My kid decided to bring his old Mad Gear Desert Wolf buggy out from collecting dust and it got us pretty well hooked. The speed control immediately shit the bed, so I upgraded it with ball bearings, a Traxxas XL-5 ESC, a 12T Titan motor, a metal gear ball bearing servo, and new shocks.

For a cheap car it handles pretty well and has proven durable.
IMG_20220607_232638 by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr

Feeling a bit gels I settled on a WLtoys 124017 V2.

After some upgrades it looked something like this.
20220925_104955 by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr

The entire drivetrain killed itself, but after some minor upgrades it was solid.

On our offroad short course the stability of the 1/10th Wolf was at least a match for the speed of the 1/12 WL.

Another car was in order. I kinda missed the cars of olde. Enter the Rustler XL-5.
IMG_20220708_130606 by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr

It got about $100 in upgrades to keep things from coming loose and for durability. It has dominated our track since. It's also my favorite RC car ever.

The girlfriend's kids were a bit gels, so they got a couple of starter RC's. They aren't particularly fast, but they're still a lot of fun.
20220515_165823 by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr

Finally, the girlfriend got her own. It started off slow, but with a brushless upgrade has been the fastest of the bunch in a straight line.
20220827_124602 by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr

The kids, bored with theirs, got some decent brushless cars.
20220924_172919 by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr

I got this one in for review...and my kid quickly appropriated it.
20220903_081124 by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr

The Amoril is a good looking and relatively fast 550 motor brushed car that has only needed a set of differential drive cups and shock seals.

He ended up getting a brushless 1/10th WLtoys 104002 for an on road conversion...and I needed a counter to this threat. I also really like how well his Amoril worked on our track. So...I found a WLtoys 144001 1/14th on a crazy sale. I made it a little more offroad worthy and converted my original 124017 to street trim.
20230517_091023 by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr
20230519_063422 by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr

The little 1/14th is fast and surprisingly stable. The Rustly may still dominate the track...but it isn't far behind.

The lowered 1/12th WL makes a surprisingly capable on roader. I could always gear it to the moon and chase speeds...but for now it is plenty good enough as is for me.

So there's our current RC journey. Back in the day I had various cars. My best was an RC10T2. The funnest was a hopped up Frog.

Nice collection for sure.

How fast can they go?

Rustlers are fun. I had an original kit Rustler from the 90s and picked up 3 of the 4x4 models in the past two years.

Good family fun.

Thanks. They're really all cheap cars, but they work surprisingly well.

In MPH the littlest 1/18th does around fifteen, the next brushed 1/16 around eighteen, the 1/16th brushed around twenty four, the 1/12th brushless truck around twenty six, the 1/12 monster truck used to do around twenty, but in brushless form goes forty plus. The 1/14th brushed buggies are in the mid thirties, the 1/12 buggy tops out right around forty, and the 1/10th brushed cars are probably in the low to mid 30's. Offroad they actually tend to dominate due to being more stable, more forgiving, capable of higher corner speeds, and being able to easily take jumps flat out.

While the monster truck and street converted buggy hit around the same speeds, the monster truck is nearly uncontrollable due to the high center of gravity and small size.

They're all a good time. The Rustler is the undisputed king of our homemade outdoor track. The Desert Wolf is #2. That monster truck is also no slouch. The little brushed cars are slow, but fun. The brushed motored Amoril buggy and 1/14th WL are probably faster than the 1/10th cars in acceleration, but can't keep up in the corners. They're all a blast.

I was recently gifted an original RC10...and was tempted to get it up and running...but getting regularly wrecked at high speed by other RC cars I felt would be a poor life for it.

Nice. The 2wd Rustler is my jam. These 1/12 and 1/14th WLtoys/Rlaarlo/Amoril cars have been fun, too...and I appreciate their simplicity, ruggedness, and parts commonality.

This is the girlfriend's car in final form. I took it out on the street and checked what brushless speeds are on 2S. It is significantly faster than our other cars and is an absolute beast on the throttle...still pulling wheelies at around 20mph.
20230531_191647 by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr

It should top out just under 50mph. It's no joke. The boy and I were impressed at her throttle control. It's too much car for me