If this is a 13 year old’s first hobby-grade RC car rather than their third, start here rather than jumping straight to brushless. The 124018 is quick enough to be genuinely fun, built from proper hobby components rather than toy-grade plastic, and the brushed motor is more forgiving if they’re still learning throttle control.

Best for: a teenager who’s had a cheap toy RC before but never a hobby-grade one, and whose parents want a lower-drama introduction. Watch out for: it will feel tame within a few months if they’re naturally competitive — treat it as a stepping stone rather than the end goal.

The smaller 1/14 scale keeps things manageable in a car park or driveway, but the brushless motor still gives a genuine 67km/h on the right surface. Drift tyres and tuning mean it’s more about controlled slides than flat-out straight-line speed, which is a useful skill-building step before something faster.

Best for: teenagers who’ve watched drift videos and want to try it themselves without the cost or fragility of a full-size drift rig. Watch out for: drift tyres wear differently to grip tyres and need replacing sooner — budget for spares as noted in our running-costs guide.

This is where things get interesting for a 13 year old who wants real brushless pace with a chassis that can take the hits that come with it. The metal construction is a sensible choice at this age — bashing on grass, gravel or a local car park is far more realistic than a smooth track, and the 4WD layout gives it stable, confidence-inspiring handling.

Best for: a teenager who wants one car that does rough-ground bashing well, with enough brushless punch to feel like a step up from the 124018. Watch out for: it’s still a rally-bred car, not a rock crawler — keep it off serious rocks and kerbs where the suspension geometry isn’t designed to work.

Mechanically identical to the red version above, just in a different colourway and currently a touch cheaper. The obvious use case is buying both so that a 13 year old and a sibling or friend can race the same car head-to-head, with radio frequencies that won’t clash.

Best for: households already considering the red XTS-P12 who want a second one for side-by-side races rather than a different spec. Watch out for: buying two of the same car means double the spares and battery costs — plan for that rather than being caught out later.

This is the one for a 13 year old who already has decent throttle control and wants serious bragging rights. Out of the box it’s quick; with a 3S LiPo it’s genuinely fast, up to 80km/h, which is firmly into “needs a big open space and close supervision” territory rather than a quiet back garden.

Best for: an experienced, sensible teenager with access to a large open area — a car park, field or purpose-built track — and ideally a parent happy to set ground rules on when the 3S battery comes out. Watch out for: at 80km/h, crashes are harder and more expensive than with the slower cars on this list — this isn’t the one to hand over unsupervised on day one.

Not every 13 year old wants flat-out speed, and this is worth including for that reason. The HILUX crawler trades top speed for crawling ability over rocks, roots and obstacles, demanding precision and patience rather than reflexes — a genuinely different skill set and a good option if speed isn’t the main draw.

Best for: a teenager who prefers building courses and problem-solving over racing, or as a second, complementary car alongside something faster. Watch out for: it’s the priciest car here and the slowest, so set expectations correctly if speed is what they’re actually after.