niznai

Granpa is right to a point. It's not that minis are overpowered (or if you will they are because they are front wheel drive). What I mean to say is that being FWD, they can not put the power down the way a 4WD TC (or even a RWD pan car) would. In that perspective yes, they have more powe rthan they can use. To give you an example of using power in a mini cast your mind back to the 80s when Kyosho experimented with pan cars and produced a FWD pan car that (the FF) can kill TC cars today with a silvercan. That is basically a very light FWD car that can use power. Tamiya minis can't. Or not much of it, anyway.

Factor in more limiting restrictions such as motors, batteries, gearing, limited choice of bodies for TCS rules, etc, etc. and you'll see it's a world where you have to choose your compromises carefully.

But you found already the right way. Drop it like it's hot to the legal limit is the first step (after choosing your tires, if you're allowed to). Put as much weight as you can on the front wheels (people used to add lead in the front bumper if you can believe that, coming from a TC background). Now that is what I would call counterintuitive! And so on.

Also, remember these cars are exccessively top heavy (again, unlike TC, or other manufacturer's mini/FWD cars). If you can, get your hands on an early Tamiya car, an M01 and you'll probably have a much better chassis than current offerings. Not legal to race in TCS though, I understand (or anywhere else I know).

Bodies (again if allowed) have a look at the offerings from ABC Hobby. They have a lighter gauge Lexan and some really nice and aerodynamic bodies (like the Civic Type-R which is way smaller than Tamiya's - true, that is aimed ad their full size FWD car - but also smaller than any of the Tamiya mini bodies. It accomodates underneath the M05 v1 in SWB guise and just clears the wheels, they also have the S800 which is a beautiful and tiny (by Tamiya standards) mini chassis shell, and so on.

And there are other manufacturers like Colt, Chevron, etc. TCS of course doesn't like any of these.

Good luck.

Granpa

Yes, ABC makes some really nice, scale appearing bodies. The molding is excellent, but they screw it all up with the "stickers". The appearance in of some are a little "toy" like and the material is too thick. They just don't lay down right. Hopefully they've corrected this in their later offerings.

From just a pure appearance standpoint, HPI makes the best looking bodies. Of course that's just my opinion. Their Porsche RSR, 240Z, and BMW 2002 are very scale looking. If you're looking to build a shelf queen, these are worth a gander.

I believe the ABC and the HPI bodies are mainly SWB bodies.

Selecting a body for racing, depends not so much on appearance or size, but whether a body "works" or not. Appearances can be deceiving here. Unfortunately, the only way to pick a racing body is to try one.

niznai

From my experience, HPI bodies are very fragile, they shatter like glass. Not such good detail as Tamiya either. That said, I have a few, and the BMW 2002 is perhaps the best rendition of the car I've seen. The width however is not right for a mini size chassis, the wheels rub inside even though it has the correct Alpina flares. It's also one of the heaviest bodies for a mini and I suspect it has the aerodynamics of a brick.

Tamiya has the best detail but they're exxy and heavy.

ABC bodies are light, not that detailed, but nice scale looking bodies and quite tough (I went through an entire racing season with a Toyota S800 though seriously battle scarred, has no cracks at all). Prices pretty much on par with HPI. They have a nice Porsche 911 GT2 (or 969 - I think if you prefer that designation) body, and other rather exotic ones.

Most others seem to follow the "light and tough but not very detailed" mantra.

niznai

double post

Soupinmycoupe

iTrader: (30)

Anyone see that spec R 210mm body on ebay? They have any f1/gtr and sedan version. It's only $13 (before shipping for $9)


http://m.ebay.com/itm/131275358261?nav=SEARCH




Btw granpa- i got spanked using that Turnigy trackstar. Killshot and thunder power were dominant. Phew.

MD

iTrader: (136)

TBG sells a lot of interesting Mini bodies on Ebay.



http://www.ebay.com/itm/TBG-VW-V-W-G...item2311f498c4

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ACURA-HONDA-...item2304966e9e

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VW-1963-BUS-...item19e95bfdb1

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-MONT...item23266d8a82

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MUSTANG-BODY...item23150819e3

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TBG-RENAULT-...item2311f4a2b1

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AUDI-TT-BODY...item23064eb6d3

sosidge

Correction - TBG has stolen the hard work of the designers at Traxxas, Tamiya, HPI and others in order to make a quick buck.

And thanks to eBay he is probably making a pretty good living out of it!

niznai

You're a bit harsh, sosidge. TBG have made their own molds. I have bought a couple of generations of their Porsche 959 Dakar repros after Tamiya's 1980s car and the cars differ from one generation to the next. They refined their mold to make the bodyshell more and more accurate, and having two original Tamiya 959 bodies, I can tell the TBG body is actually functional. By that I mean you're not afraid to sneeze on it.

Tamiya does usually re-release their cars (perhaps just to keep the copyright active) but they didn't re-release the 959 so that's their problem.

All other bodyshells made by TBG are also in this area of lapsed copyright except the R5Turbo, but they launched that before Tamiya re-released theirs (and T only did a very very short run in a hand full of M05RA kits (not released as a spare part on its own)).

My guess is they didn't rip off anyone. They correctly identified a niche market of frustrated nostalgics and took it. Tamiya only needs to push a button and can have them out of business in a blink if they want.

axle182

iTrader: (18)

+1 Niznai. Also they have a few funky body designs of their own, that I havent seen from anyone else. As an end user, I am super happy with TBG and hope they keep producing shells we can actually use and at very reasonable prices.

filippimini

Those TBG bodies look good and well priced. Do they come with dacals?


I had a bit of time today so I decided to throw my m05 on the setup station to dial it in a bit.
I noticed something odd. Even though I am running Yeah racing 2deg rear uprights, the reading on both sides is exactly 3deg toe in. Does this mean the kit had 1deg built into it?
Does 3deg rear toe seem a bit much? I can't seem to get my car driving nice and I feel this could be it. I have 2deg out on the front.

What do people think?

niznai

No, but you can buy the decals separately from TBG if you want.

eR1c

iTrader: (2)

Unfortunately, or fortunately (to keep everyone on the same plane) our club rules state that we have to run a "Tamiya" M-chassis body. So no ABC or HPI, etc...

--------

My personal favorite bodies were the HPI Cup Racer ones (510, 240z, Stratos, 2002, Porsche RSR, etc, -the detail is amazing and the inclusion of scale parts like exhaust, mirrors, wipers, etc... Even the scale wheels that were sold to match the bodies. Top notch in my opinion. And the quality is really nice as well.

Tamiya's bodies are nice, but not as nice as HPI's (in my opinion). I think the Tamiya bodies work well and are scale and quality is nice. I just prefer the HPI ones.

I like what ABC offers, the quality/execution on the limited bodies I've seen do not seem to compare to HPI's in my opinion. I do like that they offer some really unique body choices.

---
I wish Tamiya would come out with some new bodies for the M Chassis, my recommendations/wish list would be:

1) Toyota 2000gt
2) Ferrari 250GTO
3) Shelby Cobra
4) Porsche 914
5) Maserati "Birdcage" -1950's example.
6) Ford Capri -1974 example

I am probably missing something here, but that is my quick list.

BILKO1

The plate under the chassis which the lower arm hinge pins go through must have 1 degree built in. You can buy alloy ones with 0 degrees I think. I run 2.5 degrees on my m05 S spec as the included alloy plate has 1 degree built in and it comes with 1.5 degree hubs.

Speaking of S spec does anyone know if its possible to get new chassis parts in silver as mine are getting pretty worn?

monkeyracing

iTrader: (10)

That sucks.

That's a great list. I wish Tamiya could produce and sell bodies at a realistic price point.

Raman

iTrader: (94)

HPI did a very nice job with the cup racer bodies. It was the primary reason I bought a cup racer. It also was the first and last time HPI did a good job on their bodies. Were they better than Tamiya, yes and no.

Yes'

1. They were better than Tamiya in the sense that they did not have mould lines. The only way to achieve his is to have a 2 piece body.

I personally prefer to have a one piece body. I forgive the mould lines on my Alfa GTA body, because otherwise it's a dead ringer to my 1:1 Alfa GTV. The abs chrome plastic grill is spot on. I do wish it had real light housing, but the body dates back to the early 90s. HPI should have offered a real grill for the cup racer BMW 2002, it would have done it justice. The decal grill looks fake. Same goes for the Datsun 510, a real grill would have been great.

The Tamiya Alpine A110 and Abarth 1000 TCR are stunning scale replicas of the real thing as well. Most mini guys won't run them because of weight / handling issues. Personally I think Minis are about the look and we should work around the handling. I've done just that with my Alfa GTA body.

The best Cup Racer body is the Porsche RSR. I proudly display that in my man cave.

2. They came up with a series of vintage cars that no one had bodies for, so again a plus

3. They included mirrors, exhausts, wipers.. Again very cool.

The "Nos"

1. HPI decals are not of great quality, no where near as nice as Tamiya. Their masking sheet also stinks. HPI seldom offers real sponsor livery, where as Tamiya almost always does. Instead they put their own name all over the decal sheet which cheapens the brand.

2. They abandoned the cup racer too quickly. They should have launched an RCGT12 class.

Aside from the cup racers series, I give HPI bodies a C rating. They have not released a 190mm body in eons. Those that they have are mediocre in scale and detail. Their 200mm bodies are out of proportion, like the rest of 200mm bodies out there.

ABC bodies are stunning, but I agree with Grandpa their decals are bad, far worse than HPI.