Another DigiQ F1 review..
 

Welp, got my DigiQ F1 in a trade from someone on the boards.. all I can say is that I've reserved comment until I put about a good 3hrs worth of playing time in.

I have the Toyota TF102. You can see pics in the DigiQ Gallery section.

Controller is awesome, I love the functionality and programmability. Carfeels a little cheap on the front end as Usagi reported, but it does seem to stand up well to abuse. I have physically put pressure on the front suspension in an attempt to break it (though I didn't use super human force ;)) and it seems to be able to take a decent amount of force before it feels like it's going to start to give. Fragile? Yeah, it is a little on the fragile side.

Playability: Whee! This sucker is fast. I got to play with it on a warehouse floor with several thousand square feet for fun. All I know is I -NEED- an IR booster now. ;) Once you hit a straight, this thing ZIPS real nice, turning was a bit too tight on the slick floor and I didn't have excellent traction, but I can see how the proper racing surface would do well. I tried my best to bottom out the car with sharp turns and such, but there isn't a single scrape on the bottom. I suggest sticking to flat surfaces for racing, no pebble-laden parking lots or anything.

Looks: Looks great! Excellent detail on such a small thing. I almost want to just put it up in a little case on my shelf!

Hackability; haven't tried to hack it yet. I think I may want to buy a single Car-ONLY to hack.. I'm wondering what a BCG custom conversion would be like using the dual battery/dual motor, and rigging up the front for real steering instead of just loose steering (just like a DigiQ).

All in all decent product, a little fragile. Probably worth about 45 USD (though I basically paid a bit more because I'm a sucker for these things).

NorCal, your assessment sounds pretty close to mine. I've had a McLaren and Jordan Honda for several weeks now and have logged quite a bit of time on both. They're still none the worse for wear. Nothing broken or worn, yet, but I'm pretty careful with them. My 7'x4' race area is level and smooth but definitely not warehouse-size ;) so they can be a challenge (at least for me) to handle at various controller settings and I don't get a chance to "open them up" much in any kind of straightway. I do like playing with them by trying different curving circuits around pylons at different controller settings and using an IR timer I've got to track times. They look really cool to me. When I start a session, it takes some warm-up runs before I get comfortable with the F1 and any setting. As I pointed out in another posting, the only other micro-RC cars I've got are some Microsizers. They've been languishing in the "garage" since I've gotten the F1s. I guess I'm just a fool for Formula. :D

Norcalcoug,

Glad to hear you are enjoying the little car!

My adavice is to get an Epoch spec 2 on your next purchase.

Man I love my Epoch!

My feeling is F1 = toy
Epoch = racecar but can be used as toy!


Later all

Enjoy the F1

TEAM NITRO

Well, I prefer to stick with the small.. but I'm looking into a Mini-Z for my next car. :) Those things are AWESOME! :)