I loved my JRX2! When I got it back in Spring 1989, it was the best 2WD buggy on the market. State-of-the-art. It was the only RC car with which I had consistent racing success. Even though the battery holders were too tight and the instruction manual was poor, it was a great car. I would work at the base commissary on Tue, Wed, Thu, and Sat; and drive up to the TPS(The Pit Stop) raceway on Friday evenings to race. My Tamiya Grasshopper, Tamiya Avante, and Nichimo Exceed were all unsuitable for long-term racing. The 4WD modified class was the least popular. The 2WD truck stock class was the most popular. 4WDs are more complex than 2WDs and are therefore more vulnerable to damage from collisions. Stock class was slower and therefore safer than modified. Even though having fewer competitors meant a greater chance of winning, it was more fun to race against more competitors. At the time, Team Associated had not updated its classic RC10 from 1984, and was still resting on their laurels. Kyosho had already upgraded their Ultima with the Turbo Ultima. Radio Control Car Action did a comparison test between the JRX2 and the legendary RC10. The JRX2 smoked the classic RC10 in every category. It was faster, lighter, and handled better. The most innovative and groundbreaking feature of the JRX2 was the five-lnk rear suspension. It can be loosely described as a mixture of double-wishbone and trailing arm suspension. In the next generation, the JRX-Pro, Losi had replaced the 5-link with H-arm suspension, which made the car handle more aggressively. But the H-arm suspension was really just another variation of double wishbone suspension, which eneryone else was already using. I always thought it was unfortunate that the most innovative feature of the best 2WD buggy of 1988/1989 was discarded and never returned.
+perfectsplit I got my JRx2 right about the same time you did (jan 89) and the car was awesome. I finally was able to beat my friend's RC10! The main reason the 5 link went away is, it was prone to wear and would cause instability in the rear of the car. I experienced this as my car pulled double duty as a back yard basher and track racer. I upgraded my kit with the "Pro Kit" which still had the ability to use the 5 link but the car drove so much better and handled better with the H arms that I never looked back. I used a RC10 battery tray and solved the fitting issues. It even fit in the factory Losi holes!!
Awesome! I vaguely recall that prior to the JRX2's release, it was already being widely used as a converted dirt oval racer, along with all the other off road buggies that were converted for dirt oval. One magazine erroneously listed the JRX2 as the new breed of dirt oval racers. I recall that many people used the RC10 battery tray in the RC10L, which was designed for saddle packs. The JRX2 ball joints tended to pop off during racing, so I upgraded them to joints that used screws and nuts - like the ones that came on the Kyosho Turbo Optima Mid SE. I painted all the wheels magenta to match the magenta body. Then I got chrome wheels from Custom Chrome Parts. But I found that I actually liked the magenta painted wheels better. Sheldon's Hobbies had aluminum suspension arms and bulkheads as upgrades. You could really trick out that car!
I loved my JRX2! When I got it back in Spring 1989, it was the best 2WD buggy on the market. State-of-the-art. It was the only RC car with which I had consistent racing success. Even though the battery holders were too tight and the instruction manual was poor, it was a great car. I would work at the base commissary on Tue, Wed, Thu, and Sat; and drive up to the TPS(The Pit Stop) raceway on Friday evenings to race. My Tamiya Grasshopper, Tamiya Avante, and Nichimo Exceed were all unsuitable for long-term racing. The 4WD modified class was the least popular. The 2WD truck stock class was the most popular. 4WDs are more complex than 2WDs and are therefore more vulnerable to damage from collisions. Stock class was slower and therefore safer than modified. Even though having fewer competitors meant a greater chance of winning, it was more fun to race against more competitors.
At the time, Team Associated had not updated its classic RC10 from 1984, and was still resting on their laurels. Kyosho had already upgraded their Ultima with the Turbo Ultima. Radio Control Car Action did a comparison test between the JRX2 and the legendary RC10. The JRX2 smoked the classic RC10 in every category. It was faster, lighter, and handled better.
The most innovative and groundbreaking feature of the JRX2 was the five-lnk rear suspension. It can be loosely described as a mixture of double-wishbone and trailing arm suspension. In the next generation, the JRX-Pro, Losi had replaced the 5-link with H-arm suspension, which made the car handle more aggressively. But the H-arm suspension was really just another variation of double wishbone suspension, which eneryone else was already using. I always thought it was unfortunate that the most innovative feature of the best 2WD buggy of 1988/1989 was discarded and never returned.
+perfectsplit I got my JRx2 right about the same time you did (jan 89) and the car was awesome. I finally was able to beat my friend's RC10! The main reason the 5 link went away is, it was prone to wear and would cause instability in the rear of the car. I experienced this as my car pulled double duty as a back yard basher and track racer. I upgraded my kit with the "Pro Kit" which still had the ability to use the 5 link but the car drove so much better and handled better with the H arms that I never looked back. I used a RC10 battery tray and solved the fitting issues. It even fit in the factory Losi holes!!
Awesome! I vaguely recall that prior to the JRX2's release, it was already being widely used as a converted dirt oval racer, along with all the other off road buggies that were converted for dirt oval. One magazine erroneously listed the JRX2 as the new breed of dirt oval racers.
I recall that many people used the RC10 battery tray in the RC10L, which was designed for saddle packs. The JRX2 ball joints tended to pop off during racing, so I upgraded them to joints that used screws and nuts - like the ones that came on the Kyosho Turbo Optima Mid SE. I painted all the wheels magenta to match the magenta body. Then I got chrome wheels from Custom Chrome Parts. But I found that I actually liked the magenta painted wheels better. Sheldon's Hobbies had aluminum suspension arms and bulkheads as upgrades. You could really trick out that car!
I know this video is a couple years old but did you have to modify the JrX2 to run modern wheels/tires ?
Vintage rules. Great driving.