288LikesTamiya mini cooper
01-06-2011, 03:36 PM
FYI: Tamiya for the TCS this year is imposing a RPM limit on motors and a spec tire.
01-06-2011, 03:49 PM
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I curiouse about others opinions on the following...
Initially, when I started running mini's, I limited the rear shocks, so they rebounded less than the front. This made the front ride height higher than the rear. The car drove like a Cadilac, really easy to drive, really forgiving.
I then started getting more, and more into things, and set the rear ride hieght higher than the front. I think I gained a little in performance, and completely lost that Cadilac feeling.
My question being why does the majority of people set the rear ride height higher than the front? Does it translate into quicker lap times? where is the gain? Does this put more pressure on the front tires in a M03/M05 resulting in quicker excelleration?
Please let me know what you think
Initially, when I started running mini's, I limited the rear shocks, so they rebounded less than the front. This made the front ride height higher than the rear. The car drove like a Cadilac, really easy to drive, really forgiving.
I then started getting more, and more into things, and set the rear ride hieght higher than the front. I think I gained a little in performance, and completely lost that Cadilac feeling.
My question being why does the majority of people set the rear ride height higher than the front? Does it translate into quicker lap times? where is the gain? Does this put more pressure on the front tires in a M03/M05 resulting in quicker excelleration?
Please let me know what you think
01-06-2011, 05:31 PM
Granpa nah was definitely cranking the motor. It was a few years back though and your comment about it being legal upto 2011 kind of astounds me (relative to our racing rules).
The guy when he told me about it said that some dude from another country just goes and does it to his motor and he was pretty much told everyone was doing it.
Ive never done it or seen it it donw but ive had a number of of locals who say they reckon they could crank a motor in a minor way so that its hard to spot where the windings should be tight at the comm. But even a small amount of movement would be an advantage.
As for magnet zapping. I know the difference because he had a PROPER dyno. So he had torque curves and rpms for my silver cans.
I used to hate hassling him to do them for me, because he didnt like taking the stuff to the track (i assume otherwise everyone starts walking up to you and asking you to zap and dyno their motors). But i mainly did it for 540 touring car which i was terrible at because i cant drive smooth through a corner, which also means the brushless in a mini was also a massive help for my performance.
I spoke to one of the other locals who had a dyno and used to use it for his black cans in mini. He told me a secret where he was convinced you could get more speed from zapping a motor in a particular way. He had a dyno as well and i have no reason to believe he was lieing.
The guy when he told me about it said that some dude from another country just goes and does it to his motor and he was pretty much told everyone was doing it.
Ive never done it or seen it it donw but ive had a number of of locals who say they reckon they could crank a motor in a minor way so that its hard to spot where the windings should be tight at the comm. But even a small amount of movement would be an advantage.
As for magnet zapping. I know the difference because he had a PROPER dyno. So he had torque curves and rpms for my silver cans.
I used to hate hassling him to do them for me, because he didnt like taking the stuff to the track (i assume otherwise everyone starts walking up to you and asking you to zap and dyno their motors). But i mainly did it for 540 touring car which i was terrible at because i cant drive smooth through a corner, which also means the brushless in a mini was also a massive help for my performance.
I spoke to one of the other locals who had a dyno and used to use it for his black cans in mini. He told me a secret where he was convinced you could get more speed from zapping a motor in a particular way. He had a dyno as well and i have no reason to believe he was lieing.
I should be clear when I refer to rules, to specify Tamiya TCS Rules for the USA. Till the 2011 Rules, there was nothing about "cranking" being illegal. I read the rules and even now they haven't addressed magnet zappers either. Yes, you're right, it's a little unbelievable. Peer pressure kept "cranking" from becoming a wide spread practice.
I will apologize to you tho, cause I thought you were a clueless idiot when I read your post on Zappers. Now that you've cleared up the fact that you use a PROPER dyno, I'll revise my opinion slightly. Just out of curiosity, how did you guys get around the problem of not being able to use the slug?
Incidentally, I own and use a PROPER dyno frequently. Don't dyno every motor I do cause the lower rpm tuneups are pretty consistant so use a motor tester to make sure we meet the rpm limits. I know that the power and torque #s will be okay if the rpms are right.
Why don't we just agree to disagree and leave it there. That Granpa nah stuff is really uncalled for.
01-06-2011, 05:50 PM
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His screen name is Grandpa but dont let the name fool you. I once observed him roughing up a few A holes at the track for talking crap about him and man did these kids deserve it. One kid was 12 and the other was about 9 so together they were of adult age and could drink. But mind you not!! These little booger eaters gave him a run for his money. LOL ok all jokes aside.
I have spent a few hours and motors and pepsi's at grandpas shop and I will tell you that he never cranked a motor. Now we thought about it and I used to do it in the early 90's but he is a true motor mechanic and even some of the motors he and I have done were never zapped. Just some good ol massage and love to get right at that threshold. He also won't tell you this but I tought him a thing or two about a thing or two when he didnt know much. Now the Brut is off beating guys that he was never able to keep up with. And with his help I have been able to win a few races I never would have been able to, unless he was there to help. So becareful with uneductaed accusations its just not nice.
I have spent a few hours and motors and pepsi's at grandpas shop and I will tell you that he never cranked a motor. Now we thought about it and I used to do it in the early 90's but he is a true motor mechanic and even some of the motors he and I have done were never zapped. Just some good ol massage and love to get right at that threshold. He also won't tell you this but I tought him a thing or two about a thing or two when he didnt know much. Now the Brut is off beating guys that he was never able to keep up with. And with his help I have been able to win a few races I never would have been able to, unless he was there to help. So becareful with uneductaed accusations its just not nice.
01-06-2011, 06:16 PM
You guys set ride height? I just limit shock travel and make sure I'm not scraping the belly over bumps. Running on uber smooth carpet makes that easy.
Come to think of it, the way I limit travel, the car can't bottom out. I win. I do tune with springs, but that's about it.
Come to think of it, the way I limit travel, the car can't bottom out. I win. I do tune with springs, but that's about it.
01-06-2011, 06:27 PM
Um i didnt mean to imply you were cranking motors if thats what you read.
Over here well a couple of years back they put in a rule for our silver cans (tourers) that they couldnt rev over a certain figure.
But they do their testing on a muchmore motor tested which numerous people have said is pointless because they are so inaccurate. But as i have said you also need to take torque into account to determine the performance of a motor (i guess on a dyno you get efficiency as well but i never worried about that on a 540).
I think the red dots in general though rev pretty high so they would get weeded out quite easily with a muchmore motor tester.
But i recall some people would complain because you could test a motor and it was not unusual for a new 540 motor to rev higher after a couple of runs as it was run in through use.
Over here well a couple of years back they put in a rule for our silver cans (tourers) that they couldnt rev over a certain figure.
But they do their testing on a muchmore motor tested which numerous people have said is pointless because they are so inaccurate. But as i have said you also need to take torque into account to determine the performance of a motor (i guess on a dyno you get efficiency as well but i never worried about that on a 540).
I think the red dots in general though rev pretty high so they would get weeded out quite easily with a muchmore motor tester.
But i recall some people would complain because you could test a motor and it was not unusual for a new 540 motor to rev higher after a couple of runs as it was run in through use.
01-06-2011, 06:31 PM
Incidentally i see what you have taken offense to and it was in reply to this comment, which you made.
"Nah, not true. Too easy to pop a wire if you try to get much out of the motors. Your friend probably ran into the "magnetically" enhanced motors which was very new 6 or 7 years ago."
Ive edited the original post to put "it" in there.
"Nah, not true. Too easy to pop a wire if you try to get much out of the motors. Your friend probably ran into the "magnetically" enhanced motors which was very new 6 or 7 years ago."
Ive edited the original post to put "it" in there.
01-06-2011, 06:33 PM
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01-06-2011, 07:06 PM
Tech Apprentice
Does anyone actually drive these little cars for fun?
I have four minis that are RTR (HW 13T/35a - IP4000 2s Lipos).
Myself and a few of the mates will go to the local track be it night or day and we just drive them for fun.
We don't time our laps - hell we don't even count them. We just rip around the track laughing hysterically at these funny little cars jossling around.
The cars rarely break and if they do it's always very cheap to fix. The motors / ESC are running now like they did over a year ago..... and so on.l
Tyres are really the only expense.
I have four minis that are RTR (HW 13T/35a - IP4000 2s Lipos).
Myself and a few of the mates will go to the local track be it night or day and we just drive them for fun.
We don't time our laps - hell we don't even count them. We just rip around the track laughing hysterically at these funny little cars jossling around.
The cars rarely break and if they do it's always very cheap to fix. The motors / ESC are running now like they did over a year ago..... and so on.l
Tyres are really the only expense.
01-06-2011, 07:23 PM
tdunster,
Yes we drive them for fun and race them for cattle stations...
A few of us practice at a local track that is open and free to the public to use, so that we can be faster at big events. The usual club scene is normally friendlier than the large events, because people at large events are competitive and want to do their best.
What we find through practicing is how far we can push the cars, revise setup and test tyres and inserts, so we can then share with others who ask questions on this forum or word of mouth. As you find when you go to different tracks not all tyre combinations work and on a mini your tyres are your major tuning tool.
A lot of us are friendly, approachable racers who will provide answers when asked. It just happens that some ask or make unsubstantiated statements which rile others at times, especially when they do not know all of the facts as to why they use or do different stuff with there cars. Each to there own, as we all play by different rules.
The idea of getting out and having fun is really the best part of mini racing. As you have said a track, a group of racers and a fun time can be had. Even when your having fun the competitive side will come out.
BTW
I think you will find most of us have so much mini gear we could open a small shop. Anyone for a slightly used MO3 with some steak knives.......
Anyway enjoy your mini's.
Calvin.
Yes we drive them for fun and race them for cattle stations...
A few of us practice at a local track that is open and free to the public to use, so that we can be faster at big events. The usual club scene is normally friendlier than the large events, because people at large events are competitive and want to do their best.
What we find through practicing is how far we can push the cars, revise setup and test tyres and inserts, so we can then share with others who ask questions on this forum or word of mouth. As you find when you go to different tracks not all tyre combinations work and on a mini your tyres are your major tuning tool.
A lot of us are friendly, approachable racers who will provide answers when asked. It just happens that some ask or make unsubstantiated statements which rile others at times, especially when they do not know all of the facts as to why they use or do different stuff with there cars. Each to there own, as we all play by different rules.
The idea of getting out and having fun is really the best part of mini racing. As you have said a track, a group of racers and a fun time can be had. Even when your having fun the competitive side will come out.
BTW
I think you will find most of us have so much mini gear we could open a small shop. Anyone for a slightly used MO3 with some steak knives.......
Anyway enjoy your mini's.
Calvin.
01-06-2011, 07:40 PM
Incidentally i see what you have taken offense to and it was in reply to this comment, which you made.
"Nah, not true. Too easy to pop a wire if you try to get much out of the motors. Your friend probably ran into the "magnetically" enhanced motors which was very new 6 or 7 years ago."
Ive edited the original post to put "it" in there.
"Nah, not true. Too easy to pop a wire if you try to get much out of the motors. Your friend probably ran into the "magnetically" enhanced motors which was very new 6 or 7 years ago."
Ive edited the original post to put "it" in there.
Don't mind Swifty cause he sorta has my back. Great Mini pilot and a really good motor man too. Learned a lot of the old school stuff from him, which I never fail to give him credit for. Brandon, did you get that?????
01-06-2011, 09:12 PM
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You the man Grandpa!! Just want to make sure no one picks on my main man!! He didnt intend to offend and made it right so props to him. I just want to make sure that us socal guys are very clear and at the end of the day we help anyone who asks. Like I told you - motor don't mean crap if you can't set up your own car!! and then the hard part starts...... YOU GOTTA DRIVE IT. for instance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBM3f...D57C9&index=24
Thats what its all about!!! Nothing but one great driver against another!!
I was there at the right time with a car that worked really well and lots of thanks to the guy that TQ'd now thats sportsmanship.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBM3f...D57C9&index=24
Thats what its all about!!! Nothing but one great driver against another!!
I was there at the right time with a car that worked really well and lots of thanks to the guy that TQ'd now thats sportsmanship.
01-06-2011, 09:58 PM
OMG, what wouldn't we do for a track like that in Calgary! It'd be so sweet the first year and then the frost heaves would kill it over the winter. Sigh.That was some great racing. It was very interesting to see the different lines used, especially in the last few corners before the straight. Cool.
01-06-2011, 10:17 PM
Tech Apprentice
You the man Grandpa!! Just want to make sure no one picks on my main man!! He didnt intend to offend and made it right so props to him. I just want to make sure that us socal guys are very clear and at the end of the day we help anyone who asks. Like I told you - motor don't mean crap if you can't set up your own car!! and then the hard part starts...... YOU GOTTA DRIVE IT. for instance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBM3f...D57C9&index=24
Thats what its all about!!! Nothing but one great driver against another!!
I was there at the right time with a car that worked really well and lots of thanks to the guy that TQ'd now thats sportsmanship.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBM3f...D57C9&index=24
Thats what its all about!!! Nothing but one great driver against another!!
I was there at the right time with a car that worked really well and lots of thanks to the guy that TQ'd now thats sportsmanship.
Great drive.
01-06-2011, 10:34 PM
Yeah sorry, after i read that i could see how you interpreted the way i had phrased it. It wouldnt have quite had the same meaning in a sound bite. A comma could also have helped with the phrasing!
With what you were referring to, were they the torque rings. 6-7 years is before my racing time. But i know that such things are specifically mentioned as banned in australian racing rules. I've never seen one.
With what you were referring to, were they the torque rings. 6-7 years is before my racing time. But i know that such things are specifically mentioned as banned in australian racing rules. I've never seen one.