Did you see any slow MO5's on the weekend Tommy?
Well done on your win, I guess TG might have a re-think on his comments

I'm looking into getting into Mini and was considering getting a M03 since it's fairly cheap to find one now. But question is why is teh M03M and M03L is recommended over the M03? Is it because of the wheelbase or are there other parts that changed? If it is the wheelbase, then I can just get the spacer to make it longer?

Trust me you want run the car med. or long. Yes ,the only difference is the spacer and the correct body. The longer the wheelbase the more stable the car is and you can carry more corner speed. The short car is cute ,but thats it! Plus bigger cars push little cars out of the way!!!!

OK you sold me on it. Does anyone have the part numbers for the medium and long extension kits?

Also I mostly see and hear about the medium length being the way to go. has anyone actually raced the long wheel base for a while to draw a general comparison.

Shorties win plenty of races at my local club. Get the medium and you can always remove the spacer and make it a short if you want.

I have to go with RayK on this one. Long in the way to go. I ran long with an M03 and then again with an M05. Both cars ran faster through the corner.

The med. spacer comes on a parts tree in the kit , the long spacer a little harder to get . It only comes with a long kit or a M-03R kit or a blue L.E. kit.

See my signature, mini cooper S long, 2009 season.

i drove the medium chassis for 2 years on the M03 chassis and now i run the Short chassis on a M05 and personally i cant feel the differance and i am quickest at our club at the moment and we have Short Medium and Long chassis' racing

So I really dont understand what the whole hooplah was about the M05 being inferior to the m03. If i wouldnt of had crappy ecs luck last night I would have had her dialed. I think people were just expecting it to be a lot better then the m03. IMHO I just think it steers a little different (Notice I didnt say better).
But with that being said, im still shaking my head in amazement that after 10 yrs they couldnt have come up with something that would make the m03 a dinosaur.

Oh yea, I bought the M05 and not the pro. the only thing I might change is the rear uprights, it comes with the 2deg. Is there such thing as 1? Or only 0, 1.5 and 2?

I also started with the M05 as a short car with the mindset that shorter is faster to respond and will turn better... It was more responsive, but scrubbed too much speed in the corners. Switching to long made a big difference....

Just wanted to be clear, when you say switched to long you mean to M-05L length and NOT to M-05M, right? & next question if this applies to 03s to the same degree?

I think the 2008 Tamiya mini world champ used an M03L to win (indoor carpet). In Asia, most seem to use medium or long setup.

the medium spacer for M03 is 51238?

Yes ,Jamie runs M-05L 239mm and I run M-03L 239mm.

The setup and tires are totally different for both!

The M-05 runs on soft spring and damping. Also softer tire inserts

The M-03 runs on firmer springs and damping. Also firmer tire inserts.

I am running a M03L and lovin it, I seem to do not bad with it even against the shorter wheel base vehicles.... Although I do have quite a bit of wheel chatter but I am still running the friction shocks, (awaiting my super mini's) will the wheel chatter go away when I switch shocks?? or is there something else I can do.... I also wonder is it becuase of the diff?? still running stock gear on that as well but thinking of either locking it or getting a ball type.... oh ya, I am on carpet with the stock silver can
thanx guys