QUADIFYRC RC Car Review and Upgrade Guides

Recently I was given the opportunity to look at the CrazyFastRC CF1401: a new RC Car based on the ever popular WL Toys 144001 1/14 scale 4wd buggy I have written over 40 articles on. The CrazyFastRC CF1401 and is a pre-modded rolling chassis version of this popular car, exclusively available from their new Aliexpress store. A rolling chassis is the basic car only and you will need to add your own radio, motor and ESC and battery and this is typically how higher end race cars are sold. As such, these are a very good option if you were planning to mod anyway, something these cars are so well suited to. In this review I'll be reviewing the CrazyFastRC CF1401 as ordered and in future articles I will be showing you the components I will build with.

The CrazyFastRC store can be found on Aliexpress here and have a number of common Chinese RC car brands like WL Toys, ZD Racing, UDIRC and more but it is their own branded CF1401 I am most interested in and will be reviewing here. As I said before this is a rolling chassis and you will need your own radio, power system and battery to run this car. Now that that is clear, lets get on with the review:

It really is just the car itself and a 17t pinion gear (3.175mm bore). There are literally no extras in the car that was delivered to me but this is what to expect when ordering a kit car (rolling chassis).

So this car costs about the same as an RTR WL Toys 144001 with all the gear included, why would you buy it? Easy, it's the upgrades, many of which you can buy separately off the shelf but a few choice items that are unique to this model. Let's break it down and compare area by area and I'll give you my thoughts on whether we can expect an improvement or where we might actually go backwards compared to the 144001

Chassis
The most obvious difference is the chassis. Rather than being a pressed 1.5mm thick aluminium chassis of questionable aluminium quality, this is genuine 2mm thick woven carbon fibre with a full carbon fibre core. Unlike earlier aftermarket carbon fibre chassis options, this has a moulded kick up at the front for the front that means stock castor angles are maintained without the use of packing blocks. The carbon fibre has a nice matte finished and looks to be good quality. Better yet I've noticed that instead of using the junky Philips head screws like WL toys, they have used proper counter sunk hex-headed m2 screws throughout - much more durable and user friendly over the long term.
My thoughts: This chassis will look better, be lighter and have similar stiffness to the aluminium chassis compared to the 144001. A nice to have rather than critical improvement.

Body 
The body is a cab forward design, copied directly from the LC Racing EMB-1h pre-2021. Interesting that the top plate (where the ESC mounts) has been adapted so that the ESC sits forward too, directly below the cabin hump.
My thoughts: A good improvement in looks, uniqueness and practicality.

Wing
The wing is a moulded plastic and the new mount has a more positive and stronger fixing mechanism. It is MUCH more robust that the stock 144001 wing, more in line with the EMB-TG wing from LC racing which I usually recommend.
My thoughts: A good practical upgrade.

Suspension
Firstly the shocks themselves are the same as the standard 144001 oil units but they mount to towers with a non-captive pillow ball rather than captive. This makes it easier to service without tools but is only and advantage if the balls stay on through regular driving (which they feel like they should). Speaking of towers these are made from the same 2mm carbon fibre. Lighter yes and the look cool but I probably would have preferred the malleability of the 144001 aluminium towers. 
My thoughts: This setup has better serviceability and less weight than stock but may be a little less durable as a result

Diff mounts
The CF1401 uses aluminium mounts rather than plastic. I feel that aluminium is not really necessary on these cars but they seem to be well made. They are also tapped and ready to add an anti-roll bar kit if desired - installation detail is here
My thoughts: The only time I've seen plastic diff mounts as an issue is when you crash into the tyre of a parked car at an angle. This should make it stronger against this crash but you will definitely be breaking shock towers instead which is actually a more practical outcome.

Suspension arms
Suspension arms front and rear are aluminium compared to plastic on the 144001. I have not seen this design before, there is a lot less material compared to aftermarket 144001 aluminium arms which have too much material. I do tend to favour plastic arms as a sacrificial part but want to give these light weight arms a change. They are pre-tapped for M3 droop screws which I recommend adding as per this article I wrote a couple of years ago.
My thoughts: Knee jerk reaction is that I prefer plastic but the lighter weight aluminium design of the CF1401 may sway me - let's see how they perform when I build.

Wheel Hubs
I do prefer aluminium wheels hubs as I think this is were the extra strength belongs. Design looks good and should fit a wide range of wheels (including my favourite REMO P6973 wheels as reviewed here). Interesting that they mount with a long screw rather than a captive pin which I think is a good choice. Note: Dogbone driveshafts rear, CVDs front and plastic 12mm hex drives are the same as the regular 144001
My thoughs: A good upgrade for durability

Motor Mount
The CR1401 has an adjustable motor mount and this is the first time I have seen one of this style - similar to that found on the LC racing EMB cars. This style is superior to the GEMRC adjustable mount that became available recently since the motor mount is divorced from the adjustment assembly, a much better designed solution
My thoughts: Frankly I'm happy that adjustable mounts now exists on these cars but this is the best execution I've ever seen on this cars and is unique to the CF1401

Spur Gear
It's metal on the CF1401 which I am not a fan of as the plastic one on the 144001 is actually very durable and the heavier weight of the metal one means more rotating mass and hence the motor has less ability to rapidly change engine RPM. This is the regular M0.7 pitch spur with 44t.
My thoughs: I'll live with the metal one but would have preferred plastic

Differential
The diffs on the CF1401 are the upgraded units with the stronger, bronze coloured metal on bevel pinions and the mating diff drive. The cases are plastic (my preference) and are smooth running. I don't believe they are using the new sealed diff as offered by GEM RC.
My thoughts: A good reliable diff upgrade

Wheels and Tyres.
Tyres are identical to the 144001 which themselves are a copy from the LC racing 144001. They are optimally designed for carpet or hard packed smooth dirt and a bit average for most other applications. Wheels are plain white which IMHO are a big improvement over the decal-ridden 144001 models. They are clean and look a lot like the LC Racing EMB-1 and LC12B1 wheels for which I am grateful.
My thoughts: Tyres are fine, really pleased with the plain wheels.

Overall it's a better car than I first thought and based on the sheer number of obvious and less obvious differences compared to the 144001, I'm tempted to think it may actually come out of a different factory. The big draw for me is the carbon chassis, new body and wind plus the motor mount. I had a pre-concieved idea that the aluminium suspension arms would be unsuitable but the new lightweight design used here are a nice surprise and may actually have some benefit than detriment. The only definite downside for me is the metal spur gear.

All in all it's actually a nice roller and saves you jettisoning a whole lot of useless electronics if you were planning on upgrading anyway. Personally I'll be building mine as a backup carpet race car and when I do that I'll document and share the build with you as well as the outcome. Thanks for reading.

This article has kindly been written by Geoffrey Chan one of the original members of the QuadifyRC facebook group. This first article is of the review and the top 10 tuning tips for this car will follow shortly.

​Rlaarlo is a new kid on the block in the market of affordable ready-to-run (RTR) Chinese RC’s. Having only been on the market for about a year, they have launched several models in the 1/18, 1/16, 1/14 and now their latest 1/12 scale AM-X12 buggy. Their cars are attractive and are heavily inspired by some of the very well known Arrma vehicles like the Typhon and Kraton, which is not a bad thing. The new AM-X12 has generated a lot of buzz and I purchased mine as a part of their pre-sale promotion for USD$149 delivered during November 2022. It is also available as a roller without electronics, but you don’t get all the spare parts and the nice carrying case. It is a nice option, but for the slight cost difference the RTR with all the extras is a better deal, even if you remove the electronics and use it in another project later.

Frankly, I did not need another 1/12 scale buggy in my collection, but I was curious to see if the attention this new model was getting on the social channels would live up to the hype or not. Also, at the pre-sale price of USD$149, it was probably the RC bargain of 2022 in my opinion. It was also communicated by their sales rep that this price is unlikely to ever be seen again and was a pre-sale special only. Regular price is $249, but there are occasionally 10-20% off promotions available to bring down the pricing.
​
When Rlaarlo launched one of its earlier models as 1/14 off-road buggy, it was very reminiscent of a certain WLToys 144001 released in 2019 that was a clone of the highly capable LC Racing EMB1. I initially looked at it and simply assumed it was a rebranded 144001 with a new body shell, wing, and wheels. I purchased the 1/12 scale AM-X12 with the same expectations that it was simply a rebranded and upgraded 1/12 WLToys 124017 with a different body, wing and electronics, seeing as how the dimensions and size was the exact same. I have to say, I am glad I was quite wrong about that. This Rlaarlo is not simply a rebranded WLToys nor is it rebranded LC Racing, but a model that sits nicely in between these two brands, which makes it an interesting proposition.

What’s in the box?
With most RTR (ready-to-run) RCs, you get the bare minimum to get it up and running to hit a price point. Rlaarlo really went above and beyond and I have to say the kit they put together is quite exceptional not only for the price point that it was sold at, but for any brand large or small.
First off, the car comes nicely packaged in a PU+EVA material carrying case. This makes it very useful to store and carry it to wherever you may want to run your car. However, once you open that really nice case, below is the extensive list of what you get inside:

• AM-X12 buggy + rear wing (assembly required)
• Waterproof carrying case
• 2.4GHz transmitter – Essentially a rebranded DumboRC, but more on that later
• 2S 2800mAh lipo battery
• USB Charger
• Manual
• Body clips
• Small tools: Hex wrench for wheel nuts, Allen keys (better off not using them as they aren’t good quality and could strip the screws in the process)
• Front bumper
• Droop screw set
• Full set of replacement swing arms
• Full set of spare wheel nuts
• Spare plastic wheel hexes
• Spare metal front shock tower
• 17t M0.7 pitch pinion gear
• I did say this list was extensive! It’s only missing 4 AA batteries and you’re off to the races

A Closer Look at the Car
Let’s take a look at what makes this car so special. I’ll also provide some insight on how the car’s setup impacts performance and overall reliability
Electronics: Rlaarlo has spec’d in an appropriately sized 2847 sized motor in lowish 3200KV. It includes a passive heatsink to keep things cool. The 3200KV is considered low but is necessary to turn the massive 27t pinion smoothly. The overall driving feel in this configuration is that there is sufficient power to get the car up to speed and it is fast once moving, but it does take a bit of time to get up there. ​

​The AM-X12 uses a 45A independent 2S and 3S capable ESC. This is great because if you ever want to upgrade, you don’t need to change out any other electronics like the transmitter and receiver like some of the all-in-one units that come on RTR cars. The ESC has an always-on cooling fan and a passive heatsink under it to keep things relatively cool. There is even a thermal shut-off feature in the event it gets too hot to protect it from burning out. This ESC is not a Surpass Hobby rebrand as far as I have been able to tell as the standard programming card does not work on it like it does on the WLToys ESCs, which is unfortunate as there isn’t a known way to program the ESC’s settings. 

The included 2S 2800mAh battery doesn’t specify the C-Rating, but it is decent enough to get going. The WLToys 2200mAh battery is the same size and fits perfectly in the battery tray area.
As I had indicated, the transmitter is made by DumboRC, one of the best and most popular budget transmitter brands on the market. If the styling wasn’t a giveaway, the printing underneath the battery tray confirms it. It features much of the same buttons and capabilities of the DumboRC X6 transmitter, but rebranded and with some differences in the appearance, but the user interface is very familiar. Steering dual rate and trim adjustments are on the left side and throttle dual rate and trim are on the right side of the flip up flap. Instead of a sliding on/off switch, this one uses a push button. The wheel is also styled differently and overall, it is an attractive look. 

The receiver is a DumboRC XF6 6-channel receiver. Again, this is clearly printed on the casing. I am also happy to say that this receiver is fully compatible with other DumboRC transmitters as it uses the same protocol and can be bound using the standard binding method. 

​Drivetrain: This is the one area that the AM-X12 really shines compared to WLToys for a multitude of reasons. Starting from the motor, Rlaarlo has include a nicely made adjustable motor mount to enable more tuning options with different sized pinons, like the included 17t. Rlaarlo has maintained the use of M0.7 gear pitch on this model. I see this as a missed opportunity to change to a more commonly available pitch such as 48p that would allow for many more pinion choices that are easily accessible.

Rlaarlo has decided to install a 27t M0.7 pinion along with a 44t spur gear as the out of the box setup. My first thought when I saw this was, “Oh no, not another WLToys Brushless V1”. I was immediately expecting a poor driving experience with this setup with a lot of cogging. First off, I understand why manufacturers would do this. The objective is to hit a marketable top speed that impresses the buyer. The 27t pinion favors top speed over torque and battery life. For this reason, the included 17t pinion is the better choice if you aren’t looking for the fastest speed but want better acceleration and run time.
​
The bright side is the pinion drives a 44t metal spur that is a part of Rlaarlo’s newly designed slipper clutch assembly. This is a big upgrade to the solid plastic spur on WLToys and even Rlaarlo’s earlier 1/14 buggies. A slipper clutch in an RC is very common on more expensive RCs and seeing one included at this price point is impressive. The slipper provides both as a traction control and driveline protections. For sudden shocks due to sudden acceleration of motor, the clutch absorbs that sudden jolt, and the spur will “slip” between the two friction pads to help dampen the force applied through the driveline and to the tires. Similarly, when the car is in the air with the wheels spinning, the clutch will slip and take the bite off the impact from the rotational inertia of the wheels suddenly slowing down upon landing. The slipper assembly supports an aluminum floating driveshaft that connects to the front diff bevel. Great to see this being incorporated to allow for chassis flex without bending a driveshaft or breaking diff gears. I should mention that the driveshaft is shorter than the one used by LC Racing, therefore the two brands are not quite directly compatible replacements for each other. Overall, it is a well-designed piece and yes, it is compatible with the WLToys 12401x models and can be used as an upgrade part. 

​Power being sent to the full metal diffs on the AM-X12 are reminiscent of WLToys, to the point that they are interchangeable between the two brands. However, Rlaarlo has used hardened metal gears (crown, internal and bevel gears) that are like an aftermarket upgrade instead of the zinc-based alloy that WLToys employs on their cars. This gives a more durable driveline that can handle more use before needing to be replaced. Diffs are unsealed therefore using silicone oil to tune for traction requirements is not possible.

The metal diff cups drive CVD driveshafts in front and dog bones in the rear with metal outdrives. Rlaarlo has really spent a lot of time improving one of the most common complaint areas for WLToys and LC Racing. The CVDs and dog bones are made of carbon steel and feature a beefier midsection to better withstand bending. Time will tell if they are more durable, but they certainly look the part. The CVDs and rear outdrive mate to full ball bearings that use a larger inner and outer diameter than WLToys and LC Racing. The 5x9x3mm metal shielded bearings should last longer and be less likely to blow given the larger surface area. I was not expecting this welcome improvement. The downside is you need to purchase a set of their hubs if you need to replace any broken parts. The metal hexes that attach to the CVDs and rear outdrives are also a proprietary design that does away with hex pins. Instead, the CVDs and outdrives have two machined flat sections that meet the hexes and allows for power to be transferred to the wheels this way.

Suspension
On all four corners are oil filled shocks and overall, they are excellent for the price. The shock towers for front and rear are carbon fibre which is a nice touch. However, on a hard enough hit, these do tend to break, which is likely why an alloy front tower was included with the spare parts. The suspension linkages are all the adjustable tie-rod type like WLToys and LC Racing for being able to fully tune and refine your setup. The links have been quite tough but will pop off the ball joint on a hard enough hit, which luckily is an easy fix. Suspension arms are reminiscent of WLToys and LC Racing. They also come with droop screws included to allow for ride height adjustments. I should mention that the plastic of the arms feel is closer to LC Racing’s. Looking closely at all the plastics, it seems like they have a custom mold as there are Rlaarlo part numbers stamped on several plastic parts. Another thing to note is the AM-X12 uses the M2.5mm through bolt design with a nylock nut that WLToys have moved to on their later models. Noteworthy as well are the hinge pin holders are made of carbon fibre, which looks nice but not a major upgrade. Overall, they have cloned the setup quite well, but with what I feel are better quality metals and plastics than WLToys.
​
Another nice addition is the inclusion of sway bars to reduce body roll in corners. They only offer them in one thickness, so if you want more options, picking up a set of LC Racing or GEMRC sway bar kits will give you three different stiffness options to better tune. It’s still nice that Rlaarlo included them with the car although they may be a bit on the soft side relative to the stiff spring rate of the stock shocks. 

​Chassis and Body
Rlaarlo has promoted the chassis as a carbon fibre piece and when you look at it, you do see that it is indeed a carbon weave on the chassis. It is also notable that there is a 9-degree kick-up on the front and back to help with clearance over different terrain. The chassis is a bit of an area of controversy for me because as I needed to modify the battery tray location (more on this detail later), when I drilled through the chassis, I hit what appeared to be a composite core. Carbon when you drill through normally turns to a fine dust, but hitting the composite, you can clearly see swirls of material. It doesn’t bother me that it’s a composite core as it is still quite stiff, but it shouldn’t be marketed as a full carbon chassis when it’s really a carbon top sheet used over the surface. I don’t doubt that the chassis will be durable and take a beating, but I felt it was important to point this out to any would-be buyers.

The body of the AM-X12 is a nicely designed Mini Arrma Typhon style and it is a really a good-looking car. The color options available are orange/teal or a blue/red and frankly both look great in pictures and in person. Only downside is that they are made of PVC rather than Lexan, which may be less durable over time and especially if crashing in colder weather.

​The included rear wing is also a nice design and made of nylon, which should prove to be quite durable. My experience with these wings is they usually take a beating, but it is the wing mount that it’s attached to that tends to strip out after a few hard enough impacts.

​Wheels and Tires
The wheels are tires on the AM-X12 much like the original tires that came with the brushed 144001, 124018 and 124019. Essentially, they are a disc style wheel with an off-road tire and sponge inserts. The grip is decent for all around driving considering the fine tread pattern, but once things get bumpy or traction is less than ideal, they tend to pack with dirt and start slipping. 

Performance Review
I’ve spent the last 5 weeks driving the car on a mix of terrain, but it being January in Canada at the time of writing, I have spent more time driving it on my winter backyard snow track. I’ll be going through a few areas such as power, speed, handling, durability, and battery life to give you a sense of what you can expect if you decide to pick up an AM-X12. I think it’s important to take enough time to figure out the pros and cons of the car and you can only do so after driving it for a long enough period.

Power and Speed
I must mention that this car is really quick with the out of the box setup, especially on a dry, smooth surface. I did not measure myself how fast the AM-X12 can run on 2S with the 27t pinion installed, but there are already countless YouTube reviews that have confirmed hitting over 40mph (65kph) on the stock battery and getting close to 60mph (95kph) on 3S. Much like QuadifyRC’s review of the 144010, I will say that this is not a car for beginners. It is much too fast at 100% for someone new to driving fast RC’s, so restraint and throttle dual rate reduction is highly recommended for the uninitiated.

I should also mention, the speed pinion should be reserved for smooth surface driving and not rough off road where there will be a lot of loose or hard to drive through terrain like grass. If you anticipate using your car offroad more, then swapping to the included 17t pinion will keep the electronics happy and give you much more acceleration and torque in comparison at the cost of top speed.

Handling
This shouldn’t be too surprising, but the AM-X12 is a great handling car. It has amazing DNA to start with and the brushless motor setup makes the car well weighted for the scale. Weight distribution out of the box was not ideal as the battery was mounted very far rearward on the chassis. WLToys and LC Racing mount the battery tray closer to the front of the vehicle, which gives a much better front/rear balance. This is the reason why I opted to drill new holes and shift the battery tray to the front. Now, Rlaarlo may have gone with a running production change as I have seen some receive their cars with the battery mounted forward in their Facebook group. In some of the pre-production samples sent out, the battery was getting caught in the centre driveshaft grub screw. I believe on newer orders; this is a no longer an issue.
​
With the battery location sorted, I started looking more closely at shock performance, especially on landing jumps. I noticed that there was always a bounce on landing, which confirmed my suspicion that the stock springs are too stiff. Luckily a spring swap with a set from LC Racing can easily resolve this. I think for my running conditions on a bumpy surface it was more pronounced. If you’re on a smooth dirt or carpet track, it may be more ideally setup for that. Overall, the car still handles very well, but will get tossed around a bit with the stiff springs as it doesn’t allow the suspension to fully work. The great thing is that the car is based on a highly tunable platform for any application and capable anywhere you would want to run the car in.

Durability
I drive my cars, but I don’t beat my cars to death. I run a lot of offroad and asphalt mainly and I can say that this car shines in these areas. Forget about skatepark bashing as nothing survives that unscathed. Even then, due to how fast this car goes, a good clip into something hard will inevitably break something. The nice thing is that spare parts are included with the kit for commonly broken parts. If it isn’t there, then you can purchase directly from the manufacturer with direct support and on Amazon depending on where you are in the world. This is not a car for a newbie to get into unless you are willing to learn to work on your car. Things will break or will need to be maintained and this car will take effort to see its full potential. Not just in setup, but also in driving it.

After running 20-30 packs through the car, my CVDs and dog bones are still very straight after landing jumps, getting bumped and cartwheeling a few times. The shocks have not leaked, and nothing is broken so I’m quite content.

One area that could use improvement is the screw quality. Yes, Rlaarlo gave us what we’ve been crying for WLToys to do, which is to put hex head screws on the car, but unfortunately, they are made of cheese metal and are very soft. Any screw going into metal needs to be heated to prevent stripping or breaking. If you’re careful, it’s manageable, but it isn’t ideal.

Battery Life
I typically got between 15-20 minutes of run time off the fully charged 2800mAh. Now this depends a lot of how much wheelspin I was experiencing while driving and also how cold it was outdoors. The ESC does have a battery cut-off once it gets low, but my experience with these out of the box setups is that it is usually lower than what I would consider ideal. Sticking a battery voltage buzzer will certainly allow you to better manage battery use and protect it from dumping out.

Driving Feel
There was very little cogging with the out of the box 27t pinion/44t spur setup. The 45A ESC is very good at low throttle control and had very little hesitation, which made for a decent driving experience. However, I did encounter a lack of modulation once on throttle and it felt a peaky once I was further into the trigger range. The other area that felt very touchy was on braking as it was very much on or off regardless of how much or how little I applied the brakes. The lack of modulation made it hard to drive smoothly, despite the car being able to start off smoothly. If there is a way to reprogram the settings, this would be a much better ESC in my books. The 27t pinion gives the most top speed excitement, but it takes some time to get up there. The 17t pinon is much better for acceleration and battery life, but it feels lacking on the top end once the throttle is fully pinned.

My Conclusions
The Rlaarlo AM-X12 is a WLToys Killer. Priced just slightly higher than the 124017 or the “new” 124007, it is absolutely worth the extra $30-40 for what you get out of the box. There’s likely $30-$40 worth of spare parts that come with the RTR alone. I would call this a low-budget LC Racing more than an expensive WLToys as a comparison due to the added driveline features, materials and overall fit and finish. They have addressed many of the shortcomings on the WLToys platform. It still lacks the overall refinement and tight tolerances of an LC Racing. The lack of sealed differentials for better tuning with different weight silicone fluid will hold this buggy back in terms of being a top racer at the upper limits, but in its current form it is more than good enough for 95% of the potential target buyers out there that want a fun 1/12 scale RC to race some friends or just to rip around.

This is not a hardcore basher RC. It is a buggy that is designed to run on smooth and mildly bumpy terrain, and it is rewarding to drive in those conditions when you show restraint on throttle inputs. Take this to a smooth off-road track or take it to an indoor carpet track and you will have a blast. Because this car is a close clone of the WLToys and LC Racing, there are plenty of interchangeable parts from the other two platforms. Spare parts availability is plentiful from Rlaarlo direct or WLToys parts are also compatible. There was probably no other car more competitively priced in 2022 than the AM-X12 at presale launch, but even at $200 it is still a relatively good deal. Above that, I would recommend looking at the LC Racing EMB-T or the LC12B1 if you want another leap in quality. 

There are still some quality control issues that Rlaarlo needs to work out as any new model launch isn’t 100% smooth all the time, so I highly recommend doing a screw and diff check much like any WLToys model. There have been other assembly issues seen in the Facebook groups and that can be attributed to this being a new product going through growing pains. I ran into some issues where my spur was rubbing the gear cover and they promptly sent me replacement parts. This shows that their customer focus is there, and they want their customers to be happy. If you put in the time to set up the car mechanically, you will be able to get the most out of the platform and be rewarded with a much smooth driving car.

Check back soon for the Top 10 Tuning Tips for this car, thanks for reading

Of all the WLToys cars, the 144010 and 124017 are my favourite and embody all of the incremental improvements over the hugely popular original 144001 they have made over the years. You can see my review for the 144010 here which is essentially the same as the 124017. At this price point they have their downsides but they are fast, efficient, handle well and have a wealth of options for modification. They do run well out of the box but I thought I'd share the budget mods I personally use to help you with your own decisions around upgrades.

As a start point I have chosen to use my WLToys 144010 as reviewed here. It is already very quick but I wanted to make this a better general purpose car that can be adapted to any situation.

The WLToys 184016 is a small scale brushless RC car from WL Toys. It is clear on closer inspection that rather than being an updated version of the poorly-designed A959, it is in fact a compact version of the widely known 1/14 scale 144001 and 144010. I say compact rather than shrunk because it shares all the main parts from the driveline and suspension setup albeit with a smaller track and shorter wheelbase. My full review will follow soon but for now please read on for which parts you can swap between the two cars (and why you might want to do this).

The new WLToys 104072 is a 1/10 scale onroad "basher" truck. It is ready to run (RTR) and includes radio and powerful brushless power system. For those familiar with the WLToys models it is based on a modified 104001 / 104002 chassis and includes a well-proportioned resto-mod truck style body like Ken Block's Hoonitruck. Closer to the RC world we've seen this design on the larger Arrma Infraction and even the small scale WL Toys 284131. This truck is designed to be driven hard onroad.

On road bashing is a category that has been made popular by the 1/7 scale Arrma Infraction and Felony and more recently by the slightly smaller 1/8 Infraction 3s and Vendetta. This 1/10 scale 104072 by WL Toys looks to take advantage of that new market with a similar look on their 1/10 scale chassis. The underpinnings are based on the brushed 104001 (reviewed here) and brushless 104002 (reviewed here) that have been extensively modified from their buggy origins to a lower, narrower and strengthened onroad-only chassis with the 104072. In this review I'll look more closely into the systems that make up the car and then review it as a whole for driving experience. 

I'll let you know now that driving experience out of the box was not great but I've recommend some simple and inexpensive/free changes that resolve these handling issues. First let's look at what's included. 

The ZD Racing MX-07 is a very large 1/7 scale RC 4WD Monster Truck. It is the third release in ZD racing's X-07 (1/7 scale) series following on from the EX-07 Hoonicon and DBX-07 Desert Buggy. It is powered by a massive 4292 Brushless motor and has options for kit or RTR with 6s Surpass Hobby or 8s (!) Hobbywing ESCs. Here I have reviewed the RTR model with 6s Surpass ESC.

Typically here at QuadifyRC.com I review smaller scale cars at around that 1/16 to 1/12 scale size. They remain to be some of the best bang for buck cars out there. Here we are taking a big step up and not stopping at 1/10 or even 1/8 scale but going to 1/7 scale. I should be really clear that this is a really big RC car: It is 700mm long (27"), the tyres are 188mm  (7.5") tall and 102mm (4") wide and it weighs over 8kg. At this size yes it is quick but compared to smaller cars it handles like something else entirely - the ability to drive over practically any surface with handling being extremely predictable compared to smaller cars. ZD racing have dabbled in 1/10 and 1/8 scale RC cars before but the new 1/7 scale MX-07 as reviewed here is there biggest yet.

In this review I will be looking at the 6s capable RTR version that ships with the Surpass Hobby Rocket 150a ESC and just needs batteries to run. First lets look at what is included.

The Diatone / SNT / JustAir Q25 Is a tiny RC car that is smaller than a matchbox and yet still has proportional steering, throttle and even front suspension. It is a follow up from the Diatone Q33 micro RC car released last year and offers a lot more features. It is available in regular version or FPV - a model with a small camera and video transmitter that send live first person view video back to goggles to immerse you in first person driving. Here I review the FPV version that includes everything you need to get running.

The MJX Hyper Go H16H (monster truck shape) and H16E (truggy shape) are 4WD offroad 1/16 scale trucks powered by a 390 brushed motor. They have a smart battery that is simply charged by USB cord and has a built in GPS that relays data back to your bluetooh enabled phone so you can measure instantaneous throttle position, speed and maximum speed. 

The WL toys brushed 104001 and brushless 104002 are true 1/10 scale 4wd buggies and their size and weight add to their handling performance. Sadly though their tyres are overly soft which would be good for a lighter car like the 124019 but on these big heavy cars the tread pattern deflects so provide poor grip and fast wear. In this review I'll be looking at alternative buggy wheels to find a good looking off-road alternative that is easy to find.

I've reviewed both of these cars and in general find them to be pretty good but if you want more detail check out my full review of the cheaper brushed 104001 and the faster, more efficient brushless 104002. As I mentioned above, both have good wheels and a good tread pattern but have a tyre compound that is just to soft for a car of this weight. In this review I have looked at the this staggered buggy wheel and tyre set that costs less than $20 (actually $14 on flash sale at time of writing. They are available in 5 colour sets as you can see below

The WPL D32 and D22 are 1/16 scale RC models based on the Wuling MiniEV. This is faithfully recreated in 2 styles (D32 and D22) and in 5 cute pastel colours. Although it is 1/16 scale don't compare it to other 1/16 'cars' because this is based on a much smaller vehicle. This car comes ready to run other than the 2 x AA batteries required for transmitter.