Micro and mini RC cars
Mini RC cars give you the whole hobby in a fraction of the space. No garden, no bash spot, no waiting for dry weather — a 1/28th scale racer needs about as much room as a coffee table, and a 1/24th buggy will happily take on a gravel driveway. They are cheaper to buy, cheaper to run and far easier to store than a 1/10th scale car, which is why they have become the most popular way into radio control for adults and kids alike.
This page covers what “mini” actually means in RC terms, which ranges are worth your money at every budget, and where the sweet spots are — from £35 pocket-money drifters up to the Kyosho Mini-Z machines that people race competitively.
Our recommendations
If you would rather just be told what to buy, these are the ones we would pick.
- Best new arrival
HPI Stage-D24 2024 Toyota GR Supra Prominence Red 1:24 RWD Drift RTR
Proper rear-wheel-drive drifting, a licensed Supra shell and ready to run out of the box. The most fun per pound in mini RC right now.
£119.99
- Best under £50
WLtoys K989 2.4G RC mini drift car
The car most people start with, and for good reason. Cheap enough not to worry about, quick enough to keep you interested.
£36.99
- Best value step up
Team Associated Rc28 Zoom
Racing-brand engineering at mini scale, with a real hop-up path behind it. The obvious move if you have outgrown a sub-£50 car.
£59.99
- Best mini truck
Team Associated Rc28t Zoom
The Zoom chassis under stadium-truck bodywork. More forgiving over bumps than the buggy, and the one to pick if your floors are not billiard-table smooth.
£59.99
- Best first Mini-Z
Kyosho First Mini-Z 1:28 Nissan Gt-R R35 Silver
The cheapest way into genuine Kyosho quality, pre-built and ready to run. A sensible gift that will not be outgrown in a month.
£44.99
- Best for racing
Kyosho Mini-Z MR04 RWD Porsche 911 GT3 RS Silver (N-Rm/Kt531p)
The competition chassis. Deep adjustability, huge body selection and the best spares support of any mini car we sell.
£189.99
- Best for outdoors
Maverick Scout-24 Flux 1/24 Brushless RTR Rock Crawler
Brushless power in a 1/24th crawler. If your running is driveways, gravel and garden rather than carpet, start here.
£129.99
What counts as a mini RC car?
There is no official cut-off, but in practice anything from 1/24th scale downwards is treated as mini or micro. The scale is the ratio to the real vehicle, so a bigger bottom number means a smaller car.
| Scale | Rough length | Best for | Browse |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1/24th | 18–20cm | Garden bashing, driveways, hard indoor floors. Enough size to cope with rough ground. | 1/24th scale RC cars |
| 1/28th | 13–16cm | Indoor racing and drifting, carpet tracks, desks and kitchen floors. The classic Mini-Z size. | 1/28th scale RC cars |
| 1/64th | Under 8cm | Desktop novelty running and collecting. Smooth surfaces only. | 1/64th micro RC cars |
If you are buying for indoor use, 1/28th is the size to aim for. It is small enough to run in a hallway and it is the scale with by far the deepest choice of cars, spares and hop-ups.
Just in: HPI Stage-D24 1:24 drift
The newest arrival in mini drifting, and the one we would point most people towards right now. The HPI Stage-D24 is a 1:24 scale rear-wheel-drive drift car supplied ready to run. Rear-wheel drive is what separates a real drift car from a toy that slides — you control the angle with the throttle rather than hoping for the best. At 1:24 it is slightly larger than a Mini-Z, which makes it more stable on real-world indoor surfaces, and the licensed 2024 Toyota GR Supra shell is a genuinely good-looking thing.
HPI Stage-D24 2024 Toyota GR Supra — Prominence Red
Ready-to-run 1:24 rear-wheel-drive drift car with a licensed GR Supra body. The pick of the range if you want to drift indoors without spending Mini-Z AWD money.
£119.99
Also available in Metallic Dawn Blue:
Browse the rest of our RC drift cars if you want to compare.
Cheap mini RC cars under £50
You do not need to spend much to get something genuinely fun. The budget end of the mini market is dominated by WL Toys, whose 284-series cars have a real following because they are cheap enough to treat as disposable but quick enough to be worth driving.
The honest trade-off at this price is parts support. If you break something unusual you may be waiting, or replacing the whole car. Spend more and that changes completely.
Kyosho Mini-Z — the benchmark for mini RC
The Kyosho Mini-Z is the reason 1/28th scale is taken seriously. It has been in production for over twenty years, there are national race series built around it, and the parts and tuning support is better than most full-size chassis. If you want a mini car you can keep improving rather than replace, this is the range.
First Mini-Z — the entry point
Kyosho’s First Mini-Z line is a pre-built, ready-to-run version aimed at newcomers, and it is the cheapest way into genuine Mini-Z quality. Prices start around £44.99, with the Toyota AE86 Sprinter Trueno and Shelby Cobra bodies in the high £40s. Licensed Initial D versions are available too.
Mini-Z MR-03 and MR-04 RWD — the racers
This is the competition chassis. Rear-wheel drive, proper adjustability, and the body selection that made the range famous — Le Mans prototypes, GT3 cars and touring cars. Most MR-03 and MR-04 readysets sit between £190 and £215. Chassis-only sets are available if you already have electronics.
Mini-Z AWD MA-020 — rally and drift
All-wheel drive makes the MA-020 the pick for drifting and for loose surfaces. The body list leans heavily Japanese — Skyline GT-R, Corolla Levin AE86, Fairlady 240Z, Impreza WRC — and prices run from about £212.99.
Mini-Z 4x4 MX-01 — scale crawling in miniature
A genuinely different thing: proper 4x4 trail trucks at Mini-Z size, with licensed bodies including the Land Rover Defender, Jeep Wrangler Rubicon and Toyota Land Cruiser. From around £236.99. These will crawl over things in a living room that no other mini car will touch.
Mini-Z Buggy MB-010
For off-road racing, the MB-010 Readyset 4WD Turbo Optima Mid brings Kyosho’s buggy heritage down to 1/28th, from about £203.99.
Team Associated — the 1/28th range
Team Associated is one of the most decorated names in RC racing, and its 1/28th range brings that engineering to mini scale. It sits in an interesting gap — considerably better built than the sub-£50 cars, but a long way short of Mini-Z money. Every ready-to-run car in the range is £59.99, so the choice is purely about what you want to drive.
Zoom buggy and truck
The two Zoom models share a chassis. The RC28 is the buggy; the RC28T is the stadium truck version, running taller bodywork and a different wing — more forgiving over bumps and a bit more planted on loose surfaces.
Qualifier Series trucks
The Qualifier Series covers the truck end of the range — a monster truck and two short course liveries, all at 1/28th and all ready to run.
RC28R Team Kit — the serious one
If you want to race rather than bash, the RC28R Team Kit is the full factory-team build, supplied with a RadBody Mako X shell and wheels and tyres.
The other reason to look at this range is the hop-up support. We stock a good depth of RC28R factory team parts — aluminium pinion gear sets, wheel sets, titanium axles and carbon fibre braces — so any of these cars can be developed rather than outgrown. That is unusual at this price.
HPI Nano-TTR — licensed classics at 1/28th
HPI’s Nano-TTR is a 1/28th touring car with a strong line in licensed classics — the 1989 M3 E30 Ravaglia, the 1987 M3 E30 Warsteiner, the BMW 2002 Turbo and the 1969 Ford Mustang RTR-X. Ready-to-run cars are £59.99 to £63.99.
Car-only versions from £39.99
Every body is also sold car only, without a transmitter. If you already own a compatible controller this is much the cheaper way to build a grid — and a second car is what makes a Nano-TTR worth owning, because you can actually race them against each other.
Spare painted and unpainted body sets are available too, from £14.99 on the HPI brand page, so you can change livery without buying another chassis.
Maverick Microbe — 1/24th off-road
If you want mini scale but you want to run outdoors, Maverick’s 1/24th range is built for it. The brushless Flux versions are a substantial step up in speed and motor life.
How much should you spend?
| Budget | What you get | Look at |
|---|---|---|
| Under £50 | A complete, genuinely fun car. Limited parts support, basic electronics. | WL Toys 284-series, Veko Mini SC, First Mini-Z |
| £50–£100 | Better build quality and real hop-up paths. The value sweet spot. | Team Associated RC28/RC28T/SC28/MT28, HPI Nano-TTR, Maverick Microbe |
| £100–£150 | Brushless power or licensed, purpose-built chassis. | HPI Stage-D24, Maverick Microbe Flux, Scout-24 Flux |
| £150+ | Competition-grade chassis with deep tuning and spares support. | Kyosho Mini-Z MR-03, MR-04, AWD MA-020, MX-01 4x4 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about choosing and running a mini RC car.
What is the best scale for indoor RC?
Are mini RC cars suitable for children?
Can you drift with a mini RC car?
What is the difference between RTR and a kit?
Do mini RC cars need special batteries?
What surface should I run on?
Browse mini and micro RC cars
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By brand: Kyosho Mini-Z HPI Maverick Team Associated WL Toys