Post by Chris Sturhann on Dec 30, 2017 19:03:07 GMT
I stumbled on this last night. Wltoys A999 Proportional High Speed RC Racing Car might be a good option as a toy grade RC car. By the way, it's usually written as Wltoys, that's W L not W I/i. The key word here is proportional. The problem with most toy grade RC cars is control. You turn the wheel left, it turns all the way left. You go forward, it goes forward at full speed. Proportional control means you turn a little bit it turns a little bit. Push forward a little bit, it goes forward slowly. I honestly can't vouch for how good the proportional control is. It probably is not super precise from the video reviews I watched, but any proportional control is better than none. Another good feature is that it has 5 different speed settings on the controller, though I think they work on forward only not reverse. Also, in doing a google shopping search, and it looks like you can buy at least some replacement parts, which is unheard of in toy-grade RC. The body seems to attach with clips like a hobby-grade car, so it should be simple to remove the body and build on. That's the good.
Now, the not so good. I think all the sites I looked at are shipping from China. In a Amazon-Prime 2-day free shipping world, it's probably going to take 2 or 3 weeks to get to you. The price tends to vary pretty widely, from about $25 to almost $60. I would be careful with both what I pay and want to look at shipping estimates closely. The battery life seems to be pretty short, about 7 minutes, though in teapot racing, that should give you at least two practice runs and a full race run. It seems to come with separate USB charger and there is a charger built into the controller. It's small, 6" long by 3.75" wide by 2.5" tall. It seems to have plenty of power. The web says it will do 14 mph, but that doesn't mean that it's going to have enough power to still work with a bunch of crap attached to it. I'm assume it would be fine with a simple body and a plastic toy teapot, but I can't say how it's going to deal with more than that. Another variable I can't speak to is, how the lower speed settings will affect its ability to carry the weight of a teapot/decorations.
Pros
Low cost
Proportional control (though probably not real precise, still some is way better than none)
Different speed settings
At least some replacement parts if it breaks
Body attached with clips, easy to remove
Cons
Ships from China; probably take weeks to get here
Price varies widely
Short battery life, though it will charge from the controller
Small in size
Not sure how well it will do when you attach the weight of a teapot/decorations
I'm toying with ordering one. This is the best video review I could find. It spends more time on how it performs along with a similar model instead of just showing the person playing with it:
Now, the not so good. I think all the sites I looked at are shipping from China. In a Amazon-Prime 2-day free shipping world, it's probably going to take 2 or 3 weeks to get to you. The price tends to vary pretty widely, from about $25 to almost $60. I would be careful with both what I pay and want to look at shipping estimates closely. The battery life seems to be pretty short, about 7 minutes, though in teapot racing, that should give you at least two practice runs and a full race run. It seems to come with separate USB charger and there is a charger built into the controller. It's small, 6" long by 3.75" wide by 2.5" tall. It seems to have plenty of power. The web says it will do 14 mph, but that doesn't mean that it's going to have enough power to still work with a bunch of crap attached to it. I'm assume it would be fine with a simple body and a plastic toy teapot, but I can't say how it's going to deal with more than that. Another variable I can't speak to is, how the lower speed settings will affect its ability to carry the weight of a teapot/decorations.
Pros
Low cost
Proportional control (though probably not real precise, still some is way better than none)
Different speed settings
At least some replacement parts if it breaks
Body attached with clips, easy to remove
Cons
Ships from China; probably take weeks to get here
Price varies widely
Short battery life, though it will charge from the controller
Small in size
Not sure how well it will do when you attach the weight of a teapot/decorations
I'm toying with ordering one. This is the best video review I could find. It spends more time on how it performs along with a similar model instead of just showing the person playing with it: