Construction Rating: | starstarstarstarstar |
Flight Rating: | starstarstarstar_borderstar_border |
Overall Rating: | starstarstarstar_borderstar_border |
Manufacturer: | Estes |
Brief:
The Estes Blurzz Rocket Tuner Racer is a rocket powered race car with hotrod
styling. It uses an A10-PT (plugged) rocket motor, runs down a 90 foot race
line and is stopped by a drag chute.
Construction:
The Blurzz Tuner Racer comes as a starter kit-like setup and includes the race
car in one of three paint schemes. The track set includes the carrying
handle/drag chute holder, start and finish platforms, Electron Beam launch
controller, race line, motor mount, drag chute, bumper and a convenient drawer
for storing the motors, ignitors and plugs.
Two A10-PT motors, ignitors, and plugs are also included for your first two runs. Better grab an extra pack or two of motors.
Since everything is preassembled, no construction of the car and track set is necessary. The only additional items that are needed that are not included in the setup is four AA batteries for the launch controller, a roll of duct tape to secure the drag chute holder to the ground and either two 2 liter soda bottles filled with soda, water or sand to secure the track to the ground. I have used two 1 gallon water filled milk jugs and I also have used two bricks stacked up on each end with great success.
To run the car, you need a 90 foot strip of smooth asphalt free of debris. Empty parking lots are great.
PROs: No construction required.
CONs: None.
Finishing:
Since the cars are already painted, no finishing or painting was required. My
car is the Drag On scheme, a very cool looking yellow and silver car with
flames on the sides and top. The other two schemes are the Slammurai, a red car
with Japanese markings on the sides and the Gearzilla, a blue and green car
with gear designs on the sides.
PROs: No finishing required
CONs: None.
Construction Rating: 5 out of 5
Flight:
To get ready to race, you set up the track as recommended in the instructions
by making sure both halves of the track and the chute holder are secured to the
ground, the car is properly secured to the track, the drag chute is packed
loosely in the holder tube, and the end bumper is in place.
I then prepped an A10-PT motor and secured it into the mount with the retention cap, hooked up the ignitor to the controller, verified continuity and got ready to race.
3..2..1..GO!!! The motor lit and the car accelerated down the track at a pretty fast clip and I noticed a slight side to side wobbling motion as the car went down the track. The car then picked up the drag chute and came to an almost instant stop several feet from the end.
Several following runs produced similar runs from the car flipping over during deceleration and skidding along the ground on it's roof to runs to where it went all the way to the end with no problems.
It turns out the front clips are too far apart and they are also very weak as well. One was almost completely broken off. To correct this problem, I broke the clip off completely, took a rocket launch lug, made a slit in it for the race line and glued it into place using plastic cement. I haven't had any further wobbling or flipping problems since I made this mod.
PROs: Decent performance.
CONs: Forward race line clips are placed too far apart resulting in the described problems and they are also of pitiful quality.
Recovery:
This car uses a small plastic drag chute to slow it to a stop. It is adequate
and works well.
PROs: Great braking components.
CONs: None really.
Flight Rating: 3 out of 5
Summary:
I really liked this race car but the problems associated with the forward clips
really annoyed me and I would highly recommend that you make the same mod that
I did to make your experience with this product more enjoyable. I have also
noticed that the Blurzz Dragster Cars go faster than these as I did a
comparison.
This kit retails for $19.97 and is worth the price.
Overall Rating: 3 out of 5
Brief: I obtained two sets of the Estes rocket car tuner sets in a job lot from a rocketeer that was giving up the hobby. The tuner car comes in three different designs and offers something a bit different to the point it at the sky rockets that I had been using. Construction: Kit consists of: 1 tuner car 1 base unit that splits into two halves and ...
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