Let’s be clear about this. ‘Stancing’ cars ruins them. It ruins the way they ride, the way they corner, tyre wear, fuel consumption…

The Elves however, having tiny brains similar to that of your average bro, love stanced cars, and thus there’d have been a mass Elven sulk if we didn’t feature this one. Fortunately we can, as whilst the subject matter is questionable the build itself is most excellent, and the builder is something of a legend too.

Powered by LEGO’s Power Functions system and controlled via bluetooth via the 5-star-rated SBrick, Mahjqa’s ‘SUP BRO’ stanced tuner runs a 22.5 degree camber on its remote control chassis. Despite this obvious handicap it still looks proper fun to pilot around an empty car park – take a look via the video below!

 YouTube Video

There’s more to see of Mahjqa’s latest build via both Flickr and the Eurobricks discussion forum, plus we’re delighted to reveal that Mahjqa has become the latest builder to be awarded Master MOCer status here at The Lego Car Blog!

Joining fourteen other of the world’s very best Lego builders, Mahjqa tells us his inspiration, reveals what sort of LEGO brick he would be, and explains how he creates his amazing models. Read his Master MOCers interview below!

Master MOCers Season 2, Episode 4

Mahjqa

The Lego Car Blog Elves love remote control Lego creations. Well, they love them if they are at the controls. As regular readers will know there have been a number of remote control related incidents here at TLCB Towers, resulting in much Elven hospitalisation. Well things are about to get taken up a notch…

Revealed here as a Kickstarter project back in June 2016 the BuWizz bluetooth control battery brick has become a regular third-party accessory within the Lego Community. With claims of up to eight times the power of LEGO’s own Power Functions battery set-up, now expanded to twelve times with the release of BuWizz 2.0, the potential to transform the way Lego models move is huge. But does the BuWizz live up to the hype? We’ve been sent a copy to find out…

The Brick

Our BuWizz arrived a simple cardboard box, packaged only with a little piece of paper denoting the required warnings and LED indicator meanings. The BuWizz brick is a clever thing, incorporating both a rechargeable li-ion battery and a bluetooth control into one 8×4 stud box, reminiscent of LEGO’s own battery boxes from the 1980s. There are studs on top, tubes on the bottom, and four Technic pin holes with which the BuWizz can be attached to genuine LEGO pieces.

Our BuWizz came in a dark grey hue that we don’t think matches any of LEGO’s colours, but seeing as it can be mounted internally within a creation an exact match isn’t required. The moulding quality is OK, perfectly adequate for the job in hand, but certainly not as good as an official LEGO piece (or the rival SBrick reviewed here previously). On top of the BuWizz are two connection ports, a status LED, and four LEGO Power Functions compatible power outlets.

You must charge your BuWizz upon arrival via a micro USB, which the pack does not contain. This is a bit of a shame as it means the device is not truly plug-and-play, requiring a lead from something else in order to charge. We found a lead, plugged in the BuWizz, which let us know it was charging via the LED on top, and busied ourselves for a few hours.

Set Up

Upon returning to our BuWizz a green light indicated we were ready to go. Like the aforementioned SBrick, the Buwizz brick uses an app to connect your phone or tablet to itself. The app is an easy download and connects the device seamlessly. Within it are six pre-programmed control interfaces available to operate your model. Each requires a small amount of set-up so that the app knows which of your motors is connected to which port which is simple enough, although there is no ‘test’ function as per the SBrick, which would be useful.

We connected four XL motors mounted within a direct-drive skid-steer test rig to the BuWizz battery and hit the controls. Weirdly one motor (and only one) span the wrong way, but the BuWizz’s simple ‘reverse’ option soon cured that. Then, because we have the mental age of five, we engaged ‘Ludicrous Mode’…

Inspired by Tesla, BuWizz’s ‘Ludicrous Mode’ turns up the power to the motors by a factor of three. Multiply that by the four motors you can drive at once and you get twelve times the power! And boy, does it show…

Flicking between ‘Normal’, ‘Fast’ and ‘Ludicrous’ via the app sees a noticeable (and considerable!) jump in power. It’s almost like a ‘The Fast and the Furious’ NOS scene, only the bottom of your model doesn’t fall off for no reason. Our test rig shot across the room proving that whether you’re pulling a heavy load or trying to go light and fast, the BuWizz brick will bring your models a whole new lever of power.

Verdict

The BuWizz brick offers some huge advantages to LEGO’s own Power Functions battery and infrared set-up. With bluetooth control the device can be hidden, it isn’t affected by bright light, and you can control your models with your phone. It also offers some advantages over the previously reviewed SBrick, chiefly that it includes an integrated battery, meaning that you don’t need a LEGO battery pack, only the motors, in order to build a motorised model.

However it’s the huge power advantage is where the BuWizz really comes into its own, as it genuinely opens up possibilities that LEGO’s own system simply isn’t capable of.

It isn’t perfect though. The brick itself doesn’t look or feel as high quality as an official LEGO offering, which may seem like a bit of an unrealistic exception were it not for the impressive quality of the SBrick bluetooth control, and the app is miles behind the SBrick offering.

Our test rig was an absolute handful to try to control, partly because we were running it in ‘Ludicrous Mode’, but mostly because unlike the SBrick controller it’s not possible to add skid-steer to a joy stick, so two sliders have to be used simultaneously. These do offer graduated control, but it’s pretty basic. There is also no way to build your own control profile, so the BuWizz isn’t able to programme a custom creation in the same way that SBrick’s superb profile designer can.

If you want a third-party device to allow you to build a complicated multi-motor creation that can be uniquely programmed and then controlled via your phone, the BuWizz is probably only a two star buy.

However maybe that’s not the point of the BuWizz brick. If you think of the BuWizz brick as NOS for your Lego – a simple bolt on that will unleash a heap more power, it’s a five star bit of kit. Possibly even six – and that’s not even possible. But then Ludicrous Mode shouldn’t be either – and yet it is.

We’ll meet in the middle at four stars, and with custom profile controls rumoured to be in development for the BuWizz App, it could be five before long. The Super Power is indeed worth the hype.

★★★★

This is Marion 204-M Superfront cable-operated mining shovel, and it’s massive. First built in 1974 by the Marion Power Shovel Company (who also built NASA’s enormous crawler transporters), the 204-M Superfront used electrically driven cables to drive its huge bucket arm and had a working weight in excess of 700 tons. Built for around twelve years the 204-M worked in open mines all over the world, with the last still operating in Asia decades later.

This incredible fully functioning Lego replica of the Marion 204-M Superfront was discovered by one of our Elves on Flickr and it comes from Beat Felber who has recreated the machine in astonishing detail. Powered by eight Power Functions motors and controlled via bluetooth thanks to three third-party SBricks, Beat’s 204-M Superfront uses an XL Motor to drive each track whilst two L Motors can slew the entire superstructure independently. A pair of XL Motors power each of the cable drums and the bucket angle and bucket door are electorally powered by another two motors, giving Beat’s model as much articulation as the real Marion 204-M.

There’s a whole lot more to see of this spectacular model at Beat Felber’s Marion 204-M Superfront Flickr album, plus you can read our 5 star review of the SBrick bluetooth controller that makes creations like this possible by clicking here.

We are very thankful to reader and previous bloggee Lipko today, as he a) found us this awesome Technic RC buggy, and b) most importantly, he found it before one of the Elves did. That’s because this monstrous creation by Didumos69 features four L Motors, all-wheel-drive, and two BuWizz LiPo battery bluetooth controllers, making it very probably the most capable Elf-smushing creation built yet.

Thankfully there will be no Elven smushing today and you can see more of Didumos69’s riotous build, which also includes a V8 piston engine, superb suspension complete with caster angle and Ackerman geometry steering at the Eurobricks discussion forum, where there’s also a video showing what two BuWizzes can achieve when hooked up to four L Motors and all-wheel-drive…

Today’s creation comes from serial bloggee paave, who has inadvertently built a Ford Bronco. His generic truck trial 4×4 has ended up very Bronco-ish, which is not bad thing, and it features a wealth of off-road goodies to help it navigate the devious obstacles of the recent St. Petersburg Lego truck trial competition.

All-wheel-drive and leaf-sprung front / coil-sprung rear suspension each with panhard rods are teamed with remote control drive and steering via LEGO’s own Power Functions infrared system. It’s a simple set-up that works remarkably well, just like the best real-world off-roaders.

There’s more to see of paave’s Bronco-ish 4×4 trial truck on Brickshelf and you can watch the model in action in the St. Petersburg trial courtesy of Eurobricks – click the links to take a look.

Third-party (i.e. non-LEGO) bluetooth connection devices such as the superb SBrick and BuWizz feature regularly in the models that we publicise here at The Lego Car Blog. Able to connect your creation to your phone for remote control, and – in the case of the SBrick – even programme your model in way that betters LEGO’s own purpose-built robotics systems, they’ve revolutionised what can be achieved in Lego building.

The LEGO Company have been unusually slow to meet this demand themselves, however now (and probably unfortunately for the companies above), LEGO’s own bluetooth-controller is nearly here, launching first as part of the 321-piece 76112 Batmobile set.

Part of LEGO’s rebranded ‘Powered Up’ range, the new controller adds bluetooth control and programming to Power Functions and will be available as a stand-alone product that can be added to existing sets and creations following the launch as part of the 76112 Batmobile set.

LEGO’s press release states;

“The LEGO Batman App-Controlled Batmobile, created for children 8 years of age and older, combines LEGO building and remote-control car play. It is the first codeable and programmable LEGO Batmobile that is fully controllable via smart device. Users can steer the Batmobile using one of two preset remote-control interfaces or personalize their experience through a customizable interface. With the interface unlocked, users move sliders, buttons and other elements to customize the remote control to their liking. Through a coding canvas that will be introduced later this year, users can code and re-code speed, direction, sound and duration to program various movements and stunts and create their own unique driving experiences.”

Whether this will ultimately usher in the demise of the excellent third-party bluetooth products used by the Lego Community currently or spur them on to further innovation and development we’re not sure. We hope it’s the latter, as this competition could bring about a multitude of top-quality bluetooth options for Lego models in the near future (we’ll see if we can do a back-to-back review of all three bluetooth controllers later in the year).

LEGO’s 76122 App-Powered Batmobile set will hit shelves on August 1st costing around $100, and you can read our reviews of the SBrick and BuWizz bluetooth controllers currently available via the links in the text above.

OK, after today’s earlier dalliance, we’re back in the room. This is a Hägglunds Bv 206, and it’s one of the mot unusual vehicles ever made. Built for the Swedish military in 1980 the Bv 206 consists of two linked tracked units, with all four tracks powered, and a payload of over two tons, even on snow. Plus you can add another two tons behind the second unit on a trailer, creating a wonderfully weird train-like arrangement.

Despite looking like a pair of lunch boxes the Bv 206 has been a huge success, and is now in use with various militaries, Antarctic research organisations, the British, Icelandic and Canadian Search & Rescue services, and even the Singapore fire department.

This excellent Technic recreation of the Hägglunds Bv 206 comes from Technic BOOM of Eurobricks, and it features an authentically articulated tracked chassis powered by three Power Functions L motors (plus a Technic V6 piston engine), suspended tracks and a fully detailed cabin, er… we mean cabins.

There’s more to see of this delightfully odd creation at the Eurobricks discussion forum via the link above, where you can also watch a video of the vehicle in action and find a military version too. We’re wondering whether we could even fit our lunch inside it…

All was quite in The Lego Car Blog Towers this morning. The Elves were asleep in their cage room and we were quietly watching the Monaco Grand Prix qualifying, er… we mean working studiously in the office.

And then came the sound of several soft thuds, kind of like series of bean-bags falling off a table, followed by great Elven rage. Sigh.

A wander down to the cage room revealed the cause, where an enterprising Elf had returned early in the morning whilst its colleagues were still asleep, and promptly driven a remote control bulldozer through the Elves’ cages – much to its own amusement – pushing them out and onto the floor below. Cue the Elven rage.

Unable to escape by riding atop the ‘dozer due to its limited speed, the unhappily awoken Elves had caught their attacker and were trying to feed him into the VHS machine. Mr. Airhorn was deployed to restore calm (which definitely awoke any Elves fortunate enough to avoid the original incident) and we’ve now taken control of the offending vehicle.

And what a vehicle! Based on the Caterpillar D11t bulldozer, Piotr K‘s creation is a superb example of how to utilise both Power Functions and pneumatics.

Two Power Functions L Motors drive the tracks, which are suspended by a pendular equaliser bar, whilst three M Motors power the pneumatic systems, with one driving an on-board compressor (with an auto shut-off) and the other two activating the pneumatic valves. This gives Piotr’s model a continual supply of compressed air to power the huge front blade and the rear-mounted ripper which can be operated remotely via LEGO’s IR system.

It’s very neatly engineered set-up and one that works – as the Elves found out – really effectively. You can see more images and read about the build on MOCpages via the link above, plus you watch the model in action via the YouTube video below.

YouTube Video

Toyota may be the flag bearer for Hybrids in TLCB’s home market (in fact, they sell more ‘alternatively fuelled’ vehicles than all the other manufacturers put together), but Honda were right alongside them in the earliest days of Hybrid power when they launched in Insight way back in 1999, just two years after the first Prius.

Since then Toyota have gone on to massive Hybrid success with no less than seven Hybrid models available, however Honda now don’t sell a single Hybrid in our home nation at all. So what went wrong? Part of the blame lies with this car; the brilliant-looking CRZ.

With cutting-edge Japanese looks, forward-thinking Hybrid power (with a manual transmission too), and following the legacy left by the funky CRX, the CRZ should have been a success. Unfortunately 135bhp, a high list price, and underwhelming fuel economy (at least compared to European cars) meant the CRZ – along with the second generation Insight – bombed.

Honda ceased selling both models in Europe after just a few years, leaving a product range of just three cars – something the brand is only just recovering from now.

Perhaps what they should have built is this. Lachlan Cameron (aka Lox Lego) has recreated the CRZ’s razor-sharp looks in his Technic CRZ brilliantly, and he’s given the chassis a bit more bite than Honda managed too; Lachlan’s model adds a second electric motor giving his CRZ all-wheel-drive, which sure would’ve pepped-up the real car. There’s also remote control steering, electrically opening doors, torsion beam suspension, LED lights front and rear, a four-cylinder piston engine, and bluetooth control via SBrick.

The result is a superb Technic supercar that’s well worth a closer look, which you can do via both Flickr and the Eurobricks forum. We suspect the real Honda CRZ may one day be worth a closer look too, as we anticipate it becoming something of a cult car in time. Ironically – considering its failure – if the CRZ were relaunched today it’d probably do rather well…

With yesterday’s Elven riot quashed we’re back in the room, and today’s creation is an Elven favourite. It’s big, remote control, and yellow, and we’re letting the Elves ride around in the back of it to keep the peace.

Built by Engine of Eurobricks it’s a Ural 4320 trial truck as run by the Ostaszevski 4×4 Team. Designed to compete in Lego Truck Trail competitions Engine’s creation features two XL motors driving all four wheels, a medium motor powering the steering (with Ackermann geometry), and there’s a rear drive disconnect via a pneumatic cylinder.

There’s more to see and full build details available via the Eurobricks forum at the link above, where you can also watch Engine’s Ostaszevski Ural in action at a recent Czech Lego Truck Trail event.

It’s been a while since the last Elven smushing, but fear not readers – the little scumbags were back on form this morning. The culprit is this; a magnificent Mad Max-esque ‘Ripsaw’ tracked ATV built by Technic BOOM of Eurobricks and Flickr.

Powered by twin L Motors allowing independent track drive with skid steering, and with four independently-sprung track rollers per side, Technic BOOM’s Ripsaw is both quick and nimble. The Elves are too of course, but only if the battle is in open play. Corner them in the supply cupboard for example, and there’s only going to be one outcome…

We now have one very happy Elf to feed a meal to, and several very unhappy Elves to glue back together. Whilst we do that you can see more of Technic BOOM’s remote control Ripsaw, including a video of it off-roading, via the links above.

Yu Kee Liu, otherwise known as Shineyu, has become a firm favourite here at The Lego Car Blog for his beautifully engineered trucks and heavy machinery. Today we can share two of his latest, a Hong Kong style Scania R490 crane truck and a Volvo FH16 750. Both are developments of previous builds, with the Volvo first appearing here in 8×4 tractor-cab configuration, and the Scania in a 560 specification with a blue and yellow livery.

Each model contains a raft of remote control features, including drive, steering, crane operation, LED lights, and more, all contained within exteriors that blend European truck design with Hong Kong functionality in astonishing detail.

You can see the complete galleries for Shineyu’s incredible Scania 490 crane truck and Volvo FH16 750 models on Flickr. Head to Hong Kong via Europe at the links above.

If The Lego Car Blog Elves were to design a car, it would probably look a lot like this.

Flickr’s Redfern1950s is a favourite here in the office for his wonderfully whimsical cartoon creations. This is his latest, which – somewhat unnervingly considering the sentence above – is loosely based on a real-life vehicle.

With independently powered tracks providing remote control drive and skid steering the Elves were most excited by its arrival at TLCB Towers. Until it ran them over of course, but frankly they should have known that was going to happen by now.

There’s more to see of Redfern’s delightful ‘RC Off-Road Hot Rod’ at his photostream – click the link above to make the jump!

This stunning image (complete with far too many watermarks…) comes from previous bloggee Ingmar Spijkhoven, who has decided to put his latest fully remote controlled Model Team truck into production. Yes, in what will be music to the ears of the many people we get here at TLCB leaving ‘where can I buy this?’ comments, you can buy this truck and build it for yourself! Click the link above to find out how.

This is a Tatra T-813 8×8 Kolos, and it’s (probably) the best off-road truck in the world. Well this isn’t obviously, it’s much too small, but it is (probably) the best Lego recreation of the best off-road truck in the world.

Built by Technic engineering legend Sariel, this Model Team-on-the-outside, Technic-on-the-inside marvel squeezes all of Tatra’s real-world off-roading cleverness into the smallest possible package, plus full remote control drive and steering, LED lights, and a V12 piston engine which seems to be mounted where the driver should be.

All of the eight wheels is independently suspended all are driven by two Power Functions XL Motors geared down 3:1, with the front to axles providing remote control steering. It’s an amazing thing to watch in action and you can do just that via the video below, plus you can see the full image gallery (including some wonderful outdoor shots) on Flickr here and you can join the discussion at the Eurobricks forum by clicking here.

YouTube Video

It’s the Fourth of July, and thus we have an Easter and Halloween themed double for you today! TLCB nailing holiday timings once again…

Anyhoo, this delightful pair of cartoon creations comes from Kale Frost of Flickr, who has built the Easter Bunny and a cavalcade of ghoulish monsters their own remote control hot rods.

Whilst we enjoy using these to chase down the Elves in the halls of TLCB Towers you can see more of Kale’s seasonal builds at his photostream – click the links in the text above to take a look!

Caterpillar’s D11T bulldozer has appeared here in Lego form numerous times over the years (you can use the search bar at the foot of each page to look up past D11Ts, or anything else that takes your fancy!), and this may well be the best incarnation of the enormous earthmover yet.

Built by previous bloggee Sheo, this 1:24 scale behemoth is a marvel of Lego engineering. Underneath the incredibly realistic exterior is a fully remote controlled drivetrain and blade/ripper, whilst pendular suspension allows the model to drive smoothly over bumps and a cunning planetary subcontractor design enables realistic skid steering. There’s also a motorised access ladder, LED lights and an automatic track tensioning system too.

There’s more to see of Sheo’s incredible Caterpillar D11T at his Flickr photostream, where you can also find a link to watch a video of the model in action. Click the link above to make the jump and take a look.

It’s been a while since the last episode of Elf-on-Elf violence (even Elven behaviour during this year’s FIFA World Cup even proved uneventful, unlike the last one), however today we’re back to earth with a bump, thanks to this (admittedly incredible) fully remote controlled Dakar rally truck by Lucio Switch.

Driven by four XL motors with a Servo for steering, plus live-axle suspension, pneumatically controlled differential locks powered by an on-board compressor, LED lights and SBrick bluetooth control, Lucio’s Dakar truck is an engineering masterpiece. All of that lot makes it supremely capable off-road, where it can slowly climb over almost anything. Elves included.

As is the way with heavy remote control Technic models Lucio’s truck is pretty slow, and certainly no match for a fleeing Elf. But if a trap of sticky-side-up parcel tape has been laid by one of the little scumbags, the truck’s slow speed (but massive weight) are – if anything – advantageous to a good smushing.

So cunning was this inventive new use for sticky tape that we almost respect the Elf that did it. Almost. Because not only did we have to collect some thoroughly smushed Elves, they had to be pulled off the parcel tape too, which was not appreciated by them one bit.

We’re now going to look into a more secure stationary storage solution whilst you can check out all of the superb images of Lucio’s amazing creation on Flickr, plus you can join the discussion and watch the truck in action via the Eurobricks forum.

As any builder of remote control Technic creations will know, LEGO drivetrain components – especially u-joints, axle connections and gears – are often not up to the job of delivering the torque from LEGO’s excellent Power Functions motors to where it needs to go.

Gears shearing in half and u-joints snapping are problems that regularly occur, particularly if third-party battery and software products such as SBrick or BuWizz have been used to increase power far beyond what LEGO envisaged. We’ve even experienced this here at TLCB Towers, as an ‘accidental’ collision between an RC creation and a TLCB Elf can push a part past its breaking-point.

However Eurobricks’ Kevin Moo has designed a cunning solution to the problem, with his Toyota Tundra-esque 4×4 pick-up truck utilising two driveshafts for each of the live-axle suspended differentials.

Power is sent down both sets of components, effectively halving the load on each gear, u-joint and axle connection, and therefore the likelihood of a part failure. It’s an ingenious yet simple solution and one that enables Lego models to take more power, more reliably – watch truck trial builders use this design and then double the number of motors to end up right back where they started!

Kevin’s dual-driveshaft pick-up is also a thoroughly excellent model in addition to its clever driveline. Power to all four wheels comes from a single XL Motor with a Servo for steering, there’s superb live-axle suspension front and rear, opening doors, hood, tailgate and load cover, LED lights, and a realistically detailed body too.

There’s much more to see of Kevin’s brilliant build on Eurobricks via the link above, and you watch how the dual-driveshafts work via the top-quality video below. Take a look whilst we see whether breaking parts in ‘accidental’ collisions with TLCB Elves is a thing of the past (it’s all for science).

YouTube Video

We like big yellow tractors here at The Lego Car Blog, seeing as we’re basically overgrown children, and that’s exactly what we have for you today!

The slab of yellow magnificence pictured here is a JCB Fastrac 4220, as built by previous bloggee Technic BOOM. Like the real machine BOOM’s Technic Fastrac features all-wheel-drive and all-wheel steering, operable remotely via LEGO’s Power Functions system. There are eight motors in total, powering the aforementioned drive and steering, a high/low gearbox, and the two raising/lowering hitches mounted front and rear, the latter of which includes a power-take-off too.

It’s a quality bit of kit and there’s much more to see at Technic BOOM’s Flickr photostream and via the Eurobricks discussion forum, where you can watch a video of the Fastrac in action. Click the links to take a look.