How to Modify Power Wheels to Go Faster, Up to 18 MPH

  • By: Kevinsmak
  • Date: May 12, 2023
  • Time to read: 13 min.
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How To Modify Power Wheels To Go Faster

The convenient way to modify Power Wheels for speed to go faster is to upgrade the battery, electric controller, or custom fabrications. Custom fabrications need an expert to perform them, but it is a viable way to increase Power Wheels speed. You can throw in a makeover for the car to get your child interested in it again.

Power wheels are so much fun for kids. Just like big guys and girls fantasize about cars and bikes, kids do the same. To them, their power wheels are no less than any bike and car.

If you were a kid, you would be surprised to see the speed, speakers, and other features of the car.

But eventually, you would become uninterested and get bored with your same old and slow power wheel cars. In this fast-paced world, everyone wishes for speed, no one likes to run at a slow pace, including the kids too. 

That is when you’ll realize to change or modify your power wheels. But you might not know how and what to do. So do not worry, as we have covered everything about how to modify power wheels to go faster than usual.

Aren’t you already, the kids as well as their parents to see the magic superfast? In this blog, we are going to tell you different ways to modify your slow and steady power wheels into superfast engines. 

Because slow and steady doesn’t always win the race. Basically, there are four stages of modifying a power wheel, they are battery, electronic speed controller, custom fabrication, and then trick it out.

We are going to elaborate on them further.

Our Pick For 10 FAST Power Wheels
If you are looking for the 10 fastest Power Wheels with speeds up to 15 MPH.

How can I make my Power Wheels faster?

Rob Fusi, who is a New Jersey-based mechanical engineer there are a total of four stages of modifying a mini car or any other power wheel. They are as follows- battery modification, electronic speed controller, custom fabrication, and then the last is to trick it out.

Fast Ride On Car

Yes, these four simple steps and your car will run faster than its normal speed. Let us talk about these four steps in detail:

BATTERY MODIFICATION

The very basic yet important part of a Power Wheel is its battery.  If the battery functions well, then your car functions well. 

If your battery works slowly, then your car works slowly.  This is how it goes with battery but how to modify Power Wheels to go faster by using the battery?  

It’s pretty simple and even the easiest way of modifying.  First things first, boost the voltage of your battery, a few volts would work just fine. 

Most of the Power Wheels or mini cars come with 12-volt batteries so you can upgrade them.  That is, make your 12-volt battery into a 24-volt battery, and then Phew!!

Looking for a cheap and quick battery upgrade with a huge speed boost?

Do you have extra broken power tools laying around? If so you can do the drill battery conversion to get you up to 18V or 20V.

Feel the faster speed of your mini car. Upgrading the battery will also allow the Power Wheels to run longer per each charge.

ELECTRONIC SPEED CONTROLLER

Coming to the next stage which is about the electronic speed controller.  Now, what is an electronic speed controller? 

Basically, an electronic speed controller is a device that notifies the battery about how much power to send to the wheels.  As the name says, controller I.E. controls the battery and the wheels as well. 

An ESC is a knob that you turn to adjust the amount of power you would like the Power Wheels to use.

You can build your own ESC kit or simply buy it.  Making it is also not that hard, all you need is a Razor Scooter’s speed controller [Amazon Link] and its other parts like wires, connectors, pedals, and more. 

When your kit and car are ready, secure them with duct tape.  The ESC kit gives a more realistic driver experience With your kit you can control your car as per your wish.

CUSTOM FABRICATION

EH! Moving on to one of the most effective and brilliant ways of modifying your slow and steady Power Wheel. Before moving ahead, let us know what exactly custom fabrication is? 

Basically, custom fabrication is the process of creating metal structures by cutting, bending, and assembling the different parts.

To modify their mini cars, most people switch the gearboxes to direct drive motors or motorbike engines. And this modification makes your mini car ready for almost every road and obstacle. It can then run everywhere, even off the road too.

Also, it will turn into a superfast car hard to handle, make sure to handle the keys to your kids once they turn 16 or above.

The Power Wheels won’t move very fast if it doesn’t have good traction on the tires.  There are ways to add more traction to tires so they grip the ground and don’t waste any of that sweet battery power by slipping, an absolute must if you want your ride to really go!

Lifted Power Wheels also look very sweet, and they will give more room between the plastic wheel well and the tires.

Once you get the Power Wheels really moving you can install a brake pedal to do power slides around turns and stop much quicker. You can even take it a step further and install a Power Wheels shifter!

TRICK IT OUT

TADAAAA! Here’s the last stage of modification.  At this stage, you just need to make your car look as good as possible.  This stage is all about decorating and checking up your Power Wheel. 

Isn’t it fun?  To decorate your car the way you want, you can make it fancy, gorgeous, cool, or funky by adding accessories and other things.  

As you’ve installed an electronic speed controller in your device, then you can wire some accessories like the reverse buzzer or a virtual sound stimulator.  Also, add some cool gadgets and even paint the ride on.  

Along with this, you can also decorate it with LED lights, headlights, taillights, neon lights, or small cute bulbs, and Yes!  Don’t forget to lay off some of the lights in the rough in the backside. 

Keeping the dashboard looking fresh and bright really makes the car feel real. Why not add a battery meter to the Power Wheels so your kids can see how much battery and time they have left to drive around.

Voila!! your superfast Power Wheel is just now ready to use, haven’t you imagined how cool it’s going to look?

If you run into any issues please make sure to check our Power Wheels solutions article.

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How to Change Speed on Power Wheels with Governors | Lock Out Screws

Some Power Wheels come with different gears that can be changed. The manufacture does this so the ride-on can be set to slow till the child gets used to it then changed too fast.

A good example of this is the Dune Racer Power Wheels, to change the speed of it you will want to locate the shifter. Find the lock out screw in the side of the shifter and remove the screw, now move the shifter to a higher position which will increase speed, and reinsert the screw while holding it in that position. 

There is a visual guide of the lock-out screw changes on the Power Wheels website.

Now you will have a faster speed which is usually close to double the speed. Most are 2.5 MPH and this changes them to 5.0 MPH.

If this isn’t the method they used, check the questions on Amazon. Another great place for help is the Reddit community for Power Wheels Mods.

Best Power Wheels to Modify

The best Power Wheels to modify are just that, Power Wheels. A lot of the vehicles we recommend here on the site will have no issues with modifications.

Be careful on really cheap eBay knock-offs like the HP-00Z, you will notice the price is almost cut in half. When doing upgrades on these vehicles the control boards can’t handle it so the ride-on will turn off after 2-3 minutes until it cools down.

If you are curious about the number of Power Wheels sold here are the full stats.

Can you put a 24V battery in a 12V Power Wheel?

A big yes! You can surely put a 24-volt battery in a 12-volt power wheelHere are the main differences between 12V and 24V.  But instead of that, you can convert your 12-volt power wheel to a 24-volt power wheel.

But how can you do it, how is it even possible? It’s quite simple, you can convert it using a kit called conversion kit. 

This conversion kit converts any 12-volt battery power wheels to a 24-volt battery power wheel. And the best thing about this conversion kit is that it works just so brilliantly i.e, after converting your 12-volt battery to a 24-volt battery you can again convert it into a 12-volt battery.

Yes, you heard it right, you can convert it again into its original form whenever you want. Most importantly, it expands the run time by up to 33%.

Overall, this product is just so brilliant. It makes your engine or your power wheel run faster than usual.

So if you’re concerned about using a 24-volt battery power wheel in a 12-volt battery power wheel, then do not think much because you can. Yes, you can insert a 24-volt battery in a 12-volt power wheel.

We do recommend using the convert kit or doing a motor upgrade on the vehicle because the power won’t match up correctly.  You will most likely still be able to do this without the kit or motor upgrade but over time the motor will overheat and wear out at an accelerated rate.  

Another item you have to upgrade at the time of a battery and motor upgrade is the gearbox.

The stock gearboxes are plastic and we recommend upgrading to a metal gearbox or a few months later the plastic one will grind down. This will be apparent by a grinding noise coming from the tire area of the Power Wheels.

Lastly, make sure that the seat belts are sufficient in the vehicle you are upgrading, you will get some more power and with that more speed.  If the belts are not sufficient for your child then you can always upgrade the seat belts.

Modified Fast Ride On

Which Power Wheels are the Fastest?

Have so much interest in engines, bikes, and power wheels? Then you must know which power is the fastest. But before that, you should know what makes a power wheel faster.

So, there are certain things most importantly, its battery and the motor. The big V8 drivetrain is a high-powered electric motor that makes these power wheels and mini cars faster than normal.

The 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Power Wheel is said to be the most powerful and fastest power wheel in the world of kids’ engines.

But now, C7 Corvette is also on the list. From its magnificent look to its faster speed, everything is amazing about that power wheel.

The Chevrolet Corvette Stingray runs on a 12-volt battery. It goes 3 miles in an hour in the lower gear and as soon as you or your kid hits the tipping gear, it goes 6 miles in an hour.

Overall, Chevrolet Corvette Stingray is a brilliant power wheel with a super-fast engine and a power battery. Most importantly, it works on the saying – “Slow and steady never wins the race.”

We have a list of Power Wheels that are made for older children, these are the fast ones!  Here are the Fastest Power Wheels we can find with speeds up to 15 miles per hour!

Once you have a fast ride-on car did you know you can race Power Wheels?

How can I make my 6V Power Wheels faster?

Be it a 6-volt battery or a 12-volt battery, making a power wheel faster is just the same in both of them. To build up the speed of any power wheel, all you need to do is to switch or change the current batteries.

First things first, increasing the speed of your power wheel is not a difficult job, it’s pretty easy. 

To fix up the speed of your power wheel, you can either change its parts like battery, gear or you can do other modifications. There are certain conversion kits also that are available in the market.

These kits are so good that you can convert any voltage battery to make your power wheel run faster. And the best thing about this is, you can again switch to the same old voltage. Also, it increases the run time to up to 33%.

Before doing all that, make sure you don’t have the governor turned on. Most 6V Power Wheels have two speeds and you may have the vehicle set to the lower speed.

It is usually on or under the dash, switch to the other speed and see if it is faster. This is a great feature for when your child is new to the vehicle and helps them get used to it before turning the speed up.

How can I make my 12V Power Wheels faster?

And again here’s the same question and the same answer I got. The easiest and simplest way of modifying a power wheel is by modifying the voltage of its battery.

You can convert a 12-volt power wheel to 16 volts, 18 volts, or more, depending upon your choice. And you know what’s the most interesting and important thing about this? 

It is that you can make your power wheels run faster by modifying them at your home and on your own. All you need is a battery of whichever volt you wish and a 12-volt battery.

At first, wire both the batteries in a series, after that cut or trim the extra part to make them fit well, then fit them and wire the batteries and after that, at last heatsink them. Heatsinking is optional.

Don’t forget to check the governor to make sure it wasn’t set to the lower speed, most of these come with two-speed options and if this is the case, simply flip the switch for more speed.

How can I make my 24V Power Wheels go faster?

A 24-volt power wheel goes at the rate of six miles per hour. And also, they can run at this speed only when they are fitted with a 24 voltage high power motor or a high power battery.

The other way to make your 24-volt power wheel go faster is by converting it into a higher voltage battery. As I have discussed before, you can make use of various conversion kits, they are just too good.

How do I convert 24V to 12V?

Now the question is how can you convert a 24-volt battery to a 12-volt battery? Sometimes you do not need much power in your car and you wish to decrease the voltage. But you wonder how to do it, isn’t it? 

Just like you can convert a 6 voltage power wheel to a 12 voltage power wheel and a 12 voltage power wheel to a 24 voltage power wheel.

In the same way, you can convert your 24 voltage power wheel to a 12 voltage power wheel. And for that, you can use some resistors, transistors, and controllers. 

Also, you can convert it using conversion kits too.

How fast does a 6V Ride on go?

Mostly, a 6 voltage power battery is used in mini cars that are designed for kids of 3 to 5 years. Generally, these cars run at a speed of two to three miles per hour.

How fast does a 12V Ride on go?

Now the question is how far does a 12-volt ride on go? The speed of a car depends upon the size of its battery and the size of its motor. Basically, a 12 volts power wheel goes at the speed of 4 miles per hour.

How fast does a 24V Ride on go?

The speed of a power wheel increases as the size of its motor and the size of its battery increases. Just like a 6-volt power wheel can go at the speed of 2 miles per hour and a 12-volt power wheel can go at the speed of 4 miles per hour, a 24-volt power wheel can go at the speed of 6 miles per hour. 

More details on this can be found here.

How fast does a 36V Ride on go?

As soon as the voltage increases, the age of kids also increases i.e., 36-volt power wheels are for bigger kids. A 36-volt power wheel usually runs at a speed of 15 miles per hour and more.

How fast does a 48V Ride on go?

And here comes the last, 48-volt power wheel. It runs approximately at a speed of 18 miles per hour and more.

So, if you were wondering about how fast a power wheel goes, then you got the answer. Aren’t you amazed?

And yeah! We are at the end of this blog and by now you all know how to modify power wheels to go faster.

Conclusion

Please be safe in doing any of these upgrades to your Power Wheels.  You want to make sure that the ride-on car doesn’t go too fast for the child, but a lot of times, they are ready for the next level and this guide will help you accomplish this.  

Now you know how to modify Power Wheels for your kids. Interested in learning how to modify Power Wheels for adults?

How to modify power wheels to go faster

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