So I think I want to get a Mini Cooper
I was thinking about a tt02 but I like minis more
Question, which one should I get for general bashing, I was thinking an m05, with bearings, but why is everything fwd? Minis in irl are rear wheel drive. Is there a reason to this and should I get a rwd or fwd or awd mini? Just for general bashing

unless I'm missing something Minis cooper/rover are/were FWD in real life...

For general bashing fwd is easier to handle. The RWD are more prone to swap ends. I would also mention that M06 wiring is a bit trickier than the M05. So go with what you were thinking :)

Just for bashing????? If so,pick up a used M03. They can be found all over for less than $100. They don't have a steering system that needs upgrading----expensive with Tamiya parts and the cheap aftermarket steering systems are not very good.

One disadvantage is that some of the scale looking bodies won't fit, but there are enough good looking bodies that will.

In my hands the M03 is quicker than an M05, mainly because it's just the better car. If you like option parts and spending money , by all means get the M05 with bearings and the aluminum steering which will run another $60. A M03 with a $6, Kimbrough servo saver, will just kill most M05's in the street bashing scenario.

Rover Mini's are FWD in real life too..:lol:

Grandpa, M03's have their own steering issues including weak servo mounts, soft servo saver. :D. I had to mod those areas to make it solid.

Guys I installed the RR 16t pinion in my MFour. Motor gets just as hot and basically just slower vs stock 18t. So went back to my 18t. :lol:

Servo mounts: pretty easy to build a brace between the servo mounts. Almost completely eliminates breakage.

Servo saver: Kimbrough Large is you friend! (You may have to do a little trimming.)

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps8b76379f.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps9e50d3c4.jpg

Good stuff, monkeyracing. :D I made my own servo mounts as well. As for the servo saver, I'm using the Tamiya heavy duty one with a modded ball joint holder area to give the full swing of the stock servo saver horn. I do this on all my Tamiya kits. Sure I could've bought the $18 metal horn, but I rather spend that on other things.

I have a Kimbrough in my parts bin too, just in case I need to make one for 23 spline because Tamiya's don't seem to like Spektrum servo's that much. :lol: I had a hell of a time putting the Tamiya heavy duty one on the S6040 and S6070. No issue though.

I don't know if you're around much MD, but thanks again on the recommendation for that GForce battery. :D works perfectly in my M-Four and the 2200mAh gives me two 6.5min runs. The motor gets hot before the discharge so 2200mAh is more than fine. I just use a countdown timer in my 4PKS-R.

I also tried the flatter Nanotech and it works great too. I have 2 additional Nano-techs coming to me this week, with 40C/80 burst :p ..should be plenty of power for me.

Sizes that work:
TRA2820 size
102x35x18mm size

The MFour with the basic 380 motor is considerably faster than my V2 running silver can. :D
This car quickly turned into my favorite ride. :p

Jim really nice brace, but I've been running M03 for many years and have broken the servo mount on the right side just once. The fault is that the screw mounting the servo bracket is too short. Using a 3x16 or 18mm machine will solve that problem. Like the elegance of your brace, but now just put in a longer screw to mount the servo mount.

I still maintain the 03 is better for street bashing than any other Tamiya Mini. This is why I mentioned the Kimbrough servo saver, cause all, and I repeat, all of the Tamiya servo savers are just not much good. My M05's and any other Tamiya car I've built, and there are many, all had the servo savers replaced.

But fortunately, the M03 steering issues can be fixed for $6 instead of $60 for a new steering linkage and $6 for a Kimbrough servo saver that the M05 needs. The other thing my newer pundit friends are over looking is that an 03 is pretty well set up right out of the box.

Now I knew some would like to criticize my selection of the M03, but remember what the original poster wanted. He wanted a street basher to play with. I'm fairly sure he doesn't want to spend a lot of time and $$$$$ for this car.

So for those who don't like a used 03 and a Kimbrough servo saver, by all means let us hear your suggestion and how much this will set our original poster back in terms of $$$$ and set up time.

The M03 is a capable machine, I still like mine. :D

M05, I'm not too sure. The V2 is definitely nice though. M05 has a weird weight distribution problem, not very symmetrical.

my concern though is parts avaliabilty
I cannot seem to find the M03 to buy many places, and I havent looked too much at parts
what about the m06

The M06 is very tail happy and requires a lot of hop-up parts to make it work well.

Don't think you'll find too many places selling new M03's these days, but a certain online auction site has them regularly over here, they usually sell for less than £50.

That depends on your track. My M06R was built per the kit instructions and all I've done is run it. It is very competitive. In fact, if you run an M05 or M03 at our carpet track you're going to have to work really hard to keep up with the M06s.

What do you guys think of the ABC 210mm's?

They also have FWD and RWD. :D

My basement track has only moderate traction so the MFour does extremely well. Like RWD, I can power rotate the rear of the car mid-turn and have AWD acceleration during exit.

Extreme TC driving with a Rover Mini body. :lol:

If you check ebay there are still vendors out there that carry M03 parts.

When I buy RC kits I usually buy spares of the most break-prone and wear parts. Like steering related mostly, arms, gears, body posts just in case I want to change bodies, a few sets of wheels and tires.

Sometimes it is cheaper to buy 2 kits though. :lol: