I've been out of the hobby for about 30 years, and am looking for a very good esc/motor combo for both 1/12 pan cars and 1/10 buggies. I want something really fast and lightweight. I was thinking a Reedy 610R 2s esc and a Reedy Sonic 540 M4. It's OK with me if it's too powerful for a car/chassis, I'd rather have it this way than not enough power/speed. I was also looking at the hobbywing xr10 pro g2s esc. I'll be using a flysky nb4+. These esc's seem to be good choices, but are they too big/heavy for 1/12 pan cars? Also, can anyone recommend a good steering servo for 1/10 buggy and 1/12 pan car? Thanks for helping out, I'm a bit rusty on this stuff. It's not as simple as it was in the 1980's.

Well, for 1/12th scale pan car usually you'll need an ESC that works with 1S batteries while 1/10th scale buggy is standard 2S. Make sure both support a low turn motor (1/12 in open modified goes down to 3.5 turns on 1S) while buggies on 2S typically use 5.5-6.5T in modified on carpet and astroturf (usually a bit less power on clay/dirt). Hobbywing is an excellent choice for ESCs and their motors (especially in modified classes) are also not bad. For a real speed experience make sure to use variable timing in the ESC (boost & turbo settings). That's what makes a brushless system really come alive.

Servo for the 1/12 pan car I'd probably go for a Sanwa PGS-HR (or something similar) while for the 1/10th you should aim for 0.1s or quicker (60 degrees) and around 10-15kg force - lots of manufacturers available. For 2WD low profile servos seem to be more common by now, while 4WD buggies usually have a bit more room, you you'll find both, low profile and full size.

Thanks for the reply. I've purchased a 1/12 x ray pan car, and a hobbywing 4.5t v10 g3. I'm hoping to run a 2s battery that will fit, and wondering which esc will handle this. I'm thinking the Hobbywing XR10 Pro G2s elite. I won't be racing the car, just want it to be insanely fast. Does this sound like a good combo? I

I'm also building a Kyosho Fantom re release. I want to put a 4.5t motor in it as well, and will just have to keep off the throttle because I'm sure it won't handle it. I just want the satisfaction of knowing it has the power. Would I be able to remove the fan from the esc in order to make it fit, and the esc still work ok if I don't run it too hard?

Yes, that ESC will handle it, and the car will indeed be insanely fast. I doubt you'll be able to really run it anywhere like that, though. But do as you wish.

If you are 30 years out so probably raced with brushed motors and now going to 4.5T brushless you will need a brush and a dustpan as wel.

So I've been studying how the esc programming works, with the boost and turbo. If I understand correctly, this works by optimizing timing for greater performance from the motor. If you instead set the optimal timing at the motor level (or esc level) across the entire throttle range, is this not going to make the motor perform just as fast as by using the boost and turbo settings?

The problem is that advanced timing produces more heat.

Makes sense, thank you for helping out an old timer!