**Bulgarian version of this article: https://gerganakarabelyova.wordpress.com/2023/07/20/%f0%9f%87%a7%f0%9f%87%ac-%d0%b5%d0%ba%d1%81%d0%ba%d0%bb%d1%83%d0%b7%d0%b8%d0%b2%d0%bd%d0%b0%d1%82%d0%b0-ferrari-%d0%ba%d0%be%d0%bb%d0%b5%d0%ba%d1%86%d0%b8%d1%8f-%d1%83%d0%bf%d1%80%d0%b0%d0%b2%d0%bb/**

Every year in July, the new collection of Shell gas stations mini cars is released in collaboration with a major manufacturer of real cars. Most often it’s Ferrari, like this year, but last year, for example, it was BMW.

The promotion to buy the cars is valid from 07/03/2023 to 09/24/2023, which is plenty of time to pick up the full collection.

This year’s cars are 4 in number and I will now introduce you to a few details about them. To get a single car, you need to collect 4 points from Shell and pay BGN 22 (which is around $12) for the car itself. You get one point when you fill up 25 liters, or if you eat for at least BGN 10 at the gas station, etc. (there are other options, they can be seen on the flyer they hand out at the tills or on the Shell website). The battery and bluetooth connection device are built into the cars and they don’t have to be purchased separately like last year’s BMW cars. Along with the car in the box you also find a short USB cable for charging the toy. Let’s take a quick look at each car.

F1-75

This is the Ferrari car that competed in the 2022 season in Formula 1. The name of the car marks the 75th anniversary of the creation of the first Ferrari car, which happened in 1947. An interesting fact is that the creator of Ferrari – Enzo Ferrari, died at the age of 90, and the start of the production of these legendary luxury cars was in the town of Maranello in Italy.

This is the slowest car of the collection and I absolutely recommend it with both hands for home use. Due to its lower speed, this car is easier to manage than the others and does not need that much space (at home in the living room is just fine). It’s also great for outdoors as well, of course, but don’t expect to win many speed races with it, haha.

Daytona SP3

This car was created in honor of the famous Ferrari V12 mid-engine sports prototypes of the 1950s. The car was built in very limited quantities in 2021 (the concept), produced in 2022, to be distributed in 2023. Its starting price is an impressive $2,226,935. The car has the design of those beautiful racing cars from the 1960s.

296 GTB

The 296 GTB car symbolizes the Ferrari revolution. This model introduces the new 120′ V6 engine coupled with a plug-in electric motor (PHEV). The actual price of this car starts at $323,000 with an impressive 660 horsepower.

330 P4

This car is the only vintage model in the entire collection. At the “24 Hours of Daytona” event in 1967, the 330 P4 memorably crossed the finish line alongside the 330 P3/4 and 412 P, taking the first three places for Ferrari.

It’s the fastest mini car in the toy collection, as you’ll find out in a moment (I tested that claim and proved it in numbers). It is more suitable for an open or very wide and spacious room. Due to its high speed, this toy is a bit more difficult to control than others in the collection, which is why it needs more space. At first I tested it at home in the living room, where there is not much space (maybe 2 by 2 meters) and it was not comfortable to play.

Controls

The cars are controlled by any smart device that has bluetooth and the option to download and install the Shell application – “Shell Racing Legends”. For convenience, there’s a QR code on the cars’ boxes that, when scanned, takes you directly to the Appstore or GooglePlay, and makes finding and installing the app pretty quick and simple.

This is the interface of the driving module:

Driving has been made easier and there are now 3 options to choose how the car controls look like (in-app joysticks). The horn is no longer there (it was present in the cars from the previous years’ interfaces), but there is still an option for front lights (the green button on the top right corner), a turbo mode that works perfectly and actually increases the speed of the car (again on the top right corner), and a 360 degree circle maneuver (top left corner). When you initially pair the car with the device, the Start engine button must be pressed to turn on the interface.

Speed test

I decided to do some speed tests on the cars and in an experimental way find out what the real speed is that the cars can develop. There is a speedometer in the application and control interface that goes up to 200 km/h when you turn on the car’s turbo mode, but we all know that this speed is ridiculously high and there is no way it can be achieved by a $12 toy.

I took the cars outside and found a straight and clean stretch of asphalt in the park. I had even taken a broom with which I swept away the fine rubbish, pebbles and sticks. Cars are very low and require a clear and leveled road to drive on. I then measured a 2 meter section and marked the start and end. I took a stopwatch and started measuring exactly how many seconds (accurate to 3 decimal places) it takes each car to cover the 2 meter distance, both in normal and turbo mode. Then I used the formula from 8th grade Physics (it may have been introduced earlier, but here it actually comes into play in real life haha) D=SxT, or distance equals the product of speed times time. After converting this formula I got what I need – how to calculate speed by distance (2 meters) and time. The results are extremely interesting and I can’t wait to share them with you. There they are:

---

F1-75 normal mode: 3,6 km/h

F1-75 turbo mode: 5,544 km/h

---

296 GTB normal mode: 3,96 km/h

296 turbo mode: 5,544 km/h

---

Daytona SP3 normal mode: 3,78 km/h

Daytona SP3 turbo mode: 5,22 km/h

---

330 P4 normal mode: 4,104 km/h

330 P4 turbo mode: 5,904 km/h

---

As can be seen from the results, the red vintage 330 P4 is the fastest in both normal and turbo modes. The slowest is the Formula 1 car in normal mode, and with the turbo on, the slowest is the white Daytona SP3. This experiment was extremely interesting and fun to do. I filmed everything and you can watch the speed test video on my YouTube channel, just click this link:

Conclusion

My opinion of the cars is extremely positive. Out of the three 2021, 2022, and 2023 car collections, this is definitely my favorite. The control interface is simple and cool, the app itself provides much more than just controlling a car. They have thought out their whole concept well, their presentation is great and I like it a lot. They have also taken care of the details, such as the thick and apparently expensive cardboard from which the box of the cars is made, as well as the specific very slightly dark red color, a Ferrari emblem.

I like the idea of ​​having QR codes everywhere, which can be done literally in seconds and save a lot of time. The collection is great! I tried it on multiple occasions, even did a few experiments with the strollers, which I (of course) filmed and uploaded to my YouTube channel.

Now I will show you links to Unboxing videos with my initial opinion and test of the cars: