The Flysky Noble Pro is a new top end surface radio made by long time manufacturers Flysky. It is a premium version of the Noble NB4, which itself is a mid-high spec radio. The Noble Pro is a radio set that Flysky have thrown everything, including the kitchen sink at and I will review all of the features here so you can figure out if the may or may not be important to you - this will be the main focus of the review. Lastly I will compare against the best offerings from market leaders Futaba and Sanwa to give you a feel if they really do complete in the racing scene.

Before we get to deep into the detail (and there is a LOT with this radio) lets have a closer look at Flysky as a manufacturer. You've probably heard of them before but what you might not know is that they have been manufacturing radios for over 12 years with options in both surface (cars, boats, tanks) and air (multirotors, planes, helis). They initially started out with low to mid-range hobby grade models where their reliability was rewarded with a number of OEM contracts for various RC Cars and Boats This has allowed them to grow their manufacturing base and expand with a more recent push into the premium end of the market with the Noble NB4 and Noble Pro for surface and the Paladin and Nirvana NV14 for air. Let's have a closer look at the present Flysky offerings in the surface category:

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

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.

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.

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.

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:

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.

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:

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.

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]

The WL Toys 124016 and 124017 (and the Eachine EAT14) have a major issue with cogging - the stuttering that occurs when accelerating from standstill or low speed and is a major downside to these recent releases. Cogging in your car is not by bad luck but by design choice; in the search for top speed bragging rights, the tall gearing has really compromised these cars ability to accelerate. Never fear, QuadifyRC to the rescue! I'll give you 3 and a bit options on how to fix this issue by addressing the root cause rather than by going on a wild goose chase and addressing the wrong things.

As soon as I found out WL Toys and Eachine had retained the big 27t pinion from the brushed models I knew they would be fast but were going to be poor on acceleration. This turned out to be correct as you can see on my Eachine EAT14 review which has the same running gear as the 124016 and 124017. You can get away with this big pinion on a brushed motor (like with the 144001, 124018 and 124019) because of the way they work but not on a brushless motor because of the way they differ mechanically. Cogging is when the electromagnetic field invoked by the motor is not strong enough for the motor rotate and catch the next pole thereby getting out of phase and rocking back and forth; it's that jiggle your car make before it takes off. So what causes it? The motor can not generate enough torque for the given load. The 2845 is not a small motor for a car this size so it is safe to assume that it is the load that is unreasonably high due the very tall (fast) gearing.

Since we know the root cause we need to address it directly in order to get the best quality solution but before I do that I'll let you know the things that will NOT fix it:

The WL Toys 104009 is a recently released a 4WD RC monster truck. It is made by WL Toys, one of the lower cost RC Car manufacturers that tend to strike a good balance between performance and affordability. This particular car is stated as 1/10 scale but is about the size of a typical 1/12 scale, still big enough to perform off-road. In this review I'll cover what I like about this car and what I don't like so you can make a decision to see if it will suit you or not.

As I mentioned WL Toys have made some very popular cars based around a common 144001 platform which I have written EXTENSIVELY about here: All my WL Toys RC Car review and upgrade guides. This car however is not based on that platform, rather it is and upgraded version of a lesser-known WL toys car, the 12402. Upgrades include oil shocks instead of friction dampeners, metal suspension arms front and rear, a much better looking body heavily inspired <cough> by the traxxas Maxx and XMaxx plus a whole lot of LED lights. Let get straight into the review.

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.