TurboTimmy

My pan car is an RJ Speed (formerly Bolink) 3.2 pan car kit with an RJS 962 body. You need to supply a motor, esc, radio, and steering servo. I just use standard 2 channel stuff-nothing fancy. A Hobbywing 1060 brushed esc is my go-to because I can use a brushed motor down to about 13 turns-but right now a Torque Tuned 540 is plenty. I am an old school brushed/NiMh warrior. I've seen and heard too many horror stories about LiPo batteries and the potential for bad things to happen-and the extra expense and maintenance that goes with them. I realize they have more power than what I use, but the extra speed, to me anyway, isn't worth the bother. I just plug-n-play with my NiMh stuff. Not a dig on folks who use LiPo-I realize they're in the majority now-but it's just a choice I have made.

A while ago I put together a Plasma Edge TT 02B and ran it a few times on dirt. Then I decided to try it on pavement with different tires and wheels. I was very happy with its performance, so I changed the pinion gear to 22t and added a Sport Tuned 540. I also found a Dual Ridge body and changed the entire look of the car. Now it has a kind of 4WD Indy car look to it.......The Xceed foam tires seem to work rather well.

For bashing I use the 962 body. Eventually I will paint and finish the NASCAR body that came with the kit. That one will be used for track events as I expect it to get knocked around a bit. The width of the rear is 197mm and the front measures 190mm. The overall length without a body is 343mm and the wheelbase on this particular chassis is at its longest setting at 270mm. This pan can have three settings for wheelbase-and I think the shortest one measures 260mm. The front A -arms are moved back or forward-and, of course, you must move the steering servo accordingly. Mine has a permanent setting that uses servo mounts and two screws from one of my Tamiya kits because I don't like using only two sided tape to secure it. Thanx for the interest. I hope this info helped. Pan cars are a blast-but they work best on the smoothest pavement.

A few more tips: This car goes best on the smoothest pavement you can find-and those foam RJ Speed tires give it just the right amount of traction to enable you to do whatever you want with the car. The steering rods supplied with the kit will work-and, I believe, are required in a lot of spec RJS classes-but these are a little bit beefier. This car is basically gonna be a basher-a local track does have an open brushed class for folks like me.

Here you go........This car is very quick with just a Torque Tuned 540-I also installed AVID bearings on the rear axle and the front wheels. The ESC is a Hobbywing 1060 brushed model. So far the cheapie Traxxas TQ radio is doing the job. The servo saver gives it an Ackerman effect on the steering, which uses steering rods from a Traxxas Rustler. I have an ARRMA 20T motor and a 15t motor in case anyone gets too close.......Thanks for the interest!!!

Here is an RJ Speed 3.2 pan car with a 962 body. It does use a Tamiya Torque Tuned 540. So far it is a blast to just bash around a parking lot. The TT 540 gives it enough speed for a good quick sprint down the straights.

Here is a Grasshopper chassis with a Sport Tuned 540 and bearings. That is an RJ Speed Sportsman body and Bolink wheels with foam tires. There are also oil shocks on the rear. She goes pretty good-gonna run her at a local r/c road course soon.

I have a set of these 12mm hex road tires that bolt right on to my Plasma Edge. I was thinking of taking it out for a bashing. How much will this change in gearing affect the motor? Will it overheat? Should I change the pinion gear? Thanks for any info.

Well, I found the diff axle in my parts inventory and re-installed it. I turned the 11mm nut counter-clockwise and it seemed to loosen up the diff. It's not so loose that I can spin one wheel while holding the other without some resistance-but it made a noticeable change in the Digger's ability to turn corners. I hope I did it correctly...... I also think that returning to a stock 540 silver can helped some as well. The kit was designed for that motor and lots of folks likely have one or two unused stock 540 motors because we always upgrade our Tamiya kits and never use the standard 540 in the kit. So I'm showing the Silver Can some love.......

I actually did try the differential-but I'm not quite sure how to set it up. Any input will be greatly appreciated.

Here's my RJSpeed Digger-today I decided to replace the fragile front steering rods with ones from a Traxxas....I also put a stock 540 back in it because the Sport Tuned motor was just beating the heck out of it......A Tamiya servo mount was necessary after realizing that the steering input forces were now much higher, making the servo dance on its two sided tape mount......That's what the screw is on the front "suspension" that you see just above the linkage.....

Thanks for all the responses....I might just try both a pan car (since I've been dying to build one with a 962 body) and a converted 4wd tc chassis with an NSU TT body (although a tc chassis wheelbase will determine what body I use).........I will keep y'all posted!!!

Thanks for all the replies. I am, however, curious as to how many folks out there have used the RJSpeed 3.2 Pan Car as a basher. I realize that I did say that I wasn't really interested in one, but I have read other forums and some people have liked them for that purpose. There are some areas of very smooth pavement near my home that might accommodate it. But I will also look into drift chassis and the others that were mentioned.

I've been looking around for a decent rear wheel drive r/c on road platform for a new project. I see that RJSpeed still makes several, but their lack of real suspension limits the real performance of the car. I have one of their Diggers and it's a fun car, but it's more suited to indoor tracks. Is there anything out there that I can purchase and use for parking lot bashing with some kind of separate Poly body? I'm not really interested in a 4wd touring car chassis.Thanks for any info.

By the way-I decided to give the Beetle a different look and make it a little faster. So I got a Bolink body and a 15t Core 540 motor........ I always liked the look of the all black body with the orange wheels....... Best part is that I can always change it back........ She goes like stink with the 15t-but, of course, battery times are shorter......Still lovin' those Panther tires........