Didn't like the Motorworks clone

crazydave · #1 03-03-2003, 10:06 AM

I passed on these things before, because to me, they look like cheap dollar store toys, but after reading all the positive things here I decided to go ahead and try one.

I'm not impressed, in fact I feel ripped off.

To start with, the battery blew up after only one run. I charged it once like normal, ran it, and when I tried to charge it again, an hour later, I hear "fizzle, sputter, pop". I check, and ther is black crap all over the end.

Second the steering is horrible. I can't even turn around in my kitchen without backing it up.

It was pretty fast, so I decided to go ahead and tranfer the PCB to my Zip Zap. That's became another problem. The system for reversing the motor is different. There is one wire on the can for ground, and then 2 positive wires going to the end bell. So your stuck with the permanently attached motor, and since the steering uses one coil in the center, and 2 magnets your pretty much stuck with the steering system. So when i put everything in my ZZ, it was just as fast, which was cool, but because of the extra room the magnets take up, the limitations of the steering system also came with it.

I drilled a couple holes in my chassis that allowed the magnets to be moved back. Successfuly increasing my steering, but by the time I got it back together, one of the wires broke off the coil. I borrowed a coil from my other clone, but by this time I was fed up, and called it a loss.

I like the little radio, but it's useless to me now. So I have to say that 14 buck for a set of knobby tires just wasn't worth it.

I took a pic of what I did with the steering magnets, because I think you could use this same mod on the steering coils in clones to increase steering range. On my Cannonball clone the lack of steering is due to extra wide coils.

denden · #2 03-03-2003, 10:53 AM

Which motorworks clone , the old or the new one ??

crazydave · #3 03-03-2003, 11:01 AM

The new one with the square case.

denden · #4 03-03-2003, 11:29 AM

Sorry to hear that , I'm having no problems with mine ,..so far .
Steering is great on mine , Hey ,.. take it back to Walmart
exchange for a new one or get refund . Walmart is pretty good
with returns.

Squishy · #5 03-03-2003, 04:58 PM

yea, i had one that turned like crap, but i just took it back and got a new on, and this one works fine

Racer9 · #6 03-03-2003, 05:02 PM

They have NASCARs Road Racers and that funky DODGE Charger!

ugh · #7 03-03-2003, 05:11 PM

You must have gotten a dud. My MW is the new one, and it is quick, it handles my rally track faster than all of my MS. Its turning is awesome too! I would suggest doing what everyone else said, return it. If you can't do that, you might want to buy another one and see how it runs, but that might be pointless because maybe the cars in your Wal-Mart is a whole batch of duds. Sorry to hear that about yours, but don't turn them down. Everyone else that has had one has loved it (me included), you just had some bad luck.

ugh · #8 03-03-2003, 05:12 PM

Hmm......that sounded really lame and sentimental (ewww).......well, you get the point.

MicRoMaN · #9 03-03-2003, 08:47 PM

One quick q, do MS or bit bodies fit on a motorwoks chassis? Thanks.

ugh · #10 03-03-2003, 10:29 PM

Microman, unfortunetly, they don't. I tried, but the tabs on the MS are too long. But with a little modification, you could easily make it fit.

crazydave · #11 03-04-2003, 08:49 AM

I was hesitant to take it back, because it was in pieces. So I called the 1-877-FUN-TOYS number, and they offered to send a charger. I explained it was not charger, but the battery in the car, and she told me there is no battery in the car. So I was forced to re-assemble it, and take it to Wally World.

The new car is much better. No exploding batteries, and it turns on a dime. I can't explain the difference in steering, but it is drastic. Doesn't seem as fast, but apparently that battery was about to blow, so maybe that had something to do with that.

I knew the battery was a fluke, and these things happen with rechargable batteries, but I thought the lack of steering was inherant to the design. I was wondering why you guys thought it was so good...Sorry guys, I should have trusted you. My bad. So I guess next time I'll try to get an exchange, before I go whining about it on a message board.

Bit bodies fit on mine, it's just the LED and PCB cover that gets in the way.

Also someone said the rear axle is not removeable, but it just has a plastic cover over it that snaps right off.

Also, check out this idea: I have a blue LED that I'm going to replace the red one with, to give me a blue underglow that only comes on when it's driving. I have to wait until I put dual cells in it, because it's a 3v LED, but I think that would be cool.