98MM Box Stock is a great place to start, running a narrow car would be a challenge in my opinion. Kyosho Motor mounts are pretty cheap, the MR04 MM pod is actually very capable and lowers the CG a lot. Tires and practice really seem to make all the difference,

Having two cars/classes to run mean more time wheeling when you can run one and let the other cool off. The Evo2 with the 5600kv is going to take some getting used to, or dialing back the throttle if you have a radio capable of that. I have an MR03 Evo that I ran the 4100KV motor in for a good bit and it was actually surprisingly fast (ran fine with a 10T PN pro match pinion) and easier to handle. 4100 would be Stock class, 5600 Pro Stock.

Marka V1 10 slicks work really well for me (V1 15 Radials are on my Box Stock now, they seem great too), front PN (KSM or KS medium, KSK 35 or 40 all low profile) are about all the traction you could ask for. Depending on conditions I run Reflex Speed dish wheels with the side wall plates to keep from traction rolling, but you might be fine without them. PN Low profile tire and a 23.00 disc will have you off to the races.

Never a bad idea to check back on this thread and see setups people use, pretty easy way to get started. Bodies, springs, t plates, tires etc.

Thank you! Didn't realize I could swap in the MR04 rear end into my MR03, that sounds like a great option.

Would 98mm be preferable over 102mm for starting out in box stock?

I managed to get the 5600kV EVO2 drivable by tuning down all the ESC power settings, maxing out drag brake and using narrow neutral range. On the transmitter I've limited throttle end point to 60% and -20% expo. I went ahead and ordered a 4100kV motor to swap in and plan to use it to run in the Stock class.

I'm also building a RC28 w/ 2500kV, just for fun, doubt it will be viable in Open 2WD but as an AE fan, I needed to try one out.

I'll grab a few different T-plates that folks seem to be using along with tires to try out. Hopefully I'll have something together to join in January!

From the Box Stock rules:
Any Kyosho plastic motor mount that does not incorporate a disc dampener can be used for 86-98mm Wheelbases.

It'll be fine.

First off Welcome stressor!!! Great bunch here, and some very fast and knowledgeable drivers too!!!

You have already been given some great advice, (THANKS GUYS!) as the Mini96 is a TIGHT track and takes some getting used to! I'm in the process of getting updated rules posted in one place, and should have it done tonight!

To answer your questions:
The MX-5 Roadster is a AWESOME 90mm body, once you get it setup , it will straight up FLY, BUT 90mm is very twitchy and alot to learn on! To calm the rear end chattering I have found going to a very soft t plate, usually a #2 or #3 PN Carbon fiber when running brushless motors or fiberglass for brushed. Getting your ride height, both of the chassis and body set, and using a front disk wheels will tame the Traction Roll (TR). I LOVE the Nexx 90/94mm RM pod and have 2 90mm chassis set up with it, and they RUN. Traveler_2 (Marwan Z.) runs the Kyo 90mm pod and does AWESOME with it, so when he can, I bet he can help you with the setup for it!

98mm is usually much easier to learn on, and if you have the parts, you might want to switch over at least till you get it down better. We allow 102mm in BoxStock now since Kyo re-released them last year and didn't want to exclude anyone from running with their new cars! I also LOVE the 102mm car bodies, so I try them out on every layout we run. Sometimes they are a little faster, but often times with the track soo tight, the 102mm looses out to the 98mm so most run 98mm.

I really like the 04MM pod for 98mm BoxStock, as you can adjust the axle height and the motor is low and open for better cooling. And with 04 V2 front arms , you can get a 03 readyset to drive just as sell as the 04, without having to buy a whole new car. I run V2 MR04 arms on most of my 03 chassis, and they have soo much more steering!

Tires are another place most find time and control. Kyo tires are ok, but tend to not work well or last long once you get your speed up. I like PN Low Height Medium front tires, usually KS1138, and Marka V1R10 rears. I run mostly 3D rims with disks only on the front. When you switch to tires other than Kyo you will have SOO much more grip TR is an issue, but with a little setup tweaking you will be much faster.

Your 5600kv (ProStock) is also a lot, but as you figured out, you can dial them back with your Tx or in the ICS settings on the Board and get them really performing well on the Mini96!

There's ton's of info on how others have set up their cars to get them to work like they like, but these cars are very Driver dependent, so what works for a few might not work for you, so I suggest get some tires, wheels , and a few popular bodies, and drive, and tweak till you find what you are fastest with! This is the official home of the Challenge, but we often gather in the FaceBook Mini96 World Challenge page too, so join us there as it's a bit easier to BS and quick question/answers can be had. It is easier to find stuff here though, as it stays in chronological order!

So holler with anything, and we will help ya asap!
Again Welcome and have FUN turning those laps!!!
BoxxerBoyDrew (Andy Curington)

I would recommend keeping the MR-03 Mazda MX-5 for that dedicated class and just get some t-plates and wheels/tries to make it handle right. Tons of fun that class!
Also keep the MR-04 Evo2 5600 for the Pro Stock class, and just work on handling with tires and suspension parts.
Buy a new 98mm MR-04 ReadySet for the Box Stock class. The McLaren 12C or F1 GTR, C8 Corvette, 2010 Audi R8 are the currently available bodies that would be good in Box Stock. If money is no option, I would also snag an MR-04 with 911 GT3 RS body for that class since they will be hard to find soon!
Then invest in good AAAs, t-plates, wheels and tires. It doesn't take much to get these cars to handle extremely well. I can smoke most people with fully modded and upgraded cars with a near box stock setup that is properly built (which brings me lots of joy) so resist the urge to go for the bling and every bolt on option. It took me YEARS to learn that myself...

Welcome to the challenge!

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

Thank you! I will grab the Porsche GT3 RS along with a McLaren 12C in that case! I'll grab a Jomurema body to try in box stock too since it seems like they are frequently recommended.

Thanks for the help and excited to join next month!

Mini-96 World Challenge

Welcome to the home of the Mini-96 World Challenge.

The Mini-96 World Challenge is a virtual 1:28 scale time trial series that can be held anywhere there is a Mini-96 track. The idea is that you can run your cars in the comfort of you own home and compare your performance with others around the world. The hope is that we can build a community of like-minded RC enthusiasts that enjoy the challenge of tuning and racing 1:28 scale cars and showing your performance and set-ups on the world stage. The idea is to progress the scale for both Newbies and Veterans alike.

Once a month a track layout, surface, and direction will be announced. Throughout the month you post your time for the class you are running, if you run more than once in the same class please edit your original post so that you do not have multiple posts from the same participant every month, this is purely for bookkeeping purposes and keeping the information manageable. Discussions on setup and techniques are encouraged as are pictures of your cars.

We will score 9 different classes: Box Stock, Stock, Pro-Stock, Narrow, Porsche, MX-5, Stock 86mm, Open 2WD, and Open 4WD. You can run as many or as few classes as you would like, you can run different classes on different days. The rules for the classes are below, for the time being, if a majority of the players would like to look at changing a rule we can discuss as a group.

We are hoping that you will find this an interesting and fun way to have competition even if you are not located near an established track.

With that said let's take a look at the rules:

Timing- Timing must be done with a device where you can post "proof" of your run to the web, this can be done with something as simple as a smart devise app where you take a screenshot or a full-on timing system and posting a generated excel sheet. I have been using "LapTracker" on my iPhone, there is a nominal fee for it but it works very well. I understand there are a couple of Android apps that work as well though I have not tried them, one is called "Whoop Laps"and another is called "LapTrax". If any of you have another Android timing app that you are comfortable with I would be happy to post that as well. I am not affiliated with any of these apps BTW. Most use a Infrared transponder system and have great success with them. Just do your research as different hardware systems use different software, so find the software you like and get the hardware to match.

Race Format- The Race format is 75 laps which will lead to a, roughly, 5 min race. You cannot piece together parts of different races to make one race, it is either all 75 laps or nothing. On the first of every month the track configuration, surface. and direction will be posted.

Car Classes and Rules
Box Stock- 4AAA NiMh KyoshoChassis, EVO Board not allowed. OEM White End bell Motor unmodified, 7T Pinion are both mandatory. Front springs, tires, T-Plate,20MM Wheels only, disk wheels allowed; and bearings are open. Any Kyosho plastic motor mount 86-102MM Wheelbases, Kyosho plastic Damper allowed. Kyosho Autoscale/White body must use original wing or no wing at all. Minimal trimming of their front splitters allowed to save bodies from breaking after being caught under rail. When learning the Challenge we allow Jomurema bodies, their smooth nose and even drive feel make it easier to get this scale down, but after you get it down we ask you to go to a Kyo body. Aluminum T-Plate mounts, aftermarket nose clips, and 0* front knuckles are permissible on the chassis to increase the durability of chassis. NO ADDED WEIGHT IN BOX STOCK CHASSIS!

Stock- Any 4AAA Nimh Chassis , OEM or 70T brushed motor or 3500 & Kyosho 4100kv Brushless motor, Any Make Autoscale/White body.

Pro Stock-Any 4AAA Chassis , 48/50T Brushed motor (Kyosho Black cap, PN 50T, etc.)or 5600kv brushless motor, Any Make Autoscale/White body.

Narrow- 4AAA NiMh Kyosho Chassis set up at 86 or 90MM. OEM or 70T brushed motor or 3500 & Kyosho 4100kv Brushless motor. Any 86 or 90mm Kyosho body running a narrow front end are allowed but you MUST run zero offsets (or - offset wheels in the case of the Lotus Elise) 8.5mm all around no matter what the body will accept.

Porsche Cup- Stock- 4AAA NiMh Kyosho Chassis set up at 86 or 90MM. OEM or 70T brushed motor or 3500 & Kyosho 4100kv Brushless motor. The car must run a rear-mount and use a 911 derived body (934,935,GT1, 996 GT3, 991 GT3RS).

MX-5 Open- Any AAA Chassis, OEM or 70T brushed or 3500/4100kv brushless motor, any 90mm mount.

Stock 86- 4AAA NiMh Kyosho Chassis set up at 86MM, OEM or 70T brushed motor or 3500 & Kyosho 4100kv Brushless motor, Autoscale/Whitebody, stock or no wing.

Open 2WD-And Chassis, any voltage, any motor

Open 4WD-Any Chassis, any voltage, any motor

Posting Of your Race
In order for your race to count please use the following format and fill in all the information as well as the screenshot of your race information. You are also encouraged to post pictures of your cars. Races will only be counted if they are run before midnight of the last day of the month, your local time. I will give you till the 3rd day of the following month to post your races, and I'll tally and post results on the 4th. PLEASE, use the following format to post your results! It makes it easy for my old eyes to follow and make sure I get your races counted correctly.

Class-
Date-
Location-
Race Time-
Fastest Lap-
Chassis-
Body-
Wheelbase-
Tires-
Wheels-
Motor-
Batteries-
Front Springs-
T-Plate-
Motor Mount-
Dampener (If applicable)-
Dampener Fluid (If applicable)-
Gearing-
Notes-

Please be honest with your results; it is our hope that this on-line competition can grow and offer some really good fun for those who participate. Remember if you cheat you are really only cheating yourself and ruining it for the rest of us. As of now the only track surface/wall additions allowed is tape (if you choose to run it). It's main goal is to protect the walls from damage, but they also help the cars from sticking too. Corner Curbs, etc. are not allowed. Decorations that don't effect performance are encouraged! I have some Race track looking catch fences in the works now! As the scale continues to evolve the rules will too, so if yall see something we are missing, feel free to reach out!

Take Care and Drive Fast!!!
BoxxerBoyDrew (Andy Curington)

Traveler is talking the truth! The new Porsche is a RUNNER!! It takes a bit of tweaking, but wone you get it set, it is NICE! The 12C or 720 are some of the best running 98mm bodies that are available now! The 720 seems to have a stronger nose, but the rear is multi part, so it be easily damaged when driving with others. I Jomurema body is a great grab too! I was STRUGGELING when I came to this scale, then I was told to get a Jomu. It got me going, and I still run them on a few chassis, just with either Lexan Windows or Roof! With a Lexan roof they really come to life! Just in BoxStock NO Lexan.

These Mini Zs are a lot like potato chips, you can't have just 1! I started with 1, 4 years ago. Now I'm waiting on my 8th chassis , 2nd 2wd Open chassis! When the 86mm Porsche gets released I'll get one of them too! Last will be a AWD! I really like the look of the new Atomic Bels drive AWD!!! LOOKS AWESOME!

Anyway, have fun getting going, and Holler with anything!

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!!!

Wow! Thanks again for all your help.

Had no idea there was so much I could do with the body height! Makes sense though considering how heavy the body is relative to the rest of the car on these. For now, I'm not going fast enough to get traction roll on any cars other than the MA020, but I think it just has a very high CG (especially with the AE86 body). Thanks for the tips, I'll try lowering the body on the box stock Jomurema body (with no lexan).

I'm going to go ahead and grab the Porsche and either the 720S and 12C to run in box stock (though initially with the Jomurema body), we do often run with two cars but try to avoid contact. You're right about the size of the collection growing, I guess it helps that they take much less space than a 1/8 or 1/10. I do think I'm going to focus on only driving a couple of classes to get started to avoid needing to learn the nuances of multiple cars when just trying to get the hang of getting around the track. I'm thinking I'll primarily run box stock initially, maybe a little open 2WD if the RC28 feels good (still waiting on the electronics from AE).

Definitely working on consistency, really a challenge to avoid pinging around the walls and hoping for all the stars align for a single hot lap doesn't work in 75 laps.

I have a Limeta 16 bay charger at the moment since I wanted to be able to charge a bunch of batteries at once, but not as nice as the SkyRC stuff. I may try one and see if it makes a difference. I'm using the Kyosho Speedhouse batteries at the moment.

Running these little guys is intense! Dealing with a corner every few hundred milliseconds keeps you on your toes, and yes blinking is key

Thanks again!

stressor,
Starting with a car or two is a very good idea! BoxStock is a good class to start, but I learned much faster once I added a PN Disk damper and went to Stock. The Disk Dampened car was soo much easier to drive. Once I got it down I built another BoxStock chassis and I figured it out. But that was with 03s, so the 04 may be easier to learn on in BoxStock form. I found with the 04, a Red top shock spring and 15k grease on the shock shaft really helps get the BoxStock rear under control. I usually run Purple or Red PN front springs, and a soft t plate to keep the rear end from chattering.

YES, running 75 laps is very intense! That's why the joke about Breathing and Blinking! A joke, but not really! We have turned 6 to 7 times, many 180* corners, in the time and distance you maybe have turned once in 1/10th scale racing! Focus is something I still struggle with after 4 years. I focus soo hard my eyes dry out, then I'm in the wall! Just try for clean laps, and speed will come.

When you start messing with the Jomu's body height and factory windows, the rear tires can contact the windows when the suspension flexes causing you to spin out. So you usually have to dremel the window corner a bit.

TR comes with speed, and once you get there, it's a PAIN! I don't have a AWD yet, but TR is the biggest issue I have read people have with it. I love AWD on dirt, but RCP has soo much traction! It will be a fun challenge.

Anyway, just have fun and turn as many laps as possible, it will come together! Holler with anything you run into!

Thank you! You bring up a really good point, running a higher performing car getting started can help to reduce frustration. I think I'd rather spend time/money on getting the stock car setup properly rather than get something new setup for box stock that ultimately won't perform as well as the stock car. One of the benefits of having "box stock" classes at live events is to have a place for beginners to not get run over by experienced drivers (though not always the case!), but fortunately this is not a problem the way the Mini96 challenge is run.

I'll go ahead and get one of my MR04 EVO2's setup with all the right parts to be competitive and focus on this rather than box stock.

Do you have any thoughts on the Reflex RR002 Low Profile Dampening System for the MR04? I'm thinking about grabbing it along with the Reflex shock. I wouldn't be able to use the Kyosho motor, but I'm okay with grabbing another motor and sensor cable adapter.

Thanks for the tip on dremeling out window corner on the Jomurema body, I could only imagine how frustrating that would have been to troubleshoot! I've also noticed folks running the Jomurema bodies in Stock class but that the rules state only white/autoscale, so just wanted to double check if the Jomurema bodies allowed in stock.

Thanks again for all the help!

Class- BOX STOCK
Date- 12/30/2025
Location- Ohio
Fastest Lap- 3.64
Chassis- Kyosho MR03 Rwd
Body- McLaren
Wheelbase- 98mm
Tires- +1 PN KSK40 / +3 Marka 15 Slick
Wheels- Nexx 20mm/ Discs +1/ AMA Racing +3
Motor- Stock Silver Can
Batteries- Speed House
Front Springs- Original Box Springs
T-Plate- PN Racing Spring Steel #4
Motor Mount- MM2
Dampener (If applicable)- No
Dampener Fluid (If applicable)- Tamiya AW grease on upper shock
Gearing- 7T Pinion / Stock Differential (44T)


Definitely not a fast time but I'll take it for my first time out.

It is fun to have the new "cool" things, but don't waste your money. If you can't keep up with the fast guys in Box Stock here, you don't need fancy parts, you need more wheel time.

Use the money for tires, batteries and bearings.