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| Hot Wheels and Matchbox Audi R8 comparison; How they look compared to the real car | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jan 26 2008, 10:21 PM (13,274 Views) | |
| ivantt | Jan 26 2008, 10:21 PM Post #1 |
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New casting? Quick! Take it apart!
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![]() The Hot Wheels version of the Audi R8 is now out and can be compared with the still new issue by Matchbox. Two R8's by Mattel prove that both diecast makers operate independently and sometimes duplicate efforts. I recently compared the MB version to the actual R8, and found that Matchbox did a pretty good job in capturing the look of this expensive sports car. The Hot Wheels version, I am happy to say, is also well done and it may be a toss up between the two when comparing details and choosing which is better. Overall, both castings look good in profile, with the MB version appearing a tad tall in the roofline, while HW's effort may just be right or a tad too low. This may be an illusion of the two colors of paint, so I'll be looking over both castings again when I get around to stripping them down to bare metal. Both castings suffer the usual overly large wheel wells, which cuts down on the areas of sheet metal behind and in front of the wheel cutouts. On the HW version, this is especially apparent when you see hardly any rear panel area---the well is almost up to the rear "bumper" area. Some "selective compression" done by the designers and tool makers also exacerbate the problem and makes the cars look somewhat short in front and rear when looking at the actual R8's profile. The details in the front and rear areas are very similar with HW having less depth of the louvered sections, but still very effective. The MB version's windscreen area looks a bit elongated compared to HW and car photos, and this may be due to the roofline being higher. Although I think both cars are very good, I like the HW's overall shape just a bit more than MB. HW offers a pretty good looking interior. Two things I don't like about the new HW issue are things that can be easily fixed. First, they used light blue glass on this First Edition. I would have thought they'd use clear or smoked. Second, HW's choice of wheels is inappropriate for this car. Those very skinny 5 spokes with thin rubber belong on a custom SUV or a lowrider, not on a $110,000 sports car. As over used as the HW double 5 spokes (PR5) are, these look like the wheels that Audi actually uses, and they would have been a lot more correct for this casting. The first problem is solved by waiting for a revamp of this casting with clear glass. I won't buy anymore of this version, but I'll buy 5 or more once a better glass color comes out. The second problem is easy to fix by just swapping out the wheels with PR5's or something else that looks correct. If you do customs, this is easy work. And BTW, both cars have TWO rivets holding them together. Congrats to both companies for making good versions of a nice looking sports car. Both are winners. |
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| Swifty | Jan 27 2008, 12:55 AM Post #2 |
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The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
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Thanks for the comparison! I have the Matchbox but have yet to find the Hot Wheels, but I will make sure to add it to my collection.
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| AQUA XK8 | Jan 27 2008, 05:12 PM Post #3 |
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Fullsize
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Nice writeup. I have several of the MB R8s and I had like them alot. But after reading your good critique and viewing the MB R8 profile next to the 1:1 picture, I like my MB R8s just a bit less now. |
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| craftymore | Jan 29 2008, 02:21 PM Post #4 |
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Support your local demo derby.
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I have both castings and I would say overall that the MB one is more appealing to me than the Hw. The HW is a good casting and does have a lot of great detail. The only thing that I'm longing for for the HW casting is for different wheels and interior color glass. Thanks a lot for the review and pics. Zach |
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| Swifty | Jan 30 2008, 01:27 AM Post #5 |
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The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
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Just picked up the HW casting last night!
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| jedimario | Jan 30 2008, 05:02 PM Post #6 |
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RAWR
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The preview picture of the HW on their site looked hideous, and I wasn't impressed when I saw it in the store either. But now that I see them side by side, it really doesn't look worse than the MB. Maybe it's just the color or wheels, but for now I much prefer the MB. |
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| Swifty | Jan 31 2008, 01:38 AM Post #7 |
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The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
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It's the overly large wheel openings. They're bigger than the Matchbox's. |
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| AQUA XK8 | Jan 31 2008, 09:25 AM Post #8 |
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Fullsize
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That's what jumps out to me too as being way off. HW especially, seems to have a fondness for making cars with wheel openings that are too large. |
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| ivantt | Feb 9 2008, 11:22 PM Post #9 |
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New casting? Quick! Take it apart!
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Aqua, you're absolutely correct, many a good proportioned casting by HW has been spoiled by huge wheel openings and wheels. They also have a very bad habit of putting larger wheels in the rear than the front. Not only does this ruin the sheet metal of the car, but it isn't even authentic in most cases. But when you do a custom with a lot of these castings, you are just about forced to use the larger rear tires, as the correct size tires will not look right with those large cutouts!
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| ivantt | Feb 10 2008, 01:00 PM Post #10 |
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New casting? Quick! Take it apart!
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I am adding one more photo comparison to this thread and hopefully this will be the end. On the Mattel HWC boards, there is a thread where some believe these two castings are the SAME and compatible. As you can see from the above photos, this is not true, but I am now providing exploded views of both cars to verify this. I will send any HWC doubters to this thread. If you don't take the cars apart, let alone OUT of the BLISTERPACK, it's hard to notice all the differences. This weekend I opened up both cars to do wheel swaps, and surprise, surprise, the HW version is a plastic body, something I never noticed when I originally compared the car to the MB version. Easy to drill out, but harder to do a wheel swap on the metal chassis ("base"). Aside from the noticeable exterior differences in wheel well size, roof size, mirrors, etc., the internal parts differ enough that they aren't compatible. The bases differ slightly in length and internal fit (but VERY close!), and have very different axle area widths. The glass area is different in width and length, and the interiors differ in rear length and fit. Both interiors at first glance are almost the same in detail. If two large companies with good engineering plans and good designers and toolmakers make the same car, then it is EXPECTED that the parts, proportions, and details SHOULD be very close...they are doing their job well! The main differences will be HOW they engineer the parts sections to put the cars together, and minor details. So kudos to both HW and MB for producing great looking diecasts. NOW, let's put some PR5's on the both versions so they look like the actual car's wheels.
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| Swifty | Feb 10 2008, 05:30 PM Post #11 |
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The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
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I like the interior detail on both. It just proves both brands are capable of doing very nice cars. I'm disappointed by the plastic body on the Hot Wheels though. Evidently they want that one to be a track car (most of the metal based/plastic bodied cars are in the Hot Wheels lineup because the lower center of gravity makes them better performers on the track sets). On the plus side, that means we'll be seeing variation on the Hot Wheels R8 for a decade. On the negative side, most will probably have horrible tampos on them... |
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| jedimario | Feb 10 2008, 06:49 PM Post #12 |
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RAWR
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Yeah, for a long my fastest childhood HW was a metal-based plastic topped Ferrari 328 from the Quick Silver series, I'm kinda fond of them
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| james_autos | Feb 11 2008, 04:12 PM Post #13 |
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Minivan
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I agree that a lot of Hotwheels cars are ruined by putting oversized wheels on them or making the ride height way too low, as well as the silly paint schemes, too many decals and 'weird' coloured glass. Ok, they are only intended to be cheap childrens toys, but if Matchbox can do models without oversized wheels, silly paint schemes, too many decals and 'weird' coloured glass, why can't Hotwheels? Siku have also done the R8, and it is a nice model. It's a bit better than the Matchbox version, but it's also two and a half times more expensive. |
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| ivantt | Feb 15 2008, 09:37 PM Post #14 |
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New casting? Quick! Take it apart!
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I would love to see the SIKU version, James, do you have one to post a photo or a scan???? Or does anyone else have one to show us?
SWIFTY, on your last comments, you forgot to add that the variations of the HW version for decades will have......purple, red, and orange glass along with those graphics!!!
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| Swifty | Feb 16 2008, 06:15 AM Post #15 |
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The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
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Ack! Don't give them any ideas!
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| james_autos | Feb 17 2008, 02:07 PM Post #16 |
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Minivan
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Here is the Siku version:![]() I've got one in my collection along with the Matchbox version, but not the Hotwheels. |
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| Swifty | Feb 18 2008, 02:08 AM Post #17 |
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The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
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Siku's version is very nice! I love the color, and it looks like the doors open- another huge plus in my book.
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| seveland | Feb 23 2008, 08:47 AM Post #18 |
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Muscle Car Fanatic
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awesome comparison post! I'm gonna have to look out for that siku version! |
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| ivantt | Feb 23 2008, 09:51 PM Post #19 |
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New casting? Quick! Take it apart!
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Siku did two things I like before I even would look at the overall accuracy.... 1. The wheel wells are not huge and look more scale (but they could use better looking wheels). 2. They painted the "switchblade" panel a contrasting Audi color. NICE!! THANK YOU JAMES for showing us this version!!
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| james_autos | Feb 24 2008, 01:03 PM Post #20 |
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Minivan
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No problem.
If anybody wants this model I know a shop that might still have a few. Just let me know.
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| NUTHOUSE | Aug 25 2008, 04:18 PM Post #21 |
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Station Wagon
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I did actually see a real one drive by me the other day a very stunning car! I haven't picked up the Hot Wheels version yet although I have seen it on the pegs but didn't have any other items in my hand at the time. Thats how my relationship with Hot Wheels is. |
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| Black Wind | May 27 2012, 01:32 AM Post #22 |
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Midsize
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Please update the pictures or upload new ones. The old ones have died. |
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