The WL Toys 124019 is a small and fast car out of the box - it'll do 55km/h on the old technology brushed motor that comes stock out of the box. For bashing and off-road I prefer to upgrade with physically smaller and more efficient brushless motors but if straight-line on road speed is your objective as is the case here, then using a 3650 sized motor can get you massive speed... there are many examples where this car can go well over 100mph. The objective of my build here is to see what kind of speed I can get without pushing the budget or modifications too far - bolt in parts, stock body and a car than is as reliable as stock and can easily be converted back.

For this build I've chosen the WL Toys 124019 which is a long-wheelbase version of the popular 144001. The reasons this car makes for a good speed run build is:

1. It's cheap - around $100-$120
2. It has a fairly strong and efficient 4wd drive line
3. The comparatively massive brushed motor can easily be replaced with a comparatively massive brushless motor
4. The long wheelbase allows for more room for large components (namely ESC and motor)
5. The car is relatively durable with low cost replacement parts

Let's get on to the build which I have broken down into sections. We'll start with the powertrain which most of you are here for but I'll also cover important lessons in wheel/tyre choice, suspension set up, aero, speed measurement and driving technique. Read on for more

As we all know by now the WL Toys 144001 (and 124018 / 124019 by extension) is a budget copy of LC Racing EMB-1 that utilises cheaper materials and electrical components to make it a lower cost offering. LC Racing spares for the EMB series are surprisingly cheap - often cheaper than the WL toys parts. In the list below I've made it clear which parts are a direct fit and which parts will fit with a little modification.

Link below are to the AliExpress store that I trust - they have been running successfully for over 7 years and will ship worldwide. You may of course have other options locally like Troy Remy in Canada (find him in the QuadifyRC Group), Warren RC in USA, RCMart out of Hong Kong and direct from LC Racing themselves.

The WPL C24 1/16 2.4G 4WD Crawler Truck Is a highly realistic 1/16 scale radio “crawler” RC truck. It has proportional steering and throttle (forward and reverse) and has a huge list of upgradable parts making it a legitimately hobby grade vehicle. Being a crawler it runs at low speed but is very powerful = this in combination with 4wd, grippy tyres and large suspension range makes it very capable in scaling obstacles. Best of all it is extremely cheap - less than $50 with everything you need to run. In this article I will review this truck in full

The small scale crawler market has really taken off recently based on the following because they can be used in so many ways:

• Small scale and low speed means you don’t need to travel to find fun spots to run – in your backyard, local park or even inside your house or garage. This also makes them really suitable for beginners
• Price is very low for a hobby grade car
• Reaplcement parts are inexpensive
• There is a huge range of upgrades – more powerful motors, metal parts, grippier wheels with weights and even a 2 speed gearbox controlled by a third channer
• Even stationary the plastic moulded body looks fantastic and is very presentable even as a scale model of the legendary Toyota Hilux

The ability to solder cleanly and safely is useful tool for RC car enthusiasts if you have more than a passing interest in the hobby. Like most hobbies, mass manufacturing in China has meant prices for tools and consumables have come right back but you'll need to make sure you have the right products. In this guide I'll cover some soldering basics as it relates to RC cars and which gear I recommend for the beginner to intermediate user that is budget friendly yet gives a good outcome.

I am by no means a soldering expert but even then I take my ability to get a good clean, and effective joint a little for granted since my dad taught me when I was very young. When I got into quads about 4 years ago this was crucial as you simply cannot fly FPV without being able to solder. With RC cars you can procrastinate the need to solder a bit longer through use of adaptor plugs and the like but at some point it becomes necessary when you want a reliable, safe and fit for purpose finish with your wiring.

The HS10422 HS10423 HS10424 is a large 1/8 scale 2WD RC Truck that includes everything needed to run (including battery and charger). It is the cheapest truck of this size by a long shot so I decided to check it out to see if it is any good. I'll cover in a LOT more detail below but I came out of the review phase thinking this is the best big beginner car by some margin.

When I first saw this car I had to double take - a 1/8 truck for $120 (or much less on promotion) is pretty crazy. On closer inspection this had proportional servo steering, a full 540 sized brushed motor with electronic speed control and even includes and battery and charger. No matter which way you cut it that is an awful lot of car for the money. Now that I've had a chance to play with this for the last month or so I can confirm the size is REALLY impressive - check it out compared to some of the popular WL toys car below too. I've obviously had a chance to gauge it's performance, durability, battery life and more as well as taking a closer look at the design and build. Read on to find out more plus my conclusions and recommendations.

The WL Toys 104001 is an all new 1/10 scale 4wd ready to run RC car from WL toys. This is a follow up to the tremendously popular 1/14 scale 144001 and 1/12 scale 124019 (review here) cars. Unlike those two cars (which were essentially the same) this one is new from the ground up. It is more expensive at around $140-150 but is it worth it? Read on to find out. My car was ordered from Banggood and was received early April 2021 and if you get as far as the end of the article you'll find an exclusive QuadifyRC voucher for 14% off limited to 50 units

If you have not come across my site before then welcome! I feel I am well qualified to review this car because after stepping away from RC racing over 20 years ago I have gotten back into RC cars by way of the WL toys 144001 and 124019 for which I have written reviews and over 20 upgrade guides to, all of which can be found here. Compared to youtube reviews which focus on entertainment, I'd like to think I can go more in depth as the format of traditional blogs like mine tend to suit a technical deep dive better. But if you want quick feedback then feel free to jump to the conclusions below.

The WL Toys 144001 and 124018 / 124019 are a series of 1/14 and 1/12 scale off RC cars that are not only cheap and cheerful but have proven very popular to modify due to their value and versatility. In this article we look at the upgrade of the driveshaft to a sectional unit that will make it easier to service the car and more durable in crashes.

Now that I've finished my review of the new WL Toys 104001 4wd 1/10 scale RC buggy it's clear that this is nowhere near as fast as the earlier 124018/124019 and 144001 models which uses essentially the same electronics. In this article I look at how easier it is to close this speed gap and the theory around it.

The WL Toys 104001 is an all new car from WL Toys for 2021 that is in the larger 1/10 scale size. Unlike their previous 124019 which is essentially a lengthened 144001, this car is a completely new design. For this reason I will firstly be looking at some tuning that I STRONGLY recommend you complete before even your first run. This is not a review, I'll look to complete that later on once I've spent more time with the car and can give you some thorough feedback rather than an off-the-cuff opinion.

Just like the 144001 was copied from the LC Racing EMB-1, the 104001 looks to be inspired by the 2016 onwards X-Ray XB4 which is the same basic design to this day albeit with minor improvements year to year. The XB4 is a high end race car and is a strong platform to base design off. However where the XB4 is a no-nonsense race car the 104001 has gone down the basher route so materials and complexity of parts have been downgraded to meet a price point which is more accessible. Whereas race cars need very specific and precise tuning and consumables, bashers tend to be more forgiving however there are some basics you can improve on to enjoy better durability, performance, efficiency and handling. Here I've identified 4 key areas to look at. None of this tuning requires new parts, only consumables.

A quick Recap: Geoffrey is building a special build from a WL Toys 124018, taking time to build the car that he wants. This is a very methodical build going deeper into each component and looking at many options. There’s a reason why this project car is called the WLC Racing 124018: several of the upgrade choices are sourced from the LC Racing catalogue and are a direct replacement. This goes to show how heavily “inspired” WLToys was with their 1/12 scale models. The parts mentioned in this article are also compatible with the 144001 and 124019. 

I consider this Stage 1 of the build because these upgrades have an impact on the performance and durability of the car. Stage 0 was focused really on making the car more aesthetically appealing. Suspension related parts and accessories aren’t likely to be the first things that people think about when modifying an RC car, but it is for me because that’s just how my brain works when it comes to what should be addressed based on my logic of fixing the easy things first. This isn’t a sexy area of upgrade either, but maybe after you read through this article, you may see it differently.