I got a new toy. It’s a 1/18th scale remote controlled car. An LDRC 1803 NA1 NSX, in silver (also offered in Red).
It is a rear-wheel drive drift chassis, rather than AWD like most of the popular smaller, drift cars; Kyosho Mini-Z, etc. Seemingly good RWD drift r/c cars have been the domain of the moneyed hobbyist and the artisanal builder, etc, but this here bad boy can be picked up around $50 shipped, ready to drive with remote and battery from AliExpress. A little more expensive from Amazon. Now the purist toy drifting experience is democratized to all.
This same basic chassis has been offered in different body styles over the last few years, incrementally improving along the way:
- AE86
- FC RX-7
- NA1 NSX
- R34 GT-R (also uniquely offered with a die-cast metal body, ooh lah lah)
- NA Miata
The first AE86 release became popular based on its good looks and the line’s continuing irresistible party-piece: remote controlled pop-up headlights.
They also all have working brake and reverse lights, and rear turn signals that activate during turns.
But that first AE86 basically didn’t drive good, had no built-in gyro. Etc, etc. Current cars ship with workable if wonky gyros (auto-counter steers during drifts, this is what makes drift r/c cars drift) The chassis are basically all plastic. Metal driveshafts, adjustable toe and camber.
As shipped they use a simplistic bent-paperclip-esque torsion bar setup for suspension spring. At least on my car, even with some adjustment the little torsion bar doesn’t seem to quite be able to handle the weight at the rear. But, never fear: vendors on AliExpress also sell these cute little baby 3d-printed purpose-fit coilovers.
You can install them yourself by painstakingly pressing out the very tight friction fit rods that secure the upper control arms in place with a variety of small sharp poking implements you collect from around your home, and then replacing them with the small selection of included metal ball ends. No problemo.
Spent some dialing in the most optimal, performant and well engineered alignment setup (eyeballing it based on vibes). Fair amount of toe out and negative camber on the fronts. Oddly the rear upper control arms seem short and trying to run close to 0 camber means they barely attach and wobble, so full stanced it is I guess, who am I to judge the rich subculture of intentional oversteer.
Remove the front inner-fenders for more steering angle.
Also I installed a standalone gyro, as it seems to be the weak link in the LDRC package. Dasmikro Mini v5, iirc, based on some youtuber boy suggestions.
Wait a second…okay to be honest I also bought another one, the FC, I got it from Amazon because they had next day shipping and I wanted to play around with it right away. I even added the black trim detailing by slicing tiny strips of electrical tape and got bits of dog hair in every crack and crevice before packing it back up and returning it once the NSX came in from AliExpress thanks Jeffy B.
Anyways it is fun to toot around, smooth, maybe a little too smooth tbh gotta dial in those gyro settings. Fun trying to go slower and sliding with brakes/coasting rather than just full power ken blocking it through every one. My dog was very excited by it at first and would bark and growl at it and stomp around till it got close enough for him to run away. A nice toy.
