what was possible with the current palette of parts that was available to them, and I think that's what made those models special.
But now it seems that everything that is possible has ready been done in Lego, and your regular Technic big car MOC meets the quality and sometimes passes the complexity of anything released by Lego.
Not to detract from those MOCs, they are amazing in their own right, it's just that the parts selection today makes it so easy to do anything you want, and flicking through the Lego catalogue, even the most complex offerings can end up looking... Pedestrian.
Has Technic reached the limit of its complexity, or of the challenge to design something complex?
Maybe the next challenge would be to build a modern set using old parts!
@Huw, yes the Williams F1 being so similar to the Silver Champion makes it simply a Technic rip off! LOL. I don't remember specifically why, but when those Racers sets came out I remember contemplating whether they were Technic or not and decided they were not, or at least not compelling enough for me to buy them. If memory serves me correctly (and that's a big if) I decided against them because it seemed like form took a bigger role than function. To me, Technic is about function first and form second. It's probably why I also rejected those Arctic sets and Model Team as well.
IMHO, there are only two supercars - 8653 Enzo and 8145 599 GTB, the latter of two being the best. It's what brought me out of my dark ages and no other four wheeled vehicle has come anywhere close to knocking it off the top spot.
@Rare White Ape, I failed to get excited about 42000 because it's pretty much the same as the Ferrari version, which is much the same as the Williams, which is much the same as the Silver Champion...
If I may plug a bricklist I drafted up hilighting the evolution of the Super Car, http://brickset.com/sets/list-7808 I'd say 8070 is the next and only Super Car. I think technical features are only half the story--the other half being it has to have a "Muscle Car" feel. The Super Cars have to be street-legal drag racers.
Juding from that criteria, I'd say 8466 meets the technical requirement, but is not a muscle car (incidentally, I do like the green, but you're right, metalized red would also look great!). At the same time, 8070 makes the cut because it's clearly a muscle car and has plenty of technical features, even though the gear box is put to completely different use than 8448.
It's not a perfect system of course--the older models aren't really sports cars (who ever heard of a 4 cylinder drag racer), but they were constrained by the primitive parts of the time. 8865 is a weak entry due to the body styling, but it was all we had at the time and was clearly the successor to 8860 even if it didn't quite get the right feel.
I'll close by saying I own an 8448 and it is truly one of the most incredible Lego sets out there. The only thing I've come accross to rival it in complexity is, oddly enough, 8002 Destroyer Droid.
It seems, then, that everyone has their own ideas about what constitutes a 'super car' after 8448 :-)
I absolutely adore this model. It's always been a joy to play with and bounce around and it's really strong. One of my greatest models. Whoever designed it really understood the joy of play. I'm very grateful to have been able to get one when I could.