There's no reason to be sorry,

I don't own a mini so I'm not sure about this, but my guess would be that the right would be if you put the front of the car facing away and were looking at it from the rear foward. Just my interpretation so I could be wrong.

Yes your diff is working correctely. When a car turns a corner the outside wheel moves further then the inside wheel. The ball diff makes this action very smooth. If one of the cars front wheels looses contact with the bitumen then it will diff out. This is what you said "As the wheel which is on the ground does not turn anymore and only the wheel off the ground turns." All the power goes to the wheel that is off the ground. As long as both wheels keep contact with the ground then a ball diff will be an advantage. Car tuning can stop the diff from diffing out, but this shouldn't be a problem with a mini anyway.

Cheers.

P/S - Questions are what this forum is for so don't hesitate to ask.

More on Mini Diffs
 

Since the mini is relatively top heavy, the problem of "Diff Unloading" when the inside wheel lifts is very common.
You can try experimenting with thicker grease so that the diff acts more like a limited slip diff and thus you get some forward motion even with the inside wheel loosing traction.

It was also suggested to me to tighten the diff as tight as possible to get the same effect.

The word on diff's is difficult.We have been running a mini class in full competion for the last six months. You talk to some people and there lock the diff buy putting glue in them and still get results, but other just run ball diffs tight. Alot depends on the track and conditions but what ever there are doing there are get results the speed of the drivers at the Hillis quite inpressive and the development from six months ago is quite amazing.

Thanks for correcting me. Sorry for posting incorrect information. :blush:

Havago Racing/TJ - As I said I don't have a mini but can the problem also be rectified by using harder springs and or thicker oil all round instead of using grease in the diff? :confused:

If ya want ya mini to go hard
 

Just give it a real loud paint job.
While the other racers are busy avoiding the visual pollution on the track, you can run right around them....

Should see it go with a 12 turn motor, wheelspin city maaate!

Bad paint day

Hi fellas,
Thanks to everyone who took the time to reply to my posts! Very much appreciated :).. I was just concerned my diff was not working correctly.

Perhaps I was just expecting more from the ball diff and perhaps I did not understand it at all :).

We have two Mini's here and my one is now fully optioned with every option listed in the parts manual that came with the car. I have a few other options for the other Mini and I will get around to putting them on after the winter champs at SORMCC.

I do remember once though when I was out at the SORMCC track one Sunday when I thought no one would be there so my partner could get some practice in :). There was another fellow there with an electric car and he was looking over the Mini he asked what diff I had in it and I said just the standard one. He then said I should replace it with the ball diff. I asked him why should I do that and he attempted to explain it to me. But I cannot exactly remember why for anymore. All I remember is that he held the front of the car down and then told me to give it some power. Then he moved the pressure on the front of the wheels from side to side and said something about the wheels turning and said that with a ball diff it would not do that.

Again I cannot remember what the purpose was of the whole exercise and I felt he knew what he as talking about. All I know is that he said I should put the ball diff in.

Anyway I took the car out for a run yesterday and it seemed to go well. I have to say though that I did not notice much or any differance in having the new diff in. But then again perhaps I dont know what I am looking for or what I should be expecting from it :).

Well thanks once again to all of you who replied :).

Regards
Erica

so now that we have the diff sorted out how about rubber:sneaky: i have been running tamiya type A and have had no probs but have not really been at the front:cry: what is every one else using:confused:

Tyres
 

HPI X-Patterns all the way. Grip on carpet, concrete, tarmac, and pretty much anything else. the belted ones are more consistent but the non belted ones are ok as well.

Te only problem is they are hard to find locally. You might have to go overseas for them.

-Scott

Hi,
Not to sure what others are using. But I brought myself two pairs of Tamiya 60D Super Grip Tyres and two pairs of Tamiya 60D Reinforced Type A Tryes (slicks). As well as the hard black inner (for Super Grips) and standard blue inner sponge (for the slicks).

Not to sure how they are going to perform yet as I have not tried them or used them as a combination. But they have to better than the original tryes that came with the kit as my Mini is sliding all over the place on the standard tryes at the moment.

I am also told that they HPI Mini Tyres are a good choice as well. In particaular the X pattern from memory.

Regards
Erica

My exploits experimenting with rubber...
 

I find the kit rubber doesn't last (wears out too fast) so i'm on the search for a better wearing combination.

I tried the type A 60D slicks on the front and
the super grip 60D on the rear and had nothing but trouble!

I must have traction rolled on average 2 times PER LAP!

I ended up swapping them around and it was a bit better....

Tonight I'll do a bit more experimenting...

Don't get me wrong, the kit tires work great but only last just over three race nights and then they are "shagged"

(Our track is carpet )

OK, our experiences in Victoria after about 4-6 years of Mini racing..

Ball Diffs? Pretty much a waste of time in a Mini. Even with a Sport Tuned a Mini is still hugely over-powered and you lose most of your drive in wheelspin through lost traction. And a ball diff is just one more thing that can go wrong. i.e. They DO tend to come loose, even with copious amounts of threadlock. Most of the fast guys in Vic use gear diffs. Keeping a smooth line through the corner is way more important than worrying about what diff to use.

Tyres? HPI X patterns all the way. NOTHING else is as good overall. We've run Pit Shimizu's, Rides, Tamiya, everything! And after experimenting with them all we always end up back at the X patterns. If you can only get non-belted, run a length of cloth-tape inside the tire to stop it expanding under acceleration.

Shocks? Run the Tamiya plastic 'Super-Mini' size (50746) and put spacers in them so that the lower arms are parallel to the ground. Alloy shocks are a waste of money on a Mini. Shock oil is personal preference as it doesn't really seem to matter much. I run 60 front/40 rear.

Most of the other hotups do nothing at all although you might want to invest in a set of the toe-in rear uprights for some extra straight-line stability. And if you're prone to hitting things, a set of the alloy front hub carriers will last forever even if they do cost a bit.

well the verdict would be X patterns... now to find some:lol: oh where oh where could the HPI be???:lol:

Ok so we don't get into a arguement on mini's before TCS and to make sure that we don't get states argureing about legalates why don't I ask our surrtineer if he wouldn't mind have a guess judge in the compound to help with mini from Victoria and then this argurement can stop. If there is something fishy (and I don't think there is) it can be sorted out. We then can get on with the racing. What do you think Tony seeing that you have the repuration of being the mini King are you in?