The World's Fastest Off-the-Shelf RC Car Can Hit 100 MPH

By Douglas Perry
published

The Traxxas XO-1 is just 27 inches long, but draws from full-scale supercar technologies to hit speeds of 100 MPH.

It has four-wheel drive, a functional front splitter and a functional rear diffuser, right and left canards, air tunnels for cooling, a smooth underside to improve airflow, high-performance brakes as well as a rear wing to increase downforce.

The car will hit more than 50 MPH right out of the Box and can be tuned via included accessories as well as iPhone/Android app connectivity to hit 100 MPH. This pint-sized vehicle will accelerate from 0-60 MPH in 2.3 seconds and 0-100 MPH in 4.9 seconds. We were somewhat surprised to see that this is not a gas-powered, but an electric RC car. However, there are two massive 3-cell 5000 mAh batteries as well as a newly developed 1650 Kv motor.

The XO-1 will be available on December 30 with a suggested retail price of $1100. We have seen the car at some retailers for $1000 for preorders. If 100 MPH is not enough in a RC model, there are RC dragster that reportedly reach 140 MPH, but you may have to upgrade to jet-powered planes to go above that. Apparently some of those planes are reaching almost 400 MPH.

Douglas Perry

Douglas Perry is an author and journalist from Portland, Oregon. His many articles have appeared in the likes of Tom's Guide, Tom's Hardware, The Oregonian, and several newspapers. He has covered topics including security, hardware, and cars, and has written five books. In his spare time, he enjoys watching The Sopranos.

38 Comments Comment from the forums
  • crisan_tiberiu
    Gief ...
    Reply
  • theuniquegamer
    What 0 to 60 at 2.3sec faster than buggati veryon 16.4 suppersport and 0 to 100 under 4.9sec is faster than every thing else on road. How is the mpge(mpg equivalent for electric vehicles)? Is there any airbags? I want one of these.
    Reply
  • Pyree
    I hope I am shorter, like 25cm tall.
    Reply
  • cobra5000
    theuniquegamerWhat 0 to 60 at 2.3sec faster than buggati veryon 16.4 suppersport and 0 to 100 under 4.9sec is faster than every thing else on road. How is the mpge(mpg equivalent for electric vehicles)? Is there any airbags? I want one of these.xD Air bags, cup holder, power windows...Its got it all Bro!
    Reply
  • cdburner5911
    1650 Kv motor
    really? kilovolts? Am I getting my units wrong, or are you implying it has a 1.65 million volt motor? Perhaps try watts instead.
    Reply
  • Kv is not kilovolts. http://www.flyelectric.com/ans.kv.html
    Reply
  • "Perhaps try watts instead" - Are you KIDDING ? It couldn’t be 1,650 kW (1.65 MW; about 2,000 brake horsepower), either.

    We are also told (and this part is entirely reasonable) that it has batteries of 5000 mAh (5 amp-hour). 5 Ah at that voltage, would equate to a truly astonishing 8,250 kWh of energy.

    The required clearances for safety on a 1,650 kV (i.e. 1.65 million volt) supply when associated with non-trivial current / finite internal resistance, would be about 20 feet between each exposed connector. In Britain our highest overhead Supergrid voltage is 400 kV.

    The motor statistic cited is utter nonsense. However, it is entirely credible - and likely 0 that the motor could be 1,650 WATTS (about two brake horsepower). (1650 W).
    Reply
  • sbuckler
    I bet it also does 100 to 0, $1100 to 0, and 1 car to 1000 tiny pieces in 0.001 seconds - the first time you crash it into something solid.
    Reply
  • "Gas" or Nitromethane/Diesel mix RC cars have been able to hit 100+ MPH for years.

    In any case, if someone were to scale-up this thing up so that it could be driven it would probably be too heavy (mostly from the weight of the batteries) to achieve identical performance numbers. It would probably better off with a series-hybrid setup where an engine (a small diesel in this case) turns a generator/alternator and only the motor(s) drives the wheels. Diesel-electric trains and the BIG Komatsu dump trucks have used something similar, though scaled up, for years.

    (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel-electric_train#Diesel-electric )
    (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komatsu_960E )
    Reply
  • de5_Roy
    awesome (rc) car!
    Reply