'How To' Make a Cheap RC Car AWESOME! 

I dont know how many of your viewers appreciate all that extra film work and editing you do cause it feels so natural cutting from one cam to the next. Im sure they notice those cool camera angles you get on the cars. Yeah your racing footage is so far above everyone else. Most just use a Go Pro strapped to their head. Its nice to see somebody putting in the work to give us all a quality video. And thanks for the inspiration

My favourite small cheap RC! I have the first gen mini infraction version. It is about a year old. And nothing went wrong or broken on it except for power switch but it was an easy replace. A week ago it got oil filled aluminum shocks. Much better handling :D

Another great video Phil, i have to say that you have come such a long way since you started in your garage. Your videos have always been great but are even greater now 👌🏼 The time you put in to the hobby & your results are 💯 Always looking forward to your next video release, You are right up there with the best of the best Phil.

I love the small scale stuff. I used to race gt12 cars and I would spend a fortune only to run the car for around 45 Sundays a year and only 4 x min heats. Small stuff you can have loads of fun in your kitchen or living room and not spend a fortune

Toe in only adds stability in the rear, front toe out adds stability. It works the same in real and rc cars. It's pretty easy to conceptualize, if there is front toe in, as the car starts to roll, it has the effect of increasing the steering angle and making it more twitchy. If there is front toe out, it has the effect of decreasing the steering angle, and making it more stable. As with 4 wheel steering, everything needs to turn the opposite way in rear, so it is toe in for stability, and toe out for twitchy. Its pretty impressive, how big of a difference such a small change makes

The Mini looks super cool. Definitely my favourite!

Real original Mini my thumbs up

Thanks for diff info about loosing the screws. Helped me out with DBX 10 I just got.

Perhaps the problem is the nut behind the wheel. Toe in makes for more aggressive turn in. Helps to bring the rear-end out. In theory. You want just enough toe in, that when under acceleration the front wheels become parallel to the chassis.

I just received a brushless MINI a few days ago from banggood. It took over 2 weeks for delivery, but worth the wait. So far so good. Thanks for the tips Phil.

Some really useful tips especially the one about running straight! 👍

Love these things.

Thanks for the helpful tips. Might upgrade my electrics, and will definitely do the other mod and diffs. Nice one. ☺

That red mini is my fave. Great video, loads of fun and good tips 👍🏼

Awesome! I have 2 of those and will get the beetle and porsche soon... cool review and hints! Cheers mate!

Great review...thanks for sharing

I've been watching Top Gear since they starting airing here in America. I love how you show those guys love. Awesome video as always sir.

Your videos are coming along nicely.

I think as an indoor race series you could get some good racing in for not a huge layout. I think that is a lot of the thinking behind these cool little rc cars 😊

Beetle hand down. Lol 😂😂😂😂

That Beetle looks so nice. The onboard footage is amazing

Great comparison!

FANTASTICO...gran bel video... ciao dall'Italia

I like all the models but the beetle looks awesome.👍

Love your indoor circuit.great run video

Thankyou for doing this. Very much enjoyed it

Hahahaha TITT made me spit my sloppy Joe all over my phone, just wasn't prepared. Those cars so freaking awesome BTW.

Cool video Phil great editing 👌👍

Top tips 👍

The Top Gear outro at the end was great! Miss that show!

Saw your video oin the Mini truck when you released it and immediately bought one. I noted the "spare ones" were shorter and swapped them too. Not taken it outside and yet but the brushless is a little too fast for my kitchen. But it's a great addition to aesthetics whilst parked on the bread bin! Great videos, really informative , always like some ome budget friendly action. Its fine getting 65mph on a speed run but you need hte space. Since getting back into RC i have a special liking for the smaller scale. and a track record can't be sniffed at!

Bloody brilliant comparison between them 👍 great Rc's, obviously first time I've seen them 😁 great tip with the diffs and toe-in-out tip 😀 great to see you beat the record with the beatle 👍 really enjoyed every second of this Video as well mate 👍

I bought 2 "Beatle" body shell's a couple of months back. 1 for my Inferno TR15. I gave it bigger wheels and sand tyres. It looks mint. The other shell is on my wpl 144001, which also looks much better IMO. I don't know if it's just me noticing more but the Beatle shell seems to be popular atm. Great vids keep em coming Bro 👍🏻

love this video and love the udi! i've got the focus but the mini body is on its way in the mail :) thank u phil for the tutorial on the diffs helped a ton

I have the 1608, I did a few videos on it. It’s pretty cool!

Thanks for the tips! I love my Herbie

Toe out really helps stability. Had my custom 2wd WPL Prerunner on gyro and at toe in it wiggles at higher speeds (gyro fighting the uncontrolled steering) 😅

With toe, it depends if it's on the front or rear. On the rear a small amount of to-in will make the rear more stable and prevent snap out oversteer On the front a little toe-out with make the front more stable and prevent it from darting around randomly tracking left or right. So yes what you've done makes sense on making it more stable and easier to control 👍 I actually once on a 1/18 rc made my own toe out mod by drilling a hole in one of my steering hub arms next to the other one where you connect the steering arm in order to give it some toe out and yes, it worked 🤣

The beetle looks ace but i like the pick up and i bet it looks ace with the lights in the red setting

Another great video... best channel

Morning Tomley! Nice little cars quick enough! I need about 5 of those servos lol

Great tips!!! My Porsche is super twitchy! I’ll have to try these tricks!

I purchased cheap rc. I usually do. Indeed. I've got mostly 5 wire. But I upgraded to 3 wires. I can't wait. I'm excited. I have a couple of spots to run.

Nice tips man 😊👍🛻

Pretty amazing little cars, Phil! 😃 The mod makes a lot of sense! And it's definitely worth it! Anyway, stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

Killer, waiting to get a bug as the dam Losi micro Baja was the rc that got me started (as an adult) great tips on the free mods.

With front toe!!! (toe-in) make the car track straight (lock-in) and usually make the car easier to drive but you have less total control and less initial steering. So if you have play (from - weak servo/servo saver or in the links) with (toe-in) the car will be darty and you have less control of initial steering. it would be harder to keep it straight. Vs front toe-out, you gain a bunch of control and speed over the initial steering (makes a slow servo faster). Usually harder to drive but you have more control of the inputs (less restrictive)(more manual). So you have more ability to stop a car from wandering or darting off.

I have a very similar battery solder iron and its great!

Hey Phil really love your channel. Hope it’s not a big ask but could you do a similar ish upgrade video for the FTX Ravine if possible and maybe splitting the ESC/receiver block idk. I really like ur channel :)

I have both mini's the pickup I'm going to upgrade to the max but the other mini apart from doing the diffs which is a must I'm only going to change the ESC and receiver so I can run it on my noble v4 controller.

What a cool pair of cars - and what excellent advice you give on how to set them up - many people would hesitate to go against the received wisdom which states that toe-in promotes high-speed stability. I was also grateful for the detail in your explanation of how to extract the diff assembly and slacken it off. I admire your drifting greatly.

I like the mini truck lol

very nice, i like those drift RC's

chassis looks identical to 4DRC "sniper" I'd just picked up fairly cheap. seems they went a little overboard strong/heavy with the rear coils, with the clip/collars removed the fronts feel good, with the rears removed its still feels too stiff. edit- found I had appropriate rear springs only slightly stiffer than fronts without clips on. it'll allow a little body+chassis roll for weight transfer+traction when cornering.

The red mini is the way I'd go. But they all look good. I also just got a new 1/14 in. I'm about to take it out again. My dog chases them, lol.

I bought a brushless sg1604 on flash sale and it was awful. Even after adjusting and greasing the diffs and steering links it cogged and lagged horribly. Since I can't leave well enough alone I changed out the motor, esc, oil shocks, and put in metal diffs. It's now one of my favorite little cars. Surprisingly the metal diffs made a huge difference in handling.

Herby all the best👊🏻👍🏻

Favouritetist 😄 awesome little cars,same with the scx24's probably need them all😄😄👍👍👍

Nice video, as usual! Ever thought of a low, "barrier cam", type shots? I bet you could catch some nice shots at the end of the long turn farthest from the wall. Keeping RC versus expensive camera pov shots from happening would be my problem driving! Just a thought. Keep on keeping on bud!!!

your gonna have to race Kev on your track with your choice of car just to make it even 😃😃 great video as always you guys are costing me a fortune 🤣🤣

Awww, they're cute little guys! lol

The 5 wire servo plug from the brushed version is smaller than the plug from wltoys but the servo itself fits.✌️😉

Great info, your videos just get better, mate! But, oh, the Tomley Indoor Test Track!!!! T!TT!!!! Nearly spat my tea out! Cheers, Phil, made my day!

The pioneer! THE PIONEER!

Dont race for rc pink slips when you race kev, you will lose Lol 😂😂😜. Just have fun when you do race him!! Keep up the good work your doing great' look forward😜👏👏👍 to your next vid

Uouuu tenho o Fusca adorei 🙌

Nice filming mon brave! 😍

I really like your channel, greetings from Mexico City

The Beatles looks great 👍.

Wagwan tomley, I made a video like this not long ago on my rc channel, bluewolf rc, these aren’t great stock, I’d say metal diffs are definitely needed, upgraded servo and and the dumbo with a gyro are awesome too

The sg1604 and the UD1607 are the best looking shells.

Not bad, they seem really slick on carpet, but they are meant for drift rigt? So that makes sense, I would put some bearings in the hubs if they have bushings and no bearings, I just got a little 1/18th car and am modding the heck out of it! I got a brushless motor, new servo, oil shocks, bearings and I would like to get 3 s lipo and new tires! Good video Tomley!

Wire management, LOL oh yeah it looked 727 to me. I love these little cars. Still have the one with the CEN Fiat body on it. Really like the Mini Cooper truck.

Make an 53 Herbie version, you know you really want to 😜 that be awesome to see, make it brushless too,🤪🤪 Herbie rides again, rc style 😉😁👍

Reminds my of Herbie the love bug!

I would find it interesting how the wltoys would do with similar upgrades

lol the TITT track gave me giggles.

Check out the 1RC Racing 1/18 RTR racing cars. You may like those for the TITT.

Newer to the hobby and i think I've found a diamond in the ruff thats almost awesome. A "power Craze 2.0" Its a micro/mini rc truck that i clocked doing 15mph it's rated at 17mph it doesn't list the size its = to half of a dvd case fits in my hand. I would love to upgrade it a little a video on it would be nice.. best part its a $15usd truck at Walmart

Hello! Excellent video, camera work and information on the cars. Could you please tell where you purchased the heat sink for the brushed motor and which one it was? I purchased one for UDIRC 1604 and it did not fit. Thank you!

Since owning the UDI I've never liked the none adjustability of the toe links and solid top arms instead of camber links.

Your informasi is good and complte

Sir tomly... I must know. When you say a out the servo working for the WPLs, the 16th scales.. That blue truck.. next to the yellow one. Please tell me what it is. Mainly. The tires on the blue one. I gotta know.. lol

can you do the diff fix on the brushless 1607 Porsche model version aswell?

On cars that have the same track width front and rear put them on the side and put a ruler across the top two wheels, since the lower two will be in parallel on the ground you can see your toe in toe out on the top two wheels.

Muy buenos dias Amigo como estas , bonitos los autos , perfectos para lugares pequeños , el precio esta bien , gracias por el video saludos

Nice mate!! Hey in your opinion wich servo Is better? This one or the surpass 17g metalic ones?

Get a carisma gt24 . I bet that would be amazing around your track

Hi mate just joined your channel I'm loving the mini and the mini pickup could you please let me know were you got them from just love minis. Mike

Is it the tightness of the screws clamping down on the diffs that’s making them so stiff then or a lack of grease?

seems like a good little rc!!!!!!!! now make it 50mph HAHAHHAAH jojkjkjjj it seems super fun how it is now

Do you have a video describing the parts you use to make your tracks?

Funky little cars Phil 👍 . I like the Mini pick up body style ( p.s it's not a van lol 😆) . Now if it was a Mini van body then yes please

They look like good fun Tomley. Not sure which one I like more, Beetle or Mini.

I ordered the brushless “not a VW Bug” What esc would you recommend if I wanted to run my own rx/tx?

What esc would you use for the brushless version if you were doing the same conversion?

Favoritists rc cars 😂

How do you get the screws out of the links when swapping them over ?

Hey. Watched your previous vid on loosening the diffs. Must admit that in 3-4 years of RC’ing, I did not know that the screws could actually lock the diff. I can now apply this knowledge to all my plastic housed diffs. Thanks, very useful. I have watched alot of reviews of these cars, and I got both the EAT Lancia and the SG Cobra/Mustang in brushless. The biggest problem for me is the suspension friction dampers, which probably have more friction than the stock diffs. It’s not like a standard friction damper, cause these ones really don’t work. They lock themselves in travel and are too hard in the springs. Furthermore, the body catches the tires under compression, which can’t be adjusted on the SG. The servo horn on the brushless 3-wire servos has a knob on the underside, that touches the chassis around neutral steering position. This, and the fact that the servo is too weak, means that steering will never return to center, unless you are on power, dead straight on a level surface. Of my 15 cars, these require the highest skill level to drive outdoors. Still fun though💪 And then there’s the cogging. You basically have throttle up sooner and keep the speed above a certain point to avoid it. This is the brushless versions. The ESP is not fast enough and makes things worse. The dual rate on the steering had to be dialed down to 8 o’clock to match the mechanical end points. Which makes dual rate unusable for anything other than preventing the servo of dying early. New oildampers is a must. New servo is a must. Servo horn mod is a must. Stiffening the spring in the servosaver is a help. Raising the Body or modifying the wheel arches is required. And then the diffs are locked so either buy alot of wheels or loosen the screws. To make the brushless car even better just change all the electronics😂 Did I mention that the tires have not been glued probably from the factory. One offroad session and the hole inside the rim, filled the tires with dirt. Luckily, the poorly glued tires allowed me to empty them😩 I’ve closed the inside hole and glued the tires afterwards. Do it before offroading, I lost my temper several times, trying to get the debris out😵 Debris also enter the closed off spur and pinion gear quite often. 5 screws to get in, after you’ve fumbled the 4 extremely tight body clips🙏 I like the cars, they’re really durable so far and the body is pretty tough. They look great and the size makes them easy to bring whereever. And they are dirt cheap. But they do require alot of love.

hi .. I thought these car got planetary differential from the factory. if it is.. the same rotation for the wheel when you spin either one of it should be normal in planetary diff right ? please correct me if I'm wrong.