LEGO 42224 Porsche GT3 R Rexy AO Racing Review

Hi all! Here’s a review of the upcoming Rexy Porsche set by guest reviewer Scott Bowman, who knows a thing or two about these. This set was provided for review by the LEGO Group.

RIGHT TO THE POINT

Rexy, the AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R Technic set is great and a wonderful addition to Technic LEGO cars. Not as much detail as supercar models, but it has plenty of working features and displays well. The color is intriguing and overall a great display for any motorsports collection. The working internal jack system is unique and quite fun for this model.

WHAT IS A GT3?

This set is a recreation of an FIA Homologated GT3 racecar (GT = Grand Touring). The FIA is an international motorsports association that has created classifications that manufacturers can build racecars that are based on road cars they produce. GT3 has become the premier level of sports car racing with high-tech extremely fast and reliable cars that are made by almost all high performance brands in the world, such as BMW, McLaren, Aston Martin, Ferrari, Masirati, Lamborgini, Ford, General Motors, Lexus, Honda, Toyota, and of course, Porsche. The Porsche GT3 is a particularly potent machine in the world of GT racing, with adequate horsepower but outstanding aerodynamics and handling. Known as a drivers car, it has what is called a large “window” of performance to allow many different styles of driving. They are always in the hunt, always near the top of any session on track, and often win races and championships.

From the factory, the cars are very complete and ready for specific series nuances of rules and regulations. The cars are well tested and perform well “right out of the box”. Their support of independent racing teams is unmatched in the industry. Basically, they are fun to drive and capable of winning on a huge variety of race courses.

WHO IS AO RACING AND REXY?

AO Racing is a team started in 2023 with headquarters in St. Charles, Illinois, not far from Chicago. They formed a team that has international roots and competes all over the world. They compete in IMSA, European Le Mans, and the 24 hours of Le Mans. From the start, they took a friendly and fun view of their cars, creating Rexy. Creating a personality for car as a prehistoric T-Rex was an instant fan favorite and is is easy to identify on and off track. They also have Roxy, a sister Porsche of Rexy, and Spike, a very fast Dragon running in a higher LMP2 class.

They were competitive out of the box, and in 2024 won the IMSA GT3 Pro Championship. The gold tooth on the front of Rexy is in honor of this championship!

WHO AM I TO SAY?

A recovering mechanical engineer, I began seriously building in 2013, jumping headfirst into large projects and engaging kids in building. My most notable event and build was STEM Moon Shot, where kids helped me build a 12-foot-tall, 40,000-brick model of the Saturn V Moon rocket. The model and event were featured in the December 2018 issue 54 of BrickJournal, so well written by my friend and mentor, Joe Meno. Doing MOCs, MODs, and building hundreds of sets grants me some credibility in the community, but there is more.

One of my major passions has always been sports cars and road racing. As with many, my father is the cause of all this, having infected me so early in life. I have been working, building, and racing sports cars my whole life. My first car was a 1960 Morris Mini, which I had to rebuild from a bare shell starting at age 14. My current sports car/project is a 2003 Porsche 996 C4S.

As a member of the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) for over 50 years, I have raced as a driver, crewed for other drivers, worked as an official doing timing and scoring, and for the last 20 years been a Steward, running racing events in charge of all operations in a competition. For 13 years, I raced a Sports 2000 on an amateur level, never the fastest, rarely the slowest, finished most of my races, and won a fair share of national events. My superpower was finishing races by making sure my car was always ready to run; it could last a whole event, and as a driver stay out of trouble while wheel-to-wheel with other cars.

For the past 10 years, I shifted to professional racing, where I get paid to go to races! I started working with SRO Motorsports Group, which runs a series called World Challenge, racing the best-performing sports cars in the world! The FIA GT3 class is the flagship class for the series, which has events all over the world! Currently, I am in the Tech department as a scrutineer, inspecting the cars to confirm compliance with series rules and standards. I get up close with the cars as they come off the track to Parc Ferme and do detailed inspections and measurements. This is incredible fun, but can be challenging as the push-and-pull between competitors and officials is often tense. Age and experience are my tools when dealing with the inevitable conflicts that arise from this high level of performance and competition.

Not only do I know LEGO, but I know sports cars, specifically GT cars! So my look at the Technic Porsche GT3 is more about the connection between real life and LEGO. I’m sure there will be plenty of reviews related to what new parts are included, how many bags are in the set, and judging the build techniques with lots of fancy build images–but this will be an expert look at the set by a super LEGO and super car fan.

THE BUILD

Now that you know my chops, let’s discuss the model. Note that I do not design or build MOCs in Technic (yet), but I love the Technic series of sports cars. I collect all Speed Champion and most Creator Expert cars, like the Mini from a long time ago.

This is the first set for me with all paper bags…finally! Guess they finally used up most of their plastic bag material.

Instructions have very little educational narrative, unlike supercar sets. Since this is based on a team and car with a fun and significant story, more information would have been appreciated. There are lots of stickers, but that is typical for this kind of set. There is only one printed element, a large panel that is part of the rear valance with GT3R badge.

Bag 1 – Engine and Rear Suspension

The first segment is very compact due to the smaller scale of the model, which means it loses a lot of detail or relate to real life. I am not a fan of the “new” crankshaft and pistons, and this is not the first set with this type of engine; it does approximate an engine, but sticks a bit when moving. The standard cylinder/piston parts would be too large.

The paper bags made me develop a new habit. The bags have a kind of smooth lining, not plastic, but does not feel like standard paper like the outside. This made getting all parts out of the bags, and being opaque makes parts hard to see. Best solution was to carefully rip the bag open, open wide, and dump out. Note that parts fly around a bit more when pouring them out, especially Technic pins.

Bag 2 – Center Chassis, Hand of God Steering, and Internal Jacks

Technic designers seem to really like the Hand of God (HOG) gear that allows steering from outside the model. To me, this kind of ruins the display value of the model. Most times, this is a gear on the roof or top of a formula racer. In this case the HOG routes through the back window, which is better. I will most likely remove this at some time.

The internal jacks are a fun feature, the first that I know of for Technic. In the real car, these jacks are used for quick tire changes or repairs needed in pit lane. The real system is driven by high-pressure nitrogen in pneumatic cylinders built into the chassis. Nitrogen is used in professional racing more than compressed air. It is more stable at multiple temperatures, which makes it very useful in racing tires, which see huge fluctuations in temperature during a race. It is also much quieter than an air compressor. Rexy uses these in pit lane and under the canopy in the paddock where they work on the car when off track.

The actuation method is quite clever. There are four articulating posts that move through about 90 degrees that are connected by gears, liftarms, and axles. The design incorporates a special type of four-bar linkage where it will “lock” in place when extended. You can hear and feel a solid click as the lower, rasing the wheels off the floor. There is a gear at the passenger door AND a bright red ball lever in center of cockpit to actuate the system.

Bag 3 – Front Suspension

Again, detail suffers due to the scale, but overall, it is an improvement over others of same scale, in my opinion of course. Constructing this was quite floppy, with things hanging free in space until the very end to lock in everything together an allow motion.

So, LEGO always wait until the very end to put on wheels, but I don’t! Once the suspension is ready, and no later, I always put wheels on my cars. This is MY way!

Bag 4 – Roof and Back Window

The roof and connection to the chassis is quite stout, which makes for good grabbing and moving…and maybe just a bit of zooming. The cover over the engine does not open; on the real car, it is removable, but not on hinges.

Bag 5 – Back End and Rear Quarters

Wow, the Bright Green is really, really…BRIGHT! Partial stickers are used where a full size version is not needed, which is nice. The printed panel is quite nice. Wish they had done the front with the badge…more later.

Bag 6 – Sills and Passenger Door

The door has a simple but affective hinge with limit to open. It is nice the way the door actually slopes back to enhance the air openings to the engine to make the model look more like the actual car.

Bag 7 – Drivers Door, Hood, Rear Valance, and Diffuser

The back valance is very nice with the exhaust tips right where they should be. There is less of a rear underfloor diffuser in this model due to scale. Larger kits have a more extensive version. In reality, the diffuser and undertray make the most downforce for the car; upwards of 80 of the total developed by the car.

Bag 8 – Dashboard, Drivers Seat, Front Fenders, Splitter, and Rear Wing.

Finished! The hood opens and has a movable brace to hold open it open. It does drop once open due to little friction in the pin hinges. The front hood on the real car does not hinge, but is removable. There is only a gas tank, brake cylinders and lots and lots of electronics there on the real thing.

The dash stickers and racing seat are nice.  The electronc screens and screens are very typical to the very complex instruments in the actual car. It would have been nice to have a plate an sticker on the steering wheel, which has many controls on it as well. LEGO should make a large version of what they have in the F1 Speed Champion series!

This bag contained a couple of “new to me” parts. The oval trans-clear is a super good solution for the headlights; much better than some precious attempts.

I really wish the front eyes and Porsche badge was a printed element to match the back end panel.

Here is the internal Jacking System in action. It looks veryrealistic; in real life, they are cylinders that extend straight down from the chassis.

Final thoughts; This set is a fun build, very straight forward with some new techniques, but well within the norm for this size of model. Once complaint I normally have with Technic or Creator cars is the stance; the way the wheels fit in the fenders and how high the car sits, the ground clearance. In this case, the model looks pretty good. I might like to lower it by 3mm or so, about one plate in height, but it would quite difficult in this scale. All of my larger Technic cars have been lowered through adjustments to the suspension or installing stops at the bottom of travel. Because LEGO does not weigh much, the suspension is always at what in real life we call “full droop”, the lowest level of the full travel. There is just not enough weight to settle the LEGO car to a good ride height.

THE SCALE

I could not resist a bit of a family picture. Here are cars from my collection. See the chart below for more information on each. They are all great, but for different reasons.

The 2016 issued GT3 RS was the first supercar set that was designed aimed at adults with packaging and build experiance enhanced over normal kits. The original cost then of $299 caused quite a stir in the community, and world, but it proved to be a bargain compared to todays prices! It is still a wonderful kit and I love it and have done some fun MODs such as working door handles.

The 911 RSR from 2019 is a wonderful example of the GT3 car of that time. The livery is from the Porsche Factory team (they used 911 and 912 for their car numbers). Really wonderful kit, but designed for dramatic display. Mine has been heavily modified using a design by Lukas Design adding over 931 parts for a whopping 2,228 pieces!

The Creator 911 from 2021 is part of the wonderful Expert series that creates a brick built car that is smoother and more solid. More show than education in a way. I love this car and the series, as they always have unique solutions to making curvy bodies.

Closest to Rexy in scale and scope is the Ford GT issued in 2022. Both have similar features and detail. The dark blue is a bit overwhelming, and I wish it had been white with blue stripes. Rexy looks particularly fetching next to it in my opinion!

Here is information related to the five larger sets shown in the family picture. Scale is either reported by LEGO or determined by comparing the size to the actual car (not the wheel size). The Creator wheels at 48mm are small in comparison, but also represent different wheel versus tire sizes. The modern cars have lower profile tires.

ID	Name	Parts	Issue	Price	Wheel Diameter	Scale
42056	Porsche 911 GT3 RS	2704	2016	$299	78mm	1:8
42096	Porsche 911 RSR	1580	2019	$179	68mm	1:9
42224	Porsche GT3 R Rexy AO Racing	1313	2026	$149	56mm	1:12
42154	2022 Ford GT	1466	2023	$119	56mm	1:12
10295	Porsche 911	1458	2021	$169	48mm	1:12

The rear diffuser and underbody, as mentioned earlier, creates around 80% of the downforce of the car. Racecars have very smooth floor pans to allow air to flow freely under them. Modern road cars are the same, in those cases to save on drag and reduce fuel use. Above shows Rexy versus 42096. The latter has been highly modified with over 931 parts added, the majority of which is to make underside flat. In the real world of racing, a lot of setup and tuning goes to making sure the ride height and rake of the car remains as low as possible within the rules to maximize downforce and increase cornering speeds. Rexy has no undertray, so would not be able to go very fast!

VALUE?

For me, value is not about cost per element, or total cost, or cost to size. It is how much does it mean to me once built. Did I learn anything new? Was it fun to build? Will it display well?

Prices vary some for the five sets listed above. I feel all are a good value for what they are. There must be licencing differents to LEGO; we all know there is a Ferrari tax. Based on the build quality and display presence, I do think Rexy is a good value and I am very happy it has joined my collection.

REAL LIFE CONNECTIONS

My motorsports life connects with Porsches all the time! Porsche is know as one of the premier factory racecars with significant factory support all over the world. They are integral to SRO competition in both GT3 and GT4 classes and always have factory parts and engineering support at every event.

Porsche and GT racing go very deep in history. The 911 has been in production for over 60 years now, and Porsche has made racing versions available to customers since the very beginning. In many ways, they define what a GT3 is and should be. They have always been competitive, even when they gave up significant horsepower to other cars. Their focus on light weight, handling, aerodynamics, stability, and robust construction make them a threat to win everytime they are on track. SRO has several GT3 Porsches in the series and they are always fun to see and work with.

LEGO AND PORSCHE

This is not the first Porsche that LEGO has produced; in fact, they have a whole string of Speed Champions, both 6-wide and 8-wide, Creator, and Technic sets. I count over 20 in on display in my studio (includes MOCs and MODs). BrickSet shows 19 sets produced by LEGO and I have the vast majority. I am missing the Technic GT4 e-Performace race car (scale similar to Rexy).

Showing in the list are two sets with Sally Carrera (Cars movie). Fun fact, Sally is based on a 2002 Porsche 996, which is the same kind of car I now own! Showing in this list is also the Sienfeld set. Now that connection would only be known if you realized that Jerry Sienfeld is a major collector of Porsches and owns some truely unique and incredible cars.

LEGO has also built a couple of life size versions that are quite fun. This includes the Porsche RSR from 2016 and the Porsche Turbo in 2018.

MY LEGO LIFE

In 2015, when I retired early as a Principal and Owner of a large, multi-discipline engineering firm, I started a company called Integrated Design + Energy Advisors, LLC, or IDEA for short! Also known as ideaBUILDworks, I provided consulting and education centered around high-performance buildings, sustainable design, and resiliency. This company also had a DBA called ideaBRICKworks, where I started designing and selling custom building kits using LEGO elements, complete commissions for brand enhancement through activities and/or custom builds and kits, and create and administer large engagement events, using LEGO, of course.

If you feel moved, please visit my Etsy store and see what I have available. Most of my kits are space or racecar related, though I have some popular Christmas kits too.

Thank you for reading to the end! I want to thank Joe Meno for this opportunity. It has been a great honor to have been the subject of two articles in BrickJournal over the years. This has allowed me to become a friend of Joe and now that we are practically neighbors, we can talk and meet regularly. He also helps me at various conventions and events, always willing to help.

This review is just before Christmas, and looking back on my life in motorsports and LEGO are filled with joy, creativity, friendship, and fun.

Many thanks to Scott for this review – and to Scott and all of you, Happy Holidays!

 

#RLFM #LEGO42224 #Reviews