Whether you're after a fun race with friends and family this Christmas, or the perfect gift to give a budding hobbyist, a slot car racing set is the ultimate big-kid present. All this comes at a greater cost though, which means more detriment in terms of money wasted if you choose the wrong set. There wasn't an explicit warning in the instructions not to do this, or that it can permanently damage the Arc Air powerbase. We tested the Scalextric Ginetta Racers set with Arc Air powerbase upgrade, Carrera Digital GT Face off set and Overdrive: Fast and Furious Edition. Compatible with Scalextric digital where you replace the powerbase with Arc Air or Arc Air Pro power base for digital race features

The concept of this game—combining a real car race set with the virtual gaming world—is clever and very appealing for kids.As such, we can't recommend going for Overdrive over Carrera or Scalextric. Which Scalextric, Carrera or Overdrive set is best for you? The manufacturer’s recommended age range is 8 to 15 years old. My 8-year-old enjoys this game, but he gets frustrated when the cars have a glitch. My older boys intuitively understood the various levels and weapons components. They also like that they can use it by themselves or with each other. Also, I’ve never needed to help them navigate the game.

Controlled by a paid for app on your smartphone, change lanes by tilting smartphone, use power ups to speed boost and disable other cars I like that you can play solo (racing against an AI opponent that controls the other car) or dual player with each person controlling a car. It’s fun to be able to customize each car with virtual weapons and build-outs. You can also compete in various modes such as Battle, Race, Time Trial, and King of the Hill.Compatible with Scalextric spark plug where you plug a dongle into the powerbase to control cars with your smartphone Which features are more fun is, of course, subjective. But for what it's worth, we found the lane changing offered out of the box in Carrera's set added a bit more magic to the race than pit stops and fuel management. While its price point and features make for an appealing alternative, it was less fun in practice than Carrera or Scalextric. It is also unclear, since assets being acquired by Digital Dream Labs, how supported the system and app will be in the future.

Connecting to the Carrera Go!!! Plus app for additional smartphone mini games when told to stop in the pits. We got the Overdrive and Scalextric Arc Air working in the end, but they both had teething issues that hampered our enjoyment. Anki OverDrive Apps Reaching End-Of-LifeDigital Dream Labs was recently notified that several of the Anki apps for Drive and OVERDRIVE are unable to support all of the features found in the newest mobile devices. After reviewing the resources that would be required to update these apps, we have decided to retire them and continue support for OverDrive 2.6, which released last year. When setting up OVERDRIVE / OVERDRIVE: Fast & Furious Edition, the app will guide you through the process of setting up your first account. Additional accounts can be created by:Scalextric is the synonymous brand in the UK, but others, such as Carrera and Anki Overdrive (now owned by Digital Dream Labs), offer racing ecosystems to rival the popular Scalextric sets. It raises the question: is Scalextric still the best? The cars fared better in our durability tests, though rear spoilers did pop out and have to be reattached. The base set works straight out the box. What makes ddl's InfiniDrive ( previously known as OverDrive) the world's most intelligent battle racing system? Tech so advanced, it feels like the future.‍ Overdrive vehicles were the toughest - you could have a multi-car pile up and they'd emerge unscathed. Ways to keep your family living costs down, and kids of all ages happy Get our Family newsletter – it's free monthly Scalextric, Carrera or Anki Overdrive: which did we like best?

The app didn't work smoothly, we found an iOS phone just couldn't join a race being hosted by an Android phone, for example. OVERDRIVE and OVERDRIVE:Fast & Furious Edition allow - and encourage - you to create an Online Player Account to save the following game stats online: It does offer unique racing modes compared to the other systems: including Battle (race until you drain opponents of all their health points), King of the Hill (take out the leader to steal the crown and score points) and One Shot (one health point, last person standing). Read on to find out the seven lessons we learned that will equip you if you're planning to buy a Scalextric or other slot car racing set. You can also discover what we ultimately thought of the sets we tested, and which brand is best for you. Scalextric vs Carrera vs Anki Overdrive Arc Air powerbase has wireless controllers, allows up to two cars and adds pit stops, fuel, tyre wear, changeable incident/weather conditions and pace car for single player racingThe Overdrive cars didn't drive that fast in our tests. Unless you were using a boost there was no jeopardy of falling off. It's not lapping the competition by any stretch of the imagination, but if money is no object we found Carrera to be the most reliable and fun system we tested. The Carrera cars were more fragile, with windscreens and rear spoilers shearing off in our durability tests. The Scalextric Arc Air powerbase adds a pit stop feature to refuel your vehicles. Simple, but increased the fun factor and tactics needed to race well. Carrera digital is also relatively expensive compared to the other slot-car racing systems. It's bigger in European countries and the USA. Prices are more expensive here and if being shipped from abroad, beware import charges.