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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Whether you realise it or not, your RC car has been designed to run quite a specific battery voltage, in this article I'll explore what happens if you put a 3s battery in a 2s car (and vice versa) and why jumping up in cells should only be done as part of a novelty or pissing contest for top speed. I'll be making particular reference to the WL Toys 144001, 124018 and 124019 series of cars (most notably to my drop in brushless upgrade) but conclusions here can be generalised.

My recent guide on upgrading the 144001, 124018 and 124019 with a drop in 2445 5400kv made for a very fast car but also generated a lot of heat for the motor and ESC. In this guide I have a brief look on the impact of adjusting ESC timing on power output as measured by speed and the resulting change in heat of motor and ESC plus efficiency.

Most cheap ESCs, notably the Surpass/Racerstar are impressive in that there is some basic ability to programme the ESC for throttle punch, dead band, low voltage cut off plus braking and reverse as you can see in this guide. Step up to a more premium ESC like the hobbywing 16BL30 and 10BL120 as recommended in my brushless guide and amongst other items you also have the ability to adjust motor timing.

The WL Toys 144001 is a great car for the money and pretty durable but certainly not the toughest thing out - for my money that goes to the SG 1601 / HBX 16889 (long term review here). I have however found an tested a few direct bolt on parts that you can install in about 20 minutes to make this way more resilient to crashes than stock

By now I've made a number of brushless upgrades to the WL Toys 144001 which I've documented, each with a different objective in mind. All of these offer an improvement over stock which, depending on option offer an improvement of speed, acceleration, weight, balance and efficiency over stock. The objective of this brushless upgrade is simple - the cheapest brushless setup worth having for bashing