hi Italianjohnny,

Mercedes Benz SLK #50756
http://www.tamiyausa.com/product/ite...oduct-id=50756

Honda S2000 #50836

Though discontinued, I still see some on the shelf of my local hobby shop.

Good luck!

Mini Handling - the next generation
 

For some time now I've seen all manner of balancing tips and techniques for our Minis. The one thing that has always foiled me is the ever present weight of the motor hanging out one side of the chassis. There is NO DOUBT that this imbalance works against us when we're negotiating the tricky curves at our local track.

So, recently, before a local championship race I designed a counterbalance. The pics and results (I won the c'ship) speak for themselves. All I'll add to this is that the car tracked as never before and it was visibly faster through the areas that normally would trip my car up.

The weight is placed exactly where it's needed most - along the same axis as the motor.

Anyway, if anyone out there is interested, I can produce these. I've done the hard work in nutting out the correct weight and shape, so it couldn't be easier.

I need about 100 or so people to kick me off and the price will be AUD35 plus postage. They will be created on a CNC lathe and will look a lot tricker than my prototype. I will post pretty much anywhere in the world (we are all big mini fans after all!) and the price you see on the package is what I'll add to the base cost.

I can't see any reason why this wouldn't be legal; it's just a weight after all, and you aren't drilling any new holes or modifying the chassis in any way.

A few points: the weight is designed for an M05 with a Hobbywing Brushless motor only. It can be adopted for silver or black cans, and if the orders come in, I see no reason not to be able to cater for those setups as well.

Again, PM me if you want one, otherwise, enjoy creating your own!

HPI are bringing back the Mini Cooper body.

Source: RC Easy

That's all we need another fecking short wheel base.. Can someone please do a long wheel base...

Nice shell though

It never was a patch on the Tamiya effort, and compared to the quality of the Switch and Cup Racer bodies that HPI have put out recently, it's an unwelcome return!

The front bumper treatment totally ruins it.

Agreed on front end looks being sub-par, however i had one of these back in M-01 days and if memory serves me correctly the hpi shell was much lighter compared to tamiya's.

My only concern would be the front wheel clearance when steering. I LOVE all of the vintage style bodies, but only a few can be used as a Mini competitor IMHO. I love the Datsun 510, it looks amazing, but i could never get the front wheels to clear the body easily using 60d tires. With the use of fender flares on this Mini, im going to guess the front wheels will be an issue again. When someone has given it a try, can you please post up? Thanks :)

My fav right now, the 240z on my 05 pro, talk about nice handling and looks sweet :)

Like the re-done Civic, they have opened up the wheel wells to allow the 60D tires.

We found the 240Z better on short tight tracks.

Finally took my blue plated M05Pro to the track today and had a strange problem. My old black M05Pro had no issues with this.

The problem was static electricity, and lots of it. I had so much problem with it that i could not drive my car. We race on carpet and it got worse when more cars where racing. Both the new and old has same setup except rx (Futaba 3PKS with Spektrum module) and servo, a brand new Futaba S9402 servo, the old M05Pro has a crap Bluebird 631.

I'm starting to belive it was the blue plating that is at fault. What do you guys think? Might also be servo as it has metal gears.... I'm at a loss since both cars have almost same setup.

I reckon it is the metal geared servos. I recall the TA05 had similar problems and they recommended a graphite chassis tub to dissipate the charge. Also, there was an article from KO propo to install an earthing lead from the front bulkhead to the steering post.

http://www.tamiyausa.com/articles/fe...article-id=484
http://www.sosidge.com/?p=154

Hi there everyone I run 17.5 stock and VTA right now i am seriously considering getting a Mini Cooper what would you recommend

M 05

M 03

don't know what to choose

My vote!
 

The M05 is a better choice in my opinion. The M05 won the TCS National championships here in Aliso Viejo. The top ten were mostly M05 just a couple of M03 and one M04 I believe. I have both M03 and M05 and enjoy running both but if i had to choose? Well you know! :nod:

hi there !! we are from bandung west Java, Indonesia, we race mini cars too :)

http://yfrog.com/n31stheatoframadhanfuz

My vote is for the trusty M03 for most tracks except for ultra hi grip asphalt like West Coast here in SoCal or carpet. For those the lower CG of the M05 works better.

Why the M03 ???? It's much cheaper than the 05 to build especially since there's close to $100 in steering upgrades for the 05. The stock steering components are junk. The 03 is so much easier to work on than the 05.

Performance is much more driver related in Mini than most other classes. Remember that Micheal Monaghan uses an 03. He won the TCS Nats last year and cleaned everyone clock in the Regional this year. Right now, IMO, they are pretty much the same in performance.

I'll go for cheaper and easier to build and maintain for your first Mini. With the right set up, it's as fast or faster than the 05.