1/12 scale pan car questions

[RC10racer89]

Well I was thinking of a 1/12 pan car for my next RC, but I have a few questions about them. I've been out of electric since my very first model class RC (Traxxas Rustler) so cut me some slack here :D Anyway, the first question relates to the foam tires. There are two tracks near me, and one is an indoor carpet track and the other is a an outdoor rubberized track. So looking at the foam tires I'm finding that they are arranged by a color system :confused: I'm familiar with the shoring system used on the nitro foams, but this has got my totally confused. Can someone do an electric to nitro translation for me here or come up with a chart for me? Also I'm assuming that the combinations are going to be different because the nitro TC's are 4 wheel drive, but the 1/12 pan cars are only 2wd. If someone could give me a basic idea of were to start for tire set ups that would be good, but I also plan to go check out my local tracks and ask some questions of the racers there. Also are the pan cars solid enough to drive around in the street if I want to? They seem like pretty awsome racing bred machines, but I'm not sure of their durability. I'm still doing some research, but I'd appreciated all the info and opinions you guys have to offer.

Also some of the cars I was looking at
-CRC carpet knife
-RC12L4
-Corrally Anhohiem (sp?) edition

Any input on those would be good too. Also is there any car that would be better suited to the 3 different surfaces I plan to drive on? Obviously I will have to develope several setups for each surface and track, but Input here would also be appreciated. Thanks for the help :)

[tdyoung58]

I have a CRC and I run purple fronts and grey rears most of the time for road course. I also have a 12L oval car, I run the same rears and fronts with changing to a magenta LF tire sometimes.

As far as track stuff, you can dowload setups at both the associated and CRC sites. That should give you a basic setup you can adjust fro your driving style.

[RC10racer89]

Cool thanks for the fast reply. Can you clue me in as to the color coding system? How are the colors arranged from soft to hard?

[RH Customs Inc]

Most people at my tack run a RC12l3, and some use the L4, and the Reflex 12.

[RH Customs Inc]

Also I have heard that I matters what type of track the car will be ran on.

[highroller]

You'll get more ideal information from racers at the track where you intend to race. Ask them about which car type everyone uses, tire compounds, traction compound use and application, gearing, motor used, chassis setup (front/shock spring rates, shock oil weight, body etc).
Foams come in a standard (inexpensive, less wear) green and blue, while the exotics come in pink, white, gray, purple, black, magneta, silver, red, double blue, triple blue. There are 3 major foam tire manufactuerers: Jaco, BSR, TRC and while the color code are generally in the same shore rating each may handle a little differently. Electric foams generate heat or get up to operating temperatures a little differently than those used for gas racing.

While pan cars (1/10 and 1/12) are ran on prepared surfaces like carpet, asphalt, concrete on an unprepared surface they are a handfull and there can be problems with ground clearance. For carpet surfaces foams are ideal tire to use but for concrete or asphalt a radial (rubber outter tire with foam core) is more ideal (less rolling resistance) where there are no rules limiting tire use.

As for which chassis is best, that tends to be a personal choice. I've only run Associated cars but added some aftermarket items that improved the handling or built a chassis that worked for a specific track.

BSR (available on RC4Less site) lists the shore ratings of their compounds, TRC may list them as well, the only manufacturer that doesn't list shore ratings is Jaco but the compounds fall right in the same area as the other but each brand handles a little differently.

[tdyoung58]

I usually get my tires from CRC because I like the wheels they use, less prone to breakage with my crappy driving ability

[RC10racer89]

Thanks for all the help guys. I'll probably get a chance to go out to the track next weekend and ask some questions. I really appreciate the input. Feel free to post anything else you think I might need to know.

[RC10racer89]

One more question that should be pretty duh obvious, but I thought I better check is if I'll need to get a new charger for the four cell packs. I'm assuming it will work fine with the old charger I dug out of my garage, but thought I'd better check. I have the dynamite vision peak plus. Here is a link. http://www.dynamiterc.com/Products/Detail.aspx?ProductID=DYN4046

[lordraptor1]

i have a question where can one get 1/12 scale oval bodies at?

[NotWalkinBlind]

I think McAllister has some. http://www.mcallisterracing.com

[NotWalkinBlind]

More specifically: http://www.mcallisterracing.com/racing/page12.html