What Turn Motor Is Best for RC Drifting?

There are so many things that you can do to your RC car that makes it different than every other car out there that you can feel overwhelmed. When trying to make an RC car that can easily and comfortably drift around any corner, you may be faced with trying to find the perfect turn motor. 

The best turn motor for RC car drifting is a 20-turn motor; this motor provides enough torque to allow you more control. An 11-turn motor is recommended for those who are more experienced and able to control the car to drift faster with more variables in how the car will react. 

There are many things that you will need to know about the turn motors that are in your RC vehicles, with many people not always aware of the nuances of the cars. Your RC car can be significantly changed or upgraded depending on the motor type and strength that you have added to it. 

What Turn Motor Is Best For RC Drifting?
Animated picture of an RC drift car

What Is a Turn Motor?

When people talk about turn motors, they refer to the number of turns the copper cable inside the motor has made. The more turns the motor has, the closer the cables will be, slightly weakening the motor, with motors that have less turns being much stronger. 

The coils of a motor determine many things for the motor, including how much torque it has, how it responds to the throttle, and how long it will last. Most normal RC cars have more than 20 turns in their motor, giving the average drive more control over how the car will react when driving it. 

This is why you will need to replace the motor when you start doing things like racing, drifting, or just planning on getting more from the car. We have often seen people complain about the overall strength of their RC cars while not being aware that there are easy ways of improving them. 

Related post: 9 Ways To Make An RC Car Drift Better

Why Is A 20-Turn Motor Better Than An 11-Turn Motor?

While you do need more power than normal to have your RC car spin out and start to drift, it is much more important to have control. An 11-turn motor or less will be quite quick on the throttle, spinning out with ease but not allowing controlled drifts around corners. 

20-turn motors will have a lot better throttle response, allowing you to quickly spin the back of the car out but not overreacting to the throttle and causing you to lose control. As with real drifting, you need to feather the acceleration to allow the car to shift between grip and losing it. 

Many people mistakenly think that all you ever need to do to drift any car is have the maximum amount of power. However, this is not true; drifting requires a finesse of the steering, braking, and throttle of your car; with RC cars not having breaks to help you, the throttle is your only control. 

You can see a huge range of motors to suit your needs here on Amazon

What Do You Need to Consider When Getting a Motor for Your Drifting RC Car?

You need to consider what you will be doing with the car will you be racing on a track, racing around dirt paths, doing drag races, combinations of these, or drifting it around every corner. Every RC car out there will have massively different ways of behaving and responding to these.

The motor that you have mounted to your RC car is the thing that will massively decide where and how you can use it. You will need to check on how much power it consumes, the overall torque of the motor, how long it will last, and how it responds to your throttle when giving it. 

There are many debates about which motors work best in the world of RC, and choosing the best one is not something that can be done with a few moments of research. Instead, you will have to test out each and every motor type before you start realizing which types you prefer. 

What Should You Consider When Drifting an RC Car?

There are several things that affect the overall ability of your RC car to drift, each of them changing drastically how the RC car can drift and on what surfaces it can go. Many people that have started drifting their RC cars will have one that is dedicated to the drift and one that is meant for racing. 

This is because the RC cars need to be specifically made to execute drifts properly, with several parts being changed and adjusted to allow for this. The same things that are adjusted to make the perfect drifting RC car are the ones that will make it uncompetitive with other types of RC racing. 

Wheels

The wheels are the most important parts between your RC car and the surface they are drifting on, with the thickness, the width, and the type affecting your drift. When drifting on normal tarred surfaces, you will need to have street racing tires fitted onto your RC car to allow it to drift with ease.

Further, you will need to have dirt, but not mud tires when drifting on most other surfaces, as these give enough grip to get up to speed but still allow to lose grip while drifting. Many have made the mistake of putting on the largest tires they could, only to realize they can no longer drift their RC car. 

Power

The power is directly linked to the motor inside your vehicle; your RC car will need to be able to apply enough power to the wheels to lose control. However, it should not be so wild and uncontrolled that the RC car completely starts to spin out, and you cannot control it. 

The mistake that first-time RC drifters make is that they get motors that are too strong, causing the car to completely lose control. This means that there is no give or take from the RC car, causing it to completely lose itself when you try to drift it around corners. 

Related post: How Fast Are RC Drift Cars?

Turn Radius

Normally RC cars can have some strong turning radiuses already, but they are still limited when coming out of the box. When you are building or modifying an RC car for drifting, you need to adapt the turning radius, with many able to turn upwards of 80o, making the turning radius extremely tight.

Such a tight turning radius allows the car to make perfect drifts without losing control or the front end going out in a direction that you cannot control. You will need to get the turning radius tuned into the best way to comfortably control your car while it is drifting. 

I have a complete article covering how to increase the turning radius of an RC car

Weight 

If your car is too unbalanced, it will be prone to slipping and spinning out while doing drifts, with the best drift cars having near-perfect balancing. This is because drifting uses momentum, which means that a car that is heavier at the back is much more likely to spin out completely. 

The front is too heavy; it may be harder for the care to start into a drift, which can be a headache when you are trying to drift longer corners. We have seen many people that actually add weight to the front of their cars to ensure they can complete perfect drifts. 

Control

This is the combination of everything, the parts of the car need to work together for the drift to go perfectly, or else you will have wildly differing results. The controller you are using will need to comfortably respond at the right time, with the motor reacting fast enough to the input.

Drifting is a balancing act of having the car lose control completely or regaining control completely; many describe it as being on the edge but never over it. This is why you need to ensure that each individual part is already good and balanced to get the best drifting experience from your RC car. 

Conclusion

Drifting your RC car is always something fun you can do when playing around, and having a motor that is not as powerful but is responsive will always be the best. We would recommend getting a 20-turn motor for the best possible results to ensure you can drift with ease.

Whatever you do, please don’t expect the motor that is always just super-fast or not moving at all to be able to drift!

You may find the following article worth a look: What To Look For In A Good RC Drift Car (With 4 Examples)

Paul Good

This awesome hobby has something for everyone, whether you like to build your RC from scratch and keep modifying till you've got it to just how you want it, to track racing. You might be out with a boat, or perfecting your skills with a plane. Are you taking some cool pics with your drone? I'm sure my site will help you on your journey.

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