The Best Small Scale Budget RC Car Bashers for 2020

Right folks, I've gotten back into RC cars in a big way this year (over 20 articles on RC cars!) and after all I've reviewed and modified I thought I'd list my favourite value for money RC cars for 2020. As a scientist in real life I can say this list is thoroughly unscientific and if you got me on a different day the order may be different but I'll at least share with you why I just what I did and in which order so you can see what things are important to your decision. Roughly speaking I'll cover off the key areas that make budget RC cars so much fun - speed, battery life, handling, durability and ability to customise/mod.

WL Toys K989
This WL Toys K989 is difficult to compare directly to the others because of its much smaller size but follows the WL toys mantra of oversized brushed motors and reasonable quality at a very low price. For $50-60 you get a genuine radio controlled car that is small enough to run in size yet retains the full hobby grade suite - proportional speed control and steering with discrete componentry, full ball bearing set and fully independent suspension.

Quick disclaimer: this model was actually released in 2018 but it continues to have an absolute cult following with a massive range of upgrade parts including full brushless systems and community backing to go with it. It doesn't appear higher only the list because it is limited to small areas with smooth surface because of its extremely small size.

Bottom line: this is the micro basher to get if you have only a small area to play but beware, it's a lot faster than it looks!  Get it for $51 ready to run with code BGAFF10OFF

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LC Racing EMB-MT
Without a shadow of a doubt, the LC Racing EMB-MT is the best RC car in this list. It is better designed, is made from better materials, is more reliable and more durable that anything else here. So why is it only at number 4? Well, it is a lot more expensive - about double the price of most anything else at around $200-220. If you do have the money to spend on a small scale RC car this or the other LC racing cars in buggy, truggy, short course truck or even desert buggy come highly recommended. Have a look at my review  and comparison of the EMB-MT here for more details. Bottom line: If you don't mind spending the money this is probably the best small-scale RC car you can get. Get it for $211 Ready to Run with Code BGAFF10OFF.

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The 144001 is a close copy of the LC racing EMB series (centre)

WL Toys 144001
I'll bet the 144001 tragics like myself are surprised to see the WL Toys 144001 feature at number 3 but hear me out. First of all the 144001 was really released end of 2019 but this car has become so iconic it simply must be included.

The strength of the 144001 lies not in the fact that it is a car that draws heavy inspiration from the excellent LC racing range (as above) but that the price to performance ratio they have hit is second to none. This means even more importantly that a large range of aftermarket parts and an equally large modding community has mean that the options to customise this car are almost endless. Take for example:

• Turn it into a carpet / dirt track racer with swaybars and a lightweight brushless upgrade
• Turn it into a fast basher with a lightweight brushless combo and larger wheels and tyres
• Turn it into a no-nonsense speed run straight line on road car capable of over 100mph 
• Just run it as is a fast light off road buggy albeit with a short-ish battery life.

I have marked this car down to 3rd on the list though purely because it's needs a little work out of the box and without this you shorten the length of component life and compromise on handling. At a minimum this includes emptying some shock oil, removing and greasing diffs, correcting toe and camber. Even though I've written a very concise guide on this exactly it can be daunting for the beginner. Also, because this car runs a cheaper brushed motor (albeit an extremely large one for this size) battery life is down to around 8 minutes. On the upside the cars is fast and even though the weight is significant, suspension is good enough to manage it. Bottom line: this or the 214019 below are the ones to get if you like to tinker. Get it for $85 Ready to Run with Code BGAFF10OFF.

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WL Toys 124019 / 124018
This is the newest from WL Toys and I have written a preview article about it here. The 124019 is identical to the 144001 above but it features a longer wheelbase and so has more room to fit a larger capacity battery as stock. Rather than repeating all of the reasoning that was mentioned with the 144001 I will just mention why I now prefer the 124019 to the 144001:

• There is more room under the body which reduces heat build up from the motor and ESC - a key issue with the 144001
• These is more room to comfortable fit a larger capacity battery meaning run time is up to around 12 minutes stock depending on how and where you drive.
• Longer wheelbase makes it more stable on jumps, sweeping turns and straight lines at the cost of tight cornering
• There is more room to run larger brushless setups that can fit under the stock shell with the stock mounts and still have enough space to run cooler. Compare to the 144001 where people typically buy aftermarket shells just to fit their upgraded power systems.

Bottom line: This is the same as the 144001 but the longer wheelbase appeals to me more for the reasons mentioned above. Get it for $108 Ready to Run with Code BGAFF10OFF.

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SG1602 (same as SG 1601 and HBX 16889)
First of all I'm not trying to be a cop-put by choosing a 3-way tie for 1st place here, each of these are genuinely identical except for the look and tyre style (truggy / monster truck).

I ummed and ahhed about this one for a while but there are a number of key areas I believe this little 1/16 scale truck simply excels at:

1. It requires no setup out of the box - no greasing diffs, no removing oil from shocks, no gluing tyres, no setting camber and toe. You literally charge the included li-ion, put your AA batteries in the transmitter and run it. Bashing at it's simple best
2. It feels genuinely fast for its size and has outstanding battery life due to the well specced brushless ESC and motor it uses. Battery life is typically around 15 minutes on even the included li-ion battery.
3. It is crazy durable. I gave this to my then 5 year old as a birthday present and it has handle all the jumps, rolls, diff spins and donuts he's thrown at it. The only thing that broke was the rear spoiler mount which cosmetic only.

This is not a perfect car by any stretch - suspension is bouncy (although these can be updated cheaply to oil-filled shocks) and tyres are a very hard compound meaning that they don't wear great but grip is meh. BTW this can be found in my original and follow up reviews. These can be overlooked to an extent though because the width of the tyres and the efficient 4wd system helps overcome a lot of the issues these cause.
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Bottom line this is perhaps the cheapest brushless RC car you can get and against all odds it is actually really good, especially if you just want to bash out of the box. Get it for $108 Ready to Run with Code BGAFF10OFF.

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