Originally Posted by
stressor
Thank you! You guys have really gathered a great community.
I will indeed keep the MX5 as it is and run it in the unofficial MX5 class, I grabbed a #2 Silver CF T-plate for it + PN white springs along with the Marka V1R10 and PN KS1138 (you had helped me earlier with these suggestions from my Facebook post about wheel offsets and I copied a bit of your setup from November). I'll grab the Nexx RM pod too, thanks for that suggestion as well! For now the only other part I'm planning to upgrade are 0deg aluminum steering knuckles.
I did grab the 4100kV motor for the Evo2, haven't tried it out yet (initially setup the track rough side up, so have it down now to switch to smooth). I actually have two Evo2's since I'd gotten one for my wife, so may keep one as 5600kV and run as Pro-Stock and another as 4100kV for stock. I grabbed some #4 carbon and #2 spring steel t-plates to try on these with the same tire combo.
Thanks so much for all the help! This is too much fun
Sounds like you have a good plan! I run T plates from #2-#5 usually Carbon fiber, but I have fiberglass in 3-5 to try on different layouts.
When dialing in your cars, a lot can be done with the height of the body! You can try lowering the rear body clips along with the nose clip to get the body as low as possible and fight Traction Roll (TR). You then usually have to bust out the dremel and sand/grind the wheel well arches to get clearance, but once it's done, the car will FLY! Most use the PN Carbon Nose clips to adjust the front, but I'm a little on the fence on them. I have and use them, but I worry they are too ridged and cause the bodies to crack with hard nose impacts compared the factory plastic clips. I now use the Kyo shim sets to lower the plastic nose clips to get the nose where I want, then super glue in the side clips to put the rear where I want. On Autoscale bodies, or bodies with glued side clips, you can pop the glued clips with a flat blade slipped the behind the clip, between the clip and body. A simple twist will usually pop them off. I use a scalpel. I have only had clips glued with Plastic Weld non be able to be popped off. I run my ride height of my chassis at just over 2mm in the rear and just under 2mm in the front. this allows the suspension to work, but helps with TR! Any lower and the car will start to spin out when the chassis touches the track in corners or bumpy sections. 19mm fronts with Low Height tires also help with ride height and TR!
I REALLY LIKE the Nexx 90mm RM Pod! It sits a Brushless motor as low as it can. I've run them with PN 70T brushed motors, but you have to jack up the ride height for ground clearance, so I had issues with TR running brushed with it.
With knuckles on the 04 I go with Nexx Racing or Reflex Racing. They are much the same, but the Nexx has steel wheel shafts and aluminum knuckle bodies, where the Reflex have Aluminum shafts and bodies. I haven't had issues either way, I'm just careful with the Reflex not to cross thread the wheel nuts! The Nexx R. also use their own lower arm pivot balls and aluminum shims as they are about .5mm smaller in diameter than the factory size. Again no issues there, just wanted you to be aware! Also grab some .2mm thick 3mm shims. the aftermarket knuckles and wheels will usually have too much play even when the wheel nuts are tight, so you have to use a shim or 2 ( in front of or behind) to get the tension I want.
I use the PN 03 or 04 Front Spring sets to dial in the amount of steering I want.
I usually run PN Low Down MR03 knuckles on my 03s. They give you a lower ride height, and 3mm front wheel axels. But since I switch most of my 03s over to V2 04 front arms/knuckles, that isn't much of an issue now.
There's tons of good info on how we dial in our cars for the Challenge in these 200+ pages! I have read through them all a few times, but the early stuff is mostly on the 03's, so alot won't transfer to the 04, at least on the front.
Anyway, have fun and just turn some laps!!! A LOT OF LAPS!! And when you change something just change 1 thing at a time then test what it did! I keep a log for future use. These little rascals are touchy! Don't worry about speed at first, just try your best to get as many clean laps as possible! Slower laps with no mistakes, will be faster over 75 laps, will ultimately be faster than a few fast laps with a bunch of mistakes! Slow is consistent and consistent is fast! It took me a while to figure that out!
Some good 800mAh AAAs and charger will have you running! I like Gens Ace or Speedhouse 800HV batteries, and a good basic charger is the SkyRC NC1500. It's only around $30, but it works! I now use a MC3000, but mainly for the Bluetooth, and I can charge my Vape batteries on the same machine!
but charging wise the NC1500 is just as good for what we do. I try to run at least 1 set of batteries a day, and I can get 250-300 laps on a set, and the batteries usually last about 8 months. I get 2-4 sets at a time, and run them till their performance falls off. I have 5 AAA cars. Some try to match AAAs, but with the equipment thats available today doesn't make it a viable task. There is some discontinued equipment that will truly match AAAs, but I don't have it, and I doubt it would help me at my skill level. I usually get my best runs after driving a set of 75 laps with fresh charged batteries. I'm more consistent once the batteries have lost a bit of punch.
Hope my rambling helps ya some! I raced 1/10th scale Dirt Oval and Off road most of my rc life 40+ years, and the Mini96 World Challenge, is some of the most fun, though sometimes frustrating rc racing I've done!! Take your time, and after a bit, the narrow track will start to feel wide!
Just remember to Breathe, and BLINK!!!
