Originally Posted by
ncpantherfan
I am still running about half a sec behind the fast guy on our out door parking lot track. He is faster on the corners, but I am faster on the straight. We are both using thee same motor, kill shot, same battery, venom, same tires, type a slicks. I am long wheelbase with a 06 cooper body, he is med with the JCW cooper body. I have the complete aluminum steering upgrade, tamiya shocks, m05 ball diff, carbon fiber front shock tower, high torque servo saver, futaba s9551 low profile servo, and full bearings of course. Please take a check my setup and let me know if you see anything that is costing me time in the corners. Track is a good sized, about 110x60 PVC, one long straight and mostly 180 and 90 degree corners, treated with soda\sugar traction compound. The last race I did notice I had quite a bit of chassis lean, I had to trim the front of the body to keep it from rubbing on the track.
Front
Losi 40wt shock oil, 3 piston, mounted to middle hole, floro red springs, 5mm ride height, 2 deg camber with the setting upper arms on the inside top hole, 1 deg toe out.
Rear
40wt shock oil, 3 hole piston, stock rear shock mount, 4.5 ride height, floro red springs, 2 deg camber, 1.5 deg aluminum toe in carrier, upper arms on lower inside hole.
I have a complete set of springs, floor and regular, and white springs that came with my v1 m05 pro, and sway bars. If I need the carbon fiber rear mount I will get it, this is my favorite class to race.
I'd change tires. But then, if they make you faster, he'll change tires and you'll be down 0.5 sec. again. Change to the S-Grips and use the premounts the TCS guys use---#1016. Learn how to doctor the sidewalls with cyano and you should pick up that time easily.
Let me share with you the "worst" kept secret of the good, veteran Mini racers. You can pick up a lot of time with just minor adjustments to your set up. My car of choice is the M03. A 1/4 turn adjustment to the steering rods was worth almost 0.5 sec. I'll bet there's a second left in your car without doing any major changes.
Here's some stuff you can try. It's hard to be specific cause you don't mention if your car is loose or tight, quick steering or slow, stable or responsive, etc. Generally, Minis tend to do better with stiffer springs in back than in front. Try the neon blue springs in the rear. They also like rear roll bars. It's amazing how much time you can pick up with ride height changes, rear camber changes, toe out changes. Sorry, but these are the types of things you have to fiddle with to get the max out of your car.
You've got a decent base setup on your car. It seems that what the car needs is minor set up changes to fit you and the track.