A Closer Look At The LEGO City 2kDrive Set Arriving In August

LEGO® 2kDrive City Combo Race Pack 60395 LEGO® City Modified Racing Cars 60396 LEGO® City Monster Truck Race 60397

Blast off with the new 2k drive sets!

In one of the strangest but somewhat expected LEGO promotional crossovers. LEGO 2k Drive gets a LEGO City line-up of racing pack vehicles to bring street racing to your home! But in the world of LEGO City, how does this line up of racing cars hold up? Is this a nice, cheaper equivalent of the Speed Champions line for the kids? Read on!

LEGO® City Combo Race Pack (60395)
LEGO® City Modified Racing Cars (60396)
LEGO® City Monster Truck Race (60397)
RRP AUD $52.99 – CA $39.99 – EUR €29.99 – UK £24.99 – USA $29.99
Available from LEGO.com and LEGO Stores from 1st August 2023.

LEGO City Combo Race Pack (60395)

Being the largest LEGO City 2k Drive set, this set packs three different vehicles for you to play with. It seems somewhat trivial to point it out, but I’m glad these sets have a 100% focus on the vehicles and we don’t have some weird little landscape or signpost to buff up the price.

The three vehicles of the set sport three very different types of vehicles, being traditional sportscar, off roader and powered boat. Each of the three vehicles come with sections that come off and the front and rear, allowing for customisation of the base vehicles to suit your desires.

Compared to the LEGO Speed Champions line, the red vehicle is simplified down but takes a few techniques to keep a nice streamline aesthetic. The other two vehicles are similar in simplicity, but are more akin to classic LEGO City vehicles. All cars also have the double-bar receivers in the side to link up with a play feature in a later set.

The three minfigures of this set are admittedly quite basic, all sporting the same outfit. Much akin to Power Rangers, the hair colours of the characters and their helmets correlate to their vehicle. I do wish their was more diversity in the outfits here, or at least something that is a bit more versatile.

LEGO® City Modified Racing Cars (60396)

Out of the three sets we have to review, this is probably the most 2k Drive-eist 2k Drive set their is. The cars that come in this set have such a vibrant and tech-like feel to them that I really enjoy. The green vehicles also sports some “scratchy silver” shiny elements that lift the build, whereas the neon colour palette and driver’s windshield of the other car raises it to the same level.

Much like the other vehicle set before, the cars have the double bar piece on the sides to be able to attach the play features of the set, which represents some of the power-up gimmicks that come from the 2k Drive game. Choose between rockets, rotors or spring-loaded shooters and drive your customised car to heart’s content!

The best part is that these vehicles are also able to have their fronts/rear removed and swapped around, like the previous set, and compatible with the last set.

The minifigures of this set are much more vibrant than their previous counterparts, and I’m a huge fan of their outfits. Big ticks here.

LEGO® City Monster Truck Race (60397)

Easily one of the wildest LEGO City Monster Truck sets we’ve seen in previous years, the Monster Truck Race is exactly what it says on the tin. One racer is equipped with a Taco truck and the other loaded up in a skeletal pirate ship!

The Pirate racing truck is my favourite of the two in this set, solely from subject matter alone. I’m always a big fan of pirate themes, and I love how this build keeps that with a skeleton masthead, cannons on the sides, a mast with crossed sword flags, and a treasure chest on the back to drop fish down on racers behind them!

The figure for this vehicle is probably the only part where I feel like this build is lacking. Take off her hat and you wouldn’t ever think that she was a pirate. I wish the headpiece had an eyepatch or more pirate-like printing to make this come together more.

The Taco Monster Truck is a build that feels whacky and wild more than cohesive, which I think is the point. The devil face on the front of the build, the chilli printing and the flames make me think that the Taco’s that this guy gives out are “hotter than hell”.

Our driver here only has one real method of defence against the pirate’s cannons and dropped fish, and that is a rotating taco cannon loaded on top of the Monster truck. He feels really underprepared against the pirate adversary, but makes up with having a really cool figure to bring it all together. The minifigure for this build reminds me of a figure from the early CMF series, and his torso has massive versatility in LEGO City sets. I’m a big fan of this guy here.

Verdict

Overall, the 2k Drive sets are one of the more whacky and wilder LEGO sets to come out in recent times, and I’m here for it.

The LEGO group have built upon the gimmick of the game really well, and being able to make all the standard vehicle sets interchangeable is a really smart and fun play feature. I feel like this would be paired with the recent LEGO City repair garage, whose vehicles follow this same interchangeability.

Although not perfect, and some figures leaving me with desire for more, for a LEGO City theme, this line up is pretty decent.