Random set of the day: Tuneable Racer
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 8365 Tuneable Racer, released during 2003. It's one of 20 Racers sets produced that year. It contains 196 pieces, and its retail price was US$70 / £59.99, which equates to about US$121 / £108 in today's money.
It's owned by 200 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you should find it for sale at Brick Owl, BrickLink, where new ones sell for around $47.50, or eBay.
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Yay, the clocks match up again. I wish they never changed to begin with, but order is somewhat restored.
How are you supposed to tune it when it doesn’t have strings?
Some interesting pieces in this set.
I checked the instructions and I felt like this had sort of a smart brick before the "Smartbrick". By intalling different parts of the engine you can change the performance of the vehicle. At least that's what the instructions suggest.
McLaren?
@Lego_lord said:
"By intalling different parts of the engine you can change the performance of the vehicle."
Yup - the rounded engine block makes it go faster, while the squared one increases torque (or just changes the speed to simulate torque, I don't really remember). The side pieces add extra "steps" to these performance changes.
I've had the chance to play with this before and it's a neat system, but it feels needlessly overcomplicated for what it is. A more uniform battery box/motor with a 5-step switch would've probably been more reusable for other models, while also being cheaper for Lego to make and sell. This is a pretty good example of Lego's experimental phase in the early 2000s.
Tuneable Racer, to be worked on only on a tunetable
According to the official profile on the Drome Racers site, the Tuneable Racer was a car run by Team H.O.T. and used parts that were allegedly smuggled in from outside the Drome.
I remember reading that on my uncle's computer while on holiday in Ireland back in 2003 and thinking "this looks a bit rubbish actually". Aside from 8356, the whole 2003 Drome Racers line-up was a bit rubbish actually.
Dark times.
The system on the chassis in this set was kind of neat, though. There were several buttons that were pressed when the pins on certain parts were inserted, which changed its performance. The parts on the main model adapt it for speed rather than power, while the alternate model uses four big wheels and is slower but favours brute strength.
@Overdrive said:
" @Lego_lord said:
"By intalling different parts of the engine you can change the performance of the vehicle."
Yup - the rounded engine block makes it go faster, while the squared one increases torque (or just changes the speed to simulate torque, I don't really remember). The side pieces add extra "steps" to these performance changes.
I've had the chance to play with this before and it's a neat system, but it feels needlessly overcomplicated for what it is. A more uniform battery box/motor with a 5-step switch would've probably been more reusable for other models, while also being cheaper for Lego to make and sell. This is a pretty good example of Lego's experimental phase in the early 2000s."
Oh. I'd looked at the instructions, but it hadn't really clicked that the different engine pieces actually altered how fast the car went.
@Lego_lord said:
"I checked the instructions and I felt like this had sort of a smart brick before the "Smartbrick". By intalling different parts of the engine you can change the performance of the vehicle. At least that's what the instructions suggest."
It's rather unlike the Smartbrick. The latter merely produces sounds based on the chips that are present, but you have to change the model or the orientation to elicit different reactions. This was more like a key system, where each key changes the way the model itself functions.
@Brickalili said:
"Tuneable Racer, to be worked on only on a tunetable "
It's recommended that you use two of them. And a microphone.
Recent Star Wars sets are a bargain compared to this.
Abligatory "...Speed's family..." comment:)