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5 Best RC Cars for 5 Year Olds

When searching for the best RC cars for your child, especially when they are young at 5 years old, it can get daunting choosing the right option. Especially if you are not sure about all the options. For this reason, as a father of two, I had an interest in this myself and will share my research with you now.

What is the best RC Car for a 5 year old? The Haktoys HAK101 Red Stunt RC Car (Click to see reviews on Amazon) is my best choice it has a great re-charge time and also the LED lights it has look stunning and keeps your child entertained.

Now that you know which car I feel is the best, let’s also look at all of the top 5, so you can make an informed decision. Apart from the top 5, lets also look at the differences of kids and hobby grade RC cars to help you.

best rc car for 5 year old

What is the difference between a RC car for kids and hobby grade?

In this section I am going to highlight some of the differences between a typical hobby grade and kids RC car. On the surface they look quite similar, but in practice they are quite different.

Simplicity

Kids cars are designed to more simple and easy for a child to pick up. This means there is a sacrifice, they are not as precise as a hobby grade. Meaning a hobby grade will closely match its full scale vehicle, whereas a kids one will not.

They are designed for kids to get used to the controls and have controls that are customized to allow them to control the vehicle with ease. In this article you will see some real examples of cars that use these simplified controls.

Safety

As they are targeted to children they have a big focus on safety. With that being said, it is still good practice to keep your children supervised while they use their cars.

 What are the best RC Cars for them?

In this section I will be sharing my recommended RC cars with you. These cars are specifically chosen for 5 year olds.

01. The Haktoys HAK101 Red Stunt RC Car

The Haktoys HAK101 Red Stunt RC Car (Click to see reviews on Amazon) is ideal for children from the age of three and up.It has a great 3 point AX system that allows it to continue it to keep running even if your child is treating it rough and tumbles it over.

Pros:

  • 2-3 hour charge time.
  • Up to 15 minutes playtime.
  • Stunning flashing LED lights to keep them entertained.

Cons:

  • Requires 2 AA batteries, but they are not included.

02. My First Cartoon R/C Race Car

The My First Cartoon R/C Race Car (Click here to see the reviews on Amazon) is a popular choice with children and parents. This mainly for its simplicity and figurines that are packaged together with it.

It comes with 3 figurines that can be swapped as the main driver of the vehicle. It aslo comess with a simplified 2 button controller. This will be very easy for your child to get used too. It also has a good focus on safety with Non-toxic ABS plastic used for the body work.

Pros:

  • 3 Figurine Drivers
  • Simple 2 button controller
  • Non-toxic ABS plastic
  • Sounds, Music & Lights to keep you child entertained.

Cons:

  • Limited Transmission Distance

03. Kid Galaxy Amphibious RC Car Morphibians Rover

The Kid Galaxy Amphibious RC Car Morphibians Rover (Click here to see the price on Amazon) is a great waterproof car that is ideal for children that love splashing about in water, bath anyone?

It can happily float in the water, and you can steel steer it fine in the water. It also has a simple two-button controller that makes it simple for children. In all honesty it may take a little while to adjust to the controller.

Simply because the left button controls the left tire, while the right button controls the right. Sounds obvious, but in reality it takes a few goes to master. But it is not a deal breaker.

The main negative I would say is the speed. It is a bit on the slow side. It is a four wheel drive so on rough terrain its fine, but on level ground the speed is noticeable.

Pros:

  • Waterproof Car.
  • 4 Wheel drive – Suitable for rough terrain.
  • Built to float, so it can be dropped in a bath.
  • Simple two button remote, designed for children.

Cons:

  • Quite a slow speed.

04. Jada Toys GIRLMAZING Big Foot Jeep R/C Vehicle

The Jada Toys GIRLMAZING Big Foot Jeep R/C Vehicle (Click to see the reviews on Amazon) is a great customizable car specifically designed for girls. It comes with a selection of great stickers that most kids love.

It is built well and ideal for indoor or even outdoor use. The only criticism I would say os the batteries. It uses up a lot of batteries.

Pros:

  • Comes with great stickers.
  • Suitable for indoor or outdoor usage.
  • Cusomizable vehicle, to meet her design needs.

Cons

  • Uses a lot of batteries.
  • Frequency interference with other cars.

05. VTech Go! Go! Smart Wheels Speedway RC Racer

The VTech Go! Go! Smart Wheels Speedway RC Racer (Click for reviews on Amazon) has been built with safety in mind. It comes with non-toxic plastic (ABS), with the edges rounded off for extra precaution.

It has simple controls so your child will be up and running without any steep learning curves. Comes with a cool array of lights and sounds to keep your child entertained. However this may become annoying after a while for parents.

The only other criticism I have is the wiring can become a bit loose if you have a real rough and tumble child that likes to grab and pul things.

Pros:

  • 2 small cars included.
  • Built for safety.
  • Non-Toxic Plastic (ABS), with rounded off edges.
  • Simple controls.

Cons:

  • Wiring can become loose if handled too aggressively.

Related Questions:

What frequency do RC car Toy Grade use? This is 27 or 49 MHz in the United States. If you are running one car on its own this is not an issue. However if you have more than one car outside on the same frequency there can be some interference.

To stop this happening you have a few options. The first one, is just to keep your distance from the other vehicle, which is not always possible. Or you can simply select a different frequency. If you are on 27MHz for example, and get interference, then simply switch to 49MHz.

If all fails look out for RC cars that specifically have frequencies that are band selectable. This will give you more flexibility that just two options.

What does 27MHz actually mean on RC Cars? This is the actual frequency transmission sent to the receiver from the car transmitter. It is a predefined frequency. Megahertz is abbreviated to MHz and is the measurement that is used to refer to or measure frequencies.

How do remote control cars work? There are two main components, the transmitter and the receiver. The transmitter is the actual controller you have in your hand. It sends radio waves to the receiver.

The receiver collects the signals from the transmitter and activates the motors in the vehicle to drive the car. The receiver is essentially an antenna and a circuit board that are built into the RC car.

What is Scale in RC Cars? When you buy an RC car, you may see references to the scale of the vehicle. In reality this is more specific to the hobby grade vehicles. It may say for example “1:8”. This means it is eight times smaller than the original full sized car.

People like to have their cars as close to the full sized counterpart as much as possible to make them feel as close to the reality as possible.

Can you use RC cars outside? Yes, but it depends on hwo they are built. Some of the cars in this article, for example the Jada Toys GIRLMAZING Big Foot Jeep R/C Vehicle (Click to see reviews on Amazon), can be used outside. However, never use your RC car in the snow.