We’re two thirds of the way through the year and thus far LEGO has given us an outstanding collection of Technic models. The latest wave includes the lunar rover, after all! But for those looking for something a little faster paced, you might meet your match with LEGO Technic 42176 Porsche GT4 e-Performance Race Car. This new vehicle flies under the Control+ banner, and comes with an all-new, fully loaded, RC hub. Come with us a we look under the hood of this 834-piece kit, which is currently available and retails for US $169.99 | CAN $219.99 | UK £149.99.
The LEGO Group sent The Brothers Brick an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.
Unboxing the parts, instructions, and sticker sheet
The box is of medium size and features the usual pictures of the front and back of the vehicle. It also clearly shows that the car has lights, and with the Control+ app, you can drive it.
Several similar-sized sets lately have had a lid opening versus opening from the side. This is a welcome adjustment in packaging. In this specific case, the contents of the box appear to be at least somewhat organized rather than simply thrown in. Removing those contents, we find six numbered paper bags (1-6) and an unnumbered polybag. The tires are loose, and a small cardboard box contains the Control+ hub and battery.
There isn’t really anything special to say about the sticker sheet, other than it’s typical of Technic vehicles of this size.
On to what we really care about in terms of contents, and that’s the hub. The unique design is similar to other currently available hubs, but also very different. First, it comes with a removeable battery, making the unit itself rechargeable.
Additionally, there are three independent motors. A and B can deliver rotation via axle holes on one end or the sides. Motor C is centered on the opposite end and looks similar to the vast majority of other LEGO motors. One of the best features of the hub is that there are multiple pinholes on either end with LED lights, offering some fun lighting options which we’ll get to shortly. The USB-C charging port is located on one side, and there are loads of attachment points. The only negative, perhaps, is that the hub is oddly shaped, with the battery poking out, providing only one flat side.
The build
Using the hub as a starting point, we begin the build process by mounting the back wheel hubs and front end of the vehicle, including the simple steering mechanism.
Our first stickers are used on the unique back end of the vehicle. New, clear fiber optic-like elements attach the “brake lights” to the designated LED holes. These ones are 10L while 28L ones will attach to the front. We haven’t seen parts like these in a long time! We’re talking nearly 20 years!
Next up, we add some further structure to the vehicle in preparation for paneling.
The front fiber optic cables are covered with some ribbed hose to prevent them from lighting the whole interior of the car. However, they are exposed in the hood area, which is open to view. We use printed custom panels for the headlights. Additionally, the angular bottom panels are new in blue and the panels around the wheels are new in black too.
Our final stages include putting on the rest of the panels and spoiler as well as the doors. But we’ll save that last picture for the completed model section…
The completed model
Finally putting the spoiler (with new-ish black panels) at the back really makes this thing look fast. As a complete picture, it has decent body lines and aesthetic appeal. It’s not exactly a collector’s must-have, but then again, it’s not meant for collectors. There are also newish black panels on the roof, and the medium-azure flexible axle at the back is a recolor as well. (I keep saying new-ish in regards to black panels because they’ve only been in a couple cars released this year, including the Mercedes AMG F1 in February.) Always love new elements!
The doors open, but the attachment/mechanism is not too exciting. There’s also nothing fancy about the interior whatsoever. It doesn’t even have seats.
Of course, the real cool-factor of this car is in the electronic components. We’ll get to driving in the next section, but here are some shots to show you how bright the lights are.
The app – Control+
If you’re unfamiliar with Control+, it’s an app released a few years ago to remote control Technic vehicles with your phone or tablet. Each of the sets that feature the capability have their own “remote” within the platform. Unlike some of the other LEGO electronics apps, you cannot program the components in the app, just drive them. However, the remotes are semi-customizable, allowing you to swap orientation of the buttons.
When you open the app you have the choice to pick any of the vehicles currently available in the “garage” and when you tap on a vehicle, it takes you to the setup process for each. In the case of this model, partway through the instructions you are asked to turn on the hub and test things out. Once you’ve completed the model, the app runs through a tutorial for all the buttons. After the tutorial, you can choose between two remotes. One features standard controls, and one utilizes the internal gyro sensor of your phone.
You can see from the photos that features include turning the lights on and off, steering, going forward and reverse, braking, “turbo charging” and doing time trials. It’s a bit difficult to capture the features on a photo backdrop that is 4-5ft wide and 2-3 feet deep, but I’ll do my best. First up is steering with the standard remote…
And the gyro remote…
Next is driving forward and backward with the standard…
And the gyro…
The display features info akin to a real car at the center, as well as battery runtime, etc. You can also turn the “turbo charge” on and off to go faster or conserve battery.
Time trials are cool for creating courses and challenging your friends to a race. While I wasn’t really game to try it, the fact that it records number of collisions tells me that the hub has its own internal gyro sensor.
This thing can really get up and go, and there is a bit of a learning curve to operating the controls without going too fast and smashing into things. The gyro remote is really cool, other than the fact that if you accidentally tilt your device forward, the car takes off like it’s launching off a starting line. You have to be really deliberate with your movements. But with both remotes, once you get the hang of it, it’s a ton of fun!
Conclusions and recommendations
Overall, the kit looks good, and is a joy to build and play with. As a big fan of LEGO electronic components, I was really excited to see a new rechargeable hub and “fiber optic” elements. While I haven’t tried it, I imagine you might be able to use the hub in other LEGO apps that allow you to program it to do different things. Perhaps that will be an article for a later date.
As far as what’s in front of us now, I’d say that it ticks the boxes in terms of long-term playability. Charges seem to last a a reasonable amount of time and don’t take too long. The only negative is, of course, the price. It’s pretty hard on the wallet when you’re paying for new electronic components. How many parents or friends of kids have $170 to drop on a single birthday gift? Personally, I’d wait for a discount. But if you’re not too concerned about forking over the cash, I doubt you’ll be disappointed.
LEGO Technic 42176 Porsche GT4 e-Performance Race Car is currently available and retails for US $169.99 | CAN $219.99 | UK £149.99. You may also be able to find it from other retailers on Amazon and eBay.
The LEGO Group sent The Brothers Brick an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.
How much ?!?! And you can’t buy the battery pack separately so you can charge one and use the other, so it’s not much better than the previous sorts….
My spend at Light Tailing is probably going to stay the same too :)