Don't be fooled by the price or the price per piece, this set is worth every penny. First, yes, the price per piece is high, but you've got to consider what you're getting. You're not really paying all that money for just 463 pieces, you're paying for the Control+ hub and motors. The hub and two motors alone would run you a total of $170 US on Lego's website! So getting them for $129.99 plus 460 pieces is a steal. People may say the parts are overpriced on Lego's website, but they are what they are so what's the point in saying that? What matters is that this rally car is a great buy. Not only for fans of rally cars and RC, but especially for those interested in MOCs.

Now, it isn't the fastest car if you want to run it outside. I would say it's an indoor RC car, and it is fast for being that. The colors and stickers are great, the double spoiler is a really nice touch, and it's a good-looking car overall. It's decent size, could be a bit bigger, but not too small. One really nice feature is that it's rather robust, which is nice for an RC Lego car. The Control+ app controls are nice and give you multiple options for controlling the car.

Overall, it's a great set and I'll keep it in the A model, unfortunately no B model, for a while before I try out the hub and motors in some MOCs. One last thing, it's also got a brand-new differential that MOC fans will love.

This set is only useful as a spare parts dispenser.
The RRP of 130€ is too expensive, but with a discount the set is also available for 80€.
Then you have the otherwise expensive Power UP components relatively cheap:
- Technic hub 88012, RRP 80€
- Technic XL engine 88014, RRP 35€
- Technic large engine 88013, RRP 35€
- and 463 parts

When this set was announced I thought "That could be interesting for parts. Wait, how much?"

So when it was reduced to €100 recently I picked it up.

Parts

The main reason to buy this set for most people will be to get the Powered UP Technic hub and two motors. So what else is in this set? The usual selection of beams, connectors and pins. A few panels. Gears? Not so much. The new differential, which is nice, and two more gears. The wheels are very common and have appeared in numerous sets for nearly 20 years.

It's a race car, so there's a big sticker sheet with about 30 stickers. They make it look more like a race car but are not essential, the car looks decent without.

Building

This is a very simple model to build. Front and back are bolted onto the central hub, then a few panels are added and finally a few parts with studs for the final details like headlights and mirrors. There are no gear trains to worry about; steering is one axle with a gear on the gear rack directly on the motor, for driving there's a gear on the other motor directly on the differential.

The Model

Once finished it looks like what it says on the box; a non-descript small rally car. The red wing on the back adds nice bit of colour but the dark blue doesn't add much because it's mostly alongside black which gives little contrast. There are a few details like the headlights, fog lights and mirrors. The hood/ bonnet opens and there's a sketch of an engine in there.

However there is no interior because there was simply no room and for that reason the doors don't open. Look a bit closer and there are some serious gaps, especially around the front wheel arches.

The whole thing is not very sturdy. I usually pick up Technic cars by the roof, with my hand through the windscreen. Not a good option here; after a few times the A-pillars pop out. After driving it for a few minutes I had to go looking for the headlights. They're only held on by two studs and easily pop off when you hit something.

Top Gear

I have no idea what the Top Gear branding adds to this set. There's a picture of the Stig on the box and in the book, and there's Stig branding on the car, but it looks no better than #42077, the previous Technic rally car.

Play

I've owned various remote control cars since I was 12, including some Lego ones. This has to be one of the slowest I've played with. The app dashboard shows speeds up to 200 kph as the car trundles along. With no torques to speak of acceleration is awful. It needs the length of my hall to reach top speed. The car has no suspension so if it stops on something like a wire or the edge of a rug it easily gets stuck with one rear wheel spinning.

The app looks ok and works ok, but no more than that. After nearly 40 years of controlling remote control cars with a joystick I found the app hard to get used to. You move your fingers over a screen without any feedback. That may work ok for slower functions like the Liebherr excavator but for racing a car around the living room it doesn't 'do it' for me.

The experience may be different for the generation that grew up with touch screens.

Verdict

A small app-controlled race car is a great concept. It's just a shame the execution here is so poor. You just expect a bit more performance from a rally car.

This set is a good way to get your hands on a set of remote control parts from the Powered Up system and compared to the current insane prices of individual parts on the Lego.com website (€80 for the hub, €35 per motor) it's great value for money.