The Best RC Cars of 2024
There’s many types of remote control car, but some are truly the best RC car in their field.
Before we get into the specific models of the best RC Cars of 2024, lets have a quick catch-up on some of the different types of Remote control car that are out there on the market today.
RC Trucks:
Ah, RC Trucks – is there anything that looks like fun as much as a remote control monster truck? With their over-sized tyres and tough looking bodies, they can’t help but put a smile on your face. The average driving session involves jumps and wheelies and backflips; so it’s no surprise a good RC monster truck can provide hours of chaotic fun.
There’s a couple of Traxxas RC cars on this list, like the mighty Traxxas X-Maxx, but even if it’s a budget friendly remote control truck like the Xinlehong 9125, you just have to love an RC truck.
RC Drift cars:
Let’s just go in entirely a different direction here: sideways. RC drift is currently undergoing a resurgence in popularity, and everyone here at Hobbies Direct is here for it! If precision handling and defying the laws of friction is your jam, you’ll love each and every RC Drift Car on this list.
RC Crawlers:
Or, maybe you want to slow things down and keep it real for a bit with the scale-realism and challenge only a proper off-road RC Rock Crawler can provide. Crawlers are also a great way to get outside and go for a walk in nature, because really, if your RC car can make it out onto the trails, what’s your excuse not to?
Retro Re-Releases:
Everything was better when you were a kid than what it is now. TV, Movies, Music, Pizza Hut still had that all-you-can-eat deal. Same thing with RC. Sure, they were slower, more fragile, didn't handle as well, you couldn't get parts, and you had to charge the batteries for 12 hours for about 7 minutes of run time. But they were just, like, better, man.
Alright, let’s talk about some cars.
Lets get it out of the way first and just say it simply – the Xinlehong 9125 is the best beginner RC truck you can get. The budget-friendly beast is tough, easy to drive, fast enough, and if you do manage to crash it hard enough to break it, spare parts are everywhere.
The only problem is that the kids might fight over who gets to drive it (or fight with you if you are hogging it)!
But don’t stress, as frequency interference is a thing of the past – modern 2.4GHz radio systems actively avoid crossing frequencies so you can run as many cars together as you like! We’ve also made it even easier to get a multi-car race going with our 9125 bundle deal, here.
But if you’re not a beginner, what’s the biggest, baddest of them all? Traxxas X-Maxx.
In the words of Traxxas themselves: “Experience the sheer force of the X-Maxx, a beast of a monster truck that redefines the meaning of power. Its formidable 4X4 prowess, colossal stature, and groundbreaking design have earned it accolades in the industry. The X-Maxx, powered by an intense 30+ volts of 8s energy, challenges the laws of physics by delivering breathtaking acceleration and speeds exceeding 50 mph.
The X-Maxx’s Sledgehammer® tyres, equipped with belts, dominate even the harshest landscapes while ensuring unmatched stability at high velocities. Constructed to withstand severe beatings, the X-Maxx epitomizes the resilience inherent in the Traxxas Tough™ brand. This monster truck is not just a vehicle; it’s an adventure waiting to unfold.”
Would you just look at it? It’s yuuuuuge.
Next Up – Best Drift cars.
There’s a couple of different types of RC drift cars, either 4WD (four wheel drive) or RWD (rear wheel drive). The entry level cars are 4WD, so lets have a quick look at a couple.
The 1/16 scale UDI cars are some of my favourite cheap and cheerful cars to come out in the last few years. Check them all out here. I personally like the definitely-not-Herbie Coleoptera the best, but all the cars come with gyroscopic stability control, adjustable speed limiter, and led headlights.
UDI also do a brushless version of all these cars for extra speed and power, which is always good.
But for only a few more dollars, you could step up to the HSP Flying Fish. This is a proper 1/10 scale, highly tuneable (and highly upgradeable) RC drift car to properly get into the RC drift hobby. Being 1/10 scale, there’s a massive amount of wheel and tyre upgrades, shocks, motors, gearing, even body shell options to make your RC Drift Car look just like the real thing. Skyline? Supra? Corolla? RX7? Mustang? All of these are options (any many, many more, look here), and there’s even more personalisation available as they can be painted any colour you like!
There is another type of drift chassis that’s got all these options as well, and is even more scale-realistic when it comes to handling. You see, most real world drift cars aren’t four wheel drive. Though a 4wd RC Drift Car will still slide like the real thing, it’s more like throwing them into a corner and holding on. For the most authentic RC drifting experience, you’re going to want a rear wheel drive drift car.
Like something made by MST.
These are proper, competition level race chassis made from carbon fibre, and designed to achieve the highest level of realistic handling and extreme drift angles. If you are a proper drift lover, these are the way to go. Check them all out here.
Now, lets slow things down. Down to a crawl.
RC Rock Crawlers are not as fast as others, but they have quite a few advantages that make them an increasingly popular part of the RC hobby. They are all for obstacles and uneven terrain, so you can drive them anywhere. And because of their slower speed, that obstacle course can be made indoors when the weather is too terrible to go out.
Traxxas and Axial make the most popular rock crawlers, with the TRX-4 and SCX10 being at the top of their field and the basis for countless custom builds. That’s right, there’s just as many upgrade parts and custom builds of RC Crawlers as Drift cars, maybe even more!
Check out all RC Rock Crawlers here, and accessories here.
Lastly, my favourite: kit builds.
Tamiya were responsible for an entire generation of kids growing up with RC, and for those of us old enough to be fuelled almost entirely by nostalgia, Retro RC Re-Releases and a very Real Thing. Especially in 2024, which happens to be the 40th anniversary of quite a lot of awesome vintage cars.
The majority of Tamiya’s business model appears to be cashing in on nostalgia, and who can blame them? Old RC buggies are awesome! The Hornet, Grasshopper, Frog, Lunch Box, Hotshot and others are available to be bought and built again, and make a great weekend project for a Dads with kids, or, Dads that are big kids themselves. Get your Retro Fix here.
Not ones to miss out on this wave of reliving the past, Kyosho have their vintage race car series, as does Team Associated. Associated are even doing special edition versions of their championship winning RC10 platform, like the just-announced RC10 Jay Hasley Edition.
It’s a bit of a cliché at this point, but with Trucks, Cars, Crawlers, Drifters, and Nostalgia-Coloured Retro Re-Releases, the RC world really does have something for everyone.
And we haven’t even got to Boats and Planes yet.
Til next time...
...actually you know what? I need a sign-off thing. This is a blog, after all. Til next time, keep it on all fours? Nah, that's taken. Keep it overpowered?
How about: Til next time, keep it however you like.
