Happy New Year Guys! Great to see the new drivers! I didn't get to run any full length runs between my Mom's chemo and traveling for Christmas, but I will be back this month! SO a BIG THANKS to Traveler2 for keeping this going and to all who have helped me in figuring these Mini-Z's out!
Take Care and Drive Fast! Drew

Well I don't know how you all are doing on this layout, but it's deceptively tough. If I miss the first turn on the triple switchback I'm boned on the next 2corners and it kills my time! After knocking off the rust of not driving for 2 weeks I was able to run a 5.4 fast lap with my 911 and a 5.1 fast lap with the McLaren F1. I need to play with the gearing on the McLaren as I have too much top end and not enough drive out of the corners. I also have to figure out how to adjust the breaking force on the 911. Just the slightest touch of the breaks it whips the back end around going into the corners and I've even rolled it a few times. I've turned on the ABS function on my NB4 and it helped a bit about I need to learn all the adjustments it has, and it's a EVO so I think there is some adjustment with the ICS manager. Any Ideas?
Thanks Guys and Drive Fast! Drew

It will take some getting used to with all the hairpin turns, but its a fun layout and will make you a better driver on tight technical tracks. For braking force on the 911, you need to either reduce the EPA for Brake (try 50-70) or reduce the Rate B. under TH DR/EXP (try 50-70). Both do the same thing, reduce the force of braking, but I'm not sure if they go about it the same way. I use different methods on different cars to get them to behave like I want, but would love a better understanding of the differences between EPA and TH DR to reduce braking.

Not sure you need to mess with the ICS settings, but here are mine on my RM 911 with 3500 motor:

ST Power: L - 3
ST Power: H - 4
ST Speed - Fast
ST Punch - 10
ST Neutral (Deadband) - 3
ST Dumping (Damping) - Mid
ST Offset - 128
TH Reverse Timer (Delay) - 2.8
TH Neutral Brake (Drag Brake) - 3
TH Motor Time Constant (Acceleration) - 3
TH Curve Control - Flat
TH F Punch (Low End Power) - 3
TH Max Revolution (Max RPM) - Normal
TH Neutral Range (Deadband) - Mid

AWESOME info Traveler, THANKS!!!
Been up for a few days, so I got busy finishing the paint jobs on a 12C and 787B. I had problems with "globby" paint and clear. I really need to find strainers to fit the small bowl on my airbrush. The orange started good but the last coat almost sprayed like stone texture paint, and I didn't notice till I had unmasked everything, them when unmasking the black pealed up in areas. Finally the clear (4050Gloss) also had globs and clogged the tip unless I sprayed at full blast then i would run unless I moved very quickly. I don't know if it's the rain/humidity or temp, as the heater in my shop went out and it got to the mid 40s before I could replace it. But I didn't paint for at least 8 hours after replacing it and the temp is 80* when I spray and 75* the rest of the time. I just have to tell myself they are race bodies not shelf queens, and I'm still trying to learn airbrushing! Maybe trying to learn with a .35 needle gun is what's giving me issues? Probably the Loose Nut on the trigger!! Anyways here's a few pics. I'm not sure how I like the accent color on the few pieces. It looked better in my mind. I might pop them off and paint to match the rest of the body??? Also left alot of open area on the bodies as I have inkjet decal paper on order, so I'm going to try my hand at some custom decals.




Those are 0 offset wheels on the 12C that are for the F1, and I'll be running different wheel offsets.

I have the brake D/R assigned to switch VR1-R so I can fine tune the amount of brake force on the fly. Best to get your end point close and use the switch to dial it in for current traction conditions. Be warned that switch VR1-R and VR1-L are not programed to individual cars (in other words if you make a D/R adjustment with one car and switch to another car that car will have the same adjustment)

Awesome info Poor Boy Thanks that makes a lot of sense!

Hey Guys, I hope all are having as much fun on this fun but tricky layout as I am! My mid month times have come down and my Stock 12C is dialed in! I ran 40 lap timed stents with about 30 laps of warm up with each of my 3 cars. First was my Pro Stock 787B, next my 911 GT3 RSR, last was my Stock McLaren 12C. I had the best consistency with the 12C with only 1 reverse mistake. Still my biggest problem area is the first turn of the triple switchbacks. Runs were done on 1 set of SpeedHouse 800HV batteries. Basically I've dropped a half second on all 3 cars since the beginning of the month.
ProStock --------fast lap 4.631, avg. 5.263, 12 lap long streak with 73% consistency.
Porsche Class---fast lap 4.943, avg. 5.295, 13 L.S. at 80%,
Stock Class----- fast lap 4.639, avg. 5.091, 19 L.S. at 83%.
Timed with NextLevel software, and it works great!
Take Care and Drive Fast! Drew
p.s. PoorBoys trick of putting the breaks on the VR1-R dial works GREAT! I just wish there was a way to adjust the Breaking Force separate of the Reverse Force. It makes it slow to reverse out of a mistake on the 911 when I turn the Breaking force to 50% to keep from rolling in a corner off the straight at high speed.

My Box Stock time keeps going up with each run on the clock... Note to self, quit riding walls.

Well, after doing some reading the past Mini-z thread about slowing down and concentrating on consistency not speed I had 2 good 75lap runs with my Pro Stock and 911 without having to use reverse once!!! It's the best runs I've had! Only once with my 911 I tipped it on it's side, and I had to jump up and go lay it over. Which caused a 10+ second lap. I ran my 911 first, then my Pro Stock, but I guess I didn't get a good charge on the SpeedHouse AAA's, as they dumped at around lap 35 in my 787B! You can see my times increase from the upper 4 second laps to mid 5's. I was holding full throttle most of the time during the last ten laps. Also I replaced all the bearings with Avid bearings, and they are very smooth while having tight tolerances! Wheels and axels roll forever!
I'll update my times when I get better runs, but I had to post my first runs with no reverse mistakes!
Class-Porsche Class
Date-01/26/24
Location- Central Texas
Race Time- 6:33.4 minutes/ 393.490 seconds
Fastest Lap- 4.820 seconds
Chassis- MR03
Body- Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
Wheelbase- 90mm
Tires- F-N20mm+1mm PN BBS- PN-KS Med Low H. /R-W20mm +2mm- PN BBS- PN KS Soft Radials
Motor- Rocket 3500kv
Batteries- Kyo SpeedHouse 800HV
Front Springs- Purple
T-Plate- PN #4 Carbon
Motor Mount- Nexx RM
Dampener (If applicable)- PN DDS Gold top/Purple bottom spring/ PN Top Dual Spring Shock
Dampener Fluid (If applicable)- Dry
Gearing- 9/51 PN Gear Diff
Notes- Car is running good, but between the high humidity and vacuuming the track the grip level was high and traction rolling at the first hair pin off the straight became a problem. So being smooth with the steering and throttle became a must! I have 5 grams of Tungsten putty in each battery notch under the chassis for a total of 10 grams.





Class-Pro Stock
Date-01/26/24
Location- Central Texas
Race Time- 6:23.6 minutes/ 383.669 seconds
Fastest Lap- 4.612 seconds
Chassis- PN 2.5W
Body- Mazda 787B
Wheelbase- 102mm
Tires- F-N20mm+1mm PN BBS- PN-KS-M Med Low H./R-W20mm+2mm- PN BBS- PN KS-M Soft Radials
Motor- PN 50T Ball Bearing
Batteries- Kyo SpeedHouse 800HV
Front Springs- Purple
T-Plate- PN #4 Carbon
Motor Mount- PN Multi Mount
Dampener (If applicable)- PN DDS Green top/Green bottom springs
Dampener Fluid (If applicable)- Dry
Gearing-10/53 PN Ball Diff
Notes- PN Low Down knuckles. Car was handling was good, but I think I can get it better. Filled pocket in front of switch with Tungsten putty (7.5g IIRC) and 1.8g under nose clip.






I'm charging batteries to run my Stock car, then I'll see if I can run just as clean as above!
Take Care and Drive Fast! Drew

That’s great BBD! Nice work! My fastest times came earlier in the month and I’ve been trying unsuccessfully to improve for days. Very frustrating! Today I decided to test and rematch my batteries because I’ve been driving them for 3 months, and that may have been part of my problem. When I put a rematched set back in my PN70T stock car, I was able to improve by several seconds. Here are a couple of really good quotes from “the professor” Alain Prost to keep in mind:

The real challenge in racing is staying focused and being consistent.

Without going to what I think is my limit. I always say that my ideal is to get pole with the minimum effort, and to win the race at the slowest speed possible.

The key to success is finding the perfect balance between speed and control.

The track is my canvas, and the car is my brush.

What's your process for matching batteries?

I too would like to know how Yall match your AAA's.
Today when my batteries dumped, after I pulled the car off the track one of the cells was noticeably warmer than the other 3. A habit I got into racing electric rc when I was a kid was to "lip test" the batteries and motor for temp when I pull my car off the track. I also mark all my batteries with different color/count of lines of marker, so I know which is which and I always charge in the corresponding charger slots and track them in a log. I know it's a bit anal, at least my wife says it is, but I am able to track everything my SkyRC NC1500 will check, for what that's worth(accuracy wise).
We used to match with voltage, but with chargers reading many different parameters today, I'm curious what yall use?
Thanks and Drive Fast! Drew

The old "lip test"! I still use it, and actually burnt my lip on a motor just this week. When I then put the digital thermometer on it, it read over 160 degrees

I use a Competition Electronics Turbo Matcher 8 which has long been discontinued. It is an industrial piece of equipment built for professional battery testers. I was lucky enough to get a used one over 10 years ago from one of those companies when NiMh cells were being replaced by LiPos in the larger scale R/Cs. It's the only device I know of which can give you average discharge voltage over a specified time and relative internal resistance (RIR) which is a proxy for actual internal resistance. These are the two measurements I use to match my cells. I also capture capacity in mAh under discharge, but don't use it in matching. I write all the data down and then key it into Excel to do my sorts. I've got tabs in Excel going back 10 years with all my battery data and graphs (sample below). If you show that to your wife, she may no longer think you're anal. A racer by the name of Adam Vink recently did some battery testing using the TM8 and other equipment and posted his findings in the Mini-Z 1:28 World Community group on Facebook. I don't think either of you are on that platform, so I am going to ask him to post the same findings with pictures of the results in the Kyosho Mini-Z Series thread here on RCTech, so keep an eye out for it. It was very interesting...

January Layout! 🏎️🔥

Class- Box Stock
Date- January24th, 2024
Location- Canada, B.C.
Race Time- 385.544
Fastest Lap- 4.791
Chassis- Kyosho MR03 FHSS
Body- Lexus SC 430
Wheelbase- 98mm
Tires- Kyosho 20shore slick fronts 10shore radial rears
Springs- Stock
T Plate- Composite GL 3
Motor- Stock
Batteries- Kyoshi Speedhouse 800mah AAA
Gearing- 7t Pinion

Class-Box Stock
Date-1/21/24
Location-Iowa
Race Time-406.22
Fastest Lap-4.803
Chassis-MR-03
Body-McLaren 12C
Wheelbase-98mm
Tires-PN KS Med fronts, Marka V1R10 rears
Motor-Stock
Batteries-Orion 750s
Front Springs-Yellow
T-Plate-Kyosho Carbon Med
Motor Mount-Stock MM
Dampener (If applicable)-
Dampener Fluid (If applicable)-
Gearing-Stock Gear Diff/7T pinion
Notes-Every run after this kept getting worse and worse. I think the steering/servo is junk. Acting very unpredictable and frustrating to drive. Also, the new Avid bearings I got are not free spinning. Soaked for 1 week and the factory oil is still in them and very restrictive.