You can expect the average top speed of a hobby grade RC car to be around 35 mph. The following lists what factors affect top speed.
- Power system
- Battery
- Gearing
- Surface
- Wheels
- Aerodynamics
The average speed of an RC car has risen dramatically with the introduction of LiPo batteries and brushless motors. Before lithium batteries and brushless motors you had only one choice if you wanted to go fast, that was NITRO.
Today this is no longer the case as consistently all electric models outperform their nitro counterpart.
Next I will list 27 examples of how fast can RC cars go.
| Traxxas TRX-4 | 9 mph(15 km/h) |
| HPI Mini Recon | 15 mph(24km/h) |
| Traxxas Summit | 23 mph(32km/h) |
| Traxxas Stampede | 30 mph(48 km/h) |
| HPI Blitz | 30 mph(48km/h) |
| Traxxas Bigfoot | 30 mph(48km/h) |
| Traxxas Slash Brushed | 30 mph(48 km/h) |
| HPI E-Firestorm | 31 mph(50km/h) |
| Traxxas Rustler | 35 mph(56km/h) |
| Traxxas Bandit | 35 mph(56km/h) |
| HPI Bullet Flux | 39 mph(62km/h) |
| Traxxas T-Maxx Classic | 40 mph(64km/h) |
| HPI Trophy Truggy Flux | 42 mph(67km/h) |
| Losi ten-scte | 45 mph(72km/h) |
| Traxxas Revo 3.3 (Nitro) | 45 mph(72km/h) |
| Traxxas T-Maxx 3.3 | 45 mph(72km/h) |
| Losi 8IGHT-E | 50 mph(80 km/h) |
| ARRMA KRATON 4s | 55 mph(88 km/h) |
| ARRMA KRATON 8s | 55 mph(88 km/h) |
| HPI WR8 FLUX | 60 mph(97km/h) |
| ARRMA KRATON 6s | 61 mph(98 km/h) |
| HPI Savage Flux | 62 mph (100km/h) |
| HPI Vorza Flux | 64 mph (103km/h) |
| HPI Savage xs Flux | 65 mph(104km/h) |
| Traxxas Rustler VXL w/TSM | 70 mph(112km/h) |
| HPI E-Firestorm Flux | 77 mph(123 km/h) |
| Traxxas XO-1 | 100 mph (160km/h) |
You may wonder why some of them have a top speed of 100 mph and others top out at 30 mph. There are many factors that decide the speed of a model and I will explain them in the following paragraphs.
How Power System (ESC & Motor) Affects top speed
Power system has by far the biggest impact on top speed. More power = more speed. However more power does not always mean more speed if you can not put the power to the ground in a stable manner. Most often it is the high and short monster trucks that have this problem.
With the advent of brushless motors into the RC world many of the cars are so overpowered that the chassis can not handle the power. When using full power they either spin out or pop wheelies as shown in the video below.
Power systems are divided into 3 main categories.
Note: There is also gasoline but those cars are so rare and huge that I will not go into more detail about them.
We will take look at the same model with brushed, brushless motor and Nitro(glow) engine. This will illustrate how big of a difference it makes.
| Traxxas Rustler Brushed | Traxas Rustler Brushless | Traxxas Rustler Nitro | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top speed | 35 mph(56km/h) | 45 mph(72 km/h) 70mph(112km/h)* | 50 mph(80 km/h) |
| Battery | 7 cell NiMH(8.4v) | 7 cell NiMH(8.4v) | N/a |
*With optional gearing and 3S LiPo.
How Battery Impacts Top Speed
The second biggest factor in top speed is which battery is used.