Tamiya mini cooper
 

Who has some setup tips and what mods you did. TCS mod tips which work or what setups are popular. More concerned on M03 or M04.

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TAMIYAUSA Built to Win

does anyone know if the counter gears inside the gearbox of the M03 are the same as the counter gears of the TL-01 chassis??

also, if they are the same, would i be able to use the TL-01's speed tuned gear set inside the M03??

thanx

No and No.



But there is a Jap company that made (or used to make) a speed-tuned (higher ratio) gearset for the M03. Can't remember who, one of the usual suspects.

How high do you want to gear your car anyway??

integy has it , take a look a their site;)

Sipa give me your e-mail address and I can send my set-up from TCS Nats last year. It is aggressive for M04 but for TA it was by far the fastest car about .5 a lap

[email protected]

For TCS you cannot change the counter gears but for local club etc. you would be able to

thanx for the info guys...

Thanks too. Another issue. M03 or M04?

Pick up the rear wheel drive MO4, it handles much better....

Put it this ways..Mo3 is good for short track and Mo4 for the longer track...mo3 front drive, pulled better out of the corner speed...the mo4 is great for high gearing speed..I hope this help

Hey guys! I have a Mini (M-03), I really like it.
Just onre thing though, it seems to really understeer, which is easy to drive but I like to have slight oversteer, is that possible with a front drive car?

i'm having the same prob also... severe understeer... :confused: :confused: :confused:

FWD = Push, Understreer

RWD = Oversteer

Try using hard springs on the rear and lighter springs on the front as well as decient tyres. I've heard the hpi x patterns (for the hpi mini) work well.

Thanks for the tip Fatdoggy. The car works much better now, it's actually faster than my f201!!

It really flies with a 12 turn motor, and shreds tires like crasy, just one thing, I need a new diff. The spider gears in the stock one have disapeared and left behind a ton of metal flakes, anybody know where to find a ball diff?!?!

TA03 ball diff fits or even the Manta Ray diff fits

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I'm sure there were more M03's at the Tamiya TCS in Aliso.

Difuser - Can you share some info on getting that 540 up to speed. At last years TCS I over water dipped my handout 540, The RPM's went way up but on the track the car was slow slow slow. :cry: :cry: Anyhow, if you can PM me any info I sure would appreciate it :nod: :nod:

I had both mo3 and m04 and guess what I still have.?An m03. I just like the mini tires and fwd. Having the m04 is like having a wannabe touring car. Defeats the purpose of what the class calls mini. I expect mini tires/rims and fwd in a MINI class. So, there was more m03 at the Aliso V. track / Was it m03 or m03l ? I like the way the m03 handles. It's a fun class. It will be more fun if we only allow fwd not mix the m03 and m04. In our local track it didnt matter last sat race. An m03 won over an m04,ta04 and ff01[they were all placed together]. Tight race and pole spot was swapped positions all 5 minutes. You can see the ta04 and m04l was better in the straights but the m03 ate them in the corners.Always the most exciting race of the day if done right.

sipaboy - the regular M03.
I agree the M03 and just the mini class in general is the most fun

HPI x patterns work very well in our area. Aside fromt he hpi x pattern, is there any tiire that worked great out there[aside from tamiya type a]. Inserts you guys use? I ended up buying most of the remaining hpi hard and soft molded foam insetrts in one of our LHS. Not sure which to use.

I don't know if you can get them anymore but I used to have some Ride mini tires that worked awesome!!

i think they are still making them, rainbow ten is selling them, perhaps i will buy some.
which compound do you recommend?
4423444200027,RIDE,900YEN,TMS54-S M CHASSIS NARROW TIRE S,
4423444200030,RIDE,1000YEN,TMS54-V M CHASSIS NARROW TIRE V,
4423444200031,RIDE,950YEN,TMS54-G M CHASSIS NARROW TIRE G,
don't know what those S/V/G letters mean...

I think the SVG are the temp ratings, I don't recall which ones I had.

thanks minicooper

I have another problem, my front tires are wearing out faster on the outer edge, I'm not sure if its happening from the accerman effect (on a tight right turn the right tire tends to touch the road with the outer edge from the huge caster caster, and viceversa for the left wheel)
or if its happening because the suspension is too soft and the car is rolling excesively leaving only the outside edge of the tire gripping the road.
I constantly switch the tires around and even reverse them on the rims to get even wear.

I'd suspect your Ride Height is Too High - what is it?

I ahve a pair of M03s sitting at somewhere between 3mm & 5mm
(the dogbones sit flat level to the gound) and the tyre wears
perfectly. Yes the front ones do wear out first but there's no
difference between L/R.

you're right, I have it too high, the shocks are too long! the only way to lower it would be to put o-rings in the shocks under the piston, is that ok?

The o-rings would work. you could also thread your shocks down, provided they aren't already.

Does any one know where to get the tuned speed gears for
M-03L besides Integy. They never have them in stock. Thanks....

Stock (friction) shocks can be lowered by adding a stack of 3mm washers inside. They are also a bit too long to allow full compression of the suspension... so you might want to do your own investigations as to how to increase suspension travel.

If you've added oil shocks... yes, the standard "Mini CVA" or any of the alloy equivalents is same length as the friction originals. I use the "Super Mini CVAs" which are shorter-bodied, to allow full suspension travel. Yes, insert spacers, washers or o-rings inside the shock to reduce rideheight.

btw, there is zilch handling difference between a mini with friction shocks and one with oilers. They still just drive the same! :weird:

With rideheight at 5mm and allowing full suspension travel, your tyres run flat & you will banish all chance of traction-rolling even with grippy HPI Mini X-Patts.

how would one thread the shocks? you mean with a tap and die set? what part would I thread?

Thanks! I'm using the stock friction shocks. I thought these cars where non adjustable, I was wrong. WOW! the handling is so much sharper! Almost like the 1/12 scale pancars. I also put in some stiffer springs. This little Mini is the most fun rc car I've ever driven!

Threading the shocks down would be screwing the shock shafts as far into the ball cups as possible so that the car is lowered.

Yup, Thanks fatdoggy

On another subject, what different kinds of diff grease are you guys using for the TA03 ball diff in the min??
Grease supplied in kit
AE grease
??

For all ball diffs, I swear by Tamiya's Ball Diff Grease.

Usual error is to put too *much* on.
Use very little only.

Best way is to put a small blob into a tiny plastic bag, chuck
the diff balls in and squish them around. Fish them back out
and install into the gear. The grease that is on the balls will
be more than enough always.

That big tube of BD grease should last you decades... :)

Personally speaking, the mini is such a light car, I'd not try stiffer springs - you'll just promote rollovers & reduce grip.

Just stick with the standard silver springs, or use the yellow ones.

Personally I wouldn't use spacers on the inside on the shocks to force the ride height down. This will leave the car with no droop (suspension downtravel), which will make it very nervous over bumps, and decrease grip. If you want to lower ride height with the standard shocks, consider trimming one coil, or slightly more) off each spring. This will also stiffen the spring rate.

Yes, if you use limiters inside the shock you must use shorter springs... some company makes springs that you use like 3 springs on one shock to make 1 progressive spring, you may wanna try using just 1 or 2 of those springs.....

Here they are---- http://integy.automated-shops.com/cg...28103485986.a9

Woah! information overload!:D Thanks a lot for all your input guys.

Lack of droop doesn't adversely affect Mini's handling... saves you
adding sway bars, stops traction rolling.

Standard 'chrome' springs that come with the M03 kit works best, same as the silver ones given when you buy the CVA shocks.
None of the coloured ones work any obviously better, so why bother?

If you really want to investigate effects of various options on
the M03, you need TWO vehicles for true back-to-back testing.
Otherwise hey, it ain't very scientific... :sneaky:

http://members.ozemail.com.au/~wchang68/m03minis.jpg

Those Mini Coopers look great... I'm glad to see interest in the Minis here. It's a fun class...

Looking over the posts, my expreriences with the shocks and ride height have been different-- with the short plastic oil-filled shocks, and the colored springs, I almost have to add the spring spacers to get ENOUGH ride height. I've never really needed to lower it any. I did add o-rings inside the shocks, to lessen the droop which was way too much. Everyone else seems to have the opposite problem.

One think I'd like to do is smooth out the drive train-- one guy at one of the TCS races last year had a mini that was whisper quiet... any idea how to do that? Polish the gears?

Okay,

So for the M03 Mini to get rid of the Traction rolling. Should I take the internal shock spacers out of the rear shocks to promote less Droop?