A radio-controlled rally car is only as good as it is fun. After all, what good is bashing a miniature version of a dream machine through its preferred terrain if it’s not enjoyable? For years the good options were pretty pricey, and now Rlaarlo thinks they can change that formula with the new XTS-P12. It has promising specs mated to a value-driven price, which leaves the important question: Is it fun? In short: Yes, enormously so. But it’s a little more complicated than that.
Right off the bat there’s a lot to like about the XTS-P12, though the name isn’t one of them. Still, it looks very much the part of a rally car. It’s good on paper, too: There’s a 2845-3600KV brushless motor and 45A ESC, 11kg waterproof servo, 3-cell 2200 mah battery, aluminum chassis, metal shocks (with adjustable ride height), all-metal differentials for the full-time 4WD, and front skid plate with foam bumper. The provided battery is an 11.1V 2200mah 3S LiPo with an XT60 connector, which helps motivate the car to what Rlaarlo says are top speeds of 50-80 km/h (31-49.7 MPH) in low and high gears. The price of entry is a palatable $189.99 (which is the sale price as of this writing; the usual MSRP is $249.99).
The XTS-P12 is a fully ready-to-run product and our test unit arrived with everything needed to get rallying, starting with the car and transmitter, a battery and corresponding USB charger, plus a battery for the transmitter and a USB charger for that as well. There’s also some tools and replacement parts, the latter which we thankfully haven’t had to use yet. We did use the provided tools (and our own set of hobby tools) to verify the tightness of screws, and found a few cosmetic body-related screws slightly loose, but crucially everything mechanical was screwed down properly from the manufacturer.
Car on desk, it was time to “install” the stickers. This was very much a choose-your-own-adventure ordeal, and we think the car looks great all liveried up. The “RRC” in WRC font is a neat hat-tip, and the tires feel grippy but still firm enough to let you know they’ll be good for sliding. Overall, we’re fans of how the XTS-P12 looks. That said, we’re not big fans of the transmitter which feels somewhat cheap in hand— there have to be concessions somewhere at this price point– and the body clips that we initially liked for their simplicity proved quite frustrating after the first use.
Speaking of the first run, once the wires are plugged in for the lights and both transmitter and car powered on, we hit the outdoors for a proper test. Fan whirring like the car is going to take off (my wife’s words), we toggled the speed controller to its lowest mode and set off. This limits throttle to 50% which, as it turns out, is more than enough for most. Even at half speed, this thing absolutely rips; some YouTubers are measuring 33 MPH at the 50% rate. It will slide with ease, but this isn’t even cresting the P12’s performance. This is not a vehicle for indoor use, unless you have access to an indoor skatepark, parking garage, or similarly massive space. Even knowing this is 50%, it doesn’t prepare you for what happens when the car is fully unleashed.
Stickers stating “Tear Up The Dirt” are aplenty in the car’s RTR kit, and that alludes heavily to its strengths once you turn up the wick. Toggling from 50% to 75% throttle brings it from “amateur hour” to “just manageable,” and the car will happily slide all over the place, sometimes uncontrollably, leaving the operator laughing hysterically as they try to keep it in check. To actually do so, it helps to turn on the gyroscope. This keeps– or at least tries to keep– the nose of the car pointed in the intended direction of travel. We suspect most will need to run the car with the gyro on to extract the maximum performance from it, and with more available throttle comes even more need for the on-board stabilizer.
At 100% available speed, even experienced RC drivers will have a hell of a time keeping the XTS-P12 in a straight line. It doesn’t just rip; with all of its potential unrestrained, the Rlaarlo almost wants to jump out of its own skin. Especially from a launch of when flooring the accelerator at low speeds, this car freaking flies, the rally car body thankfully not creating any lift; any different, and it would literally take flight. Rlaarlo says it’ll do 80 KM/H, or just a hair shy of 50 MPH, though that is unconfirmed; JayTee RC only managed 43 MPH in his test, but at that speed– and given how this thing is meant to be driven– it makes little difference. Even real WRC cars aren’t meant for outright top speed, especially when it comes to how big your smile is when ripping around a given space.
Chuck it into a turn on even a paved surface and the car has so much power that it will slide wildly with the flick of the steering, sending massive dirt roosts flying behind it just as a full-size rally car would. For more control, the aforementioned Gyro– activated by pressing and holding the transmitter button– will help reel things in, and it’s almost necessary when running the car at its 100% setting. Consider it a traction or stability control-esque function, but instead of squashing the fun it allows for more than enough slip angle (you can still easily do donuts with it enabled). Set up a rally course to run the car through and you definitely want the Gyro on; in other uses, you can leave it off and let the XTS-P12 go about its thing, hilariously spinning and drifting in your own little Gymkhana episode.
Needless to say, piloting the Rlaarlo rally car is endlessly fun. Trying to perfect a slide or rotate around a point is almost addicting. With every passing minute, even when you think you’re just getting the hang of things, the XTS-P12 surprises you with enough power to spin out of control or catch a firm section of grass and absolutely rocket away, skipping and hopping over uneven terrain. This is peak RC fun so long as you stay on dirt, gravel, or a paved surface; ground clearance isn’t much here, so even short grass can bring it to a stop. Yet when the land allows, this Rlaarlo machine is a blast.
We do have a few minor qualms. Fender liners would be hugely appreciated, as anything and everything you drive through gets sent up into the body and onto the motor, electronics, and so on. Additionally, while the stock tires are plenty good, chunks break off the outside of the tread quite easily when the car is pushed to the limit. Additionally, something about the gearing for reverse just isn’t right; at the 50% position the car barely wants to move backwards, and when at 100% it still moves much more slowly than in forward.
The lingering concern is durability, with the caveat that our test car came as a very early production (and possibly late pre-production) unit. That is to say, take the following issues with a grain of salt. As for what went wrong, we noticed after the third time out that some components once glued to the tray were coming undone. This is an easy enough fix, albeit one we think shouldn’t be needed on a production model. However, a few runs later something broke in the car’s drivetrain rendering motion in forward or reverse no longer possible. We disassembled the car and found the motor’s spur gear to be stripped to smithereens, which is thankfully not much of a major problem at all. We have alerted Rlaarlo as to the problem at hand and again chalk this up to what is probably an early-production woe.
Issues not notwithstanding, we do like this Rlaarlo RC quite a lot. Watching the XTS-P12 rip around at the control of your hand is plain old fun, and the newfangled tech like the gyro make it all that much more approachable and controllable for those who haven’t driven a high-power radio-controlled vehicle before. With the headlights shining up front and fake orange exhaust glowing out back, the XTS-P12’s imitation of the deal thing is quite convincing, and better yet it’s a joy to interact with when the tires are on tarmac (or dirt, or grass) and your hand on the remote. Minor worries aside, Rlaarlo did very well with this 1/12 scale RC car, and we can’t wait to see what they concoct next.
Yay
- Extremely fast out of the box
- Slides beautifully on any surface
- Performance punches well above the price point
- Gyro allows for variety of skill levels to enjoy the drive
Nay
- Broken spur gear possibly warns of sub-par durability
- Body clips more frustrating than is ideal
- No fender liners
- Going through tires might be a regular occurrence
The Takeaway
Rlaarlo goes for gold by building a budget rally basher and succeeds on almost all fronts. The XTS-P12 is fast, exciting, reasonably realistic, and relatively affordable. Though the toughness of our early-run test unit was somewhat lacking, the XTS-P12 otherwise put a huge smile on our face and we don’t doubt it’ll do the same for those who choose to give it a shot. Nicely done.