The Radiolink RC6GS V3 is a new trigger style transmitter and receiver combo suitable for RC cars and RC boats. Radiolink is a manufacturer that has a surprisingly long history in RC and is know for reliable control links. This particular model is a new revision for 2022. Being a mid-range transmitter it has more channels (7), is of a more premium build and has more features than budget radios. 

The WL Toys WL916 is a 47cm long brushless powered ready to run (RTR) boat that is fast, and durable with an excellent set of fail safe features that will stop you getting stranded. It is a boat that is clearly the result of many tweaks and improvements which means it is fast and reliable  out of the box. This is my review.

First lets address the monkey in the room, although this is a blog under the RC Cars heading it is clearly not an RC car but given the tech and manufacturer similarities I thought it'd be good to branch out a little, especially to those lucky sods who are enjoying summer and water-based activities at present. This review will be from the standpoint of someone who is well versed in RC quadcopters and cars and knows the tech but not as they apply to boats. For this reason I probably have the same concerns as most who are looking at boats - what happens if it capsizes? does it fill with water? does it get stranded when the battery is flat? Is the range ok? Can I run it in salt water? I'll look to address all of these and of course cover the specs and give you feedback on how it runs. Read on!

The Eachine EC30 is a new radio controlled 1/14 scale 4wd buggy and sold exclusively by Banggood. This buggy is manufactured by Haiboxing (HBX) which are renowned for being some of the most durable cars out and this new model continues that tradition given it borrows heavily from the hugely popular 16889 range. In this review we'll look closely at the car, and it's performance and compare both to the car it borrows the parts off and the ones it competes against - the legendary WLToys 144001.

As I've mentioned on a number of occasions, Eachine is merely a shadow or house brand for Banggood, the quality of the car the offer depends on the manufacturer. The good news is that with the Eachine EC30 as reviewed here, the manufacturer is Haiboxing. As you'll see in my Master RC Car Comparison, the HBX cars rate highly because of their extreme durability, the thoughtful powertrain and driveline, and value for money in general. This car specifically borrows from the 16889 and SG1602 trucks but also brings a number of improvements which make this a solid offering.

I want this review to be a standalone so my comparisons to other cars are merely to help you understand this one better and why it may or may not be suitable for you.

The WL Toys 104002 is a 1/10 scale ready to run (RTR) 4WD off road buggy powered by a fast and efficient brushless power train. It is a follow up to the cheaper WL Toys 104001 which is the same car but powered by a slower brushed setup. In this article I will complete a full review and recommend some cheap or free mods to improve performance.

Last year the WL Toys 104001 was released with a basic brushed power train which I reviewed thoroughly here. I've since modified it with a high spec brushless setup and guide here and a more budget brushless setup and guide here. Now WL toys have launched the 104002 which is brushless out of the factory. I'll try to keep this review as standalone as possible for those not familiar with the earlier model.

FMS (Also known as ROCHobby) are the makers of beautiful RC Scale models in low speed crawler style. The 1:12 scale Type82e KommandeurWagen which is a variant of the Volkswagen Beetle, is their latest and the attention to detail on this model is simply amazing. 

This car is a departure from the increasingly fast RC cars I've been reviewing recently. Instead with the Kommandeurwagen speed and power is replaced with beautiful form and mechanical function in true scale detail. In simple terms this is a fully proportional scale crawler with immaculate detail, a 2 speed gearbox and scale lighting with all controls from the transmitter. There are many more functions which I'll discuss more below but first lets looks at the key features and what's included.

The WL Toys 144002 is a fantastic handling 1/14 scale monster truck that I reviewed here in full. It is really let down by the powertrain though - although it has a large brushed motor, the gearing is way to tall with the big wheels and suffers with terrible acceleration, poor torque and poor battery life, none of which is a good match for a monster truck and offroad conditions. In this article I will present an easy to install brushless upgrade which is inexpensive and performs great with double the battery life

Let's get straight into it: Brushless motors are much more powerful than their brushed counterparts and so simply choosing one with the same dimensions as the stock motor is a poor choice. It will remain heavy and you still have not solved the issue of tall gearing since you are stuck with these same pinion gear on these large motors. Even with a low KV option this will still make for poor acceleration but will now add cogging into the equation similar to what we saw on the Eachine EAT14 (reviewed here)

Below are the components I've chosen for this setup, the whys and alternative options.

It was an anticlimax to say the least when WL Toys finally launched their first factory brushless cars. Due to the cheap ESC but moreso the tall gearing they were plagued with issues of cogging - the stuttering of the motor as it struggles to move from pole to pole at low speeds and the loss of torque as a result. You can see this issue in my review of the Eachine EAT14 which has the same problem. WL Toys solved this problem with a hasty update to V2 with a shorter gearing and a higher kv motor. Here is the new 124017 V2 and 124016 V2 (it's hard to find the V1 any more)

I've already written this article to show fixes based on parts available at the time but now I have a new fixed based on newly available parts from the V2 that should solve your problem for just $27 (or as cheap as $15 if you reuse your motor) . Read on and follow me as I "fix" my 124017

As per this article I have fixes for the cogging in the 124016, 124017 and Eachine EAT14 which have the shorter gearing that I prefer however they are not especially cheap fixes though remain my favourite in terms of performance.

If you want to keep the improvement cheap and quick though there are 2 new options for you:

1. Buy the 4300kv motor, mount and 19t pinion all from the V2 spec as a preassembled kit here for just $27. This will give you the V2 powertrain with a top speed of 71km/h and zero cogging
2. Buy just the motor mount and 19t pinion from the V2 and re-use your 3400kv motor. Top speed will be down to around 55km/h but cogging will be gone. I quite like this speed and efficiency if you plan on bashing

I've been review and modifying RC cars intensely for over 2 years and in that time I've written dozens, of guides, articles and reviews. I've created a summarised list of all the reviews I've done with what I consider to be the key factors that will help you decide which car suits you the best. Here is my master list ​QUADIFYRCMASTERCARGUIDE

One thing you'll notice about the pro version of the ZD Racing EX16 is that it has these beautiful small scale aluminium oil filled shocks, they look amazing. Sadly whoever assembles the ZD racing cars has led them down badly because the suspension is set up poorly from the factory. It can however easily be fixed and I'll show you just how to do that in this guide

I'll address 3 suspension fixes in this article: Filling the shocks with oil, suspension geometry and droop screws. Read on!

THE ZD RACING EX16 is an awesome looking little RC Car and has nice components especially if you look at the pro variant with discrete electronics. The most glaringly bad aspect of this car however is the driveline which binds terribly. Left as is it will put unnecessary strain on motor, esc, battery and will reduce acceleration, top speed and battery life as well as causing the car to run hot. The root cause took me a while to troubleshoot but I found it and have come up with a fix that means you don't have to pull the car apart.