Comparison

XLR8 vs Hover Engine TryOut

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

XLR8

Transform your car's audio experience by making it sound like an exotic supercar. This app uses your device's accelerometers to simulate realistic engine sounds based on your driving actions. Choose from a variety of authentic engine sounds and customize their performance for an immersive driving simulation.

Highlights
  • Realistic engine sound simulation
  • Accelerometer-based input
  • Five authentic engine sound options
  • Engine performance tuning
  • Automatic and manual driving modes
  • Bluetooth and cabled audio support
Features
Read full description

Wish you owned an exotic supercar? Now you can with XLR8! XLR8 (pronounced accelerate) is an exciting new app from 2XL Games that makes your car sound like an exotic supercar as you drive! Connect your iPhone, iPod or iPad to your car stereo and you are off and running. Once secured inside your vehicle, XLR8 uses the accelerometers of your device to realistically respond to acceleration, braking and cornering forces. Select from one of five exciting engines: - Classic V8 muscle car - NASCAR engine - Ford GT40 - Ferrari sports car - Lamborghini Supercar Dazzle your friends when you roll into the parking lot with the sound of a lumbering muscle car. Each engine realistically delivers the thrill of driving a different type of supercar. Uses Hollywood quality recordings of the real engines to sound totally authentic. Tune the performance of your engines by adjusting the shift point and gear ratios. Sound like you are burning out your tires and drifting without driving recklessly. Supports both cabled and wireless Bluetooth audio connections to your car stereo. Some vehicle Bluetooth connections can experience a slight delay. Automatic Mode measures the acceleration of your car and Manual Mode lets you control the engine by hand. XLR8 works well with any device, but works best with a GPS. Drive the car of your dreams – XLR8

About

Hover Engine TryOut

Enhance your hoverboard experience with realistic engine sounds that automatically sync to your speed. Explore different engine types and horn effects, with an option to save your custom sounds. Turn silent rides into thrilling adventures.

Highlights
  • Realistic engine sound generation
  • Speed-synced audio
  • Multiple engine types (V4, V6, V8)
  • Horn sound effects
  • Manual sound testing mode
  • In-app purchase for hover mode
  • Save and export engine sounds
Read full description

Add a massive race engine sound to your hoverboard, hoverkart or self-balancing scooter. ALERT: this is so much fun that “silent” hoverboarding becomes hoverboring! *) Hover Engine works as background app while iPhone is asleep, safely in your pocket. It detects your speed with iPhone’s motion sensors and then generates matching engine sounds automatically. Ideal for use with bluetooth-audio hoverboards, so the sounds really come from your board. With normal, non-audio hoverboards, the iPhone’s powerful internal speaker can be used. MANUAL MODE (free) • Play manually, without hoverboard, to try out the incredible deep engine sounds while seeing the cylinders rev up! • Three different engines, a growling V4, a singing V6 and a massive gasoline gobbling V8 with rattling valves • Horn sound FX • Export/save your engine sounds HOVER MODE (in-app purchase) • Get on your hoverboard and the engine sound is automatically matched to your driving *) • Auto throttle, break, gear shift and tire skidding • Tap your iPhone/pocket to horn or start/stop the engine • After hovering you can export/save your actual engine sounds, e.g. to edit them in a hover-action movie Enjoy the ride! André rodotti.com *) COMPATIBLE with all hoverboards, no additional hardware is needed. Sounds are based on motion estimates via iPhone sensor measurements. REMEMBER: always drive safely, and keep your iPhone securely in your pocket while driving.

Screenshots

XLR84 screens
Hover Engine TryOut4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Hover Engine TryOut at Free against XLR8's $4.99. Hover Engine TryOut also leads on rating (4.5 vs 2.0) and review sentiment (57% vs 16%). On ratings volume, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Hover Engine TryOut is free to download; XLR8 costs $4.99 up front. XLR8 sells 5 one-off in-app purchases and Hover Engine TryOut sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Hover Engine TryOut holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 2.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 168 and 248 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 16% of XLR8's written reviews are positive against 57% of Hover Engine TryOut's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

XLR8 ships an update every 7 months, Hover Engine TryOut every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
XLR8 versus Hover Engine TryOut: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterXLR8Hover Engine TryOut
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating2.0 (168 ratings)4.5 (248 ratings) — better
Positive reviews15.6% of reviews57.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings168248 — better
Update frequencyEvery 7 monthsEvery 6 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size78 MB36 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer2XL Games, Inc.Peter-Andre Redert

Customer experience

XLR8

All ratings168 ratings
Positive20.2%
Neutral9.5%
Negative70.2%
Written reviews256 reviews
Positive15.6%
Neutral10.9%
Negative73.4%

Hover Engine TryOut

All ratings248 ratings
Positive87.5%
Neutral3.2%
Negative9.3%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive57.1%
Neutral14.3%
Negative28.6%

Bugs and requests

XLR8

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Doesn't work on iOS 11/12
  • Inconsistent performance
  • Fails to download purchased content
  • Doesn't detect vehicle motion

Requested features

4 requests
  • Background mode
  • Accelerometer integration
  • More car sounds
  • Restore purchases option

Hover Engine TryOut

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

5 purchases

XLR8

One-time5
  • Stock Car$0.99
  • American Sports Car$1.99
  • Italian Supercar$2.99
Show 2 more
  • Italian Sports Car$2.99
  • Unlock All Engines$4.99
1 purchases

Hover Engine TryOut

One-time1
  • Hover Upgrade$1.99

Questions

Is XLR8 free?
XLR8 costs $4.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Hover Engine TryOut free?
Hover Engine TryOut is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, XLR8 or Hover Engine TryOut?
Hover Engine TryOut is rated higher. XLR8 averages 2.0 out of 5 from 168 ratings, while Hover Engine TryOut averages 4.5 from 248 ratings.
Do XLR8 or Hover Engine TryOut have ads?
Neither XLR8 nor Hover Engine TryOut shows ads.
Which is updated more often, XLR8 or Hover Engine TryOut?
XLR8 ships an update every 7 months, and Hover Engine TryOut every 6 months. Most recently, XLR8 was updated on October 12, 2026 and Hover Engine TryOut on October 8, 2026.

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