REMOTE control (RC) cars are a toy box favourite and it’s not hard to see why. With impressive top speeds, flips and tricks, kids (and sometimes adults) will enthusiastically careen these cars all around their homes and gardens, popping wheelies, racing up and down the halls and seeing just how fast they can go.
However, remote control cars aren’t just built for fun; the best RC vehicles will help children improve their hand-eye coordination, spatial awareness and dexterity.
The more robust RC cars are built for exploring and will encourage your child to adventure outside and experiment with their car over various terrains.
Plus, some RC cars are built for racing with others so you can add some more excitement to play dates too.
There are a lot of incredible remote control cars out there, aimed at a whole range of ages from bump-friendly toddler cars, all the way up to elite adult vehicles with replaceable parts and stunt-capability.
We’ve rounded up some of our favourites, from speedy, budget-friendly models to chunky all-terrain beasts.
Batman All-Terrain Batmobile Remote Control, £44.99 from Amazon
Pros: Waterproof, sturdy, compatible with Batman figures, fantastic range
Cons: Fiddly charge port
Rating: 5/5
The first thing that strikes you about this super-cool RC car is the enormous polystyrene wheels, which allow you to chase down villains over pretty much any terrain.
Grass and rocks were not a problem for this chunky car and it’s also waterproof, which means it can be used even on rainy days; our seven-year old tester loved whizzing this toy through muddy puddles.
This vehicle is charged via USB, which is a bit fiddly to locate, but saves you a whole load of batteries. The controller needs two AAA batteries, which last for a good play session and it’ll beep when you’re running low on juice or if your Batmobile is drifting out of range.
The Batmobile is also big enough to seat a batman figure, which adds another level of imaginative play, although he’s sold separately.
Age suitability: 4 years+; Charging: USB rechargeable, plus requires 2 x AAA batteries (not included); Scale: 1:15; Size: 34.29 x 25.4 x 25.4 cm; Driving range: 30.5m approx.
Hot Wheels Monster Truck Remote Control Unstoppable Tiger Shark, £53.59 from The Entertainer
Pros: All terrain, USB rechargeable, fantastic range, stunt capability
Cons: Not waterproof
Rating: 5/5
This scaled down monster truck is an absolute beast and it’s fair to say it’s one of the cooler looking toys on the list. The enormous wheels and ‘terrain stomp technology’ allow it to drive over any surface and absolutely tear about your home or garden.
Our six-year old tester needed a bit of guidance with the controls, but very soon started to try out some of the oh-so awesome stunts and tricks this car can do (wheelie mode is a lot of fun). It has a great range too and the fact that the car can be charged via USB is a massive plus, although you’ll still need a couple of AA batteries for the remote.
A charge lasts around 25 minutes, which isn’t too bad for such a powerful RC car.
Age suitability: 4 years+; Charging: car is USB rechargeable, remote requires 2 x AA batteries (not included); Scale: 1:15; Size: 21 x 40.75 x 21 cm; Driving range: 30.5m approx.
Bezgar LED Remote Control Double Sided Stunt Car, £24.99 from Amazon
Pros: Great stunt car, cool lights, rechargeable, well-priced
Cons: Frequent recharging
Rating: 4/5
Nippy and flippy, this awesome stunt car allows you to do 360-degree rotations and drifts. It’s easy to control, even for younger kids and the LED lights are a cool touch too.
For the price, we were pleasantly surprised with how robust this car was, it withstood lots of bashing into various walls (unfortunately, the skirting boards weren’t so lucky) and performed just as well outdoors as in.
The 2.4GHz remote control allows multiple remote control cars to race and battle at the same time too, which would be really fun. However a charge on this car only lasts around 15-20 minutes so prepare to plug it in a lot.
Age suitability: 6 years+; Charging: car requires 1 rechargeable Lithium Ion battery (included) and remote requires 2 x AA batteries (not included); Scale: NA; Size: 25 x 16 x 7 cm; Driving range: 18m approx.
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CMJ RC Aston Martin, £12 from Argos
Pros: Realistic look, bright headlights, affordable
Cons: Not chargeable, indoor-only
Rating: 4/5
Looking for a decent little race car, but don’t want to fork out? Strangely enough, an Aston Martin could be the answer. This gorgeous little Vantage is part of CMJs 1:24 replica range and there are plenty of models to choose from (Lamborghinis and Bugattis and McLarens, oh my!).
Additionally, the entire range is powered by 2.4GHz controllers, which means you stock up on a couple of different models and hold your very own mini supers race.
At only £12 this RC car feels remarkably well crafted and it lasted through a decent play session on its 5 AA batteries. We liked the plastic-free packaging too.
Age suitability: 6 years+; Charging: requires 3 x AA for car (not included) and 2 x AA for remote (not included); Scale: 1:24; Size: 18 x 8 x 5cm; Driving range: 25m approx.
Barbie Remote Control Convertible Dream Car, £40 from Argos
Pros: Compatible with 2 Barbie figures
Cons: Requires lots of batteries, indoor use only
Rating: 3/5
The Convertible Dream Car is a thing of party-pink beauty that is sure to delight any Barbie fan. Big enough to seat your two favourite dolls (not included) and with working headlamps, Barbie and her pals can cruise around Barbieland looking extra-cool.
The controls feature a little mini steering wheel which is simple and fun to use and the car drives well over hard floors and carpet. However, the car and its remote requires seven batteries in total and these do drain pretty quickly.
Age suitability: 3 years+; Charging: requires 5 x AA (not included) 2 x AAA (not included); Scale: NA; Size: 12.5 x 17.5 x 40cm; Driving range: 25m approx.
Porsche Mission E, £84.99 from Playmobil
Pros: Great quality, fun accessories,
Cons: Indoor only, goes through batteries quickly, expensive
Rating: 4/5
Our six-year old tester absolutely loved the fact that this Playmobil car comes with a tiny Porsche driver (complete with fancy watch and laptop, natch) and that there’s a little bit of construction to do before you play.
The handset is easy to use and controls steering, speed and lights. The car also comes with a plug-in EV charging column, which is very cute, but in reality it’s the seven AA batteries that really power this car.
The smaller wheels mean it is more suitable for indoor driving and it zips along hardwood floors and carpet. As you’d expect with any Playmobil toy, this RC car is incredibly well-crafted and feels built to last.
Age suitability: 5 years+; Charging: car comes with plug-in EV charging column and requires 4 x AAA for lights (not included) and 3 x AAA for remote (not included); Scale: NA; Size: 27.5 x 11.0 x 7.5cm; Driving range: 10m approx
Soka My First Remote Controlled Car, £14.99 from Amazon
Pros: Cool lights and music, easy to use, sturdy
Cons: Not rechargeable
Rating: 4/5
Made for bashing and crashing, this colourful little vehicle is a fantastic first remote control car for younger children. The steering-wheel-shaped controls are really easy to use with simple ‘forwards’ and ‘around’ arrow-buttons – our two-year old tester quickly picked it up and delighted in zooming about the place.
We were surprised by how speedily it dashed across hard floors and is fairly nimble on grass and carpet too. The lights and removable figure were a delightful addition and the music is amazingly un-annoying for a kids toy.
However, all the additional features do drain the batteries fairly quickly so you’ll need to stock up.
Age suitability: 18 months+; Charging: car requires 3 x AA batteries (not included) and remote requires 2 x AA batteries (not included); Scale: 1:24; Size: 17 x 15 x 11cm; Driving range: 10m approx
Monster Jam, Official Grave Digger Remote Control Monster Truck, £18.41 from Amazon
Pros: USB charging, charging ramp included, affordable, amazing range
Cons: Small
Rating: 4/5
This robust little car is a fantastic introduction to the world of RC vehicles. Our tester loved that this was a 1:64 replica of a real monster truck and the simple controls were a breeze to pick up even for young kids.
Despite its small size, the sturdy tyres meant that it could conquer even rough terrain. We were also amazed by the huge range on this car, which allowed you to drive and race along great distances, plus it has 2.4 GHz frequency, allows up to six Monster Jam trucks to race all at once.
Its tiny size might mean it has slightly less wow-factor, but it is very convenient for trips out and about.
Age suitability: 4 years+; Charging: car is USB rechargeable, remote requires 2 x AAA batteries (not included); Scale: 1:64; Size: 15.24 x 7.62 x 20.32 cm; Driving range: 76.2m approx.
RED5 RC Dune Buggy, £45 from Menkind
Pros: Four-wheel drive, fantastic range
Cons: Large vehicle, big kids only, frequent recharging
Rating: 3/5
Calling all petrolheads, this 1:10 scale dune buggy comes complete with four wheel drive, shock absorption and a seriously powerful motor for speed and impressive climbing skills.
In fact, the Environmental Protection TPR tyres are able to mount 45 degree slopes! We had a lot of fun testing out this spec-heavy buggy, although it took a little while to get a hang of the controls.
Our eight-year old tester loved driving this impressive vehicle, but he did need some guidance from grown ups (who were more than happy to step in!).
The buggy is chargeable by USB, and needs four AA batteries for the remote. We found that a full charge didn’t last quite as long as we’d like; around 15-20 mins.
Age suitability: 8 years+; Charging: USB rechargeable, plus remote requires 4 x AA batteries (not included); Scale; 1:10; Size: 45 x 27cm x 24 cm; Driving range; 35m approx.
Exost Xmoke LED Light Up Remote Control Car, £49.99 from The Entertainer
Pros: Cool smoke
Cons: Flimsy outer shell, not rechargeable, indoor only
Rating: 3/5
This car looks absolutely awesome. Add a bit of water to the underside of the car and you have a super-cool smoke effect, which looks fantastic with the red LED lights.
We loved how easy this RC car was to control and we found that it drove really well on hard floors, but slowed down a little on carpet and grass.
It needs 7 AA batteries to get going and these will last you for one play session. The actual body shell of the car is quite thin too and we were slightly worried about bashing it around too much.
Age suitability: 5 years+; Charging: car requires 5 x AA batteries (not included) and remote requires 2 x AA batteries (not included); Scale: NA; Size: 8.5 x 15 x 31cm; Driving range; 25m approx.
When testing these remote control cars we were looking at a wide-range of factors. We considered size, price, top speeds, durability, quality of build, how easy they were to control and what age range they’d be best suited to.
We also looked carefully at charging; how long a charge lasted (we were looking for more than a couple of laps around the garden), how many batteries they needed, if they were rechargeable and how fiddly it was to get these cars powered up and ready to roll.
We also considered the fun factor; could the car do tricks and flips, did it have any special features and – most importantly – did it create ear-splitting squeals of delight when we got it out the box?
When buying remote control cars for kids a great place to start is in toy stores such as Smyths Toys and The Entertainer.
You can also look at your child’s existing favourite toy brands such as Playmobil.
Large online retailers like Amazon and Argos are guaranteed to have a wide range of RC cars to choose from and specialist gadget shops like Menkind will have plenty of choice for big kids and adults alike.
A few different factors will affect the cost of your remote control car. Additional features such as four-wheel drive, extra power and suspension will all cost a little extra.
USB rechargeable cars tend to cost a little more (although this is definitely a functionality worth having) as can a well-known, reliable brand name.
We found cars from as little as £12 up to £200+ for larger cars with all the bells and whistles. However, you should be able to find a decent RC car for kids – that will last – from around £30-£50.
