This car is a hoot to drive! Very light, quick and nimble, but also very stable and predictable. I've already gone sub 5 minutes with it on the new layout. Not sure what class I’ll run it in, because it doesn’t fit into the Narrow or Porsche Cup classes as currently configured. Maybe we need a new Miata class?

Again SWEET RIDE Traveler!!! I just got my 90mmNarrow chassis finished, and ran it on last months layout with my MX5, and it's great! I haven't received my Brushless motors yet, so I set it up with a PN70T, and with the axel at it's highest ride height the motor has 1mm clearance. The rear has a lot of bounce, so I need to tweak it but it's quick! I will have to wait to adjust the axel height as the Nexx Pod was missing 1 of the pods bearing height bushings, but HobbyTown already has me a set in the mail!
The Miata Class sounds like a good Idea to me! I'm going to be trying my best to get mine painted up, but I'll be very busy helping my Parents pack up and move since they are selling the farm! Their both in their mid 70's and Dad beat cancer last year and Mom's winning her fight this year, so 200+ acres is just too much to keep up with anymore. I WILL have times to post this month, even if I have to take my track with me on the road!
Take Care and Drive Fast! Drew

I was looking to buy a roadster for a narrow class setup, but the standard wide rears kept me from pulling the trigger.

Man, I feel like a bone head, as I misread the 86/90mm Narrow rules! I thought it said ANY Kyosho 86/90mm body but you must run narrows all around. I guess I'll grab an RX-7 to be totally within the rules!

SO, what do the powers at be think about running the MX-5 in the narrow class? I am down for running a Miata class, I've never run the -1W rears in a race setup! It's quick on the narrows, and only traction rolls when I get hamfisted on the radio, so it should be even better on wide rears! I wanted an RX7 anyway, so either way is good with me!!!
Thanks Guys and Drive Fast!!! Drew

Pics of latest MR03 EVO build. It has PN Low Down Knuckles, Delrin Servo Gears, King pins, Alu. T Plate mount, Alu. nose clip mount, Dual Disk Damper, Dual spring top shock, 70T BB motor, and Gear Diff: Kyo. Fluorine balls, Brass 4th servo gear: Nexx Racing 90/94mm RM motor pod. Running a Mazda MX-5 white body ( fixing to paint), 19mm 0N fronts w/ KS Med on front, and 20mm 0N w/ KS-M Soft on the rear. Drives GREAT, but i get tons of rear tire on power chatter. I'm working on figuring it out.

Looks nice!

What about Porsche/MX-5 Cup?

Sorry guys! I missed these earlier and there has also been a similar discussion in the Facebook group. Here is what I think:

The Narrow class rules do say the body must be one "that originally ran on 8.5mm Narrow wheels all around and running a narrow front end" but I think running the MX-5 in the Narrow class should be allowed even though it originally comes with wide rear wheels, as long as we comply with the rest of the rules that say "you MUST run zero offsets 8.5mm all around". I'm also OK with the Dodge Viper being run in the Narrow class too. My MX-5 is currently set up on 20mm N0/W0 and handles exceptionally well in near box stock trim. I have not tried it with N0 all around, so I don't know if that will significantly change the handling.

As far as a separate MX-5 class, if we have enough racers with MX-5 times we can have a separate class. Another idea is to expand the Porsche Cup Class rules to include the MX-5 body. That class doesn't limit the rear wheel choice to N0, and the MX-5 will probably have to be RM anyway because it would be hard to fit any other motor mount under the body because of the trunk. One benefit of this option is that folks that can't find a Porsche or can't spend a fortune to get one can run an MX-5 instead (like in real racing ).

My suggestion is go ahead and get the MX-5 and start running it. We can test it informally this month to see if it better fits into an existing class like Narrow or Porsche Cup, or would be better off breaking it out. You can run it under both sets of rules (i.e. N0 all around or W rears) and compare your own times to see if its better one way or the other. Once we have more information about how they perform compared to other classes and see how many MX-5s we have we can decide where to slot them in the Challenge.

Drive fast!

I wouldn't mind if it were locked down like the real Mazda MX-5 Cup, https://www.mx-5cup.com/about/mx5-car-info. Essentially a box stock short wheelbase class.

Stock electronics, stock offset wheels, open stock style suspension components, spec tires...

Regardless of what is decided, I need to buy one and start putting laps on it.

Thanks Guys and Thanks Traveler for the inclusion of the MX-5 in Narrow. I forgot it could run wide rears , but I will be trying it to see what it does, as it would be great if it could run in 2 classes with just a change of the rear tires.
I'm trying damper positions, 98/94mm mounting locations, and springs to control the rear wheel hop. It's a work in progress, but a blast to drive!
Drive Fast! Drew

Mine doesn't have any rear wheel hop or chatter with stock top shock and no grease. PN KS Med fronts on 20mm N0 and Marka V1R15 W0 rears.
I posted a video of it running some laps in the Facebook group. Smooth as butter and quick.

Thanks for the info Traveler, and I'll check out the FB video. My Porsche chassis doesn't have the hopping either, and it's close in setup, but till my Brushless motors come in I can't duplicate it due to the diameter of the PN70T. Off for more testing and tuning!

Well I am dialing in the MX-5 and I went to -1W rears and they just tuck into the body without rubbing. I will try some 0W, but i think they will rub. Trying to dial out the rear wheel hop on acceleration. I went from a PN black fiber glass #4 t-plate, to a #3 Carbon, then to the Nexx #5 which has most of it gone. I also removed the top shock. I'm running Marka soft slicks in the rear now but have PN KSM soft radials to try too. I think the rest may be coming from the rear ride height being so high to get the ground clearance for the PN70T. It's at 3mm+ rear chassis height to get 1mm of motor clearance. HOPE my brushless motors get here soon!
With the wide rears I can run full throttle most the way around the current layout with no traction rolling! It's a BLAST!
Does anyone other than Kyosho make -1mm W Rear wheels?
Thanks and have fun shredding outside tires on this fast layout! Drew

Had a WIERD thing happen today with the new EVO! I was testing Narrow and Wide rear wheels on the MX-5, when it started loosing drive power. I had a PN70T with new Silver Brushes( water broken in at 1.5v for 10minutes until brushes fit com), and was on the 3rd set of batteries. So I pulled the motor and 1 of the brushes was completely worn!!! Probably 350-400 laps is all they had on them! I'll post pics when they get through the email black hole! 1 brush looks new the other gone.???
I'm still waiting on the brushless motor order, so I slapped in the only motor I had on hand, a PN50T! HOLY CRAP IT RIPPS!!! I had to turn it down to 55% in the NB4 to keep it off the walls.
Anyone have this happen before with PN brushes?
Thanks for the help! Drew

Well I can't sleep, as usual, so not knowing when my rocket motor order will be here( supposed to be by the 21st) and wanting to be within the rules, I took the brushes off the PN50T and put them in the PN70T that had brush problems ^. It had to have been a bad brush, as when I put the new/used brushes in the 70T it came to life! It runs much faster and stronger compared to the last set of brushes. It went from running at 100% throttle D/R and holding full throttle most the way around this layout on bad brushes to 85% throttle d/r and just blipping full throttle in the straights with good brushes.
Before putting in the new brushes I cleaned it with motor spay, and a fine silver powder poured out! So I cleaned the motor well and polished the com, added a drop of Bachman's, and it's a ripping 70T again!
I also tried 0W rears on the MX-5, and they hit on 1 side since I have the body sitting a little lower than factory side clip height. SO -1W rear wheels will be what I can run. I ordered a set of Reflex Speed wheels in -1.5W rear wheels to try, as most Kyosho wheels don't run very straight/ have a slight wobble, and the rear is bouncy enough!
It runs great on both Narrow and Wide rears with no changes needed when I switched, so running in the Narrow Class and Porsche/MX-5 class is very do-able! Or if we get enough to run a MX-5 Class, even better! I don't know how the RX7 drives, but the MX-5 drives great and is very light!
Current layout is a FUN change from the last layout. It's very satisfying when you wrap the fast section and hit the hairpin at perfect speed and it surprises you how fast it goes through that section!
Thanks Traveler2 for keeping this going and to all how have helped me with these Awesome R/C's!
Drew