If you’ve ever been the kid running down to the tree on Christmas morning hoping to find a Scalextric set, then you’ll completely understand our excitement for this Carrera HYBRID Devil Drivers review. This modern take on the slot-car system might have lost the ‘slot’ part of the cars, but the new AI-powered, sensor-driven replacement innards allow these cars to do the kind of stuff that your forebears could only dream about.
What Is the Carrera HYBRID Devil Driver Set?
The Carrera HYBRID system is a modern iteration of classic slot car sets, though these days most of the work is taken up by AI (because of course it is) and a bunch of fancy sensors in the cars themselves. Rather than sliding the car into a metal-plated slot and then pressing a button to complete the circuit and make the car shoot around the track, these cars act like RC cars that are designed to work on a realistic and smooth track, although you can go totally “off-road” with them if you want.
The combination of AI and headlight sensors adds some crazy features to the mix. You have tire-wear simulation, realistic and fast modes of driving, as well as steering assist that prevents you from careening off of the track. Of course, with a lack of slots for each car, you can also do things like overtake each other or run each other off of the road, rather than simply slowing down on tighter corners to try and stay on the track. The Carrera HYBRID Devil Driver is a set that includes a sizeable XX-piece “Track Pack” and two Porsche 911 GT3 cars at a 1:50 scale.
How’s It Lookin’?
The models themselves are pretty top-notch. A lot of detail has been given to each of them, right down to the livery and the working headlights. In fact, you’ll need to be careful to avoid knocking off the tiny rear-view mirrors, especially if you’re a particularly reckless driver who plays with the driving-assist turned off. The track also does a good job of looking pretty realistic, though you’ll have to provide your own scene-decorations if you want it to look the part properly.
Of course, all of the new “AI-powered” features do mean that you can’t just use the whole setup without a smartphone and an app, so bear that in mind when you think about a purchase. Luckily, the setup is simple enough and also enables you to save your progress across multiple devices, track all of the cars and pieces that you own, and even plot out your own tracks virtually using the app’s track designer. The biggest feature by far, however, is the single-player campaign.
Slot Cars with a Single-Player Campaign Mode
You heard that right, even if you’re Billy-No-Mates, you can still get a huge kick out of this set. Once you’re set up with the app and have a login, you can play through a set of driving challenges that get progressively harder as you go, with each race and challenge completed contributing experience points towards your rank. As you rank up, you unlock new parts and pieces to customise your car, including different types of tires, engine parts and even the ability to unlock boost modes. It’s a dizzying array of options to have at your disposal, and it certainly beats the pants off of old-school slot cars in terms of longevity.
That said, the battery power might be a bit of a downfall in that department. Both cars are charged through USB-C slots on their bases, and they charge pretty quickly with the right power brick to plug them into, but they also run down after half an hour, at most. While that’s not too short, the game is very engrossing, and you almost never feel like wanting to stop when the battery finally runs down. That is the one benefit to being Billy-No-Mates: If you’re playing the single-player campaign, then you can just swap to the other car if the first one runs out of batteries, and you can keep one always charging while you play with the other.
Obstacle on the Track
While I’ve certainly had a riot with the Carrera HYBRID Devil Drivers set, there have been one or two minor inconveniences that feel worth mentioning. Firstly, the wheels are removable, which is great for helping to keep them free of hair or debris, but it’s quite easy to not put them on properly and have them go flying back off again. Trust me, after your family has spent 20 minutes on all-fours searching for the missing wheel, they’re not going to feel like playing the game anymore.
It’s also an issue that the phone-based controls are quite annoying to use. It’s not too bad if you want to play with driving-assist on its highest setting, but if you want a more challenging experience, then you’ll find the slippery touchscreen a pain in the butt. On the plus side, you can at least connect any phone-compatible controller to the phone and use that instead, and that is a much more enjoyable experience.
The Final Word
The Carrera HYBRID Devil Drivers set is a fantastic, modern update of the slot car concept. While it may be unrecognisable to any major Scalextric fans, this is certainly the equivalent for the new generations, with all of the improvements and new problems that implies. While there are certainly new hoops to jump through, the benefits vastly outweigh the downsides, and as long as you can keep them charged long enough, you’ll have endless fun with these things.
