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-   -   Tamiya mini cooper (https://www.rctech.net/forum/electric-road/20068-tamiya-mini-cooper.html)

eR1c 06-15-2015 12:39 PM

...if your just looking for parking lot fun, then you really need nothing. Not even the aluminum battery posts, just keep it stock as you won't notice much unless your racing other people. The car is pretty well sorted and is quite fun to drive as is. Any wheelbase is fine for parking lot fun, ...just choose the body you want and set the car wheelbase to suit that.

It's only when your racing that you want to get every second ahead or ounce of potential from the car. ...otherwise you wont' really notice any difference too much.

sakadachi 06-15-2015 12:55 PM


Originally Posted by jjjheimer (Post 14054625)
Those of you that have the M05 Pro Version 2.. what upgrades do you suggest?

I like my 60D Super Grip radial tires, TRF x-rings in my dampers to replace the o-rings. Other then that I don't think I have any other hop-up in my V2.



Originally Posted by eR1c (Post 14054663)
Wow, I envious! Nice track, ...how I wish I had that kind of space. I live near San Francisco where a million bucks will get you a 1200 sq ft home if your lucky. Would love a basement!!! Fortunately I have a few places I can drive to.

Thanks, I'm in the boring upper midwest so it is one of the perks especially during long winters we have. :D I am glad my wife and I did not finish the basement. It was supposed to be finished long time ago when we bought the house, but kept putting it off, then kids, then no time. :lol:

jjjheimer 06-15-2015 01:38 PM

Great, thanks..

I was occasionally dipping into the A-Mains with the local club races, still need to work on my cornering and my twitch reflexes.

eR1c 06-15-2015 01:41 PM

TA03 ball diff'' will help w/ keeping corner speed (if you don't already have it installed)
...my recommendation is go easy on throttle ...feather it, don't jab it. Also try to roll through corners rather than brake. I find that racing the mini is more about keeping it smooth around the track ...slow and steady is much better than aggressive and jabbing at the throttle.

sakadachi 06-15-2015 01:50 PM

Yes, thanks for reminding me I too run ball diffs in my V2. :D I couldn't believe Tamiya did not include this in the V2 package.

I have both TA03 and M05 ball diffs. I will mention that the MantaRay ball diff's pressure plate splines to the outer drive cup broke within 6months. :weird: I only run the M05 ball diffs now.

32819toon 06-16-2015 02:12 AM

To 3219toon, the above was the second part to my answer to your query.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the help Grandpa, I'll have a go at your suggestions.

I have been running indoors on carpet and the car went OK. We've moved outside now on a school yard with very little grip. I kept the same set up, using 60D Radials up front and M Grips on the back. I did notice that the Radials are now slicks which probably indicates how much grip I was actually getting, causing the grip roll.

Thanks again, I make the changes and get back with how I get on. Might be a few weeks though as I'm going to me missing a race or two.

filippimini 06-16-2015 03:54 AM

Hi all,

Could someone please explain to me the purpose of body post stiffeners? How do they work and what do they achieve?

caltek1 06-16-2015 04:32 AM

Craig,
No chemicals used on my chassis or the other two with the same issues. I would have to say the thinner lower chassis and redesign have made the chassis a little more susceptible to damaging easily.
I have found the more openings in the chassis, also allow the ingress of small pebbles and dirt, which we cause the middle gear to strip quickly. I have found blutack and battery tape my best friend to combat this.
A few mini drivers here in Aust are going back to the original MO5 which did not have theses issues. Even my dremeled MO5 chassis, that fits asquare battery pack did not have these problems.
I also did not like the MO6 suspension pins on my MO5. I found I needed to run longer shocks with softer oil,which made the car horrible to drive. I reverted back to the standard shocks and shock positions.
However we run Ride inch ups as our control tyre and I have found running the same oil front and rear, with harder springs on the rear and higher rear ride height to work best for me.

sakadachi 06-16-2015 04:34 AM


Originally Posted by filippimini (Post 14055648)
Hi all,

Could someone please explain to me the purpose of body post stiffeners? How do they work and what do they achieve?

Are you referring to like the cross braces? If so, they help especially taller bodies like the Rover Mini bodies from swaying more than it should during cornering and switchbacks. Makes the car respond faster to your driving inputs.

filippimini 06-16-2015 05:03 AM


Originally Posted by sakadachi (Post 14055686)
Are you referring to like the cross braces? If so, they help especially taller bodies like the Rover Mini bodies from swaying more than it should during cornering and switchbacks. Makes the car respond faster to your driving inputs.

Thanks Sakadachi. I appreciate the one you take to respond.

Granpa 06-16-2015 06:27 AM


Originally Posted by 32819toon (Post 14055595)
To 3219toon, the above was the second part to my answer to your query.

Thanks for the help Grandpa, I'll have a go at your suggestions.

I have been running indoors on carpet and the car went OK. We've moved outside now on a school yard with very little grip. I kept the same set up, using 60D Radials up front and M Grips on the back. I did notice that the Radials are now slicks which probably indicates how much grip I was actually getting, causing the grip roll.

Thanks again, I make the changes and get back with how I get on. Might be a few weeks though as I'm going to me missing a race or two.[/QUOTE]

The tires are the main problem. While the M-Grips have more grip on carpet, they don't on asphalt. Try running the M-Grips up front and the S-grips on the rear. That should give you a horrible push tho with any suspension settings. Tires are 75% of chassis tuning.

We run the S-Grips all around and my suggestions were based on that tire selection. Because of the rules we run here, that's pretty much our only option. If you can run other tires, for 60D size tires, the Pit Shimizu slick with the Tamiya hard foams are terrific. Try the 456 or 454 up front and the 452 in the rear. If you go this route, glue the sets separately cause once out of the package there are no markings to tell one from the other.

If you can use the 55D tires, my control tire has been the Sweep premounts. They seem to work on both carpet and asphalt. Use a harder compound up front and a softer one in the rear. For low grip asphalt tho, my go to tire was the Atomic. Unfortunately, there are a lot of 55D tire choices out there with a myriad of insert and wheel combinations. Calvin is a wealth of info on these tires and would be the guy to ask. Not knocking the guys here, but the Australians have been using these for many years and have a wealth of data that we're not privy to.

eR1c 06-16-2015 10:26 AM


Yes, thanks for reminding me I too run ball diffs in my V2. I couldn't believe Tamiya did not include this in the V2 package.
That would have been a nice addition!


I have found the more openings in the chassis, also allow the ingress of small pebbles and dirt, which we cause the middle gear to strip quickly. I have found blutack and battery tape my best friend to combat this.
I run a strip of battery tape along the bottom of my chassis to seal up that seem along the bottom of the chassis. This has prevented any/all debris from getting in my chassis and has acted as a protective strip along the bottom of the chassis. I have been racing my V2 w/ this tape and have not run into any cracks in the chassis or had any debris in the chassis and gearbox. ...The tape may help solve your chassis cracking?

sakadachi 06-17-2015 05:52 AM

A little off-topic, but I should start building my SabreFD FWD, huh? :D This is supposedly my project for Father's Day coming up. :lol: The AWD version looked too similar to my M-Four so went FWD this time as I've never tried a FWD with open gear box.

Btw do you guys use MIP hex wrenches? Due to unexpected (by me) popularity here, my kids bought me a 3 piece driver bit set. :p Should come in handy for the build.

Okay, back to Tamiya m-chassis.

patorz31 06-17-2015 06:42 AM


Originally Posted by sakadachi (Post 14057301)
Btw do you guys use MIP hex wrenches?

They are some of the best in the Hobby, a lot of the younger guys are turned off by the old school looks but they last for years, I still have my original Thorpe ones in SAE that I use on my pan cars.. I suddenly feel old.....:eek:

sakadachi 06-17-2015 08:16 AM


Originally Posted by patorz31 (Post 14057353)
They are some of the best in the Hobby, a lot of the younger guys are turned off by the old school looks but they last for years, I still have my original Thorpe ones in SAE that I use on my pan cars.. I suddenly feel old.....:eek:

Sounds good! :D Yes, the yellow transparent handles look pretty dated for sure! :lol: The ones I am getting are just the bits though to use on my Panasonic driver and Wera ratchet driver handles.


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