HPI Stage D24 Review: Is This $120 1/24 RWD Drift Car Worth It?

The HPI Stage D24 takes a proper rear-wheel-drive drift layout and compresses it into a genuinely useful 1:24-scale package. It is not simply a tiny RC car wearing hard tyres. The chassis was designed around RWD drifting, with a rear-mounted transmission, spool rear end, large steering angle, gyro assistance and enough adjustment to change wheelbase, track width and front-end setup.

That matters because small-scale drifting solves a problem that larger drift cars cannot: space. A Stage D24 can turn a workshop floor, spare room, basement or compact home track into a usable practice area. You do not need to recreate a full 1/10 drift venue before the car starts making sense.

At the same time, small size does not make RWD drifting automatic. Surface grip, gyro gain, throttle control and basic chassis setup still have a major effect on how smoothly the car transitions from one drift to the next. That combination of accessibility and tunability is what makes the Stage D24 interesting.

What Is the HPI Stage D24?

The HPI Stage D24 is a 1:24-scale, rear-wheel-drive RTR drift car built around an all-new compact chassis. It follows the larger Stage D10 into HPI's drift range, but the D24 is more than a miniature copy.

At the rear, a three-gear transmission sends power through a spool so both rear wheels remain locked together. Steel CVD driveshafts transfer power to the wheels, while the entire rear drivetrain works with a T-bar suspension layout rather than a conventional independent suspension system.

The front uses independent suspension, adjustable steering links and a very large steering range. HPI specifies up to 67.5 degrees of steering angle, giving the front wheels the counter-steer needed to catch the car at larger drift angles.

This is the key difference between the Stage D24 and many inexpensive mini “drift” cars. The D24 is designed around rear-wheel-drive drifting from the chassis outward rather than relying on an AWD layout and low-grip tyres to create a sliding effect.

Why 1:24 Scale Makes More Sense Than It First Appears

The biggest advantage of the Stage D24 is not simply that it is easier to store. Its small size changes how often and where the car can actually be driven.

A 1/10 RWD drift car works best when there is enough room for long transitions, clipping points and wider corners. For many drivers, that means travelling to a club track or setting aside a substantial garage or workshop area.

The Stage D24 needs far less. A small section of smooth flooring can become a practice area. Chairs, boxes, cones, tape lines or other simple objects can create a basic layout. A dedicated micro drift course can fit behind a workbench or in an area that would never accommodate a meaningful 1/10 track.

Small scale can therefore increase actual driving time. A larger car may be more dramatic, but a D24 sitting ready in the house or workshop is much easier to use for ten or twenty minutes whenever there is free time.

The Toyota GR Supra Hardbody Is One of the D24's Strongest Features

The Stage D24 launches with an officially licensed 2024 Toyota GR Supra hardbody in Prominence Red or Metallic Dawn Blue.

Instead of using a thin polycarbonate shell, HPI built the Supra as a detailed multi-piece hardbody with clear windows, separate light components, mirrors, windshield wipers, badging, grille detailing and front and rear LEDs.

The body mounting system is equally well suited to a scale car. The front is located magnetically while a rear tongue slides into the chassis mount. There are no conventional body posts sticking through the shell, so the exterior remains much closer to a static model.

HPI also includes additional drift-style decals, so the car can be kept relatively clean or given a more aggressive drift-inspired appearance.

The Adjustable Chassis Is What Makes the Stage D24 a Real Hobby Platform

The Stage D24 may be small, but the chassis is not locked into one fixed configuration.

Adjustable wheelbase is particularly interesting because it immediately opens the door to different body projects. Track-width adjustment adds another useful dimension when matching wheel position to a shell.

That does not mean every 1/24 body will fit, but it does mean the chassis has been designed with more flexibility than a fixed RTR layout would require.

Stage D24 Electronics: Simple, Compact and Built Around Drift Control

The standard Stage D24 uses a 37T brushed motor. At this scale, outright power is not the difficult part. The hard drift tyres can already be broken loose without requiring a large brushless power system.

The compact SRL-805 integrates the main control functions required by the car, including speed control, receiver, steering gyro and LED management. Steering is handled by the MS-01WR micro servo.

The most useful electronics feature is the transmitter-adjustable gyro gain. Channel 5 on the TF-805 radio allows the amount of steering correction to be changed without opening the car or connecting a programming device.

That matters because the correct gyro setting is not universal. A high-grip surface, slick tile and dedicated drift course can each require a different amount of correction.

Is the HPI Stage D24 Easy to Drift?

The Stage D24 is accessible, but it still behaves like a rear-wheel-drive drift car. It can spin if throttle, steering and gyro correction are not working together.

A useful starting point is to keep gyro gain moderate rather than immediately turning it up. Too much gain can cause fast steering corrections and visible wobble. Too little assistance makes it easier for the rear to rotate beyond the point where the driver can recover it.

Front toe also affects how the car settles into a transition. If the front end feels reluctant to flow from one direction to the other, a small move toward toe-out can be worth testing. Likewise, a tiny amount of additional rear weight can increase rear grip and make the car feel less nervous without fundamentally changing the chassis.

These are small adjustments, but that is exactly why the D24 is interesting. The chassis responds to setup rather than forcing the driver to accept one fixed behaviour.

What Surface Works Best for the HPI Stage D24?

Surface choice may be more important on the Stage D24 than many buyers expect.

A surface with too much grip can make the car reluctant to slide smoothly and can make transitions feel abrupt. That is especially noticeable when the car is being driven faster on a compact track.

At the other extreme, an extremely slick floor can reduce rear grip to the point where very small throttle changes produce large rotations.

The sweet spot is a consistent surface that allows the hard tyres to slide without making the car feel completely detached from the floor. Dedicated micro drift tracks work well because the surface can be tuned. On some synthetic track materials, a small amount of drift wax can reduce grip enough to make long transitions smoother and easier to hold.

More grip is not automatically better for RWD drifting. The goal is predictable slip, not maximum traction.

Is the Stage D24 Beginner-Friendly?

The RTR package makes the Stage D24 easy to enter, but RWD drift technique still needs to be learned.

The car arrives assembled with the radio system, 2S LiPo battery and USB balance charger included. Add AA batteries to the transmitter, charge the drive pack and there is very little additional equipment required to begin.

The gyro lowers the difficulty considerably because it automatically counter-steers when the rear of the car rotates. It does not, however, control throttle or choose the line for you. The driver still needs to learn how much throttle maintains a slide and when to reduce power before the car over-rotates.

A better description is therefore beginner-accessible rather than effortless. The D24 gives a new driver the tools needed to learn RWD drifting without removing the learning process itself.

Does the HPI Stage D24 Need a Brushless Upgrade?

For normal RTR use, the stock brushed motor is enough.

The Stage D24 does not need huge power to spin its hard tyres. The 37T brushed motor can create and maintain a drift while keeping the drivetrain simple and the entry price under control.

Where a more advanced driver may eventually want improvement is low-speed throttle resolution. RWD drifting often relies on a very narrow throttle range, and a smoother response close to neutral can make fine line control easier.

A brushless conversion could also offer efficiency and more tuning flexibility, but that does not automatically make it the first upgrade the car needs.

For a new Stage D24 owner, learning tyre grip, gyro gain and chassis setup will usually produce more useful information than replacing the motor immediately.

Can You Fit Kyosho Mini-Z Bodies on the HPI Stage D24?

A Kyosho Mini-Z body should not be treated as a direct Stage D24 fit.

The overall dimensions can look close enough to make the idea tempting, but body fitment depends on more than wheelbase. Wheel openings, tyre diameter, track width and body mounting all need to line up.

The D24's drift tyres can be too large for some Mini-Z wheel openings, and its rear locating tongue also creates a different mounting requirement.

That does not make alternative bodies impossible. The adjustable wheelbase and track width make the Stage D24 a promising base for custom 1/24 or 1/25 projects, especially when 3D-printed mounts or modified model-kit bodies are part of the build.

The important distinction is custom-fit potential versus direct compatibility.

Is the HPI Stage D24 Good Value at Around $120?

With launch pricing around $120, the Stage D24 sits in an interesting part of the small-scale drift market.

It is not trying to replace a high-end competition micro drift chassis. Those platforms can use more sophisticated electronics, motors and tuning parts and can quickly cost several times as much once fully built.

The D24 instead provides a complete entry package:

• purpose-built RWD drift chassis;
• transmitter-adjustable gyro;
• adjustable wheelbase and track width;
• officially licensed Toyota GR Supra hardbody;
• front and rear LED lighting;
• TF-805 radio system;
• 7.4V 2S LiPo battery;
• USB balance charger.

That makes the Stage D24 particularly attractive to someone who wants to start RWD drifting without first assembling a separate chassis, radio, gyro, electronics package and body.

What Battery Does the HPI Stage D24 Actually Use?

The correct Stage D24 battery is a compact 7.4V 2S 360mAh LiPo.

Some HPI promotional copy has referenced 600mAh, but the production battery and HPI replacement-battery specification are 360mAh. For replacement-battery selection, 360mAh is therefore the useful capacity reference.

Because the D24 is such a small chassis, simply choosing a larger 2S pack is not automatically an upgrade. Dimensions, connector type and installed weight become much more important than chasing the largest possible capacity.

CNHL 350mAh 2S JST: Confirmed Stage D24 Fit

The compact CNHL MiniStar used for this application has an actual capacity of 350mAh, putting it only 10mAh below the HPI 360mAh pack.

It retains the correct 7.4V 2S configuration, uses a JST connector and measures 44 × 19 × 15mm. The pack is a confirmed Stage D24 fit, so the recommendation is based on actual fitment rather than voltage alone.

The 30C discharge rating also provides more than enough output for the factory 37T brushed system without moving to a larger battery format.

The CNHL option is supplied as a 3-pack, which suits a micro drift car particularly well. Drift practice often involves repeated short sessions while gyro, toe and surface setup are being adjusted, so rotating several batteries is more useful than increasing battery size and changing the weight balance of the car.

See the full HPI Stage D24 battery collection for fitment details, or view the CNHL MiniStar 2S JST 3-pack.

HPI Stage D24 vs Stage D10: Small Is Not Simply a Compromise

The Stage D10 and Stage D24 both approach drifting as dedicated RWD applications, but they solve very different problems.

For someone without easy access to a large drift venue, the D24 may actually be the more useful car rather than simply the cheaper one.

Who Is the HPI Stage D24 Best For?

The Stage D24 is particularly well suited to drivers who:

• want to learn genuine RWD drifting without building a chassis from individual electronics and components;
• do not have easy access to a full-size drift track;
• want an indoor RC car for winter or short practice sessions;
• enjoy scale hardbodies and working LED details;
• want meaningful setup adjustment without moving immediately into a competition chassis;
• are interested in future custom bodies, wheels, T-bars or electronics upgrades.

It is less likely to satisfy someone already running a high-end competition-focused 1/24 drift build and looking for maximum electronics tuning straight out of the box. That is not really the market the Stage D24 is trying to serve.

HPI Stage D24 FAQ

Is the HPI Stage D24 rear-wheel drive?

Yes. The Stage D24 is a dedicated RWD drift chassis with a rear-mounted three-gear transmission and spool rear end.

What scale is the HPI Stage D24?

HPI lists the Stage D24 as a 1:24-scale drift car. The standard wheelbase is 102mm and the chassis provides additional wheelbase adjustment.

Is the HPI Stage D24 good for beginners?

It is a good entry point into RWD drifting because the car is RTR and includes adjustable gyro assistance. Beginners should still expect to spend time learning throttle control, counter-steer and gyro setup.

What battery does the HPI Stage D24 use?

The correct battery is a compact 7.4V 2S 360mAh LiPo. CNHL offers a confirmed-fit 350mAh 2S 30C JST option for the Stage D24.

Is the Stage D24 battery 360mAh or 600mAh?

The correct production and replacement-battery specification is 360mAh. The 600mAh figure that appears in some promotional material should not be used for Stage D24 replacement-battery selection.

Can Mini-Z bodies fit the Stage D24?

Do not assume a direct fit. Wheel openings, tyre diameter and the Stage D24 body mounting system can prevent a Mini-Z shell from dropping straight onto the chassis. Custom installation may still be possible.

Can 1/24 model-kit bodies fit the Stage D24?

Some 1/24 or 1/25 bodies may be useful candidates because the D24 has adjustable wheelbase and track width, but each shell still needs to be checked individually for wheel openings, width, chassis clearance and mounting.

Does the Stage D24 need brushless power?

Not for normal RTR drifting. The stock 37T brushed motor has enough power to keep the tyres sliding. Brushless electronics may become attractive later for drivers who want finer low-speed response or greater tuning flexibility.

What surface is best for the HPI Stage D24?

A smooth and consistent low-grip surface is a good starting point. Too much grip can make transitions abrupt, while an extremely slick surface can make the rear difficult to control. Gyro gain should be adjusted whenever the surface changes significantly.

Final Thoughts

The most important thing about the HPI Stage D24 is not that HPI built a miniature Toyota Supra. It is that the chassis treats 1:24 drifting as a proper hobby category.

Rear-wheel drive, a spool, large steering angle, transmitter-adjustable gyro, adjustable wheelbase and adjustable track width are all features that give the D24 room to be driven, tuned and modified rather than simply displayed.

The car also does something much more practical: it lowers the amount of space required to practise RWD drifting. For someone who cannot regularly reach a 1/10 drift track, that may be the feature that matters most.

It still rewards patience. Surface choice matters, gyro gain matters, and small changes to front toe or rear grip can noticeably change the way the car transitions. That is not a weakness. It is part of what makes the Stage D24 feel like a real adjustable drift chassis rather than a novelty micro RC.

For replacement packs and additional practice batteries, see the CNHL HPI Stage D24 battery collection.

For batteries across other drift cars, touring cars, crawlers, trucks and RC platforms, browse the CNHL RC car battery collection.

You can also explore the complete CNHL 2S LiPo battery range for other compact 7.4V RC applications.