The WLToys 284161 is a 4WD 1/28 mini scale RC car that comes ready to run out of the box. It is the latest in a long line of cars that use the same chassis from WL Toys and is the most heavily featured of all. They are inexpensive and have many replacement and upgrade parts available which make them a versatile low cost RC car option that is pretty good out of the box with plenty of scope for modification. In this review I'll look at the car as a stand alone and compare it to the direct competition from the very same manufacturer. Let's first address the elephant in the room; the the new WLToys 284161 as reviewed here looks to be "heavily inspired" by the MUCH larger ZD racing DBX-07. Obviously this car though is very much at the mini end of the size scale where the DBX-07 is at the maxi so any further comparison can be left there. Other than looking like the DBX-07, this car is actually underpinned by the same gear as the other 1/28 scale cars launched by WLToys that have come before this... all 7 or 8 of them. See below for the ones that are still available including the 284131 I reviewed here and the 284010 I reviewed here most recently.
Whereas the other mainstream 1/28 releases were realistically designed for on-road driving, this is the first release on this chassis that is actually setup for offroad. It is fair to say that the 284161 desert buggy reviewed here is the most radical take on this chassis of all the releases. There are compromises to achieve this and if you read on I'll draw your attention to these as well as what you gain.
mjx hYPER gO 14301 14302 1/14 Brushless On road Basher/Drifter Review: My Car of the year 202310/6/2023 The MJX HYPER GO 14301 (and 14302) are brushless 1/14 scale on road cars that are equipped for grip style bashing and drifting. They are not only well featured but well built making for a solid driving experience with a lot of thought having gone into the build. In this review I'll look at the car in close detail and of course offer a full review of the driving performance. MJX are a brand that are quietly going about building a solid body of work in the budget RC car scene. I've reviewed the MJX HYPER GO H16E here which is a very durable small scale brushed monster truck that outperformed my expectations. They have also made a brushless version of this truck, the MJX 16208 which I've driven but haven't reviewed. It is my belief that MJX have even been contracted to make the WLToys 124008. It is my appreciation of these cars that piqued my interest for the 14301 as reviewed here and the 14302 by association. These are an onroad version based around the same car but with shorter arms, a discrete gyro and altered bodywork which makes them a solid onroad basher. First, lets look at what is included in the box.
DumboRC make (IMO) the best budget radios you can get with the original X6 series (covered here) and the new X6PM-350 (reviewed here). One weakness however on both models they included a horrible plasticky steering wheel which felt a bit unpleasant in hand. Good thing then that the have released a low cost foam steering wheel upgrade which I have reviewed here and also give feedback on which other models it fits. As mentioned above the steering wheel on all the DumboRC radios I've reviewed feel cheap because of the plastic grip. It's a shame they didn't use foam from the outset because it's not like this is an expensive upgrade - even stock WLToys remotes use foam and feel better for it. The newly released DumboRC Controller Metal Handwheel directly addresses this however and at a cost of under $10 it won't break the bank. They are available in black or titanium grey and I went with the latter. I'll be really clear that this is not a metal wheel, it is still moulded plastic so will be recommending to Banggood that they change the description. Anyway, included in the pack is the plastic wheel with foam outer, 2 adaptor pieces shaped like vented brake discs, stick on "calipers" if you like that look, a hex screw for fitting and a DumboRC domed decal to cover over the screw after installation:
The WLToys 284010 is a 1/28 mini scale 4wd RC Car. They are cheap, Ready To Run (RTR) out of the box and a lot of fun. This particular model is a new and improved version of the very popular WLToys K989. In this review I'll give you more detail on the car and how it performs and point out the improvements over the earlier models WL Toys make a wide range of budget RC cars that typically do a great job of mixing low cost with good performance. Their most well known car is probably the 1/14 scale 144001 and the variants they have spawned which I've covered extensively on this website. Next most successful for them would then be the K9XX series which have recently been updated and renamed as the 284XX series such as the 284131 Hoonitruck which I reviewed here. The 284010 as reviewed in this article is the latest and includes all of WL Toys latest improvements building on what is already a very enjoyable little RC Car. First lets look at what is included:
The DumboRC X6PM-350 is a new, compact 6 channel transmitter from DumboRC, my favourite budget wheel/trigger radio brand. Alongside the launch of this new transmitter, DumboRC have also released a whole lot of new receivers - 8 in total. This means they have something for every application from micro to full scale, gyro, no gyro, built-in brushed ESCs and even full lighting controls for your scale rigs. In this article I'll review the radio in full and help you understand which receiver will suit you best. DumboRC have been really successful in the budget RC area with their X4, X5 and X6 range that I covered extensively in this guide here. The reason that they were so successful is that the price was sharp but more importantly they were VERY reliably even over a long range and they offered useful features like gyro and lighting control without overcomplicating the operation of the transmitter. For these reasons we have see DumboRC radio gear get used more and more as an OEM with companies like ZD Racing and Rlaarlo.
Clearly they lack multiple model options and digital adjustments but at this price you could have separate controllers for separate cars/tanks/boats/trucks etc. The new X6PM-350 as reviewed here offers all of the benefits of the X4-6 range but in a more compact package that fits easily into a backpack plus at an even sharper price. The Diatone (SNT) Y60 3005 is an absolute mouthful of a name but this is a super tiny 1/64 scale 4wd Crawler RC truck that I have reviewed. The version I have reviewed has a built in First Person View (FPV) camera that transmits the image to a set of goggles that gives you a view from the car in real time. The amount of technology crammed into this tiny hotwheel-sized cars is just crazy and I hope to give you a full feel for it in the review. If you haven't been involved with quadcopters before you probably won't know the brand "Diatone" but if you have you will know they are one of the bigger and well-supported brands that have become very popular due to the balance of quality and performance they have struck plus have the most aggressive product development schedule I've ever come across. They have partially re-branded to "SNT" as they start making consumer RC cars, working exclusively on the micro (1/64) scale which is roughly the size of a hotwheels car. I've reviewed 2 generations of these in the Q33 buggy and the Q25 240z replica which have both shown substantial improvements over the models they replace. Both are bult for speed but the weight and location of the FPV camera lets down the experience. As you'll see in this review the Y60 truck is built to crawl slowly over bigger obstacles and so is much better suited to FPV.
If you are looking for a review of the Rlaaro AM-X12 then check out Geoffrey's Chan's super in depth review of this mid-spec 1/12 RC buggy here. If you are looking for his to 10 tuning tips the read on... Here are 10 tuning tips to help get the most out of your Rlaarlo AM-X12. I’ve made all of these adjustments and changes and I find the car performs much better compared to when it first came out of the box. Mass produced RC’s are never perfect, so it is always worthwhile to take the time to take things apart and do a good check-over before running your car.
The WPL C24 Waterproof 1/16 2.4G 4WD Crawler RTR Truck Is a highly realistic 1/16 scale radio “crawler” RC truck. I considered the original release my best bang for buck crawler owing to it's price, capability and scale look. This new release from WPL is being touted as waterproof, something that sets it apart from the standard edition. If this is true, this will really add to the kind of heavy off-roading courses you can run with these low speed powerful trucks. If you are not already familiar with crawlers, they are a subset of RC cars that run at much slower speeds with a lot more torque and rather than travelling around tracks at speed, they are design for traversing rough terrain (like a full sale 4x4) with a scale look. Although the WPL C24 Waterproof has a fairly basic plastic build in order to achieve it's relatively low price point, there is a massive amount of upgrades available - everything from wheel weights for more grip to metal 2 speed gearboxes to larger diffs and of course grippier tyres. As you'll see from my review that follows though you'll realise that this truck performs great out of the box as is and will give you a great feel for crawling in all conditions (including water) with a minimal outlay.
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:
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.
|
Categories
All
|