djmcnz

Good advice as long as people don't equate "good" with "expensive" with respect to servos. Everybody should use "good" servos, nobody needs "expensive" servos.

I'm not a Mini expert but have spent a lot of time racing 4WD buggies and know what a good servo is all about. Ultimately you're looking for metal gears (perhaps all but one), ball bearings, sealed and rebuildable with the correct speed/torque combo for your needs. Low profile and lightweight are worth considering to provide weight distribution flexibility. They of course should centre true all of the time.

In over 20 years I've tried many and eventually settled for Blue Bird servos. I think their heritage is aircraft but they have lots of options for cars too. If you look at the specifications for these servos you'd think they should cost a lot, almost as much as "top end" servos... we'll they're about $25 each... yes, you read that correctly (and these ones are all low profile).

www .blue-bird-model.com/en/servos/bms-705mg.html
www .blue-bird-model.com/en/servos/bms-706mg.html
www .blue-bird-model.com/en/servos/bms-760dmg.html

Convince me you need more torque or speed than that in a Mini!

On top of this they are sealed servos and fully user rebuildable with spare parts kits available.

I use a BMS-760DMG in my runner 511 and have never, ever had a problem.

As for ESC's - I can't imagine a Mini could possibly tax a medium-end ESC let alone a high end ESC. I use an LPR SPX8 on my 511 and it would be silly for somebody to spend that much on an ESC for a Mini. I think the best advice would be "don't get a crap ESC for a Mini but you don't need an expensive one either".

djmcnz

See my previous on this subject and then specifically:

Analogue
Torque: www .blue-bird-model.com/en/servos/bms-705mg.html
Speed: www .blue-bird-model.com/en/servos/bms-706mg.html

Digital
Torque: www .blue-bird-model.com/en/servos/bms-760dmg.html
Speed: www .blue-bird-model.com/en/servos/bms-761dmg.html

For a Mini I suspect you'll want to go for the "speed" option.

Excuse the aborted URL's I'm running into a brick wall of noob restrictions...

djmcnz

Guys,

I want to replace the plastic wheel adaptors on my M03 and M05 with pin-type versions.

For those that have done this are you're going like-for-like and using 6mm adaptors (like the kit plastic ones) or 5mm ones (or even less)?

TIA.

Edit: For clarity, I'm interested in wheel arch clearance.

tdunster

There is an issue with the M-01 bodies.

The M-03 and M-05 bodies are exactly the same.

Tamiya #50795 for the SWB Rover Mini and Tamiya #51335 for the LWB BMW Mini.

What's the part number of the body that is not interchangeable ?

niznai

to keep cost down, perhaps? The Goose comes with simple shocks too not separated from springs but aluminium without threaded collars. That is a massive saving, I imagine looking at prices for a set from say Tamiya.

djmcnz

Oops, you're correct, my typo.

I'll go back and edit that post...

Edit: snip incorrect info.

Now separate but related: I recommend selecting your tyres of choice before any Cooper body... 60D and rally block tyres will not fit properly under the M03 Monte or XB body, only under the unpainted "Racing" body.

tdunster

The Monte Carl body came in both M-01 and M-03/M-05 configurations.

With respect to to your M-05 Pro it sounds like you have it set up as either a LWB or MWB.

The Suzuki Swift is a MWB and the BMW Mini is a LWB

My M-05 Honda S-800 fits on my M-03 Rover Mini and vis versa.

djmcnz

They're SWB but I was wrong anyway.

Now that I'm home I've checked and the M03 body fits on the M05 as you say. Mine's a tight fit though, I have to bend the posts in a tad, on the '03 the body just slips on.

Having said that I find that the front grill/bumper mounts on the inside of the body foul on the M05 front (Hop Up) suspension assembly.

monkeyracing

iTrader: (10)

You can always add a spacer if you go a little bit narrow. Tamiya 1 mm wheel spacers are a good tool for you to have in your pit box anyway.

Granpa

Never said the Silvercan motors we usually run would tax the capabilities of the esc cause a Mini can use the esc that came in the kit. If all you want from your esc is for the car to go when you pull on throttle and slow or stop when you release it and not blow up while doing so, you're right, it would be silly. If the adjustability features on the high end esc will help, I won't skimp here. I do not have many "bling" parts on my cars and the ones that are, are there for a reason.

Many of you know that I advocate refining your car to the point where it helps you and not the other way around. If you have enough talent to get a "piece of crap" car around the track faster than most of us, you're still gonna get your head handed to you by someone as talented who has invested the time and $$$ to refine his car. Now, I'm serious about this stuff only because I'm probably the "worst" driver at our local track. However, I can usually keep up with or beat all but a very few just cause my car is so much better than most. Everything that has been done to that car has been posted on this thread at one time or another.

I apologize if I seem to be condescending, but my hope was to save some people some money. The servo in my M03L is over 10 years old and cost about $80 at that time. It has steered a Losi XXX, X-ray FK05, Evo 4 or 3 and finally the M03L. It may have been in another car or two, but those are the ones I know for sure. One of our local racers WAS enamored of some $30 servo. Well he broke that one and another and replaced it with another $30 servo from another company. Guess what!!!! He spent $90 and is still stuck with a cheap $30 servo. This may compute for some, but doesn't make sense to me.

djmcnz

lol, quite the opposite Granpa...

I agree that ESC software is important and I think you can get top of the range ESC software in most midrange ESC's now, the only real differences you pay for now in the very top end ESC's are peak/continuous current and voltage capacity/regulation and electrical interference management. With the best ESC's you're paying for the ability to run back-to-back packs all day long at max load and for little else over midrange ones. Perhaps a few profiles but they tend to filter down quickly if they work (and few do).

Herkimer Jitney

What a cool looking car! ok some parts of it are weird but overall it looks really interesting. sure I cant race it here but I'm still keen to try one.

Granpa

I have a few questions for those of you who are more learned than I. This only applies in situations where we have to use the motor leads that are supplied with the Johson 540J motor.

1. Since the motor leads supplied with the motor look to be 18 gauge or smaller, can we wire the esc with 18 gauge wire and not lose a significant amount of power??? If so, can anyone tell me how much it would affect lap times, understanding that tracks vary in size and complexity.

2. I have heard the Tamiya connector should be changed frequently. How frequently and what criteria do you use to judge when to replace them.

Yes, I'm aware that larger gauges of wire and hard wiring to the motor is better, but the particular situation does o allow for that option.

monkeyracing

iTrader: (10)

Dude. Why'd you have to show me that. I don't think I'm out of the doghouse yet for the last one I bought.

Looks cool.

niznai

I am not necessarily more learned than the next person, but here are some of my experiences that may have been avoided if I knew better.

The Tamiya connectors can become faulty for no apparent reason. I can't explain it, but they do. What happens? Well, not sure, but you plug it in and the car doesn't move, like it has no battery. Something must go terribly screwy, because it all looks fine, and yet there is no power going through the connector. It happened to me with Dean's connectors as well (I changed to these when I could not take Tamiya connectors any more). In this case, I noticed the blades looked like they "sunk" in the plastic a tiny little bit, just enough that contact is no longer happening. There is no warning sign, they do it all of a sudden. Killed me the first time as I was completely unprepared, and it completely stuffed up my race. Changed to Corally since, never had a problem ever again.

I think the wire put on silvercans is there to suggest not to put too much power through, to make the motors last as long as possble for the average buyer.

In normal applications (backyard basher with Tamiya TEU ESC) don't think it matters.

Where it matters is when you have high currents going through (say you have a good ESC, batteries, etc). The bullet plugs are far from perfect though I never had one fail. They do get hot though. Liekwise the wires. It s obvious then that something is happening to get them that hot. I think what happens is they are run for a long time at or near capacity and the higher the current, the higher the heat. A better wire would take more current without overheating like that because they dissipate heat a lot better (quicker), helping all the electronics. Don't forget, your power wires are heatsinks.

I prefer to have no connectors on my cars between ESC and motor, but that's not always possible. I use then gold plated bullet connectors (not becasue they're the best there is, but because they are forever reusable) which I usually solder directly to the motor (a lot easier with brushless) and plug in the ESC cables. That way, I can swap motors/ESCs betwen cars easier and quicker and don't need to lug around a soldering iron everywhere I go.