Skitee

No SPEED difference between the M03 and M05, the gearing is identical between the 2. So the difference you're looking for would be in the way it gets around the tighter sections, some have posted that it needs quite a different setup compared to the M03.

niznai

I did read the site there and I have to say it is a very dedicated mini site, but that is how many? Two people? Five? Ten? And how many more who follow their religion? Twenty over the country? Fifty?

Here we buy a silvercan/black can whatever, whack it in and race it straight on the track. Nobody will waste their time with all that mumble-jumble of buying this many motors, run them in and so on. Clean and oil every now and then and that's it. When it carks it, out with it. This is all I do with my motors and as I said before, they last 1/3 of a racing season (all up probably 200 minutes of running all up). And I think the vast majority of racers who use sealed motors are the same. Otherwise you might as well go and race some rebuildable motor if you want to go to all that trouble.

jeepsteve

It's not a problem. I did it for months racing twice a week. Just remember that there is no lipo cutoff.

jeepsteve

I'm not saying that brushless is the ideall solution at this time but it was the best option for fair cost controlled racing. The success of the slash can be attributed to many other factors also, and on top of that the variances in speed in the motors is lost on the dirt. In on road racing you need the be packin the same power as the next guy as 1/10 of seconds matter a lot.

MD

iTrader: (136)

Jeepsteve - I have raced Slash on dirt. in the parking lot and on carpet. They all pretty much the same speed wise. People really have fun racing them. There is a lot friendly kidding on the drivers stand. I have experienced the same thing with the minis when we run silver cans. We bump each other a little, the racing is close, and everyone has a good time. I buy one or two motors a year. I do believe that if brushless becomes a requirement then there will be a drop in the numbers in the TCS. Then you get into the whole debate about what brushless motor, what esc, etc.

Starteur

iTrader: (1)

And if you want extra insurance you can always install Novak's lipo cut-off
wich works with any ESC.

Have a good one

Starteur

Old Tech

iTrader: (3)

I think there is a difference between "keeping costs down" and "keeping speeds comparable".

A true "Spec" class can keep cars comparable, but does not necessarily mean costs will be low. Seems to me that when folks hear "Spec class" they assume that to also mean "cheap to run"...not always the case IMO.

Geppetto

iTrader: (35)

Last Fall, Doc Mertes and Ray K started a TT01 Race Series (Senior Spec) at our local Hobbytown USA track in Frederick, MD.

The rules are simple:

- TT01 or TT01e
- limited Tamiya hop-ups permitted (alloy shaft, adjustable front toe, oil filled shocks)
- battery limit (7.4)
- HPI X pattern tires
- pretty much any 1/10th body

The best part, Doc and Ray provide the Red Dot motors (blind draw). They even make loaner cars available with radio! They did this assuming all the expense and time.

The series has been a great success and begins its 2nd season this Fall.

News Flash:

It looks like we are going to have a Mini Spec Series this Fall also. Rules regarding hop-ups and tires has not been finalized, but the motor guidelines will almost certainly be the same as the Senior Spec class.

I can hardly wait. I already bought my M05.

I have been racing RC touring cars since the early 90s. I would have never guessed buying and racing a "Tamiya TT-01" could be so satisfying.

Fun and affordable spec racing is possible.

MD

iTrader: (136)

Geppetto - Great idea!

rccardr

iTrader: (8)

Thanks for weighing in on this topic, Gepetto. I've been waiting until the dust settled to say something, but must say there have been many good and relevant points made by previous posters on the subject.

Personally, I'd be fine with going to brushless in Mini for all the reasons already so well presented. However, my racing budget is probably somewhat different that that of others who may also be interested in competing, and the price point for a good brushless setup may well be more than they can comfortably afford to spend all at once. For many folks, $20 at a time is a whole lot easier (and easier to explain to others at home, if you get my drift) than $130 at once.

As Larry mentioned, we tried to resolve this issue last year with handout Red Dot 15K motors. They are based on Tamiya #53689 silver cans, but have been fully broken in and slightly enhanced. At 5 volts they turn about 15,000 RPM, hence the name. So they are significantly faster than an out-of-the-box motor, but not as animalistic as a full race Red Dot. And, as we (and other tracks who purchased sets of motors for similar series) discovered, they last a whole racing season without much maintenance. Because we specified a fixed gear (19/61), nobody overheated their motor. We prtetty much just oiled and occasionally cleaned them, and if memory serves me correctly (correct me if I'm worng, Larry) we only lost one or two motors over the whole 10 month season, and expect to use them again in a Mini Spec class this year as well.

The cost of matched motors -while higher than using box stockers- is relatively low compared to a brushless system. Racers can use their own brushed speed controls (Tamiya's 101 was very popular in last year's series) and although we prefer LiPo packs because we're inherently lazy, NiMh cells work just fine too. Best part is that the motors are matched so their performance is within a few % of each other, and because they are handouts that get returned at the end of the evening, the cost can be spread out over an entire year of racing for a club or series director and included in the race fee.

We like it, people in other cities like it, it's relatively cheap, it results in good close racing, and it works. Not the only answer, but a possible one.

niznai

Only if the "spec" goes into rather fine detail (motor, tires, battery, these days even speedy). Then if you are talking brushless, you have to check everybody's rotor, and even then there will be people who will buy a ton of rotors and a gauss meter and some other rocket science equipment NASA has discarded juat to make sure they have the edge whilst others still may already be onto hacking the software and writing their own super duper version (and who the heck is going to scrutinise software and how?). This will indeed make any spec class expensive again.

Which means a good spec class is one that has reduced the possible advantage one can gain from this sad compulsive behaviour below the limit of what someone else's good driving skill can do.

dmcguire

iTrader: (38)

Sorry to change the subject but just wondering if anyone has been having a similar problem with their M05s; Under acceleration my car pulls to the right consistently, if i let off it will coast straight.

I tried a kimbrough servo saver, o-rings over the ball studs, different front toe settings, shimming/not shimming slop out of the knuckles and rear hubs--nothing. Does the same without the body on (not hanging up on it). I'm running a ball diff, really tight with the anti-wear. Going to swap in a stock gear diff tonight just to try that too. Not sure if I'm missing any issues in the steering linkage department that people have come up with.

thanks,
Dave

MatsNorway

Have you checked weight balance left and right?

axle182

iTrader: (18)

Im guessing if you have a ball diff in there its the TA03, with the splined outdrives? Double check that the splines are ok, in our enduro we had 3 diffs chew the splines which made the car pull to one side on accelleration as the car was driving on one wheel. Its definately drive line problem. Check your not missing an axle pin either, check that both dog bones have the pins on both ends.

niznai

If all else is right, it sounds like you either have one/some bad bearings on the right side front or rear, or some assymetric slop that doesn't allow the front wheels to change toe equally when you accelerate (i.e. the right wheel may be a little bit more toed out than the left), whereas free rolling toe is equal.