Your Wheels - Your Way

Okay, so Christmas was last month but still, we’re holding onto this festive season wave for as long as we can with this list of super cool toys.  Admittedly, it’s a case of thrills for dills. We’re not going to lie, these toys are not of the educational variety and won’t make you any smarter. But then who cares? They are extremely fun and exciting. Besides you can always tell any snooty person who does care, that it’s developing your gross motor skills - or some bull like that.

Razor Crazy Cart XL

What is it? Not that you thought you ever needed one, but this is said to be the Ultimate Drifting Machine. Something akin to a go-kart only with its electric motor you can drive, spin and well, drift in all directions; forwards, backwards, sideways, diagonally and basically any possible which way. Yet, doing so, at incredibly exhilarating speeds.

How does it work? In its basic mode it drives like a Go Kart, but when you lift the Drift Bar, it goes into Crazy Car Mode, capable of twisting, spinning and cornering in all directions with the 360 degree steering wheel. Powered by a 500 Watt motor the Crazy Car XL can accelerate to as fast as 12 mph (that’s 19km/h for the rest of us) and uses a 36V battery pack that provides for 40 minutes of continual use. The battery can be easily replaced and recharged with a supplied charger. The battery pack is stored underneath the driver’s seat, for two probable reasons; firstly, to add height to the driver’s seating position and secondly to protect the battery with you being the likely protective buffer should there be a crash. What? it makes sense.

How many banks do I have to rob to get one? Not as many as you would have thought. The cheapest we found it for was $649 US. Which certainly isn’t a bad price when you consider that you would buy a bike for around the same.

How can I get my hands on it? The Crazy Cart XL is available at Walmart, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Toys R Us and Sports Authority. Orders can be made online.

SwinCar

What is it? Technically speaking it’s a recreational vehicle, yet it brings to mind something of what a rolling spider would look like. The structure of the wheels are able to extend outwards with aluminium tubes, giving the vehicle an incredible stability and flexibility to get through any awkward or otherwise difficult terrain. 

How Does it work? The magic of this machine is the independent suspension on each of the 4 wheels that are all given a force of power with the 1.5kw motor that is attached to each. This seems to be what gives the Swincar its edge as a robust and exceptionally agile driving machine. Comprised of aluminium and capable of reaching maximum speeds of between 20 to 40 km/h depending on configurations, drivers can also choose to have steering available on all 4 wheels or just 2. Customers can choose the size of the battery depending on their needs, potentially this is an incredibly useful tool if you have a significant physical disability, in which case for regular use you may well opt for the largest 6kw battery pack, but for less frequent use there is an option of a 2kw and a 4kw battery.

How many banks do I have to rob to get one? Well we can’t quite tell you at the moment, but considering the number of patents taken out on it and awards it has won, it may well be a few.

How can I get my hands on it? The Swincar is made in France. At this stage it only seems to be available through an order off their website. However, they still seem to be knee deep in the process of consolidating distributors and suppliers.

Hoverboard

What is it? Whilst getting very popular, no-one has been able to stick an official name to what is basically a two wheel, self bouncing, electric scooter. Calling them anything between Hoverboards, Mini segways, Air-boards, Balancing boards and even PhunkeeDucks. But whatever you want to call it, they are extremely fun to ride and easy to learn to use. It’s a definite thumbs up from us 

How Does it work? What we liked about the hoverboard is that it works more easily than what you would think. Simply get on by gently stepping on to each platform one foot at a time, ideally using something to balance yourself. The touch sensitive pads are very intuitive turning on the motors when enough pressure is supplied and moving in line with your body’s posture. The hoverboard weighs about 12 kg ensuring that it is fairly robust whilst light enough to carry up steps or into your office. The Hoverboard is capable of reaching a top speed of 11 to 12 km/h which is a slightly faster pace that a jog. On a fully charged battery it has a 24 km range and will recharge with connection to a household electric socket in just a couple of hours.

How many banks do I have to rob to get one? While the Segway would require at least half a dozen banks, for this mini-segway you would probably make do with just one as it is available for purchase at around $600

How can I get my hands on it? The Hoverboards and its many differently named doppelgangers are available on both ebay and amazon for purchase. Though large sporting equipment retailers are also likely to sell them.