Sharper Image Street Thrasher
Pros
- Ready To Run
- 4 Wheel Independent Suspension
- 2.4 Ghz Controller
- All Terrain Tires
- Speed Control
Cons
- Small Battery Compartment
- Noy Hobby Grade
If you’ve been searching the net for a Sharper Image Street Thrasher Review, you have landed in just the right place.
Howdy friends and welcome back to R/C Insiders!
In today’s post we will be doing a full Sharper Image Street Thrasher Review.
Before we get started, there are a few things you need to know about the Street Thrasher:
- This RC is not waterproof
- This is not a hobby grade RC
- You will not find parts/upgrades at your local hobby shop
- You will get a fun “beginners” grade RC
In this Street Thrasher review, we will have a look at what we liked about it and what we didn’t like.
We know this is not a hobby grade RC, so we will not be comparing it to an RC like the Traxxas Slash, or a Redcat Racing Gen8.
If you have a little more in the budget & would like to upgrade to an awesome hobby grade RC, please check out our Redcat Racing Piranha Truggy Review
Wanna check out tons of other awesome RC’s, boats & drones in action?
So without further ado, let’s get this Sharper Image Street Thrasher review started!
Sharper Image Street Thrasher – Product Overview
The Sharper Image Street Thrasher is a 1/14 scale buggy style RC.
It will fit comfortably inside your average sized shoe box.
The Street Thrasher is designed to run on most dry surfaces. It is not waterproof, so you really need to be careful to avoid puddles and mud.
We have ran it in some moist dirt and mulch with no problems. As long as you don’t get liquid inside any of the electronics you should be OK.
Street Thrasher Features
While not a hobby grade RC, the Street Thrasher does have some cool features:
- 12.5 MPH
- 9.6V Rechargeable Battery
- 2.4 GHz Controller
- Soft Rubber All Terrain Tires
- 4 Wheel Independent Suspension
- Spring Loaded Shocks
- Removable Body With Clips
- Full Function
Speed
Right from the beginning, one of the things that impressed us the most about the Street Thrasher was take off and top speed.
When you pull the trigger, the Thrasher responds and gets up to speed very nicely, easily topping the 12.5 MPH claim.
Battery
The rechargeable 9.6V, 700mAh Ni-MH battery provides plenty of juice to the Thrasher’s motor.
Here’s what we found with the batteries:
- Charge time: 1 Hour
- Run Time: 15 – 25 Minutes, Depending On Terrain
The first charge took about 2 hours to complete. After the initial charge, it charges in an hour or less.
Tires
The knobby tires provide good traction, but not so much that you can’t do some awesome donuts in the loose gravel and dirt.
The Thrasher had no problems climbing small hills, or negotiating sharp turns.
Suspension/Body
Spring loaded shocks and 4 wheel independent suspension pair up nicely to give good stability on uneven terrain, while keeping the buggy smooth and steady on flat surfaces.
The clips and removable body give the Thrasher a true hobby RC look.
Once the clips and body are removed however, there is not much to do. The clips and removable body are just designed to be aesthetically pleasing. In other words, they serve no purpose except to make the Thrasher look cool…Which they definitely do.
Controller/Range
The Street Thrasher comes with a 2.4GHz controller.
While the controller does not give the same quality feel of a Traxxas controller, it still feels pretty good.
The Thrasher is a full function RC with forward, reverse, and left & right in both directions.
You also have throttle control so you don’t have to go full speed all the time.
With a fully charged batteries in the buggy and controller, we easily got over 150′ of range before we started to lose function. This is not bad at all for a toy grade RC!
Drawbacks?
The Street Thrasher from Sharper image is a cool vehicle that leaves little room for complaints.
One thing we will complain about however is the difficulty with putting the battery in the car.
You need to be careful to line the battery up perfectly with the slot inside and wrap the wires inside.
While not a big deal, you will need some practice to get it right.
Just show a little patience and I promise it will fit! 🙂
Sharper Image Street Thrasher Review – The Bottom Line
As we said right from the beginning, this is not a hobby grade vehicle.
That being said, we have to say that we were pretty impressed with the performance of the Thrasher.
The Sharper Image Street Thrasher comes completely ready to run right out of the box.
It comes with a 9.6V rechargeable battery, battery charger, and even batteries for the controller.
While you shouldn’t expect to take this thing to the track and win races, you can expect to enjoy a little fun time.
We enjoyed the Street Thrasher and we think you will too!
We hope you enjoyed this Sharper Image Street Thrasher Review.
Where can I get battery pack for it. Thanks
Hi Edwin.
I am trying to find extra battery packs, but am having some difficulty.
I have contacted Sharper Image and am awaiting a reply.
In the mean time, I will keep my eyes open and let you know if I run across anything.
How are you enjoying the Street Thrasher so far?
Don’t have battery pack for it they didn’t come w it trying to find them with the charger for it the proper one may have to use eBay to see thanks for answering let you know .
Hey Edwin,
Did you find the battery & charger?
@RCInsiders
I had this for about a day and now it won’t turn on the front wheels because some plastic piece broke. My son is really bummed.
Hi Bobbie,
Sorry to hear about your problem.
Did you have a wreck with it?
The bad thing with toy grade RC’s is the difficulty with finding parts. I’m guessing your local hobby shop couldn’t help? Have you attempted to return the car?
If you are not able to return it, please go to the the contact tab where you can send me a few pics of where you think the part failure occurred and I will see what I can do.
If you would like to upgrade to a hobby grade RC and want to keep the price low, we advise you to check out our review of the Hosim RC Truck.
https://youtu.be/mqKQ7gnPOKQ
Thanks for stopping by and we will get you back on the trails asap!
I’m having the same problem. The plastic piece that controls the steering broke. Were you able to fine a replacement anywhere?
Hi Brittany,
Most toy grade RC’s you can’t find many replacement parts.
This sounds like the servo broke. I’ll see if I can find anything.
@RCInsiders
I bought mine from Marcs for about $20 and it doesn’t reverse. Very sad.
Hey Hunter,
Did you return it for exchange or refund?
Thanks for dropping by & have a great day 🙂
@RCInsiders
Hi! Now it wont run straight! not sure what happened.
Hi Viv,
Could be a few things. Has it been involved in a crash?
The first thing you should check is the steering trim. It’s a small button under the car in between the front wheels.
If the car is going right, adjust the button left. I going left, adjust right.
Keep adjusting until the Street Thrasher goes straight.
If you find this is not the problem, please let us know and we will gladly help until you get it going straight 🙂
Thanks for stopping by!
~RC Insiders
The controller’s light is blinking red. My husband bought it last year. The batteries are charged up and new batteries in the controller but it still blinks. Any suggestions to get it running again.?
Hi,
Without having the truck here, it will be difficult to diagnose.
I would start with the battery in the truck. If it hasn’t been charged in a long time, you may need to charge it for longer than normal. It is also possible the battery needs to be replaced.
Try another set of batteries in the controller, just to make sure.
Make sure the truck battery is plugged in properly as well. We have ours out right now and the battery wasn’t plugged in right and the light kept blinking. As soon as we got it plugged in right, the blinking stopped and everything worked as normal.
Now if none of this works, I would imagine there is a receiver issue, in which case it will be a tough fix.
Let us know if any of these things work. If not, we will try to help resolve the issue. We want you back out on the trails! 🙂
Thanks for stopping by
~RC Insiders
Hi there and Happy New Year!
My child was using the car and now the back wheels won’t turn. They seem to pulse but nothing. I was with them when it was last used it and there were no crashes. It did go into the grass.
We charged the battery overnight, and even tried replacing the remote control batteries, but no luck.
Help! My kid is really bummed.
Hi Katherine…Happy New Year to you!
Good thinking with the batteries. Usually when the battery is running low you start to get that pulsing.
How old is the car/battery?
Was the grass wet when the car went in?
My 2 best guesses are the battery is junk, or the grass was wet and fried something electrical.
If neither of these things are true, How old is the car and can you still return it?
Try charging the battery one more time and see what happens.
If something else is broken, it will be difficult to repair as the Thrasher is a toy grade RC and finding parts for it has proven difficult.
Let me know how you make out and we will do our best to help.
If you decide to move up to a hobby grade RC, let us know and we will recommend a vehicle that will suit your needs.
All the best
RC Insiders
Has no reverse just unbox ed it an charged up the battery
Hi Patrick,
I would start by making sure the battery is fully charged on you Sharper Image Street Thrasher.
Ensure your controller batteries are good. If the batteries are all good, play around with the controller and ensure you are using it properly. You can refer to your Sharper Image Street Thrasher user manual for correct operation. The user manual will also provide you with a few trouble shooting suggestions.
Give all these things a try and let us know if you still need a hand.
Thanks for stopping by,
#RCInsiders
Hey Jeremy – my son got the Street Thrasher 28 for his birthday this past week and man that car can move! I think it may have run into a wall or chair now the steering doesn’t work. Upon inspection “under the hood” it turns out there are some teeth missing from one of the gears permanently attached to the steering rod control arm thingy – causing it not to turn. Do you know if there may be replacement parts for this car?
Thanks in advance.
Jeremy B.
Schertz, TX
Hey Jeremy,
I am looking into this. I’ll reply here if I can find something.
Happy bashing! 🙂
~RC Insiders
Hi my thrasher keeps bottoming out on little rocks or dry leaves is their any different rims and tires you can put on it to raise the back end up.
Hi Zach,
The Street Thrasher is what is known as a toy grade RC, which means it’s difficult to find/do replacement/upgrade parts. However, we have submitted an inquiry to Sharper Image to see if we can source some parts/upgrades since this is such a cool RC!
Hopefully we hear something soon. We will let you know ASAP.
In the meantime, here is one of our favorite and most affordable Hobby grade RC vehicles – https://rcinsiders.com/redcat-racing-volcano-epx-4×4-review
We think you’ll love this one 🙂
If you wanna read more about hobby vs toy grade, check this out – https://rcinsiders.com/hobby-grade-rc-vs-toy-grade-rc-whats-the-difference
Thanks for stopping by and happy bashing!
#RCInsiders
Sup buddy? I’m really curious if these have any type of warranty on them?
Hey DD,
Amazon gives you 30 days hassle free returns. Sharper Image gives you 60 days. I think the Street Thrasher gives a 1 year warranty. I am checking with Sharper Image to confirm as I cannot find my original paperwork. I’ll stop back in to confirm as soon as they reply. Overall, its a really cool rc. Thanks for stopping by buddy and happy bashing! 🙂 #RCInsiders
I am glad some of your readers are putting in their views on the Street Thrasher. It gives me a heads up on what to expect from the car.
The Thrasher does look impressive in your video and it looks like my son could have fun with this but I am worried about the tires being stuck and not turning and it not starting.
Hi Dinh.
We have had the Thrasher for a while and haven’t had any problems with it. The only real down side I see with it is that it is a toy grade RC. No getting it wet and most likely difficulty getting replacement parts if something does brake. If you want to go for something more hobby grade and waterproof, take a look at our Traxxas Bandit review – https://youtu.be/KYYNpXgW2OQ Or if you think your son may enjoy a crawler RC, I very highly recommend you check out our Redcat Racing Gen 8 review – https://youtu.be/QRcw9n6qL00 You can scan through the channel and check out some of our other reviews as well.
Let us know if you need a hand picking something out, or if you have any questions. No matter what you decide, your son will love it…It’s RC!! 🙂
Thanks for stopping by – #RCInsiders
Was wondering if any one else having battery over heating problem? Looked at Sharper Image website they do not even mention thrasher. Was charged 4 hours as recommended, and got about 8 minutes off/ on performance, then battery pack overheats, and car does not respond. Picked up car to find battery compartment hot to touch. Tried again later after recharge only got about 5 minutes. S/I says return to store btw. Have done so and will try a second.
hi, I bought this car from someone else and we used it that same night we bought it. It worked perfectly. But out of nowhere, it stopped moving and there is a beeping sound. we thought it needed to be charged, or changed batteries. we did all of that and it still doesn’t move and theres a still beeping sound. How do we fix it, or can it be fixed?
Hi Daniella,
I will look deeper into this, but it sounds like the receiver is not finding the controller. Can you ask the person you got it from if they got it wet. If the electronics have been fried, unfortunately there will not be much to do. I highly suggest that if you want to get into RC as a hobby/passion that you check out some hobby grade RC’s. With hobby grade RC’s, anything that breaks can be fixed. Check out this article – https://rcinsiders.com/hobby-grade-rc-vs-toy-grade-rc-whats-the-difference
Then check out this RC – https://rcinsiders.com/redcat-racing-piranha-xtr-10-truggy-review
You are going to be absolutely amazed at the difference when you enter hobby grade RC’s. If you ever need a hand with anything please let us know & we will be happy to help 🙂 Also check out our YouTube channel where you can see tons of RC’s in action before you buy one https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHtN1NtMk5yeK5hksiyxydQ
Thanks for stopping by #RCInsiders
Looking for a battery pack and charger i will pay anyone know a company selling.
My steering stop working. Cant turn left or right and it is making sound (like the gear inside mess up) how can i fix this? Thank you.
Hi Halim,
The unfortunate thing with toy grade RC’s is that when something breaks its difficult or impossible to replace or repair.
The sound you hear is most likely a steering servo with stripped gears. On a hobby grade RC, this would be an easy & inexpensive fix.
Your best best would be to try & get a refund.
Read About Hobby Grade VS Toy Grade Here
Are you looking to get into the awesome world of hobby grade RC’s? There are tons of affordable RC’s 🙂
Let me know & I will find you the perfect RC in you budget.
Thanks for stopping by my friend!!
#RCInsiders