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QUADIFYRC RC Car Review and Upgrade Guides

Buy it or Build it? Custom brushless 124018 / 124019 vs. 124016 / 124017

6/11/2021

30 Comments

 
WL Toys and Eachine recently released the 124016, 124017 and EAT14 Brushless RC Cars that are an upgraded version of the brushed 124018, 124019 and 144001 respectively. I've spent a lot of time optimising and documenting these brushless upgraded models and so wanted to compare them to the factory brushless version. I this article I'll compare the cost and performance of the new brushless models to a brushless upgraded version so you can figure out which option is best for you. All costs will be at today's advertised price before discount coupons or loyalty points. Prices change regularly including flash sales so you may get items for more or less when you are shopping
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Factory Brushless Option
First of all if you need to refresh yourself with the brushless cars, you can see my review of the EAT14 here. This of course has the same running gear as the 124016 and 124017 so performance is identical. As you'll see in my review there are a few nice improvements that these brushless cars have over the brushed counterparts over and above the brushless power systems.
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Eachine EAT14 is the short wheelbase buggy. $154 today's price
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124017 is the long wheelbase buggy. $139 Today's price
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124016 is the long wheelbase sand buggy which has longer softer suspension and a more cramped body with a different look. $147 today's price
Brushless Upgrade Options
Option 1: Lowest cost 2s for bashing, easy fit
Setup. This setup is based on the lowest cost brushless setup I recommend for these cars and makes for a quick an easy install. In this setup you would purchase the new radio and a new 3 wire 17g servo. The ESC is a small 35A surpass unit which is cheap and has proven itself on 2s. Reuse the motor mount but you'll need a new motor (2 options below) that bolt in using m2.5 screws and the magical 15t pinion gear. I like the 2440 4600kv in the smaller 144001 sized car as a street basher like this car here and the 2445 3600kv in a proper 124018 offroad machine like this car here.
Cost Breakdown.
  • 144001 brushed car $82 ; 124018 brushed car $109; 124019 brushed car $109
  • DumboRC X6a Radio $26
  • Surpass Hobby 17g servo $12
  • Surpass Hobby KK 35A brushless ESC $25 or get the combo with 2440 4600kv for $30 (bin the wrong sized servo)
  • 15t unicorn pinion gear $3
  • Racerstar 2440 4600kv brushless motor $14 for higher top speed.
  • Surpass Hobby $19 or Racerstar 2445 3600kv brushless motor $15 if you plan on using big wheels like these and want more battery life.
Total spend is $143 - $190 depending on which base car and component options you chose from this list
Install. Installation is very simple here and follow my 144001 budget brushless upgrade. All of the steps can be found here: 144001 BRUSHLESS UPGRADE: THE CHEAPEST SETUP WORTH HAVING Some of the pictures of the install and video of performance with 2440 4600kv below.
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Performance. On 2s with the 2440 4600kV motor this car will do 60km/h. This is about the smallest you want to go with the motor but if you can keep it light is very fast and agile. The 2445 motor is a better size but 3600kv is conservative and so will get you to 50km/h max on 2s. This does open things up to using bigger wheels like the Remo P6973, 1822 or even the EMB-MT wheels whilst maintaining good acceleration and battery life. This ESC should be capable of 3s on 3600kv but I'm not sure I'd trust this ESC completely on 3s.
Option 2: Premium bashing for 2-3s, easy fit and high performance options
Setup. If you are willing to spend on a better ESC you will have more options for motor sizes, kV and cell counts. I've based this setup around the Hobbywing 10BL120 120A ESC which is not only powerful and can happily handle 2-3s but is also very compact and has the option of running a sensored motor if you wish. The use of this ESC makes this setup hugely versatile. Elsewhere you still need purchase the new radio and a new 3 wire 17g servo. Also you'll need the magic 15t pinion and a motor of which I'll highlight my favourite options for 2 and 3s
Cost Breakdown
  • 144001 brushed car $82 ; 124018 brushed car $109; 124019 brushed car $109
  • DumboRC X6a Radio $26
  • Surpass Hobby 17g servo $12
  • Hobbywing 10BL120 brushless 120A 2-3s ESC $59
  • 15t unicorn pinion gear $3
  • 2445 5100kv motor for onroad only $15 (You'll need M2.5 8mm countersunk screws too)
  • 2445 3600kv motor for offroad bashing $15 (You'll need M2.5 8mm countersunk screws too)
  • Racerstar 2845 4400kV motor as an all-rounder motor $12 or the Surpass Hobby equivalent for $16
Total spend is $194- $225 depending on which base car and component options you chose from this list. Obviously the more premium ESC makes up a big proportion of this cost.
Install. Again installation is very simple here although the 120A ESC takes a little more room. You can still manage to get these underneath the shell fairly easily. A very comprehensive build guide can be found here: DROP IN BRUSHLESS UPGRADE GUIDE FOR WL TOYS 144001, 124018 AND 124019 Below are a few pics from this install:
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Performance. The 2445 5400kv is a very fast motor and even with the 15t pinion it will get you close to 80kph on 2s and well over 100kph on 3s in short bursts. I recommend this for onroad only and you can see more details on this setup here in the original drop in brushless upgrade guide. Although the 120A ESC should handle this easily, this motor at 5400kv does run hot.

If you want something more conservative and still easy to fit then the 2445 3600kv is still good enough for around 50km/h on 2s and over 70km/h on 3s. Even on 3s the motor and ESC should only barely get warm and you can run larger wheels with this setup if you want like I did with this setup on my 124018 here.

If you don't mind drilling out the pinion to 3.2mm and the motor mount to 3mm then the 2845 is probably the best all-round motor for this car, especially in 4400kv. With the 120A ESC recommended here this will be fast (over 60km/h on 2s and around 90km/h on 3s) but it should still run cool and make for great performance on and off road - kind of a jack of all trades like Geoffrey did with project WLC Racing 124018 here.
Option 3: Speed Run
Setup. If you are serious about speed running you probably already have an idea of what you want and plan to strip out most things anyway but I'll give you a solid start point which should take you to around 140-150km/h if done right while balancing out cost. As with everything else you'll need a radio and a replacement 3-wire servo. Stick with the Hobbywing 10BL120 ESC because it is compact and handle decent current. You'll need some decent 3s batteries to get the most out of this car, I recommend GNB or ChinaHobbyLine here. Since I prefer not to go to mod 1 gearing we will stick with the stock spur, pinion and motor mount but we will of course need a high speed 3650 motor. You will absolutely need some foam tyres as well. Nothing rubber available in this side will cope with this wheel speed.
Cost Breakdown
  • 144001 brushed car $82 ; 124018 brushed car $109; 124019 brushed car $109
  • DumboRC X6a Radio $26
  • Surpass Hobby 17g servo $12
  • Hobbywing 10BL120 brushless 120A 2-3s ESC $59
  • Racerstar 3650 brushless motor in 5200kV or 5900kV for $18 or the Surpass Hobby equivalent for $20
  • Surpass Hobby 540 brushless Rocket V3 5.5t sensored motor $37
  • Contact drag foams front, 37 Shore $10 x 2 pairs
  • 3s 2200mah battery like this one from GNB $29
Total spend is $246- $292 depending on which base car and component options you chose from this list. Obviously the more premium ESC makes up a big proportion of this cost as does the 3s battery which is not included in the other options here.
Install. All of the components here bolt up so the install is easy in that regard however it is a fairly tight fit. I went to a lot of effort on this installation to ensure the body stayed low and streamlined and shared all the detail here: WL TOYS 124019 SPEED RUN BUILD AND TRICKS I'VE LEARNED ON THE WAY Below are a few pics from this install:
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Performance. There are a lot of nuances to these speed run cars running at optimum and not flipping over so I recommend you read my article on the 124019 speed run build. With that said, this setup should get you to around 130-150km/h on a good 3s battery; you may even be able to crack 100mph. I will say that straight line speed are all these cars are good for. They are too heavy and suspension is too limited to handle cornering and an excess of power makes anything but slow and smooth acceleration bound to spin out. These cars are fit for purpose but the operating window is narrow and as a result, not a passion of mine. I do howeverrespect the legends like Michael Koebbe in this area who has just pushed his heavily modified 124019 past 135mph albeit with a very special setup and very expensive electronics.
Option 4: Direct comparison
Setup. Clearly I'm not a fan of the stock car's gearing and motor kV choice but I've replicated here for the sake of comparison. I have not used this setup so can't specifically recommend it. In this setup you would purchase the new radio and a new 3 wire 17g servo. The included ESC already comes with a Deans t-plug for the battery so goes straight in. Internally the F540 is the same size as the 2845 motor in the brushless variant but the 540 style mounting allows you to retain the stock mount and use the stock 27t pinion. You will of course need to re-use the motor mount and pinion so use plenty of heat and care to remove - see here for more disassemble details if required.
Cost Breakdown:
  • 144001 brushed car $82 ; 124018 brushed car $109; 124019 brushed car $109
  • DumboRC X6a Radio $26
  • Surpass Hobby 17g servo $12
  • Surpass Hobby f540 3300kv motor and 60a ESC $33
Total spend is $153 - $180 depending on which base car you chose from this list.
Performance. Given effective motor size and kV is practically identical (and from the same manufacture) I would expect performance to be identical i.e. around 70km/h on 2s and just under 100km/h with a good 3s pack. Don't let the top speed lure you in though, like the factory brushless car this will have poor throttle control and cogging at takeoff and low speeds. I wouldn't consider this option at all for any sort of off road driving.
My Recommendations
After the initial excitement that WL toys have finally released a fairly priced brushless version of the 124018 and 124019 the disappointment set in - this was largely around the cogging and poor low speed control. No doubt this is directly from them trying to chase big top speeds and their resulting use of very tall gearing. In this article I have given 4 alternative options to build your own rather than accept the compromises of the stock brushless 124016 and 124017. I consider all of these options to have superior performance except for possibly #4 as this was done more for direct comparison. Which you will choose ultimately depends on what you want to do with it and how hard it is to build. Easy fit, low cost and good for offroad bashing? Option 1. Best allround performance that requires a little more customising? Option 2. Flat out straight line on road speed? Option 3.

You do need to take into account that even the lowest cost option is comparable or slightly more that the stock brushless EAT14, 124016 and 124017. It is worth considering however that you can sell off the spare stock transmitter, esc, servo and motor to recuperate some of your expenses and finish up with a much better car personalised to your specific requirements with the knowledge that the resulting car will be uniquely made for you. 
If you already own the EAT14, 124016 or 124017 I have a number of ways to fix the cogging issues here: ​WL TOYS 124016 124017 EAT14 COGGING ISSUE [SOLVED]
If you are looking for a discount on this car, I will post any coupon codes or flash sales for it over here on my coupons and discounts page. Remember buying from any of these links supports my page without any cost to you and is appreciated especially since I don't ask for money via patreon and the like. If you want to get involved in this discussion, feel free to join the QuadifyRC Facebook Group Here or like my page below.
30 Comments
Cars4cheese
8/11/2021 10:33:38 am

B U I L D I T !

Reply
QuadifyRC
9/11/2021 12:11:32 am

I did!

Reply
Isaac
10/2/2022 01:32:13 pm

🤣🤣

Isaac
8/11/2021 04:05:53 pm

Hey Quad, great post as always! Informative write up with all the different brushless configurations all in one place, and compared! I have a quick question, which aliexpress listing for the 15t pinion would you go with/recommend, the black one or the gold one? Which one has quicker shipping, or seller reliability, ect.
Thanks,

Isaac

Reply
Isaac
8/11/2021 04:08:54 pm

Shoot, I should have checked before I asked! Turns out it's the same seller, just 2 different color options. But still, which one would you go for? I'm a little more drawn to the black one as it looks better, but it's a pinion, which is covered by the gear shround anyway!

Reply
QuadifyRC
9/11/2021 12:12:13 am

Same same. No real difference in performs that is measurable at present

Patrick
12/11/2021 07:35:14 am

Hi,

Is there any reason why you recommend the 2845 4400kv as the best overall motor?
Why is it not better to just go for 3650 with approximately same or higher kV?

Reply
Rcfreak
12/11/2021 02:14:48 pm

Too big too heavy! Affects handling. 3650 are for speed runs only to be honest.

I find that the F540 is about the limit as far as motor size goes. With roll bars AND axle wideners on my 124019 it performs really well, with a nice all around feel.

Reply
QuadifyRC
16/11/2021 12:18:34 pm

Agree with RC freak. Heavy, hot and poorly balanced. You do not have the better gearing options either which are crucial for this car

Reply
Rcfreak
12/11/2021 02:23:56 pm

Hey quad, have you tried the Flyhal fc650 yet?

It's a hell of a thing for £65. It's kinda like a fully upgraded 144001, with not quite (but close) the same quality of design. That said it's definitely much more robust at the same time. It's a bit of a contradiction. But you get everything, literally everything you would get doing the whole brushless conversion thing for at the very least half the price. It's a mad price. Oh and you get two decent batteries and some absolutely HUUUUGE extra wheels that I'm honestly thinking will blue the motor/esc up. They are larger than the larger wheels I bought for my 1/10 104001! It's so daft, lol.

Thanks for the continued articles, great as always.

Reply
Rcfreak
13/11/2021 02:44:04 am

So after running it a bit more today, is say it's quite slow on the small wheels but decent on the larger ones (which look crazy but whatever).

The shocks are also filled with the thickest oil over seen yet and don't compress much. Suggest changing the oil.

Might change the motor for higher kv. More of a backyard basher than the wltoys offerings.

Well anyway can't complain much for £65 😁

Reply
QuadifyRC
16/11/2021 12:20:18 pm

I tried the brushed one and didn't really like it but for the money that brushless one is a bargain. Sounds like thicker oil and higher kV should help a lot.

Chris Vallone
24/12/2021 12:35:51 pm

That Flyhal fc650, isn't that the clone of the XLF F-16 and F17 brands? I did a few vids on those cars, they are very well built I thought, but yeah slow. But with a mild upgrade that can perform well.

Diego
20/11/2021 01:05:51 pm

Hi Quad, thank you for all the time and info you put on this site. Regarding the 124017 (that I have and I'm not happy with), makerfire.com has added this info:

WLToys upgraded 124017 to a 2845 4300KV brushless motor and gearing: 0.7*19T! New transmitter hardware to fix the control distance problem as well!

:-((

Reply
Rcfreak
20/11/2021 08:26:18 pm

Yeah I saw this yesterday, any confirmation of this quad?

Reply
Diego
21/11/2021 08:12:23 am

Video here:

youtube.com/watch?v=-64AouYsGmc

Reply
Isaac
23/11/2021 07:22:49 am

Hey Diego, great find! Thanks for the video too! Man, I cringed so bad when the guy (from Wltoys? His shirt has their logo...) ripped out that ESC by the wires...at least we know the solder joints are strong! lol

QuadifyRC
10/12/2021 12:46:28 pm

A pleasure mate. I'm very late on the reply but yes, I see makerfire and banggood are shipping this one now. I think a 17t is better suit to this motor but it's a big improvement nonetheless

Reply
Isaac
10/12/2021 07:02:59 pm

Yes, I didn't even KNOW there was a 19t mod 0.7 pinion! Yeah, but al least you're still losing/going down 8 teeth, which should nearly eliminate cogging. Props to Wltoys for listening to the feedback form us fans!

kodak_jack link
28/12/2021 12:23:06 pm

For a number of reasons, I've decided to convert my 124018 into an LC Racing truggy. I documented what I did and the parts I bought in the MOD thread on RC Groups. It's post 5151:

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?3037746-WLtoys-12423-12427-12428-124018-MOD-Thread/page344#post48399945

Reply
David Giles
2/1/2022 11:09:57 am

Hi,
Which option would give the best overall battery life, I’m happy with the stock speed of my 144001 and 124018 but would like the most battery life possible.

May switch to the remo wheels too.

Thanks in advance

Reply
Kodak_jack link
17/1/2022 07:16:51 am

I decided to replace the dog bones that always fall out of the rear with CVD's. When I did that, using the stock hubs, I ended up with almost a full millimeter of slop/ end play on each rear wheel. It's probably due to loosey goosey tolerances. One thought was to make 4x5x1 MM shims/ washers. The only way to do that is by 3-D printing them and that gave me varying results. I had to have a friend print them for me as I don't have a printer. The better solution is to use 4x7x2.5 MM bearings. The owner's manual says the stock bearings are 1.8 MM thick. In reality, I measured 1.6 MM. The bearings worked out great as they are almost the full 1 MM wider. It took no time at all to pop the stock bearings out and put the new ones in and the slop/ end play is gone.
For those in the US, I got them from here:
MR74ZZ Bearings $1.08 each   https://5280bearings.com/product/4x7x2-5-bearing-mr74zz/
The important thing is the bearing number. Bearings numbered MRS74-2RS are basically the same. Depending on your intended use, bearings come without seals, with metal seals and with rubber seals.

FWIW, Traxxas also uses the same size bearings and their number is TRX5124.

Reply
Isaac
19/1/2022 09:57:02 am

Nice! Thanks for the info, I was thinking about upgrading to CVDs in the rear too eventually, I didn't know about the increased slop, stock, there's already a bit of slop! So did the new bearings decrease the slop to stock level of slop, or better than stock? I've heard that some people shim the wheel bearing (adding shims next to the bearings), but a better way to decrease play at the wheels is, like you said, slightly wider bearings!

Reply
Kodak_jack link
19/1/2022 12:34:29 pm

The bearings being wider took up just enough slop/ end play yet left me with something so the wheels didn't bind after tightening. Shimming isn't as easy as it sounds - they're tiny. I have some coming that I ordered from AliExpress. They're cheap, but you get 100 of each size you order!
M4x6x0.3 washers See Chart 2.02 https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001878385012.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.7e626078B0EpPw&algo_pvid=a698848f-3ed6-4993-9333-187c08ef7bdf&aem_p4p_detail=20220101043232185792443942100014451447&algo_exp_id=a698848f-3ed6-4993-9333-187c08ef7bdf-3&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22sku_id%22%3A%2212000017996219974%22%7D&pdp_pi=-1%3B2.02%3B-1%3B-1%40salePrice%3BUSD%3Bsearch-mainSearch
More washers https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000042969927.html?spm=2114.12057483.0.0.28c941a0R98oON

Isaac
20/1/2022 07:08:29 am

I'm replying to your previous comment, as the commenting system only allows 3 comments/replies deep per comment. Please reply to any of my replies in this "thread"/subject in order to get around this, like what I've done!

Ok, anyway, cool! Less slop is definitely something I want with my 144001. Like I said, bearings are better than shims as shims increase friction because as when you tighten the wheel nut, the whole "face" of the shim rubs/contacts one side of the bearing. A wider bearing doesn't have this effect nearly as much, thus less friction and a smoother, more efficient drivetrain/line.

Now that I'm reading through my reply, I realize I may come across as I'm disagreeing with you, I'm not, just stating how bearings are better, and plus we're both on the bearing side! All the better than. Shims are cheaper like you said, but increase friction. Have you got wider bearings for the front wheels/hubs too?

Reply
Kodak_jack link
20/1/2022 08:58:31 am

This is a pretty long series of replies. Any shim can only contact the inner race. If it covers the inner and outer race, it’ll bind. You would have to use shims that are 4x5 MM- 6MM at the most. I just got my shims from AliExpress today. Pay a couple bucks more and you get them quicker. The bearings, in my case, worked better than messing with shims. I put on a set of wheels and tires from a RedCat Tornado EXP Pro. The front wheels and tires aren’t quite as wide as the rears. If they’re too wide on the front, the tires will hit the body.

Isaac
26/1/2022 10:23:38 am

Yeah this is a long "thread". Exactly, I meant when you use shims that contact the whole bearing face, it'll bind. So those shim measurements you said (4x5 MM- 6MM) are the biggest shims that won't bind with the bearing? But isn't 4mm a bit thick, or would I use those shims with the stock bearings and CVDs in the rear, to eliminate almost all the play?

Reply
kodak_jack link
26/1/2022 04:36:35 pm

The 4MM is the inside diameter, not the thickness. The 5MM is the outside diameter or possibly 6 MM for the outside diameter, but you run the risk of causing it to bind. Then, the thickness is 0.2 MM, 0.3 MM or 0.5 MM. The best solution for the slop/ end play I had was to buy the bearings that are 2.5 MM in width.

Jefferson
14/4/2022 04:38:02 am

Great review as always! I hear the new 14410 doesn't have any cogging out of the box, could you confirm?

Reply
Isaac
17/4/2022 01:23:20 pm

Hi Jefferson, it depends. I didn't know that the 144010 was coming out, it was leaked late last year, but then the Eachine EAT 14 took it's place, the EAT 14 was the 144010, but just rebranded under Banggood's in-house-brand, Eachine. If the 104001 uses the new brushless motor mount and 19t pinion found in the 124016/7 V2, then there will be very little cogging, if none, certainly nowhere near as bad as the 124016/7 V1 and the EAT 14.

If the 144010 uses the old brushless motor mount found on the 124016/7 V1, then it will have significant cogging issues, but Wltoys have obviously heard and learned, and lowered th gearing significantly in the V2 brushless models, so my money is on the 144010 having the new, 19t pinion and new motor mount.
Hope this helps,

Isaac

Reply



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