295LikesTamiya mini cooper
10-26-2015 | 06:38 PM
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 3,549
From: Melbourne, Australia. Home of rc-mini.net
Tim and I just didn't want anyone thinking that this piss poor effort was ours.
I've got no issue with the guy hosting his own site, but thinking that he could pass it off as 'real rc-mini stuff wasn't gonna happen.
To his credit, he removed our content the moment I asked.
I've got no issue with the guy hosting his own site, but thinking that he could pass it off as 'real rc-mini stuff wasn't gonna happen.
To his credit, he removed our content the moment I asked.
10-27-2015 | 11:04 AM
Some of you may have noticed that at our old url (www.rc-mini.net) there is now a new website. We let our ownership of the domain name lapse and someone who obviously isn't original enough to think of their own name has opted to take it up.
Their choice, and that's fine. They did actually have some of our old content on there originally but after me questioning the legitimacy of doing so they took it down.
They're also on Facebook as rc-mini.
Just in case anyone's seen it and wondered, it is NOT us....
TG.
Their choice, and that's fine. They did actually have some of our old content on there originally but after me questioning the legitimacy of doing so they took it down.
They're also on Facebook as rc-mini.
Just in case anyone's seen it and wondered, it is NOT us....
TG.
So is there a new site? What is it? -i'll bookmark it and delete the original/old one from my list.
:0
10-27-2015 | 02:15 PM
Just an update on my recent experiment to try something different this coming indoor carpet season. I wanted to see if it is it possible to have a competitive mini with the least amount of upgrades / hop-ups possible.
So I rebuilt my first mini: M03M. There's no aluminum hopups, no CVDs, no TRF shocks, stock gear diff, friction dampers and swift body.
https://www.tamiyausa.com/product/it...oduct-id=58368
http://www.tamiya.com/english/rc/rcm...8swift1600.pdf
So everything is rebuilt according to the manual except the following. Only new part is the 2 chassis halves. Everything else is original. Race ready at 1240 grams. Spec motor / esc combo so everyone is similar power.
1. Extra washer on both sides in the stock gear diff and the 3 screws tighten as much and as evenly as possible. Added a hole in the chassis (thanks Monkeyracing) for future tightening.
2. Removed the rubber tubings inside the friction dampers. Yes, there is no dampening as those tubes were all warped anyways. Because the stock silver springs are so long I cut them down about one ring section off so it’s stock silver springs all 4 corners. I used those little horseshoe spacers to get the ride height around 5mm but a little lower in the front.
3. S Grip tires with the hard inserts front with a bead of CA only in the outer front corner of the front tires. Didn't glue the sidewalls. Kit tires in the rear.
I ran the car this weekend at our big race and against 2 drivers of similar abilities in their fully upgraded M05v2 chassis. Came in 3rd a few seconds behind them on the same lap.
Verdict: About 0.1 to 0.2 seconds fast lap slower than the 2 fastest cars on a 11 second track.
Compared to the M03 I've raced regularly for the last 5 years, the only weaknesses on this M03M I would say is:
- lack of high speed steering which requires a lot of braking before the corners to get the car to nose dive into the corner. If timed perfectly, then it’s a perfect corner and acceleration out of it. But timing my braking perfectly about 5 times per lap for 26-27 laps is pretty darn hard.
I'm planning to try a few different things for the next big race in 3 weeks against more great competition:
- maybe more front toe out
- lower front ride height and / or raise rear ride height some more
- sauce less of the rear tires
- play with drag brake on the speedo so I can let go of the throttle approaching a corner and have some type of consistent drag brake and time my turning into the corners that way
The car is amazingly quite fun to drive. Also, it’s making me learn to try different things to tune a mini that doesn’t require any upgrades. Of course I welcome any suggestions on setup if anyone has any. Wish I knew this 6-7 years ago that you actually don't need to spend much to make a mini "competitive".
I’m also doing an experiment getting a stock TT01D car to work in our 21.5 blinky class (basically USGT rules) and having a blast making my car competitive too! At the same race on the weekend, I was about 0.5 seconds fast lap slower (about 10 second laps) than a fellow with his fully upgraded Awesomatix who Tq’ed the class. Not bad for a car on the same setup 5 years ago. Got 3 weeks to make it better!
Ivan
So I rebuilt my first mini: M03M. There's no aluminum hopups, no CVDs, no TRF shocks, stock gear diff, friction dampers and swift body.
https://www.tamiyausa.com/product/it...oduct-id=58368
http://www.tamiya.com/english/rc/rcm...8swift1600.pdf
So everything is rebuilt according to the manual except the following. Only new part is the 2 chassis halves. Everything else is original. Race ready at 1240 grams. Spec motor / esc combo so everyone is similar power.
1. Extra washer on both sides in the stock gear diff and the 3 screws tighten as much and as evenly as possible. Added a hole in the chassis (thanks Monkeyracing) for future tightening.
2. Removed the rubber tubings inside the friction dampers. Yes, there is no dampening as those tubes were all warped anyways. Because the stock silver springs are so long I cut them down about one ring section off so it’s stock silver springs all 4 corners. I used those little horseshoe spacers to get the ride height around 5mm but a little lower in the front.
3. S Grip tires with the hard inserts front with a bead of CA only in the outer front corner of the front tires. Didn't glue the sidewalls. Kit tires in the rear.
I ran the car this weekend at our big race and against 2 drivers of similar abilities in their fully upgraded M05v2 chassis. Came in 3rd a few seconds behind them on the same lap.
Verdict: About 0.1 to 0.2 seconds fast lap slower than the 2 fastest cars on a 11 second track.
Compared to the M03 I've raced regularly for the last 5 years, the only weaknesses on this M03M I would say is:
- lack of high speed steering which requires a lot of braking before the corners to get the car to nose dive into the corner. If timed perfectly, then it’s a perfect corner and acceleration out of it. But timing my braking perfectly about 5 times per lap for 26-27 laps is pretty darn hard.
I'm planning to try a few different things for the next big race in 3 weeks against more great competition:
- maybe more front toe out
- lower front ride height and / or raise rear ride height some more
- sauce less of the rear tires
- play with drag brake on the speedo so I can let go of the throttle approaching a corner and have some type of consistent drag brake and time my turning into the corners that way
The car is amazingly quite fun to drive. Also, it’s making me learn to try different things to tune a mini that doesn’t require any upgrades. Of course I welcome any suggestions on setup if anyone has any. Wish I knew this 6-7 years ago that you actually don't need to spend much to make a mini "competitive".
I’m also doing an experiment getting a stock TT01D car to work in our 21.5 blinky class (basically USGT rules) and having a blast making my car competitive too! At the same race on the weekend, I was about 0.5 seconds fast lap slower (about 10 second laps) than a fellow with his fully upgraded Awesomatix who Tq’ed the class. Not bad for a car on the same setup 5 years ago. Got 3 weeks to make it better!
Ivan
10-27-2015 | 05:17 PM
Sounds like fun, Ivan! 
As for braking, I do that often in my tiny track but not drag braking by ESC, I manually brake. I have to, there's no way in hell my car has enough room to rotate at the speed in such tight hairpin, especially my 4WD m-chassis running 17.5T. Thing is a rocket.
The trick for me is to gently drag the brake manually a split second after letting off the throttle, and continue applying a touch more brake force as I set up the car entering the turn. Tight clean line hitting the apex, appears to go slower than a non-braking turn, but in reality the car is going faster from the shorter traveled distance and the earlier application of throttle coming out of the turn. It took me A LOT of practice to get it right in my early years, but I'm sure you'll get it down in no time.
Hope you get the podium with your project M03M
As for braking, I do that often in my tiny track but not drag braking by ESC, I manually brake. I have to, there's no way in hell my car has enough room to rotate at the speed in such tight hairpin, especially my 4WD m-chassis running 17.5T. Thing is a rocket.
The trick for me is to gently drag the brake manually a split second after letting off the throttle, and continue applying a touch more brake force as I set up the car entering the turn. Tight clean line hitting the apex, appears to go slower than a non-braking turn, but in reality the car is going faster from the shorter traveled distance and the earlier application of throttle coming out of the turn. It took me A LOT of practice to get it right in my early years, but I'm sure you'll get it down in no time.
Hope you get the podium with your project M03M
10-28-2015 | 03:13 AM
Tech Elite
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 4,650
From: Bristol, UK
The destruction of gear sets is something I have never fully understood.
I've had the same gear set in my Mini since I got it in 2010-ish. There are no secrets or tricks whatsoever in the way I build it - I just follow the manual. Lubrication is next to nothing, just a little silicone oil.
Yet some people I race with seem to go through them every few race meetings.
Apart from the obvious stuff like crashing a lot and/or running a very tight diff, I don't have any real answer. It just isn't something that has affected me.
I've had the same gear set in my Mini since I got it in 2010-ish. There are no secrets or tricks whatsoever in the way I build it - I just follow the manual. Lubrication is next to nothing, just a little silicone oil.
Yet some people I race with seem to go through them every few race meetings.
Apart from the obvious stuff like crashing a lot and/or running a very tight diff, I don't have any real answer. It just isn't something that has affected me.