Modding A Hot Wheels Car Into A Radio Controlled Drift Weapon

Hot Wheels are some of the most popular diecast toy cars worldwide. The car bodies are faithful recreations of the real thing, though the models are mere stationary playthings. That wasn’t good enough for [Jakarta Diecast Project], who set about modifying a little BMW E30 M3 into an awesome radio-controlled drift car.

The build starts by disassembling the original car, and pulling out the original wheels. The baseplate is then modified to accept a new rear suspension and axle assembly. A small DC motor is mounted to the assembly to drive the rear wheels. A set of front steering knuckles are then installed up front, with their own suspension and hooked up to a tiny servo for steering. Everything’s controlled by a compact off-the-shelf RC receiver, which even features a gyro to help keep the tiny car straight under acceleration. The bodyshell is then stripped of paint, and given a sweet bodykit, before receiving a lurid orange paint job and decals. It’s reattached to the car’s baseplate via magnets, which make taking the car apart easy when service or modifications are required.

While the build doesn’t go into the nitty gritty on some of the harder parts, like the construction of the incredibly complex front knuckles, it’s nonetheless a great guide to building such a tiny and well-presented RC car. In looks and performance, the result trounces typical commercial offerings in the same scale, as you’d expect from such a hand-crafted masterpiece. It may not be the smallest RC car we’ve featured, but it is one of the coolest. Video after the break.

14 thoughts on “Modding A Hot Wheels Car Into A Radio Controlled Drift Weapon

      1. I almost never click video links but i’m glad i watched this one. Beautiful work, and nice editing. No annoying voiceover, no nagging to subscribe, just a clean presentation of good craftsmanship.

  1. I am old enough to really appreciate how amazing this all is.

    We are in a world where someone had the awesome idea to make a Hot Wheels car remote-controlled, and it was affordable enough that a “regular” (not super-wealthy) budget could handle it, and the information was shared free of charge on the World Wide Web.

    Think about that today.

  2. I was able to see this guys video when he first released it and it is super inspiring! The custom steering rack and servo was an excellent build. A work of genius imo. Great build.

  3. I watched the whole video too… As above old enough to remember servo and Rx sizes that’d dwarf the little car. Plus the ‘extras’ of giving the car some suspension… Neat build!!!

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