Pix & Brief Review – Bit Char-G OEM Cars

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    • #8830
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      We managed to get hold of three of these cars for evaluation and testing. Check out the first round of photos in the Bit Char-G Gallery. Quality is not the best as I was kind of rushing the session, using only my desk lamp for lighting.

      These OEM cars are churned out from the same factory in Tangshan, China as the Japanese Bit Char-Gs – allegedly under full knowledge and approval of Tomy/Tomica in Japan. We believe that these cars are destined to become the first ‘English’ Bit Char-G cars that we’ll start seeing on shelves in the UK as Micro Racers in May/June this year.

      So how does the OEM car stack up against the Jap-spec Bit Char-G?

      Packaging
      – Car comes full-assembled in a polycarbonate display case – controller is built into the base. Display case is lessconvenient to ship than the standard box, but, IMHO, the look is a lot better
      – OEM package includes instructions in both English and Mandrin Chinese.

      Finish of the Car Body
      – In a word, “rough”. Clearly the shells have come out of the same moulds as the Japcars. However, some of the hand paintwork is pretty ordinary. Wel…you can’t expect a Rembrandtfor the price
      – Don’t expect to see any familiar brand names on the OEM cars. To keep costs to a minimum, NO official vehicle/brand/trademark licencing has been obtained for this series.
      – The stickers are a little “chunky” for my liking. But, for people into custom cars, they are dead easy to remove – making for a good, clean shell for a 1-of-a-kind finish.

      The Transmitter
      – Good size in the hand andgood button placement. Separate buttons are perhaps more user-friendly than the genuine Tomy rocker-style arrangement.
      – Screw-in telescoping antenna is a nice touch, but doesn’t appear to offer as good a range as the wind-up ‘whip’ style antenna in initial testing (35MHz car)

      How it Performs
      – If you already own a Bit Char-G, the first thing you will notice is that they are a lot louder than the Jap cars – due to gear chatter and the greater winding/case size tolerance in the motor.
      – They are QUICK. The OEM 2.2 motor seems quicker and torquier than the official Tomy Micro B 2.6, but still nowhere as quick as the Tomy 3.0 motor.
      – All the normal steering/throttleresponsiveness is there as both the OEM and Jap cars share the same base circuitry in both the contoller and car.

      The bottom line….
      At around AUD25.00 a car (landed/taxed etc to Sydney)- they represent a saving of almost 75% over the Jap-spec Bit Char-Gs. I believe thatgood vale option for people not 100% sure about throwing big money at atiny car, or for folks looking for a car that will be less painfull on the wallet when their Little Johnny throws it against the livingroom wall in a temper-tantrum.

      If anyone is interested in getting one or two of these in as gifts (or just to thrash about with yourself!), email us and we’ll note your interest down for when we place the next order with Japan.

      Any questions – fire away in this thread!

    • #13208
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      Can the Bit Char-g OEM cars be used with the multi-channel controller?

      Or are they of different (than Japan spec Bit Char-g) frequencies?

      Darryl

    • #13209
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      Hey Darryl

      The OEM cars use a “D” set frequency that, by deliberately annoying design, cannot be used with the 4Band multi controller.

      Sneaky buggers

      Welcome to ausmicro, BTW!

      Derek

    • #13347
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      im thinkin about gettin one, ill tell you how it is

    • #13432
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      Well, I just got my two cars and my verdict is…decent for the money. However, one seems to be pretty good and the other seems to be a dud. The “good” one has really good range. I think it’s run time is alittle shorter than my bits. There are also two “flaws” that I found with the “good” one…one of the rear wheels is not quite centered on the axle causing it to bounce slightly as it drives. Also, the axle gear barely engages the middle gear.

      Here’s what’s wrong with the dud. First, I clipped the car into the charger and it started charging, but finished after only a few seconds. It didn’t clip in very well, so I charged it again. Again, it only charged a few seconds. I tried running it and it went about a foot and died. Then I charged it again. This time the charge cycle seemed normal. Then the car worked…sort of. It only turns right! I determined that it is the controller’s problem since the LED doesn’t light when I hit the left turn button. I drove it around only turning right and this one is much slower and it also died pretty quickly. I’ll see what ToyEast can do for me since it is obviously defective.

      Oh, and I’m about to swap the good parts from the bad car for the bad parts from the good car

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