Remote control “Drift” car – Wltoys 284131 for $76.49/£58.51/67,91€

The WLToys 284131 is a small remote control car with LED lighting that gets up to 30 km/h and drifts around corners with precise control.

• WLToys 284131
  • at Banggood for $76.49/£58.51/67,91€

The car is just 17.5 x 8 x 5.5 cm, which is the size of a smartphone (except that it is much thicker). It weighs 182 grams, which is mainly due to the metal base plate. The body is made of thin plastic, as usual, and is simply placed on the chassis and attached with four clamps. However, this also ensures quite a bit of robustness; rollovers usually do little to the fairing.

Underneath you will find the battery and the motor (brushed). The battery can be removed, but you can also simply charge it. A corresponding charging cable is included in the scope of delivery. To turn it on, you have to connect the battery to the motor (logically) and turn the car on by pressing a button. To turn it off, press and hold the button for a few seconds.

The many LEDs are also easy to see under the cover. They are particularly bright and shine strongly even in daylight, which again enhances the car’s look in use.

All in all, it all looks like a well-rounded affair. Experienced hobbyists, for whom this is not the first car, will perhaps be able to optimize things here. However, my impression is that it already drives very well.

A classic remote control is included for steering. By carefully operating the throttle lever, the speed can be controlled (there is not only “gas” or “no gas”), the same applies to the steering. What always slightly bothers me is that to change from forward to reverse, the car has to come to a complete stop (vice versa is not the case). Fortunately, since you probably drive forward 95% of the time, this rarely happens.

First test drive

We got the car from Banggood a while ago and could already play around with it a bit ourselves. The controls are convincing and work very precisely. We have not yet been able to exhaust the range of the remote control and did not have any problems. The “drifting”, which is advertised for the car, works very well, especially on slippery surfaces. During abrupt changes in direction, the rear of the car slides around the curve really nicely without losing control.

This is really fun, but it also takes up some space. While you can basically drive and drift well in the apartment (or in our office) (laminate floors), you can barely reach top speed without constantly hitting a wall. So to get the most out of the car, you should go outside. On asphalt, drifting is still sufficiently good and you have more space. On carpet, however, drifting hardly works, as expected.

Our assessment

Most of the RC cars we’ve had here so far are significantly larger and almost always designed for “off-road” somehow as well. That is not the case here, the WLToys 284131 needs a flat surface. Here, however, it convinces with its precise operation and pleasant handling. Make sure you have the right surface and enough space, mark out a course, and race to achieve the best time.