8458 Silver Champion is a TECHNIC set released in 2000. Included are 1413 pieces that build into a large, silver F-1 car with working steering and moving piston engine. : Lots of interesting pieces; : Somewhat underfeatured for price; stickers that cover more than one element (a pet peeve); web-based alternate model is a pain It has taken me a while to get back into Technic sets. When I used to build them, they were still called "Expert Builder" I think. Before I got the Star Wars Destroyer Droid last year, the biggest, newest, most advanced set I had was 8040, the first pneumatic universal set. For a long time, I have been searching for a good Technic set on the scale of the Destroyer but not a Star Wars droid, because, let's face it, as cool as the Destroyer is, what can you build with it besides a Destroyer droid? At any rate, after searching long and nearly giving up, believing that the Lego Technic line had been completely taken over by Droids and Throwbots and things of that sort, I found, on clearance at the website of a major discount retailer, the Silver Champion.

The temptation, as I review this, is to compare this model to the 8448 Supercar, which is actually a smaller set by 5 pieces. Unfortunately, I have never had the priviledge of building that set, so I cannot make a good comparison. However, based on my own research it would seem that this set is about the same size as 8448, but slightly less featured. From an objective standpoint, this is a pretty nice model. It is very large, over 24 inches in length and 11 inches wide. The construction is satisfyingly intricate. The instruction manual is over 120 pages long. There are two alternate models: the imaginitively named "Silver Truck", which has its own 130+ page instruction booklet, and the "Street Sensation", which is basically a variant body design on the same chassis. Here is a description the features of the main model: This set's alternate model, Silver Truck, is a viable stand-alone model in its own right. It is more compact and therefore less impressive than the main model, but uses about 80 percent of the pieces and is equally complex.

It shares pretty much all of the features of the main model except that it uses a more normal suspension in place of the pushrod suspension of the main model. Also, in place of a raising motor hood, the Silver Truck has a cab assembly that tilts forward when you pull a catch release. I am not sure what the point of this is, since the engine is behind the cab and not under it, but the mechanism is very cool. Another feature that the alternate model has which the main model lacks is that it is set up to be motorized with the addition of a Technic motor and includes instructions. This alternate model loses points for using elastics (they break down over time) and using decals. That would be bad enough, but in some places it uses different decals from the main model, meaning you need to peel one set off and stick another on. The set overall gets big points, however, for including parts (decals, elastics, steering wheel, and I think an extra gear) for the alternate model which aren't used in the main model.

This set does have a few drawbacks which keep it from being a "five". It loses points for featuring a driver in the box photo but not including such a figure in the set. Not that a driver would have added much, but I think they ought to be more responsible than that in packaging and advertisement. buy lego gearsThe steering is a little rough, as I mentioned above. buy lego chimaThe set has decals and I don't care for decals that you have to put over more than one piece, since they rarely survive disassembly. buy lego vw campervanHaving said that, the decals look really good. An overall gripe is that I might have hoped for a little less "looking cool" and a little more "working cool". Just a little, though. Another gripe is the second alternate model.

There are no printed instructions in the set, but they are available at Lego's web site. I downloaded the software, downloaded Shockwave so that I could run the software, downloaded all the instructions, and when that was all done I saw that the alternate was basically a variant body design on the same chassis. That was a little dissapointing after all that work. Overall, while possibly not as cool as the 8448 Supercar (I unfortunately wouldn't know), this is a very nice set which was very well worth the deeply discounted price I paid for it. Its sturdy chassis, real rubber tires, slick suspension, and 1413 pieces make for a nice model, as well as a good foundation from which to build your own automotive Lego fantasy. I would definitely recommend looking for a discount, though, as the list price is rather steep for a model that really has only one cool, innovative feature.Insert Mika Hakkinen for twice the awesome. Welcome one and all to the sixth instalment in our series of Lego’s ultimate car sets reviews.

The year is 2000, and the ‘Racers’ line is off to a good start with this and the very similar 8461 Williams. With less emphasis on the technical aspects and a more authentic look, these complemented the concurrent 8448 Street Sensation car. First impressions – This thing is huge! 34 studs wide across the rear track… a surprisingly simple build, given it’s size and apparent complexity. I found it very enjoyable to put together. Still using the old studded beams for the chassis, this is sufficiently stiff to allow it’s suspension to work properly (sort of, but we’ll come to that..)  Anyhow, I’ll go through it’s features one by one like I usually do… Engine: A very authentic for the period V10. Not very authentic for any period, it turns rather slowly when the car is pushed. If ever a car cried out for more noise, it’s this one. Never mind, that’s easily fixed and doesn’t it look lovely ? All those tubes greebling it up to great effect. Real effort was made here, including things like radiators and oil coolers to ogle when you smoothly raise the cover with it’s damped action to show it off.

Suspension: A round of applause please for those wonderful long and thin wishbone pieces… These really help give this car it’s realistic appearance, and fortunately are stronger than they look. Another thing to admire is the cleverly contrived pushrod activation of the horizontal springs. I daresay this kit was designed by a knowledgeable F1 fan and it shows. However, although the single hard spring per wheel should be enough, at the front it isn’t. This is because the way it’s all articulated means that there’s very little movement against the spring over the course of the suspension’s travel. This is why it’s too soft and sticky in it’s action. At the rear, where there’s a bit more room, everything works fine. Steering: Well, it wouldn’t get around Loews’ in one go – nevermind, let’s call it the Silverstone set-up… More of a problem than it’s relatively poor lock is the fiddly operation. Blame the authentically shaped steering wheel and wonder how Hamilton and Co. manage… a secondary control of some kind would have been a bonus but it works well enough.

Transmission: This is where the budget over-run on suspension pieces came from. A single fixed gear that wouldn’t be a problem if only it made more noise! I know, I know, I’ll change the record… Body: Looking for all the world like a McLaren in it’s spangly metallic silver panels, I can only assume they refused permission to Lego to use their name. Silver Champion is a great name for this, and appropriate given that Mika Hakkinen had won the Drivers’ Championship the previous year. Don’t let anyone tell you it’s not a McLaren. It so is, and bravo for that! Whatever the licencing issues, the fact remains that it looks gorgeous – a surprisingly successful stab at using those multi-faceted complex panels to form a very lean and sleek shape. Just don’t put the horrible, brittle, peeling stickers on it and it’ll look ace. This car is very definitely not a featuretastic technic supercar. What it is, is a beautiful and functional display object – the perfect gift for the F1 nerd in your life.