Spinmaster Air Hogs Zero Gravity Micro Car - Black Rugged Car

Indoor R/C racing has never seen anything quite like this. This zero-gravity micro racer is a full-function R/C car that knows no difference between the floor, the walls and the ceiling! It races right-side up, upside-down, and any other smooth surface, all with outstanding scale speed and performance. Working headlights act as charge level indicators, so you know when it's time to recharge.

Car comes with two power settings - floor mode with venture fan off, and suction mode for vertical and upside-down action. Includes four different frequencies so you can race against your friends. Requires 1 rechargeable LiPo battery (included) and 6 "AA" batteries (not included). Measures 4.75"L x 2.5"W x 1.25"H. Colors may vary from image shown.

Forget those remote control cars that just scoot across the ground! These Air Hogs Zero Gravity Micro cars moves in three dimensions -- across the ground, up the wall, and even upside down on the ceiling! By using a specially designed suction device, the car can climb a wall and maneuver just as it does on the ground.

Air Hogs lets you control a car along the ground and up walls. (red sports car version shown) View larger.

Use the remote to charge the car's built-in battery. (red sports car version shown) View larger.

What We Think Fun Factor: Durability: (what this means) The Good: Car can drive up walls; includes rechargeable battery The Bad: Car is a bit fragile; slightly loud; limited wireless range In a Nutshell: Car can do everything it advertises, but all the conditions must be met At a Glance Ages: 8 and up Requires: 6 AA batteries for remote, clean surface

Smart, Innovative Design
Air Hogs makes the only cars that can climb walls, and the Zero Gravity Micro is smaller and faster than the original Air Hogs Zero Gravity Humvee. We were surprised by how small and light the Zero Gravity Micro is; it is basically a thin plastic shell wrapped around a light body with a vacuum in it. Our car was designed to look like a red race car, but you can choose from other designs available as well.

We were able to get the Zero Gravity Micro up and running without any problems. The remote control unit needs six AA batteries (not included), and is then used to charge the built-in rechargeable battery in the car. This is done by connecting a cable from the remote control to the car, and flipping the switch to charge mode. Thanks to smart design, this cable can be stowed and hidden away when not being used.

After about half an hour for charging, the car was ready to go. Right away, we set the car to wall climbing mode and set it on our wall. Though we'd read about what it was supposed to do, we were still very impressed when we saw the car stick to the wall and climb. You can see the vacuum working, as there is a window on the top of the car showing a spinning fan. The car makes quite a bit of sound when it is in wall mode.

Using the remote, we were able to make the car go up, turn left and right, and go down as well. With a tight turning radius, the car is very maneuverable and with some practice, you can get the car to do exactly as you wish. In addition to Wall mode, there is also a Ground mode which leaves the fan/vacuum off, and lets you drive full function on the ground. You need to walk around with the car, however, as the remote has limited range. This is not as big a concern on walls because we were usually pretty close to the wall as the car was climbing it.

The car has working headlights that double as a battery indicator--when they start to blink, the car is running low on power.

Needs Clean, Smooth Surface
The instructions warn that the car should be played only on a clean, smooth surface, and they're not kidding. Since the car is able to stay on walls due to suction, the moment an inconsistency is introduced, the car loses suction and falls off. We found that a surface like glass works very well. With our concrete wall, we often ran into problems with the car maintaining its suction. Coupled with the car's light construction, we fear that repeated abuse could cause damage to it.

Overall, we found the Air Hogs Zero Gravity Micro to be an innovative and fun toy. We wished it were a bit more hefty and could work on more surfaces, but when we got it going on our window, we were very impressed. It's a great new idea and twist on an old toy, and is bound to keep children mesmerized.

What's in the Box
AirHogs car, remote control unit, instructions.

After reading that the zero gravity car was a hot toy for Christmas 2008, I purchaced one for my grandson. It did not live up to the hype. It clings to the wall as promised, but it runs in fits and starts, even on smooth walls. My grandson was excited when he first saw the toy, but lost interest after several failed attempts to get the car moving for more than a minute or two. It is an expensive toy with little to recommend it.

My son really wanted one of these cars for Christmas and I ordered it online to make sure we were able to get one. It worked at first and would drive on the wall for a while, but the fabric skirt got frayed quickly (our slightly textured walls probably did it) and would no longer hold a seal on the wall after a short time of use (like 10 minutes max). It will no longer hold it's seal on the wall. Unfortunately, the box got ripped up and thrown away otherwise I would return this. He can still use it on the floor though, so at least that's a positive, but he was really disappointed that it wouldn't stay on the wall anymore. Unless you don't have any texture at all on your walls, don't expect this to work long for you.

OK, it "does" what it says. Just not that well. It sticks to the walls. It will go along for a bit and gets stuck. You nudge it. It goes again. The car is VERY light so it will stay up, but it is very picky about the serface it rides on. Every little imperfection is a problem. It's a cute idea, but with all of the aggrevation, it is certainly not worth the money. One would be better off buying a normal RC car that actually works.

My son wanted this for Christmas, and what a great gift it turned out to be! I wasn't expecting much, but it's a lot of fun to watch this thing drive up the walls and all over the ceiling! My husband is having as much fun with it as my son. We did find, as someone else had already mentioned, that it does not work on textured walls, which is because it can't acheive suction. It works really well on the smooth walls and ceilings, though! I can't speak for durability yet, as we've only used it for 2 days. Since it's plastic, I would imagine that if it loses a charge and falls from the ceiling, it could break, especially if falling onto a hard surface. As for educational value, I guess if you are going to teach them how suction can be used to defy gravity, it can be educational. :-)

We got 3 of these and we love them. Our grandson is 8 and this was the first toy of Christmas that he played with,we had a lot of fun on the walls and ceiling in our long hall.