TOP RACING Sabre Mini 4WD
 

Well, it finally hit the states. :nod: Mines is nearly done. :D

http://www.redrc.net/wp-content/uplo...abreMini-6.jpg

Mini car with a big price.

Yup...but I think I spent more on my VM2 trying to get it good. :(

I finished painting the CRX body I bought off you a while back for the car. :D

Who is carrying this car plus spares in US? The TOP USA site hasn't been updated since 2011???

what wheelbase/s (in MM) are supported? overall width?

I think I might make that on-road Stratos after all.

Norcal Hobbies in Union City, CA should have this car on the shelf. You can also contact Top Racing USA (yes, their website is dated), and he might be able to get you one. My impression is it will be a fairly limited car.

As for wheelbase, I'm not sure what the minimum is, but I would say it is probably 208 or 210mm. I have it on the maximum wheelbase right now and its about 222-223mm, very close to my 225mm wheelbase M06R. I have a Tamiya 225mm CRX body mounted on mines right now and it fits pretty good. Width of car seems to be about on par with Tamiya M05/M06 width at 165mm. Tamiya and HPI mini bodies will fit great. ABC Hobby mini bodies will be a bit on the narrow side.

Car seems to be designed more around 55mm mini tires than the 60D of Tamiya mini tires.

All correct Dan, thanks for filling everyone in.

TOP USA has kits in stock, we have been bringing them in in small numbers since the first FWD Mini has not sold well. There seems to be a lot more interest in the 4WD car and T.O.P. has plenty in stock at the factory.

You can order direct at [email protected] or from tqrcracing.com in Chino CA :cool:

This is a great car, you will need nothing but a body and electronics. I own a HPI mini rs4, Xray mini, Yokomo mini, thisby far is the best one I have seen you do not to add parts to make it run it has the Top quality we are used to. People who know me know I do mini's and micros here in ny/nj/ct we will promote this car because it is that good.

cool thanks for replies. this may be my next car. any chance this could be a 237mm wheelbase too?

Probably not. The driveshafts would be at an extreme angle. It would need a longer chassis and upper deck. Along with either a longer front or rear belt.

Good point, thanks Dan.

looking for fr/rr diff oils and motor, pinion.

I am very much interested in hearing more about this car... does it already include all possible option parts or will I be nickel a dimed with other hop ups that need to be added for durability and performance... not really interested in the bling... just a good performance/value combination.

Safe to assume all hardware is metric with hex?

The phillips hardware on my ABC Genetic is a little disappointing, plus all the necessary hop ups kind of kill the value in that kit.

It really doesn't need anything out of the box unlike all the other mini 4WD cars out there. Maybe a tiny spur and a giant pinion if you're running 21.5 or 17.5 due to the ridiculously high internal ratio. (2:1)

I too picked up a used Genetic but then decided to not build it up since i would sink another $150 into it after it was all said and done.

There are guys at my track who have been running it box stock and have been doing fantastic with it. Some of the aussie guys have broken the stock steering arm on the center post but thats about it. The hardware is all metric and seems of much higher quality that the ones that came on the original Photon, which stripped easily.

Thanks Dan, that's very reassuring... a couple of us are trying to revive the defunct "Cup Racer" class locally, but to open up the rules to allow other chassis platforms since HPI discontinued production of the Cup Racer. The spec rules were limited to a 540 Johnson 27T motor so that will more than likely continue to remain in effect.

My guess is that somewhere around a 4.2 FDR may be a decent starting point with the 27T brushed motor.

I guess you can say that I'm willing to be the guinea pig to test out a couple of platforms to see if any of them are worth running on a large outdoor asphalt track.

Dan, what are you using for diff oils, motor (17.5, 21.5), spur that comes with kit is 84. I thought about starting at 100 spur 25-30 pinion for 17.5.

The guys doing well at our track are running the kit setup of 500K in front and 2K in the rear.

I have fitted mines with a front spool from the Photon to experiment. Minor mod to the spool is grind down the 4 ridges on the sides so the bearings can sit inside more, so it fits between the sabre mini bulkheads properly.

If you are running 55mm diameter tires, you would seriously undergeared with 100 spur and 25-30 pinion.

For 21.5, I'm running a 80T 64p spur gear with a 59T pinion. For 17.5, I'd drop it down 4 or 5 teeth for the pinion.

I just got one from my LHS Norcal hobbies. Priced at $275. I know a local guy who got his in HK for around $290. Looking forward on the build.

Stock setup is 500k in the front diff. Anyone else use some other stuff to thicken or lock the front. Local guy at the lhs said use silicone ear plugs. Cut them up in small pieces the fill up the diff and add some diff oil. I just finished building the Sabre and will run it first with the recommended setup.

hi guys,

i've got this wonderful kit from santa :lol:
i've never had a T.O.P. kit before. what do you recommend which spare parts i should buy before starting the first race? e.g. C-Hubs , ....
thanks for your suggestions.
it will be used for 17,5t blinky races.
at the moment i already ordered the aluminum bell crank :nod:

and , did anybody try to use "normal" Touring car tires on it, e.g. ride 26007 a.s.o.?

thanks once again :)

i tested the car today and you can try 1million i tried and i liked!

i should have (like others) C-Hubs, Front and Rear Suspension, Steering block, Rear hub the the other parts dependece how you drive:lol:

i used the solaris tires for mini and works great!:nod:

Thanks :)
already ordered these things.

now i am struggling to get touring car tires fit properly on this car. why? i want to start against the 418s, bd7s, sakuras a.s.o in our club races with this cool saber 4wd *gg*

in addition i ordered stronger bellcranks: (original from TOP and one from king headz)

I've been pretty rough on my car (traction rolling hard too). I've broken two front C-hubs so far and bent a CVD dogbone. The car is developing slop a little faster than I'd like too. Thinking of replacing the stock plastic ball connectors and ball ends with something else.

When I'm not having problems with traction rolling or any other weird issues, it handles like a dream.

I've been pretty rough on my car (traction rolling hard too). I've broken two front C-hubs so far and bent a CVD dogbone. The car is developing slop a little faster than I'd like too. Thinking of replacing the stock plastic ball connectors and ball ends with something else.

When I'm not having problems with traction rolling or any other weird issues, it handles like a dream.

My only complaint is finding a freaking body. Jeez what a pain. So far only bodies I've found are all in Asia. Other than that car is fantastic. Looks awesome.

Hi Dan!

pretty good selection of 1/12 bodies in stock here in the US:

http://abchobbyusa.com/110miniscalebodyshells.aspx

Yo Steve! Have you tried TQRC? They have a good selection of mini bodies and ship from socal. The Sabre can run in 210mm and 225mm wheelbase configuration.

Yeah I've tried them. They are sold out of every thing except mini van looking bodies and bmw which is 225mm. I'll order that one. Wasn't sure if it would fit .

Hah, that was the next body I was going to try. I did not like how the HPI Porsche 911 handled, even though it looked gorgeous.

I was looking at the mini cooper coupe and evo-x. :cool:

Doing final stuff on car. Gearing, I tried installing a 64p 80 spur with a 59 pinion. There is no way to fit this in. One the pinion is so big you can't tighten the motor screws, two the pinion hits the upper brace. I went back to stock 84 48p spur. The biggest I can get in there pinion wise is a 31 without it hitting the upper brace. Advice?

Wheel base from 210mm to 225mm
 

To make the Sabre 4wd from 210mm to 225mm how many spacers in front and how many in rear. When I start changing the rear the geometry changes on the cars suspension. Everything starts to slop back. Has anyone ran there car like this and am I doing this correctly?

Kevin

I'm selling my one run TOP sabre 4wd mini. It's all ready to run. Justock esc, Novak Vulcan 21.5 motor, two sets of tires, painted body, some parts. All electronics are new.

$300 for all. Ad and pics are on for sale section. Paypal accepted.

Looks like TQRC is now carrying this car kit and spares. Yay!

first outdoor Race now. and it's fun driving it.
just in competition against real TCs. (TRFs 418, X-rays t4 , Yokomos BD7 , ...)
i m the only one with an m-chassis ...
30 entries, and still fighting for the a main, let's see if i will reach it :)

who makes your body?

Nice!

It's the Subaru BRZ Body from ride
http://www.rc-ride.co.jp/product.php?cat_id=3#1

and Thanks Raman :)