Jada has obtained the licensing to do some vehicles from the latest Fast and Furious movie Furious 7 in 2015.  These consist of diecast and r/c cars.  This is a new mold from Jada as they had to recreate the Off-Road 1970 Dodge Charger as driver by Dom in Furious 7.  The other 1/16 scale vehicle they are planning to do is the Off-Road 2013 Dodge Challenger in Lime and Black.  Rumored to be coming in late 2015 will be 1/24 scale r/c cars by them for the Fast and Furious series.

The body is brand new as they had to recreate the flared rear wheel-wells and pushed out front fenders of the Off-Road 1970 Dodge Charger.  Most of it seems spot on from looking at stills from the movie I found online.  They have chosen to use a flexible type plastic material to allow to absorb some bumps instead of cracking or breaking the plastic.  This will help both the driver and objects it may bump into.  You will need 4AAs for the car and 1 9volt battery for the controller.  My example is on 27mhz.

The car got the living room carpet test for its trial run which fairly out pretty well.  There wasn't alot of wheelspin.  The off-road replica tires are not that flexible but because of it having a solid rear axle instead of a differential, you can easily get the power to the ground. The steering is quick but as this is a lower priced toy grade hobby r/c car, the steering is either left or right but the pulse design is quick enough for good maneuverability.  Remember this is a bigger 1/16 scale car so it will not be as nimble as a 1/24 r/c car but still pretty fun indoor.  Prepare for it to spin a bit due to the harder compound tires on smooth surfaces like a kitchen floor.  This only has one speed forward and one for reverse but there isn't a lot of torque or loss of traction that easing off of forward or reverse for a split second can't fix.  You might be bothered by the steering motor (servo) which is a little on the loud side compared to your average toy r/c but I think this was done to protect the steering gears and not a flaw.

I'm not sure if this off-road style chassis is new to Jada but it has been designed to take AAs batteries.  Instead of having to deal with a Philips-Head screw to open the compartment there is a red button to depress instead which allows the cover to slide off.  You will still need something to press that down to open it so a small screwdriver is best.  They have dropped the front and rear units of the chassis to make it look that it has been jacked up or made into a 4x4.  The car is rear wheel drive only with a direct drive rear axle.  The stick controller is Jada's recent style they have been using the past few years.  Small enough for kids but still big enough for adults to use comfortably.  The antenna is a loose wire with a antenna tube to avoid having it break and injure someone by accident.  I would have liked some kind of suspension but this solid construction will do as long as you don't try to do any jumps or off-roading with it.

I decided to take it out on the paved driveway to see how fast this can go and what it is like when you can take it up to speed.  Some cars are good outside and some better inside.  The car runs great on the smooth surface with the same response as indoors with little to no wheelspin.  Since the tires are on the hard side, you can expect some slippage but not much.  Still remember to keep it on smooth surfaces like asphalt and not to take it into grass.  A problem you may run into if there is some transitions or small cracks is the tendency for the car to bounce around due to having a solid suspension with no springs.  You will also need to avoid trying to climb over edges since the lower part of the chassis will hit before the wheels do.  I still give it a good rating for outdoor driveway use with responsive throttle and steering.  The radius is not that wide so you can use it on a single driveway without having to reverse and turn again.

In summary, is this worth $22?  Yes, definitely.  Don't let the flexible plastic body put you off as you can see in the photos that it is well detailed and makes a nice piece you can drive and / or put on a shelf for display.  A 4 out of 5 rating.  I would have given it 5 out of 5 if it had some kind of suspension built into the car but it isn't a deal breaker as long as you keep it on flat surfaces such as a driveway or indoors.  There may be some reservations once I test the car outside but overall I think there won't be any.

Street Price:  $22.00

Pros:

Inside Antenna on Car
Quick Pulse Steering
Uses Regular Batteries (Rechargeables Are Easy to Find)
Flexible Plastic Body

Cons:

Noisy Steering
Flat Surfaces Only (Do Not Attempt to Go Off-Road)
Hard-Vinyl Tires
Batteries Not Included (4AAs and 1 9volt)

Summary:

Good all around vehicle for display and running.  While this is not for off-road use even though it was modeled after an off-road custom version of a 1970 Dodge Charger, I'll recommend it as you can still drive it fairly well on smooth surfaces inside and out.  There is decent traction and acceleration.  The price is about right and you get a nice looking car to boot.  A highly recommended r/c car if you are looking for something related to the Fast and Furious movies or a different Dodge Charger in general.  Remember this off-road Dodge Charger is only for looks so no jumping it over stuff.  Hopefully we'll see a street version of Dom's 1970 Dodge Charger R/T from Jada in the future as a radio controlled car.

They have gone the extra mile in the detail department with two actual spare off-road tires in the trunk area, a simulated roll cage done in grayish plastic sticking out the rear window, the rear spare tires have tie-down straps, the off-road style wheels have painted details on them such as the lug nuts and the body trim and other areas are painted.

Rear View of Dom's 1970 Charger Off-Road Version

Bottom Chassis View of the 1/16 Off-Road Charger

Side View showing the detailed wheels, spare tires (non-removable), roll bar, front and rear off-road push bar and nicely replicated  body with a red stripe stating Hemi to tell you what's under that long hood.  Most likely a 426 V8!

Variation Alert:  I noticed via the packaging for their second car in the 1/16 Fast and Furious series that the Off-Road Charger now has all black front and rear bumper guards along with a black mesh grille.  Examples were found online with black off-road bumpers but still on 27mhz so I'm not sure if they will later change this car to their newer frequencies like on the Off-Road Challenger.