Nitro XRC: Ricochet

What is it? Which way is it going? How'd it do that? The Nitro XRC Ricochet is going to leave onlookers with nothing but stunned looks and a lot of questions when it hits the streets. Suffice to say, there has never been anything quite like it.

Body

The correct word is bodies. There's a top body and a bottom body. Each is made out of Lexan (bulletproof window material, only much thinner), for light weight and durability and painted from the inside so that the paint doesn't scratch off. One version has a blue pickup truck on one side and a red pickup on the other, and the one above has a chopped candy gold-colored Nissan Skyline on one side and what looks like a Chrysler 300C on the other. Hasbro has promised more body options to be sold separately.

Suspension

It doesn't really look like the Ricochet has any working suspension -- the axles seem to be solid and fixed in position. Instead, the vehicle has absolutely gigantic wheels & tires that extend past the roof on both sides, thus allowing it to flip over and still be on its wheels. Unlike other RCs, you should never have to chase the Ricochet down to get it out of a sticky situation. We're not yet sure if different wheel & tire upgrades will be made available for the Ricochet.

Power

Unlike the similar-looking electric-powered Tyco Rebound from the 1990's, the Ricochet has a mid-mounted, .12ci one-cylinder nitro engine. It burns fuel like a real car or truck, makes a lot of noise, and gives off exhaust. Though the vehicle can run upside-down, there really is a "top" to it -- the side with the top of the engine. This is the side where you can access the carburetor's fuel-air mixture tuning knob and also the removable, cleanable air filter. This is also the side with the engine's glow plug, which you connect the included ignitre to for starting. Power from the engine is regulated by a centrifugal clutch and feeds into a transmission that has a remote-activated reverse gear. The small fuel tank is mounted off to one side and is filled from the top with a racing-inspired no-spill fuel bottle.

Accessories

The Ricochet has no key to put in an ignition switch to turn it on. You use an included glow igniter (explained here) and hand-held, battery-powered rotary starter to get the engine running, and after that it can run as long as you keep putting fuel in it.

What Else?

That's about all we have on the Ricochet so far! We'll keep this page updated as more information becomes available! Be sure to use the menu on the left to browse the rest of the site!