It looks barebones compared to the usual ride-on toys you’ll find for kids these days. We mean… there’s just none of the pizazz you get with the Mario Kart Racer, the Aston Martin DB5 Junior, or Radio Flyer’s Landspeeder. Whatever the Razor Ground Force Rad Rod lacks in flair, though, it more than makes up for in driving fun with its ability to perform sick maneuvers like drifts, powerslides, and burnouts.
That’s right, Razor’s smallest go-kart is designed to make erstwhile skilled driving maneuvers a much easier affair, allowing small kids to wreak vehicular havoc around the neighborhood like never before. Sure, kids won’t look as cool as pulling up on a Land Rover ride-on, but drive it around for a bit and it will let you show off fancy moves straight out of the Fast & Furious franchise.
The Razor Ground Force Rad Rod is a four-wheeled go-kart designed for kids ages six and up. It’s powered by a 150-watt chain-driven motor that can send it forward at speeds of up to 10 mph, although there’s a speed control switch that allows parents to electronically limit it to 7 mph to keep things safer for younger kids. A hand-operated, paddle-style throttle allows kids to manage the speed on their own while they’re driving, while a racing-inspired all-steel steering wheel makes it easy to maneuver.
There’s a rear drum brake with a paddle-style control accessible from the steering wheel for making sudden stops, as well as a bucket-style seat to give it that race car driving feel. Out front, it uses a pair of PU skateboard wheels, while the larger rear wheels are built slick to give them a slippery feel. Those rear wheels are, basically, what allow all the fancy driving, as they’re designed to slide during sudden stops and turns, creating that drifting action that just looks so darn cool. A built-in 24V battery module allows the whole thing to run for up to 40 minutes of continuous driving between charges.
The Razor Ground Force Rad Rod has a compact design that, honestly, looks very small. How small? The darn thing measures just 26.7 x 20.7 x 12.9 inches (length x width x height), which kind of looks awkward being ridden by bigger kids, although it does allow for maximum control during those fancy maneuvers, since it only weighs 27.6 pounds. Despite those sparse dimensions, it can support weighs up to 110 pounds, so this should hold up to most elementary-aged kids.
Why is it so barebones? According to Razor, they were trying to go for the unfinished look of garage-built “rat rod” dragsters from back in the day. You know… hot rod culture and all that. Yeah, we buy that. At any rate, the barebones aesthetics does help keep the weight down, which helps make it a lot easier for even smaller kids to handle. And if you think something this small doesn’t look fun, just take a look at that little kid driving it in the video below.
The Razor Ground Force Rad Rod comes out later in the year, priced at $229.99.