Hot Wheels: Rift Rally brings your Hot Wheels collection to life.

Mixed reality experiences are becoming more popular and accessible. It is an exciting time where fandom, collecting, and technology are coming together in ways never before possible. Velan Studios and Mattel have joined forces to bring one of those experiences to life with our beloved Hot Wheels collection with Hot Wheels: Rift Rally. With this mixed reality experience, players/collectors are able to bring just about their entire Hot Wheels car collection to life in the real world through the aptly named “Chameleon” remote-controlled car.

Players choose their car and the Chameleon adapts its properties stats and even its look via augmented reality.

There are 3 key components to the experience. The car, the Chameleon, the track, and the actual game itself, Hot Wheels: Rift Rally. The way I did it, is I set up my track, via the pylons provided, then loaded up the game, connected the Chameleon, then loaded up a car, and drove through the pylons to program the track into the game. Now For all levels and game modes, the track is set. So all levels and game modes will be programmed to that track and setup until you decide you want to change it up. It sounds complicated, but the setup guide is very intuitive and after the first attempt it becomes second nature.

Hot Wheels: Rift Rally’s Chameleon

I’ve had a few remote control cars in my day. The Tantrum and Sidewinder are particular favorites, something about a car that can’t be flipped over. But the Chameleon outclasses those cars in every way. It’s faster, the battery lasts way longer, and it is far more intuitive to operate. It’s great when you have a turbo button at actually makes the car go

Remote control cars are one of the most popular motoring hobbies – and many people even consider it a sport, racing their cars against other owners. As with real vehicles, remote control car aficionados are often willing to spend a lot of money to get the best equipment, as well as spending time making their own modifications to the way the cars perform and how they look.

There are even world championships in different types of remote control car races, from track racing to off-road competitions, just as you get with the real thing. Competitors from around the world take part in these events, with drivers and teams from the US and Japan often dominating events.

The same goes for the manufacturers of remote control cars, with foreign-based companies producing many of the best remote control cars on the market – and also the most expensive. Most people unfamiliar with the world of serious remote control car competitions might think of the models they have seen in their local toy shop, which can sell for as little as $20. While this may be a good way to start out, if you want to win the world championships, you are going to have to be prepared to spend a lot more money.

In fact, many of the best remote control cars can actually cost more than real cars – as you can see from the expensive, hi-tech, not-to-be-played-with toys on this list!

20 Freefly Tero

The Freefly Tero is not only the most expensive remote control vehicle on this list, but it is also different from the other model cars. While the likes of the Vektra 5 and the various Kyosho creations are designed for racing and for enthusiast

[This is a sponsored article with RC Paragon Universal.]

Toy cars were often found in my house during my childhood. My brother and I had a large box of Hot Wheels Cars, and would also race our AA battery cars around our living room.

As we grew up though, we also grew out of these interests, but for some people, this hobby continues into adulthood. Some may even only discover this interest in adulthood.

Others even take it one step further, by immersing themselves in the remote control (RC) cars community, which is a more serious take on toy car modification and racing.

Small but mighty 

RC car competitions are played in three different categories:

• Competitive racing; 
• Speedrunning;
• Leisure bashing.

To elaborate, competitive racing is usually categorised based on skill levels, the scale of RC cars, and types of surfaces such as dirt, astroturf, and on-road, to name a few. 

These tracks are specifically made for RC car racers to test their abilities in manoeuvring through the tracks, with some examples being the Kota Raja on-road track, Putrajaya P6 off-road track, and more.

Meanwhile, speedrunning is where things get serious for RC racers. It challenges a racer’s modification abilities and capabilities in keeping control of their cars at high speeds. 

Fun fact: Within Malaysia’s RC cars community, the current national record for speedrunning was set in 2022, when a competitor managed to get their toy car speeding from 0km/h to 260km/h on a track that was under 1km long. According to Malaysian hobbyists, it was a feat that put Malaysia on the map for the global RC community.

Leisure bashing, on the other hand, is where most players start. Bashing in RC generally means racing without rules or

For many, going to a grocery store or ordering food delivery is a daily chore, but one man decided to take things up a notch with a clever set-up. Kael Schorelin (@the_blue_car) sent his remote-controlled car out on an errand to procure shark food in a viral TikTok video. Equipping his FPVRC car with a 360-degree camera, Schorelin recorded the car’s journey from his house to Petco.

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In the video, the car arrives at Petco, catching the attention of a befuddled employee who says, “Hi, there’s a camera on that!” and excitedly adds, “He nodded his head!” The employee leans in and checks the back of the remote car with a note that reads, “Glow shark food, please.”

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Spending all day assisting customers at a humdrum department store is tedious, but stumbling onto something extraordinary, such as a remote control car approaching you to buy fish food, can brighten your day. The little car then follows the amused employee to make the necessary purchase.

She grabs a bottle of shark food and says, “Can you open it, so I can see how much cash you got?” From there, the transaction becomes smooth sailing. While the billing is done, the coffee shop workers tell the remote control car, “Please come back and do this more! It made my day.” The total was six bucks, and the employee took out the required cash from the box on top of the car and exchanged it for a shark food bottle and the bill.

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Once the food and change were both back in the basket, the

COLONIAL HEIGHTS – Start your engines and charge your batteries. Hundreds of remote control monster trucks are at Keystone Truck and Tractor Museum this weekend.

The 7th annual Solid Axle Showdown is happening today through Sunday, August 7. Races will be held from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. each day.

The event includes more than 300 remote control monster trucks – patterned after real monster trucks – competing for the coveted title of Solid Axle Showdown Champion in 10 different classes.

The Solid Axle Showdown will feature track obstacles, jumps, crashes and plenty of excitement. The event, considered one of the largest solid axle racing events in the country, is organized by Chesterfield-based Showtime R/C Motorsports, a local remote control monster truck enthusiast and racing group.

Brothers Marlon and Rafael Cox created Showtime R/C Motorsports. They have been monster truck and R/C enthusiasts for over 20 years.

Racers from Virginia, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Maryland, New York and Illinois will compete for trophies and awards.

Seed spitting contest: Start practicingPetersburg Watermelon Festival at The Iron Works: Music, food, beer, cider, wine, mead

Keystone Truck and Tractor Museum

The museum encompasses more than 125,000 square feet. It’s cool, combustive and guarantees to take you on an exhilarating walk down memory lane.

Keystone has tractors, classic cars, a still, an old Gulf service station, vintage gas pumps, oil cans, toys, tools, bottle collections, automotive signage, clocks, advertising posters of yesteryear and much more.

It is free to watch the race with the price of museum admission: $10 adults, $9 seniors [62 and older], $5 active military and students [ages 6-17], and free for children five and under. Purchase tickets at the museum in the gift shop.

The museum is open seven days a week 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. The last admission is

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• An alligator took down a remote controlled boat in Florida after the RC toy got too close for comfort
• NHRA driver Alex Laughlin was in Gainesville, Florida for the Gatornationals race when the encounter occurred
• Read more ALLIGATORS stories here

Don’t mess with an alligator. It’s such a simple concept. Leave them be and we can all peacefully coexist. But if you try and feed the alligators, get too close, or bother them with remote-controlled boats then there will be problems.

Case in point, this guy drove his RC Boat under a fence and into a pond where the remote-controlled toy got too close to an alligator. The gator was having none of his shenanigans and put the boat to sleep with the quickness. And while this is on a micro-scale, it’s reminiscent of a mythological sea monster sinking a ship.

Alligator Sinks Remote Controlled Boat

This went down earlier this month in Gainesville, Florida, home of the Florida Gators. Coincidentally, it was a racecar driver (Alex Laughlin) who was driving the RC boat and he was in Gainesville for the Gatornationals race.

Here’s what NHRA driver Alex Laughlin’s Facebook caption (above) said, if that didn’t load for you:

Alex Laughlin: “ONE OF THE CRAZIEST EXPERIENCES OF MY LIFE!!! It’s a Friday rainout here at the Gatornationals and my trip to Wally-World for the RC boats and rain boots made the day! There’s about a 5-6ft GATOR in the water beside our pit area where I was driving my sweet new ride.

Well… Mr. Gator decided to cruise over and EAT MY BOAT!!! It snagged it, looked me dead in the eye, and slowly lowered itself like a submarine, then about 10 seconds later the boat porpoised back to the surface! I drove the boat back to

Having become a parent relatively recently myself, I’m quickly becoming accustomed to the deluge of brightly colored objects that are filling our once minimalist living quarters. Toys are, of course, amongst the worst offenders—many kind and well-meaning family and friends delivering new garish, throw-away plastic play-things with almost conveyor-belt levels of efficiency.

It’s little wonder then, perhaps, that I swooned a little on first glance of ‘First Gear’—a range of remote control toys developed by London-based V2 Studio. Not only is the range delightfully understated, but these cork-based little beauties also have a sustainable edge that makes me a little more hopeful for the future of the planet.

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From a nifty F1 car to a stylish speedboat, graceful sailboat and beyond, the First Gear range of vehicles and vessels are made primarily from Portuguese cork. The soft, lightweight material makes a perfect impact resistant car body and buoyant boat hull, but also has great CO2 offsetting abilities—the seven million acres of cork forest around the Mediterranean apparently offsetting 20 million tons of CO2 each year.

If that wasn’t sufficient sustainability credentials, the entire range is designed with longevity in mind. The remote control for the toys—a simple half-moon wheel, with a couple of buttons—comes equipped with dynamic control settings that give children different steering sensitivity and speeds (and thus control challenge) as they grow, hopefully meaning these toys will stay relevant for longer.

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Naturally, we enquired with V2 Studio as to whether these little beauties were available for purchase but, alas, you won’t be seeing them in toy stores just yet. Apparently, the range was the outcome of a self-initiated project of the studio—the firm having spent many a year developing toys for