7 best remote control cars for kids to fuel their fun

This really is a monster of a remote control car. The mega-wrex is 1:15 scale – can you imagine coming bumper-to-bumper with the real thing? Not only does it look menacing, it’s bigger than many of the other vehicles we tested. Our mini testers had never seen a remote control car like this before – the lights and sounds blew their minds and, of course, this led to the inevitable sibling squabbles.

Once they decided to take turns, we could actually explore what this truck is capable of. The mega-wrex has three modes: hunt, smasher and guard. Tap the impact sensor and the truck lights up and starts growling.

The boys loved putting the mega-wrex to the test in smasher mode, which sees the massive tires come into their own. Our poor ankles really felt the brute force of this truck. We also discovered that, despite its size, the truck can do stunts on its back wheels.

While this is one of the most expensive remote control cars on our list, it’s also the one with the most features. Plus, its battery life was decent and it felt really sturdy. However, we did have to leave the room at one point, when the noise from the kids and the truck became too overwhelming.

This monster truck is another fierce-looking remote control car that can perform epic stunts and withstand mega crashes. This beast of a truck comes with a dual joystick controller, which provides a range of 250ft.

The fact it is battery powered meant our mini testers could get going with it as soon as it was out of the box and they played with it until the batteries ran out (about 40 minutes). The truck worked equally well on the wooden floors and carpet in our house, and the brand says the truck is also suitable for driving on sand.

The truck is smaller and lighter than we were expecting but it was still agile enough to do tricks and stunts. The controller is a really neat size and is super easy to use. This is the perfect car for smaller homes, as it’s nippy and easy to pack away.

Barbie can head to the beach, work or back to her Dream House in this pink convertible, which can fit two full-sized dolls inside. At 40cm long, the car is a really good size and can go faster (8kph) than others we tested. It doesn’t do stunts but it’s easy to control with the remote and has front and rear lights.

Our boy testers aren’t particular fans of Barbie but we think this model would be hugely popular with Barbie collectors and could provide hours of imaginative play. The downside of this product is that it requires a lot of batteries and it doesn’t include a doll.

While these cars do require a lot of batteries (10, in fact) to get them up and running, once they’re ready, these are such good fun. The boys loved crashing them into each other and the fact the drivers eject themselves with fun sound effects made them even more enjoyable to play with. The cars are small but quite speedy at 3.7kph, and worked well on carpet and wooden floors.

We had a lot of fun with these but would say the quality isn’t as good as other remote control cars on this list – we found the flags on the back got bent quite quickly.

Obstacles? Walls? These are no issue with this remote control car, which can do 360-degree rotations and be driven on all kinds of terrain. This is one of the fastest cars (10kph) in our list but even if it crashes at that speed, it can easily restabilise itself and carry on.

The car comes with rechargeable batteries, which was a relief after all of the other batteries we had to buy for the products on this list. However, the drawback is it takes about an hour to charge the car but the batteries don’t last much longer than 15 minutes. While the brand says the car is suitable for the beach or park, the short battery life might leave children disappointed if you’re nowhere near a charge point.

However, our mini testers loved this car and there were whoops of delight as it went up walls and flipped over easily. Sgile says the recommended age range is 6-12 years but our five-year-olds had no issue using the controller and we think this car is designed to be driven a bit haphazardly anyway!

This is a really special remote control car – one that petrolheads will love to show off. With 834 pieces, it is aimed at children aged 10 and up – adult help was needed with construction during testing.

The Lego builder app helped us when we got a bit stuck – we’re not a family of engineers, so had a few stumbling points – but, once the car was built, we were very impressed with our handiwork and wanted to test out its speed. It’s not the fastest but that’s, perhaps, a good thing, as we couldn’t bear the thought of it breaking.

The car has some great features, such as opening doors and lights that turn on and off. Steering of the car can be handled via the Control+ app, which was easy to use, and the boys enjoyed seeing their stats.

The price of this remote control car means it really is one for enthusiasts but, as with all Lego products, it’s top quality and will stand the test of time.

This is a remote control car with an easy-to-grip controller, which will help toddlers feel a sense of independence. It’s aimed at children aged 18 months and over, and they will love pressing the button on the car to start the bright lights and police car sounds. The police car can also be played with on its own, and the police officer can be removed from the vehicle for extra imaginative play.

This car didn’t hold the interest of our five- and eight-year-old testers for too long but we know it’s something their younger cousins would love. Having said that, they did still manage to give it a good whizz around on our hard floors. The car is smooth-edged and the controller felt very age-appropriate.