With regards to the HPI M car, the hobby shops in Okinawa, Japan (where I live) told me not to hold my breath.

Have you this full-scale Mini Cooper rallycross video yet? I've seen the M03 run on off-road tracks and I'm going to try and organize a little rallycross event in Feb. with the guys in the M03 class.

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=1atzJ0b9e4Q

ooh the alfas nice but that nissan thing is sure ugly.

Don't do it man! M-03s are cheap! You can buy a whole chassis for $8! Don't give in the the evil.

Jim

Just a question: Other than TCS is there any other series in the world that you can run your mini at???? Not single one off event but a series that runs across the year???

If your club has a class for M03s, who cares about any other series? I am just thankful the club I race with has an M03 class. We bash and crash into one another, and nobody gets pissed. It's way laid back and so much fun.

>>Don't do it man! M-03s are cheap! You can buy a whole chassis for $8! Don't give in the the evil.

Jim<<

I agree wholeheartedly, Jim! I'm not entirely into proprietary spec racing but if HPI and other companies get in on the act it might spoil the whole thing.

I don't think the HPI car will change anything really. Most places probably just wont allow it.

We'll look into it, if there's a way of achieving parity between the 2 chassis, then MAYBE they'll run together, but somehow I doubt it.

Happy New Year Everyone

The NZRCA (www.NZRCA.co.nz) races a mini stock class in their National Champs every year.

Rules are pretty tight though, you must use the kit esc and batteries are restricted to 1500. The motor is a hand out silver can.

Most clubs run a mini class series through out the year, following the same rules.

Hi all.

Happy New Year, and I'm sorry my 1st post is *long*.


My local RC club (which is primarily for 1/10 electric tourers) has recently started running a mini class. I've always been an off-road basher, not raced at all, and never really fancied a touring car, but I decided that a 'mini' might be a good starting point to get into club racing.

The class rules are:

Car : Any Tamiya M-Chassis
Bodyshell : Any Commercially available M Chassis Specific Bodyshell
Motor : Standard Silver Can, Sport Tuned, 17.5 Brushless or Ezrun 3000kv
Tyres : Any Commercially available M Chassis Specific tyre (non-smelling additive allowed)
Batteries: NiCad, Ni-MH or Li-Po Allowed
Weight Limit: 1250g


I've been reading as much as I can about M03's on rc-mini.net & various forums, trying to find what the most worthwhile hopups are, and what best starting setup is. So, I've ordered an M-03L Mini Cooper-S (I wanted an M-03M Suzuki, but I couldn't find anywhere in the UK that had stock just after xmas), and a 'few' hopups to either fit straight away, or later if I feel the need. The kit is yet to arrive, but I've already got waiting for it:

Bearings
Sport tuned motor
Super Mini CVA shocks + tuned spring set
Titanium turnbuckles
20T hardened pinion
Suzuki Swift white wheels (I just like the look better than the standard Mini wheels)
2 pairs of 60D Super-Grip tyres (with regular + hard tyre sponges)
TA03 Ball Diff + hardened output shafts
Anti-Roll Bar set
Hi-Torque servo saver (ali servo horn to come if I can get one)
Universal driveshafts (3Racing ones, had difficulty getting the Tamiya's)
2x Yeah Racing 3200 LiPo's (with a Novak Smart-Stop LiPo cutoff, and plenty of weights to add if needed)


The track is indoors on carpet, so I thought my starting setup would be - hard tyre sponges on the front, regular on the back (any need to double-stuff the fronts with 1 hard + 1 regular, or glue the front tyre sidewalls?). Hard springs front, medium/soft on the rear. Tightly set ball-diff, but can change to gear if needed. I won't fit the rollbar set straight away, I'd like to see how the car handles without it first.

Any advice for someone new to the mini world, and racing tips so I don't roll it at every corner?


And breathe...

Toon, every RC racing club in the UK should be mandated to run a Mini class!

Here's a first impression that may throw you off. Having raced touring cars I was first quite appalled at the amount of slop in the M03's steering. So I swapped ball joints and tightened up things as best as I could. Problem was, the car wouldn't track straight. It would veer to one side, but the slightest opposite trim would make it veer to the other side. Then I remembered the experience I had years ago with Tamiya's first front driver, the FF01. I went back to the sloppy steering and the car now tracks straight as an arrow! So don't let the wobbly front wheels fool you.

Mike

The track is indoors on carpet, :[/QUOTE]

I know it's not possible year round where you are but M03s are so much more fun on asphalt...

Mike

I don't know how many times I try to tell people this..they don't believe me and try it for themselves.. And guess what...

I've even got it in our FAQ section now and yet I STILL get people emailing me with the same question....

Lol I often have to tell people this too