The Sequre SQ-ES126 is a top of the range compact electronic precision screwdriver that has been made for very precise work such as small scale RC Cars and quadcopters. These small screwdrivers can significantly speed up your build and repairs, especially when you have long screws! This in not a cheap tool though so in this review I’ll give you all the details to help you understand if it is the right tool for you.

Before we get stuck in to this review let just define the difference between cordless/impact drivers (like you might use for building/home rennovation) and the precise compact drivers like used here. 

When you buy the product you'll receive the following items in the pack:

• 1 x SQ-ES126 Smart Screwdriver 
• 24 x M4 Screwdriver Bits and magnetic carry case. 
• 1 x Manual Handle
• 1 x Instruction Manual

The screwdriver bits contain all the main ones you need for fine work - a good range of Posidrive (Philips), Hex drives in 1.5mm and 2.0mm. I'm a little disappointed that there is no 2.5mm hex drive but my guess is that the lack of torque that these precision drivers can generate is not enough for a 2.5mm head screw. The good news is that M4 driver bits are very common.

The manual handle is a nice touch but to be honest the bits are so easy to change I don't know why you just wouldn't use the main driver.

As you can see it completely outclasses the other drivers, particularly in torque which is the most important measure. In use it means that this will remove practically any screw on a 1/10 and smaller RC car or any quadcopter that is not held in with Loctite – typically m3 or smaller. This screwdriver offers probably the minimum amount of torque I’d want – I’d be wary of going less although the Xiaomi Mijia makes for a good option to consider at the price point.

This electronic screwdriver has quite a nifty way of operating thanks to the  STM32 chip in it - the same brain used in quadcopter flight controllers. If you hold the lower button and twist in the direction you want to tighten or loosen then the motor will run in that direction. This feature is more clever that it sound because it means you can loosen a tight screw bind with the assist of your hand before the screwdriver takes over. The other button does exactly the same think but with a light on. I question why this couldn't be just one button but it's probably because you need two buttons to scroll though and change menu settings.

The screen between the two buttons is a crisp single colour OLED and displays the battery level and the torque setting. For RC cars I keep the torque setting a maximum (which is 1) but you can also reduce torque for very small items like watches, phones etc by choosing 2, 3 or 4.

The USB type-c port on the rear of the driver helps allows you to charge of course with a standard 5v phone charger (not included) but also allows you to update the firmware, not that I can see that being particularly crucial. Speaking of the battery I've been using mine fairly consistently for the last 3 weeks and I'm only down to 1 bar now.

I've gotta say this driver is a truly decadent treat when you have a lot of screws to work with or a lazy. I'm a bit of both so this suits me well! For quadcopters I think this is a perfect tool because there is no ongoing bind on screws since they are typically mated to a threaded nut or fitting. Because RC cars have screws that go into plastic though there is more ongoing bind as a rough rule I'd say the torque on only really for cars that are 1/10 scale and smaller. the speed of rotation on this unit is very good and will undo even a long screw quickly, 

The weight of the tool is extremely satisfying and it makes the level of quality seem all the more real. The finish is of high quality and the alloy outer looks like it could take a drop off the workbench or two.

The angle sensing control method is surprisingly intuitive and as mentioned encourages you to use the torque from your wrist to remove the initial bind before the driver takes over.

The driver bits fit in the driver nicely with a satisfying magnetic hold meaning no quick release sheaths are needed. This also provide just enough magnet strength to hold the screw to the tip which is handy with these small and fiddly screws.

At around $100 at full price this is an eye wateringly expensive tool of convenience but compared to the competition, it is in a class of it's own for torque which is the most important element of this driver. The closest comparison is the Xiaomi Wowstick at only $ but with % less torque and % less rpm.

If you can get past the price it is a lovely tool to use - it feels great in the hand and makes building much more pleasant. Battery life is excellent and the included bits and holder are simple and practical. If you are in the market for a such a tool, this is the one to have; it has already become the tools that sits closest to my work area.

The HBX 901a is a new 4WD brushless truck from HBX. Being 1/12 scale, it is larger than the cars they typically make. In this review we will cover off the specs and build of the truck, give you all of the performance results and finish up with a summary and recommendations plus some ideas for improvements. If available I'll post a discount coupon on my coupons and discount page

HBX have made some great releases in the 1/16 scale recently of which I've reviewed both - the 16886 Spectre desert buggy and the 16889a pro monster truck. Both have performed very well - good speed, battery life and perhaps above all else, outstanding durability. It's great to see then that they have stretched themselves and extended this brushless offering to a 1/12 scale car. This larger scale can open up a bit more heavy offroad locations with the larger size - wheels, ground clearance and presence. Before we jump into the specs, you'll see I'll reference the HBX 16889a pro a lot because a lot of the parts have been lifted from this truck. That's no bad thing as you'll find out below...

The Eachine EAT14  is 1/14 scale brushless 4wd RC buggy. This car is made by WL Toys for Bangood under their Eachine Brand and is based on their hugely popular 144001 car but with a upgrade to brushless power and discrete electronics as well as a raft of other improvements. I will cover the spec, build quality and of course performance of this car as a stand alone review here rather than focusing to heavily on the obvious comparisons. This car is also practically identical to the WL toys 124016 and 124017 except for a slightly smaller wheel base so the findings here apply to those cars as well.

Just to be very clear, Eachine is not a manufacturer. They are a brand only which is exclusive to Banggood which they use for RC products. The brand managers at Banggood relabels products from their key suppliers, in this case, WL toys. Thus, so for all intents and purposes, the Eachine EAT14 is an RC Car designed and made by WL Toys.

Now that we have that out the way, let's take a closer look at the car, including the specifications and how it has been put together. This car is based on the WL toys 144001 which as mentioned before is a hugely successful car and a product I consider myself to be an expert on - I have written over 30 reviews and upgrade guides on this car which you can find here. The key difference of the Eachine EAT14 to that base model is the brushless power system but there are a raft of other obvious and not so obvious improvements which I'll cover in detail here.

The 1/14 and 1/12 scale WL toys cars (144001, 124018, 124019) are rightly very popular cars due to their competitive price for a platform that is extremely versatile and lends itself well to upgrade - I have over 30 articles here that prove it. Although on road wheel options are easily accessible, this is less the case with off road options other than the Remo P6973 (reviewed here) which have been the gold standard. I've now found a wheel and tyre set I find to be even better offroad so long as specific conditions are met: ​4PCS Upgraded Larger Tires Wheels 12mm Hex for Wltoys 144001 124018 124019 RC Car Vehicles Model Parts - 1822G-A. Read on to find more about their good, and bad points to see if they are right for you.

Wheel Style. These new wheels/tyres which I will refer to from here as the 1822 have options for either solid disc or spoked wheels in black, white and neon green. They come in a set of 4 with a set of foam inners and of course the tyres. Tyres come in one of two pattern styles, one I would call a paddle  style and the other a knobbly style.

​I will start by saying that I’m a big fan of LC Racing RCs. It was just a matter of time before I finally pulled the trigger and picked up what is essentially the King of 1/12 scale 4WD buggies. I’m quite confident that there isn’t a better engineered buggy in this scale on the market today. Make no mistake, this is not a budget RC. Although not as expensive as larger 1/10 scale buggies, it is still more than 2x the cost of a WLToys 124019. Even up to 3x the cost depending on what electronics you decide to put in. What you get for the extra dollars spent on an LC12B1 is better material quality, much tighter fit and finish and overall better tolerances. It should also be mentioned that this buggy’s dominance is not at speed runs, but at quick acceleration, jumping and cornering. If speed runs are more your thing, then modifying a 124019 will get you more bang for the buck. That hasn’t prevented others in the LC Racing community from building theirs into a speed runner, it just wasn’t the intended use or design and where this car truly performs and rules.                 

The WL toys 124019 and 144001 are budget 4wd on/off road RC cars that have great handling due to the fact they were essentially copied from the LC Racing EMB-1 and EMB-TG. With that said like many cars the are susceptible to body roll making handling less than idea on high speed corners particularly where grip is good. In this article I'll show you the LC Racing anti-roll bars that will cure this body roll and how to fit and give you feedback on how it improves handling (spoiler: it's a big improvement). This mod is not suitable for the 124018 nor the 124016

The suspension in these WL Toys cars is very good from the factory but from time to time needs the suspension oil filled to the correct level which I show you how to do here. I found that replacing the very heavy brushed 550 motor with a much lighter system like my drop in brushless upgrade or cheapest brushless upgrade improved handling further thanks to the more even weight distribution and better loading on the springs.

The common platform shared by the WL Toys 144001, 144010, 124016, 124017, 124018 and 124019 is a generally robust one but it does tend to have a common weak point - the front hub carrier AKA front wheel seat. I'm happy to say I've found a cheap, strong and well-made metal alternative and in this article I'll show you why they are only now worth getting and of course how to fit them

When you have been lurking around in Facebook groups, RC Groups, Reddit and other forums dedicated to the WL toys cars as long as I have you tend to pick up on common threads, especially when users share their disappointment over broken parts. Sure, individuals drive in different ways which can put certain components at more or less risk but a very common breakage I see is of the plastic front hub carriers. Standard replacement are not expensive but often have to come from China meaning you can be without a running car for up to several weeks. Previously I've looked a metal replacement parts by WL Toys however early designs were more "agricultural" in style and meant the wheels like my favourite Remo P6973 (reviewed here) couldn't be fitted.

The WL Toys 104001 is a well designed 1/10 scale 4wd off road RC buggy that I reviewed here It is somewhat lacking in power and is only able to achieve a fairly modest 39km/h which feels slow for a car this size. This is due to the stock brushed motor - this is old but cheap technology which in general are slow and inefficient; they just don't do justice to the otherwise good handling car. Brushless motors and ESCs offer improvements across the board - more speed, better battery life through more efficiency and cooler running. In this upgrade guide I'll show you how to get A LOT more power and battery life on the cheap with a budget ESC and motor combo and give you exact feedback on exactly how it performs including speed runs

Recently I looked at a more expensive brushless upgrade for the WL toys 104001 in my Big Brushless Upgrade and Installation Guide. This offered a big increase in performance (76km/h top speed) and battery life but was a pretty expensive option owing to the high end Hobbywing Max 10 SCT speed controller I used with a 4s battery. This time around I've put together a cheaper and easily accessible build that is perhaps better suited to this car and is still about 90% as good as the much more expensive option, depending of course on your metrics.

The HBX 16889a Pro is a highly specced 1/16 scale 4wd offroad RC monster truck from Haiboxing (HBX). It is based on the same car released under the names SG 1601, SG 1602 and HBX 16889 that I reviewed over a year ago here which also won my basher of the year in 2020. This version has many upgrades which I'll cover in full in this article and will let you know how they all come together to make this car better. 

Recently we've seen a lot of releases in the 1/14 and 1/16 scale off road bashing RC car class; some of them good like the HBX 16886 Spectre and some of them not so good like the Bonsai 141600. Before these we've had the excellent WL Toys 144001 for which I have written over 30 upgrade articles and of course the HBX 16889 which won my budget basher of the year for 2020. This year we are seeing a higher spec version for both of these models - announced but still some months away is the 144010 (a brushless version of the 144001) and the subject of this review is the 16889 Pro - still brushless but with upgrades across the board.

I've written this review in such a way so that people new to the HBX 16889 will be able to see all of its features while people who are familiar with the 16889 will be able to see the upgrades. First we'll start with a close up look at the specs and components followed by a review of the car as it actually drives. At the end I'll sum up with which I think is better for different consumers. 

The Bonsai 141600 (Jubatas) is a newly released car that at first glance looks similar to the popular WL toys 144001 in the now crowded 1/14 4WD RC Car class. Retail price before discount at time of writing is just under $90 which is also similar to these other cars. In this review I'll look through the specs plus how it actually performs and compares to the other cars and what I recommend.

First let's discuss the title image. I'm a little bit sick of Youtube thumbnails teasing a new product to be the greatest thing ever only to find out following a review that it is in fact not, nor was it ever likely to be. So I've chosen to break convention here and let you know straight up that this is not a great car for reasons I'll cover below. I'll also let you know what I do recommend instead because there are some really good and inexpensive options in this category