The 3Racing diff is 1mm narrower than the stock? The gear teeth pitch is the same and meshes ok?

Thanks for being the guinea pig.

It's 3mm, i just found out. I used a emty geardiff at first to measure, it worked no problem for me with only 0.5mm each side with shims all evening last night...
Still not a problem, add shims to outside of bearing where it goes into chassi, 1 mm each end and 0.5mm on diff each side and it will be fine.

I agree with you, mostly. 3Racing does make some good parts. (CV axles, hardened rear axles...) They also make some total crap. (Lower control arms, steering knuckles)

They've got their place and a better price point than Tamiya. Tamiya does tend to use MUCH higher quality materials, particularly when it comes to aluminum.

This actually has me wondering: Why doesn't Tamiya offer cooling fans for the cars, rather than really ineffective heat sinks?

Jim

No attitude hear I just don't like to see bad advice given without letting them know all of the details. Like Monkey said they have some decent products and I have purchased a few but never things like shocks diffs steering parts etc. There aluminum is soft compared to Tamiya's which is not good for some parts. Plus out here in the US we are not allowed to run parts that are not Tamiya for the TCS races. I have run alot of diffs in my M03,4,5 and now 6. So far the best diff is the TA03 ball diff if I had to recommend to someone to purchase a diff then thats what I would get.

And is what we have ALWAYS recommended on rc-mini....

The TA03 ball diff is smoother than M05's. Part number is 53267, street price is $22 - $24. Also the main diff gear makes good contact with idler gear.

I bolded the part of this quote that I think is very important. While it is great to see posts about better parts, I think Mini racing is best when kept TCS legal. The less we have to worry about spending money to be competitive, the better this class is.

I won't deny that there are better parts & better tire/insert combos available for these cars. However, for the novice racer in the US looking for information, it can quickly become confusing what is legal and/or needed to have fun with a Mini.

Since any Mini thread is dominated by posts from non TCS racers, it would be refreshing to have a separate TCS Legal Mini thread. Hey, this may be my best idea of the week...

Please, no, no, NO...it's bad enough having to read the Mini Cooper and the M06 thread as it is!
Not to mention the klutz who resurrected the year old M05 thread as well..

I'd like everything on the Mini Cooper thread - and that's it. Pleeeaseeee...

Okay, how about we compromise. All of the Australian Mini Racers must have a disclaimer at the front of their posts stating something to the affect that "We choose not to adhere to Tamiya TCS Mini racing rules because we think we are doing it better than you!"

(Hopefully this comment will be read as the poor attempt at humor that it was intended to be).

Good thing I picked up 4 sets when I did then.

Can't say I've ever had a similar experience ordering from them - and I hate to admit that I've ordered lots of stuff...

Someone breathed new life into the M-05 thread? That shows you how much attention I'm giving this thing. I'm just sticking to my interests. and the M-05 isn't among them. I never did like that car.

Regarding standardized rules, like TCS or the fairly regulated Australian mini rules: That would be great. It would be so nice to have everyone on a level playing field and to make this about pure fun and excellent driving skill. The only two problems are A) no one wants to be the tech guy, especially at a club race and B) Tamiya can't seem to keep parts supplied, even for the relatively small Canadian market. I can't imagine what a shit-show it would be if we needed our local supplier (who is unfortunately hog-tied by the national distributor) to bring in the spec tire/wheel sets for our entire club, plus spares to keep us all well heeled.

It sure would be nice to play by a set of simple rules that were adhered to zealously by all involved and were supported just as vigorously by the manufacturer. Sadly, it's not going to happen here.

Jim

There is no TCS in Australia...hasn't been for about 7-8 years....we don't have a choice.....

Yep. And I don't think it will be resurrected either.

I will try to remember to add the Aussie clause in any future posts.

I like what our brothers are doing down under as far as making rules for the mini and how they choose to run the class. A lot of thought have gone into what particular hopups, motor/esc combos, tires, bodies, and how they are implemented. The HW 13t combo is probably the best brushless combo for the mini, cheap and performs good. If i were to follow class/rules, it would be as close to this as possible.

Does anyone know if the HPI Lancia Stratos body fits on the M06 at all?

Cheers in advance,
Liam