Autoblog

Modified Lightning McQueen Powerwheels is what childhood dreams are made of

George Kennedy — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 19:59:00 EST

Filed under: Convertible, Videos, Toys/Games, Electric

Evan here is one lucky five year old. In 2009 he received one of those Lightning McQueen Powerwheels, which would have been fun enough for someone his age. But according to the poster of this video, "after three years of use he had worn through the plastic wheels. We decided to upgrade the OEM plastic wheels with rubber tires."

But that was not the end. Not by a mile. His father, in a shop with some high-performance metal, continued to modify the Powerwheel, to the point that it now has a partial aluminum chassis, 24-volt gel batteries and a 500-Watt, 0.66-horsepower electric motor. The car also has disc brakes, Sparco battery cutoff switch, and a modulated throttle.

Further emphasizing that Evan here has the coolest parents, he races the custom Powerwheel at a dirt track, just like the dirt track in Cars. Check out the video below to see this awesome ride... and to think about how accomplished a driver you'd be now if you had a car like this at his age!

Continue reading Modified Lightning McQueen Powerwheels is what childhood dreams are made of

Modified Lightning McQueen Powerwheels is what childhood dreams are made of originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 07 Aug 2012 19:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Maker Faire Detroit 2010: Power Racing Series, as grassroots as it gets [w/Video]

Sam Abuelsamid — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 11:55:00 EST

Power Racing Series - Click above for high-res image gallery

One of the highlights of this weekend's Detroit Maker Faire was the Michigan premiere of a new grassroots racing event: the Power Racing Series. The brainchild of Jim Burke, the Power Racing Series is like LeMons in that the machines have budgets limited to just $500 not including safety equipment. Unlike LeMons, the Power Racing Series vehicles are based on Fisher-Price Power Wheels or Little Tykes toys that have been modded to support the mass of adult drivers and larger 12-volt lead-acid car batteries.

This weekend's competition features three individual events including a drag race, a 15-lap road race and a one-hour enduro on Sunday afternoon. The drag race was won by Royce Pipkins, president of the Milwaukee Maker Space, in his Grave Digger. When the 15-lap event began on Saturday afternoon, the #3 car built by the crew at the I3 Detroit hacker space clearly had more speed than any other vehicle. Unfortunately, about halfway through the race, the car ground to a halt. A key connecting the rear wheel to the axle had sheared the soft metal of the axle. The crew repeatedly tried pounding in new keys, but the car would only run another lap or two before running into trouble. Ultimately Pipkins had the durability and speed to finish 15 green-flag laps before anyone else. Look for the Power Racing Series at a parking lot near you soon.

Update: On Sunday afternoon, the Power Racers went back to the track for the one hour enduro and the extra distance took its toll on the field. Royce Pipkins and his Grave Digger pulled into the pits after 35 minutes with two burned out motors.The i3 Detroit also came at about 40 minutes and had to do some rewiring to bypass a failed motor controller. Meanwhile the OmniCorp Detroit team motored on to complete the most laps. The I3 Detroit machine ran third on the track but accumulated enough Moxie Points from the crowd to finish first overall and capture the 2010 Power Racing Series championship. Check out some video highlights after the jump.

Gallery: Maker Faire Detroit 2010: Power Racing Series

Continue reading Maker Faire Detroit 2010: Power Racing Series, as grassroots as it gets [w/Video]

Maker Faire Detroit 2010: Power Racing Series, as grassroots as it gets [w/Video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 01 Aug 2010 11:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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REPORT: 3-year-old takes birthday truck for ride - downriver for nearly 8 miles!

Chris Shunk — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 09:56:00 EST

Filed under: Truck, Etc., Safety

We can't remember our third birthday, but we're pretty sure it wasn't as exciting as the big day of a young man from British Columbia, Canada. Demetrius Jones was celebrating The Big 3 with a ride in his battery powered toy pickup truck when he went missing from his family's campground.

After a two hour search, the boy was found floating on top of his toy truck in the Peace River an amazing eight miles away. When rescue volunteers found the boy, he was on his hands and knees on top of the overturned truck in over nine feet of water. The boy, wearing only a t-shirt and diaper, was dry above the knees and other than some minor sun exposure, he was perfectly healthy.

The National Post reported that police were called to the scene and the boy was brought back to his parents in a police car. One observer told the Post that the boy appeared to be more excited about being able to ride in a police car than he was about being rescued. After he returned to the campsite with his amphibious truck (who knew they floated?), he got back behind the wheel that night. Sounds like a future Autoblogger if you ask us.

[Sources: CTV; The Globe and Mail; The National Post]

REPORT: 3-year-old takes birthday truck for ride - downriver for nearly 8 miles! originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 14 Jul 2009 09:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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VIDEO: OverPowered PowerWheels + Winter = Big Fun

John Neff — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Videos, Toys/Games, Humor

Click above to watch videos after the jump

Truth be told, we've always thought PowerWheels were underpowered, too. We just never thought of custom building them with a 110cc gas engine from a pit bike, four-speed manual transmission and electric start. Some other guys did, and watching their results in action will seriously mess with your childhood memories.

Their stable of monsters are a Greatest Hits of the PowerWheels garage including the Ford F-150, Barbie Corvette, Barbie Jeep (with wheelie bar), Hummer H2 and Mustang Convertible. Each one looks like an "After" picture of Barry Bonds - a little bigger than you remember and way more powerful. These grown men sit more atop their custom cars than in them, and to say their creations are less safe than a Chinese-built Smart clone would be an understatement. And yet, riding them looks more than enough fun to outweigh the risk of your head becoming a roll bar.

The first video after the jump has them all frolicking on a snow-covered parking lot, pulling wheelies, doing donuts and motoring about like a swarm of riding lawn mowers looking for a new purpose in life. There's more, too, including a jump attempt by the F-150 and a series of spinouts by the Barbie Corvette that could best be described as centrifugal. Follow the jump to watch them all. Hat tip to Robin!

[Source: YouTube via Oh Gizmo!]

Continue reading VIDEO: OverPowered PowerWheels + Winter = Big Fun

VIDEO: OverPowered PowerWheels + Winter = Big Fun originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bring the Toys! UK's Totcars announces Christmas ride-on lineup

Alex Nunez — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 20:03:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Toys/Games

Click image for photo gallery

Here in the States, the kids lust after Power Wheels. On a recent shopping trip to buy my daughter her first real bike, she pointed at a red Power Wheels Mustang, and asked, "Can we get that?" One pink bicycle with handlebar basket later, the pint-sized 'Stang is but a distant memory (thank goodness). Still, the attraction is understandable -- those ride-ons are pretty cool.

In the UK, a company called Totcars appears to be the heavy hitter in this segment, and it's released its lineup of electric and pedal cars for Christmas 2007. From the looks of things, British moms (or is it "mums") and dads are just as likely to be besieged with pleas from their kids as we are. Since Totcars is on the other side of the pond, there are some models represented that we'd never see here. That Alfa 8C is pretty cool, as are the Ferrari F1 cars and Renault Megane Trophy. Oh, and dig that Caterpillar dump truck -- it has twin 12V motors. We've included pics of everything in the attached gallery, and Totcars' press release is pasted after the jump.

[Source: Totcars]

Gallery: Totcars 2007 Christmas Lineup

Continue reading Bring the Toys! UK's Totcars announces Christmas ride-on lineup

Bring the Toys! UK's Totcars announces Christmas ride-on lineup originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 31 Jul 2007 20:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Autoblog After Christmas Sweepstakes #3: Win a Power Wheels Jeep Hurricane!

John Neff — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 15:02:00 EST

Filed under: Contests

Congratulations to Alix, whose comment was plucked from obscurity among the 188 left on our last post. Alix will receive a complete set of Automoblox toys that includes seven vehicles, an expansion block set and a t-shirt. But now it's time to focus our efforts on the grand prize of the Autoblog After Christmas Sweepstakes: a Power Wheels Jeep Hurricane! We posted on the Power Wheels Jeep Hurricane a while back because we were in awe over the advancements made in kiddie-sized, battery-powered transportation since we were kids, and a Power Wheels vehicle has long been the one gift that we always wanted under our tree but never got. The Power Wheels Jeep Hurricane features Ultimate Terrain Traction to tackle wet grass with aplomb, a real FM radio, and cup holders! Thanks go out to Fisher Price and Power Wheels for supplying this great prize.

Entering to win the Power Wheels Jeep Hurricane is as easy as the last two sweepstakes in our series. Just leave a comment on this post telling us what's the one gift you always wanted for Christmas but never got. In other words, how has Santa snubbed you? We'll randomly select a comment from the list tomorrow at 3PM and announce the winner. Hopefully one lucky person will have all their childhood issues of neglect repaired in one fell swoop when this Power Wheels Jeep Hurricane arrives at the door. Good luck everyone!

Some quick basic rules:

You can enter each of the three drawings once, but you can only win one prize
You must be 18 years old to enter
Winners must be a resident of the continental U.S. (we're working on broadening our reach for future sweepstakes, giveaways and contests)
Prizes will be shipped after all drawings are completed.

Check out the official rules here.

The Autoblog After Christmas Sweepstakes #3: Win a Power Wheels Jeep Hurricane! originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 28 Dec 2006 15:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Repairing childhood trauma with Power Wheels Jeep Hurricane

John Neff — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 18:25:00 EST

Filed under: Car Buying, Gadgets, Etc., Jeep

As a child who was a car geek since he was a knee-high to a back bumper, I coveted a Power Wheels electric vehicle over all the other toys in the JC Penny Christmas Catalogue. Power Wheels were magically self-propelled by something called ewectwicitee and cost hundreds of dollars ($8 bajillion in kid money). I never got one and am emotionally scarred because of it, but am waiting for the day I have my own mini-me and can spoil him on his fifth birthday with his very first car.

Power Wheels have come a long way since I was a tike, however. Case in point is the new Jeep Hurricane produced by the Fisher Price division that features Ultimate Terrain Traction. Yeah, you're reading that right. The newest Power Wheels has traction control. The PR language says it all about this "high performance drive system" though skimps on the details:

"It powers through places where other battery-powered ride-ons need a push"
"Through lush lawns, wet grass, mud, gravel, rough terrain and more"
"It's there when you need it - even when you think you don't"

We're not sure what comprises the Jeep Hurricane's Ultimate Terrain Traction, though it's probably not a complicated mess of electronic nannies varying power output to each individual wheel based on tire slip. It could be the simple fact that this Power Wheels has rubber tires instead of slippery plastic ones, but we won't tell the kids that.

The Jeep Hurricane also fixes some proportion issues of past Power Wheels by riding on a much longer wheelbase than past models. If that's not enough, there's also an on-board cup holder (sippy cup approved) and real working FM radio (what, no iPod jack?). The base MSRP for the Ultiamte Terrain Traction Jeep Hurricane is $400.00. There are no options to inflate the price further, but there's also no financing and certainly no incentives. That's a pretty steep price for a child's toy, but it's so cool we think dipping into junior's college fund for this is perfectly warranted.

[Source: Fisher-Price]

Repairing childhood trauma with Power Wheels Jeep Hurricane originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 10 Nov 2006 18:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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