Jeep Willys Transporter-6 in camouflage

Several times, people in the comments suggested I branch out from my usual review topics—power supplies and computers with TV boxes—and partly for that reason I agreed to review a product that’s very much outside my usual field: a radio-controlled car.
The second reason: well, how could a 45-year-old boy resist the temptation to race a remote-controlled car across the floor? :)
Warning: lots of images!


So, I was offered a toy, agreed, and received it some time later. But since I have practically no experience writing this kind of review, inspiration took a long time to arrive—for me and for the seller. Eventually, though, I got myself in the mood and decided to write it.

The toy arrived in a large box, but the only other packaging was a plastic bag, so the box was a little battered. The car inside was protected pretty well, though, so nothing was damaged at all.


This car comes in several versions. Most often, it has a solid-color finish in yellow, green, or blue.


I got the camouflage version. Scale: 1:10.


The package also included:
1. Remote control
2. Three batteries. Some listings include one or two; the price varies accordingly.
3. Charger
4. Screwdriver
5. Instructions.


The instructions aren’t anything special: pictures and a brief description. I didn’t see any Russian.


A compact charger that plugs into a USB port. The charging current is 200 mA, so charging the batteries will take a while. A basic Phillips screwdriver was also included.
I ordered the version with three batteries. They’re Ni-Cd, rated at 500 mAh, with a maximum discharge current of 5C.


I tested one of the batteries. After the first charge/discharge cycle, its capacity was 439 mAh; after the second, 476 mAh. I think another couple of cycles should bring it up to the claimed 500 mAh. Still, that’s a bit low for a battery this size (4×AA), so it’s probably better to order a version with 2–3 batteries.


I made a small mistake here: instead of setting the discharge current to 2.5 A (5C), I set it to 3 A (6C). At that setting, the battery delivered 319 mAh—not much.


The remote control.
It’s convenient in its own way, but for some reason I found it awkward that the steering wheel is on the right rather than the left.
The controls on top:
TH.trim — adjusts the speed controller’s neutral position. The adjustment is confirmed by a short beep; passing through zero is indicated by a long beep.
ST.trim — adjusts the steering servo’s neutral position. The beeps work the same way.
TH.D/R dial — adjusts the maximum speed, at least that’s how it works here. Since the car isn’t very fast, I’ll always leave it at maximum.
Power button.
Status LED: stays on when connected and flashes when there’s no connection.


The controls are intuitive: pull the trigger down and the car goes forward; push it up and it goes backward. Turn the steering wheel and the front wheels turn.
Powered by two AA batteries, not included.


I took the remote apart looking for something interesting, but there’s nothing much inside. The controls are proportional: both the steering angle and speed vary smoothly depending on how far you turn the steering wheel or pull the trigger.


A small circuit board with a couple of chips, and that’s about it.


And here’s the car. First impression: it’s big. Scale 1:10 isn’t all that large, though it is one of the most common scales. The original vehicle is 3335 mm long, so the model is about 333 mm long.
It definitely looks nice, though without any experience it’s hard for me to judge objectively.


The windshield can be folded down onto the hood. The solid-color version is also available with a canopy, but unfortunately this one doesn’t have it.


An axe is attached to the right side. You can remove it if you want, but it’s very awkward to do—the clips are tight.


There’s a shovel on the left. It can also be removed, and it’s just as awkward.


The spare wheel at the back is the same size as the other four. You can replace any of the installed wheels with it if you want. The tires are tubeless and moderately soft; you can take the wheel apart and replace just the tire.


The jerry can, on the other hand, comes off pretty easily. Looks like it had to be removed often while the car was driving itself over to me :)


It has headlights and turn signals, and they work. When the remote is paired with the car, the lights stay on continuously. When it isn't paired—for example, if the remote is switched off or the connection is lost—they flash rapidly in short bursts.
They’re pretty bright and genuinely light things up in the dark, rather than merely showing that they’re there.


There are also brake lights and tail lights at the rear, but they stay on continuously. Some of them are also partly obscured by the jerry can and spare tire.


The steering wheel and gearshift levers are fixed in place and are purely decorative.


The suspension seems a bit stiff to me, although it has enough travel to drive over a matchbox while keeping all four wheels in contact with the ground.


The car has four driven wheels, with a 4x4x2 wheel configuration. It has a ladder-frame chassis made from two U-shaped metal channels.


There’s no differential; the wheels are mounted on a single axle.


Leaf springs are used for suspension. Since the model isn’t very heavy, it bounces over obstacles, which doesn’t look very good.


The wires to the LEDs have extra protection in the form of rubber tubing, and overall, I think it’s put together neatly.


The front axle drive is almost identical in design to the rear one.


The only difference is that this axle steers, and the steering servo is mounted here.
The power switch and some kind of adjustment knob are also here. I never figured out what the knob does, since adjusting it doesn’t change anything.


The motor and gearbox are in the middle. One thing I noticed: the front axle drive sits slightly crooked on the gearbox shaft. I tried to straighten it, but couldn’t get it right.


The motor is small and not very powerful. There have also been complaints that the gearbox shaft gets too hot after a few minutes of driving. Overall, I’m not very impressed with the mechanics; it all looks a bit flimsy.

There are some holes near the front axle. It’s quite possible that a speaker was mounted there in some version, perhaps to simulate engine noise, but that’s just a guess—the spot really does look like it was meant for a speaker.


The battery is held in place with a small piece of hook-and-loop tape. It stays put firmly.


Initially, as a planned modification, I wanted to switch this little car to lithium batteries. I even bought an 8.4 V charger for it, and while I was at it, found that four 18650 batteries would fit easily under the hood.
Then I started having doubts. I’d either have to install a step-down converter, or risk the car’s mechanics not being able to handle the higher voltage and, consequently, the extra power. I’m also not sure it would be safe overall; the cadmium batteries don’t cause any problems in that respect.
So for now, I’m still wondering whether it’s worth doing.


A few driving tests.
But first I decided to measure the current draw. Based on that and the battery capacity, you can get a rough idea of how long the charge will last. To do this, I had to connect a multimeter in series with one of the power wires. By accident, I cut the wire to the car itself rather than the battery wire, which was what I’d originally intended :(


When stopped, the current draw is about 80–85 mA. If the car isn’t paired with the transmitter, it’s a little lower: 60–65 mA.
With a fully charged battery and the drive locked, the maximum current is about 3–3.2 A, but it drops fairly quickly as the battery voltage falls. Of course, there was also a voltage drop in the wires to the multimeter, so the actual current is slightly higher.


The multimeter test immediately yielded several results.
1. The driving dynamics barely change. Obviously, with an extra load of about 650 grams, acceleration is a little weaker, but it seemed to me that most of the drop in performance came from the extra resistance of the test leads between the battery and the car.
2. Over longer distances, the car tends to veer left, so I had to correct its course. The test was run over a distance of 11 m.
3. The turning radius when driving forward became noticeably larger; driving in reverse was unchanged.
4. Average current draw is about 800 mA, with a peak of around 1.5–1.7 A during acceleration.

Below is a current consumption graph recorded over 11 m: acceleration, driving, forced braking, driving the same distance in reverse, forced braking.

I also tried driving it with a load of about 800 g (a spool of solder) and without the multimeter. Again, the driving dynamics don't change much. It bounces less over obstacles, but the turning radius when driving forward increases. The latter may also be because the load was positioned over the rear axle.
I didn't measure the speed, but subjectively it was about 6 km/h. Based on an average current draw of roughly 1 A, covering 22 m with 2 braking events and 2 accelerations would give a calculated runtime of up to 30 minutes on one battery. But since capacity drops noticeably at high currents, I'd estimate 15–20 minutes, or a distance of up to 1.5–2 km. Driving around the apartment, I managed to fully discharge the battery. I'd estimate the distance covered at about 1 km, but the limited space meant I had to brake and accelerate frequently, which affects the result. When the battery gets critically low, the car loses connection and stops with its headlights flashing. Turning the controller off and on reconnects it, and it can drive around a little longer.


Some product reviews mentioned that the gearbox axle gets very hot after a few minutes of driving. I can't confirm that; in my opinion, the temperature is acceptable. After about 5 minutes of active driving, the overall temperature was around 40–42 degrees. If you bring it closer to your face, you can smell a faint odor from the motor brushes.


There's not much point in demonstrating how it drives on a smooth, level floor, since it handles that just fine. So instead, I'll show how it tackles an "obstacle course."

Two ceramic tiles. I could have stacked them a little higher, but there was already a chance the gearbox would start scraping against them.
One caveat: sometimes the car simply slips on the tiles. Otherwise, it climbs them just fine, but a lot depends on the battery charge; below 50%, it performs noticeably worse.


The same thing, but with a load of about 800 grams. It climbs just fine with a running start or when driving forward, but unfortunately it can't do it without a running start or in reverse.


Now let's scatter some obstacles on the floor: pieces of paneling and scraps of particleboard.
Without any extra load, it barely notices the obstacles, whether accelerating or turning around right on the pieces of wood.


With the load, of course, it has a harder time. It flies over them going forward or backward, but if it stops among the obstacles, it's likely to get stuck.


I planned to post a video of it "outdoors," but for various reasons (I messed up the file), I haven't managed to yet. If it's really necessary, I'll shoot it again.

In short, it's a decent toy. In more detail:
The car works, and works pretty well. The store has listings with 1, 2, or 3 batteries, but if you don't already have batteries like these, it's better to get at least two. Three should realistically be enough for about an hour of driving. Though it would probably be more cost-effective to buy a pack with better-quality batteries separately. Everything looks neat and is reasonably sturdy; the car has already crashed into walls, boxes, and table legs many times, and so far nothing has broken.
The mechanics are, well, very basic. The front axle drive is installed crooked, and for some reason I couldn't get it aligned properly. Still, it has enough pulling power. Some reviews said it barely moves on carpet, but that's not quite true. Maybe that person got a defective one. I tried it on a soft bedspread instead of carpet, and it drove just fine.
The controller is hard for me to judge. Personally, I don't find it very convenient, but I'm not used to controllers, so I often got confused while driving. The range is about 25 m in open space, and 10 m inside an apartment with reinforced-concrete walls in the way.
The batteries match their stated capacity, but the batteries themselves are nothing special. In my opinion, lithium batteries would be a much better fit here; I may convert it to that type of power source later.

That's all, and as always, I'd be glad to hear your comments—especially in this case, since this is a completely new topic for me. Though I doubt I'll pursue it further by ordering other similar toys, it may still be useful for broadening my horizons.