Granpa

I'm not saying that won't work, but when I tried it the ride height looked like it was about 10mm. With the standard short coupler it was too low. The solution opted for was to build a longer shock. What length shock is the optimum still needs to be worked out. 58mm was what I settled on and seems to be fairly close and this seems to be about the minimum. For now, experimenting will be done by just unscrewing the coupler on the shock shaft. If it needs to be longer, it's only about a mm or so.

The whole dynamic of the shock spring and oil combination is changed when the shock position on the suspension arm is changed. In this position the shock shaft moves much more in relation to a given amount of wheel movement. Like I said in my earlier post, I don't have any idea whether this is a good mod or just a big waste of time. This sort of stuff is very entertaining to work on though.

bertrandsv87

iTrader: (2)

Even when I built my shocks exactly the same, some felt softer than others, and I put the softest ones in the rear...

Core Creations

iTrader: (108)

Questionfor Bob...did you say there were no M06s in the A at Nats? Just wondering because I thought I saw a Miata ??

Granpa

Yeah, that could cause a bit of confusion. It was legal this year to run any Mini body on any chassis. Danny Eggar was using the Miata. There were 9 M03s and 1 M05. There were 2 or 3 LWB and the rest were MWB with Swift bodies.

For your info, there's been some talk about going to 25.5 B/L next year for Mini. They were doing some comparison testing a couple of weeks ago. The two cars used were very close. One had a Silvercan and the other had the B/L system.

Please don't inundate me with ????? cause that's all I know. Other than the fact that my car was the Silvercan car and Kevin Nino had the B/L car and that Fred Medel and Rod Canare were driving, that's the extent of the info I have.

Core Creations

iTrader: (108)

Thanks for the info Bob. I missed the body rule completely.

Did u run at the Chino race? If you did, how did the various chassis do on carpet comparatively?

Granpa

No, I didn't cause carpet racing just not one of my favorite things to do. Only 2 of the Mini Mafia ran that race. Bensi Lopez came in 2nd with the M03 and Danny Eggar was 3rd, I think, with his M06. Mark Brown from Seattle, Washington won with his M03. Mark came down for some practice the past two Saturdays so I learned a little about carpet set up from him. The rest of the cars were pretty far back and were mainly M05s.

I don't know what it is, but with the tires we have to run for the TCS series, the M05 is just not as quick as the M03. It just could be that the best drivers are using the M03 and not the 05. But you could also argue that they are the best drivers so they opted for the 03.

CraigMBA

iTrader: (22)

The White Lightning bicycle chain lube is the best thing ever for squeeky door hinges on your house. It also makes zero mess. I tried literally everything else I owned, but this worked. How well it works on universals? Dunno. Great on noisy older M03 gears too!

Thanks for the tip Granpa!

monkeyracing

iTrader: (10)

I sure hope Tamiya specs a motor or group of motors if they go BL. Better yet, fixed mechanical/dynamic timing. Leave it open to any motor/brand and you get motor wars, motor of the month and lots of expensive, electric paperweights.

cementsurfer86

I think the USVTA rules would be ideal IMO:

Novak 25.5 BL only.
Open timing.
Keep to a select group of speeders.

We run those rules in our Scale Spec class, and it works awesome.

SilverShelby

Danny was running a lwb m03 with a rx-7 body

bertrandsv87

iTrader: (2)

BL minis will catch on eventually, but silvercan will linger for a very long time due to the BL system's pricetag....

Granpa

The cost gap has really narrowed with the fixed timing B/L esc coming in at less than $100. Have you looked for a new brushed esc. The KO is $180 and the Tekin Fx Pro is $120. There may be other good escs out there , but I'm unaware of them.

The problem with the Silvercan is the wide variation in speed between individual motors. Even with the controlled hand out motor situation at the Nats, this can be a problem. There are just some motors that are slower or faster out of the box.

My understanding is that there is not that problem with the B/L motors due to their higher quality. The price tag should be about $180 for motor and esc which is about what my KO esc cost me.

cementsurfer86

+1.
Between 10 brushless motors, I can't tell a difference at all. The only difference would be if one got too hot because of over gearing, but with the minis, that won't be an issue.

monkeyracing

iTrader: (10)

BL is already cheaper, if you shop smart and don't allow the "win at any cost" guys take over. My Orca Spark BL system (same type of can as Hobbywing, built to spec for our racing series) cost less than a Tekin FXR new and I haven't had to replace my motor, ever. I believe since the switch to HW brushless systems in Australia, motor replacement has become a non-issue. Towards the end of our silver can days, I saw guys burn through 2 or 3 Johnson/Mabuchi motors, at $20-$40 a pop, over a weekend.

Strictly for the sake of contrast, we were offered complete HW 13T systems, with program cards, for $54 on a 35 piece club buy deal. THAT is a freaking bargain by any measure.

I have a friend who tested 7 of our spec BL motors recently. The fastest was about 1% faster at the top end. The difference between "regular" BL motors is much, much greater.

Just sayin. Avoid the motor wars!

howardcano

iTrader: (37)

We need to keep in mind the limited selection of gear ratios when selecting a brushless motor. The 25.5 would have sufficient power, but it has very low RPM compared to a silver can, so the gear ratio would need to be very tall. On the other hand, a lower-turn motor may give the same top speed, but way more torque and power than the silver can.