ChiMini - MINI-Z Racing - Western Suburbs of Chicago - Berkeley, IL
 

After 4.5 years the club has officially retired. Please check this post for information about other Mini-z racing venues in the Chicagoland area.
Our Club provides the Mini-z vehicles!
No need to prep your vehicles and bring all your equipment. We have a fleet of Mini-z vehicles that are part of the membership dues. Dues are typically $10 per meeting.

Upcoming races are 7/13/14 & 8/10/14. Indoor and Air Conditioned!

• Kyosho Mini-Z vehicles—Over 30 in the fleet! Hobby grade cars that run like the big guys but with a true scale appearance.
• Climate controlled venue
• All batteries charged and ready to go
• Dedicated RCP Tracks specifically designed for R/C car racing
• Computer controlled timing equipment using I-lap
• Venue with publicly accessible washrooms
• Handicap accessible
• Had a breakdown? hand in your car for another one!

Check out details at the website. In Berkeley, IL, one town east of Elmhurst right on the DuPage and Cook county border.
http://www.chiminirc.com

Or join our Facebook group. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=348798616472


The venue IS accessible from Chicago via Public Transportation + a 12 min walk. So those of you from the city that can't normally race R/C due to a lack of real car, you can take the Metra out.
Google map of the Metra line And the street view that shows the building on the right and the spot in the fence that has an access way. If you put in 1200 lind ave it takes you around but there is opening in the fence if you are walking.

What members are saying

• "All I have to say is that this class feels like total 1/12 scale racing!! ...these things handle unbelievably great"
• "Awesome racing! Lots of fun. I was a little skeptical to go because i thought they were toys but they are a ton of fun to race."
• "At first I did not know what to expect since I never raced a mini-z before I thought it was like my kids radio shack xmods. But was I wrong, these things are a blast."
• "Race format was also pretty cool. It went from practice to race to practice to race all in 10 minutes. We must of had at least 9 heats of 3 minutes and 3 heats of 10 minutes mains. "
• "I got more races in, in the last hour, then I typically do all day at other events"
  
  
  

At the last event a lot of questions came up from those new to racing Mini-z's. Please start asking away in this thread :)


The most common question was, which cars were we running.

Heinrich's skyline was a MR-015 chassis. By all accounts, it should NOT have been the fastest car. The batteries mount vertically (higher center of gravity) and the skyline body has a high center of gravity.

The Majority of cars were MR-02. These have a lower center of gravity due to the way the batteries mount.

The lone MR-03 was the Silver Ferrari F430. The MR-03 is the newest Chassis Kyosho makes. The MR-03 offers both Wide and Narrow chassis configurations so nearly any body can fit with the right motor pod. Nearly all bodies use either a MM (Mid Mount) or RM (Rear Mount) motor pod.

The other question, where to buy in the area? I am forever grateful to Al's Hobby Shop in Elmhurst and Hobbytown USA in Orland Park. Each has brought in a large stock of Mini-z's for those looking to bring their own car to the club events.

Al's stock - http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...sinventory.jpg as well as HTUSA in Orland Park - http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...289302_n-1.jpg

When's the next race?

Dec 26th, the day after Christmas. 1-4pm as usual.
I'll be updating the website tonight as well as putting out the new facebook invite.

The new invite is up. Please RSVP on facebook if you can.http://www.facebook.com/event.php?ei...vent_invites=0

Let me know if you are bringing any friends or family and if you'll need a car.
If there is a car preference, let me know (The skyline might go quick :) ).
If you have your own car or plan on having one by the 26th let me know. Our normal turnout is 5-8 racers. With the new crew we can easily hit 17 so I want to make sure I'm preparred!

I also have a spare JR Z-1, KO Propo EX-10, Futaba 3pk, Kyosho EX-5ur, and 2.4ghz transmitter modules for those that are picking up MR-03's and aren't sure what you want to do about a tansmitter yet. I'll also have spare kt-18's.

Chip from Al's has let me know that some of our new members have picked up cars. Just so you know, all the fleet is still at your disposal.

1. Don't worry about charged batteries, we'll have plenty available for all.

2. The bodies can take a beating and I encource everyone to race together (including brand new drivers). If you are worried about the body on a potentially busy track, let me know what you are running. Chances are I have the body or something close you can use instead.

Hey Greg, being it was my first time racing with you, I didn't realize what was going on at the last race in terms of the difference between the shorter time races and the longer 10 minute races. Spoke with Craig and he brought up How Fast Are You?

COOL!

I had no clue the layout you had down was a "sanctioned" design and that people all over the world were/are racing on the exact same layout and a racer's results can be compared to other racers all over the world!

I found the HFAY website:

http://hfay.tinyrc.com/

Tell us more!

BTW...many at Underground's races yesterday said they'll be showing up at your place this coming Sunday December 26th.

All three of us will be there. Kole asked he if you can reserve JoeyM3 for him. :)

How Fast Are You (HFAY) is a worldwide Mini-z racing league.
http://hfay.tinyrc.com/


Seasons are 5 months long and the next one starts in Jan.
Each month, all the clubs run a different layout in 2 races. 1 clockwise, and 1 counterclockwise. At the end of the month all the times are uploaded and compared. So you aren't just shooting for fastest within your club, but also fastest in the world. Chimini runs the clockwise race at the 1st Sunday event and the counterclockwise race at the 2nd Sunday event. That way if you miss a meeting you won't have missed both races.

This December happens to be a Big Track Event which is a larger layout but not part of the 5 month series. After the race this 26th, the times will be uploaded and everyone can see how good they are across all clubs :)

As an example, these are the results from the last Big Track Event. (ChiMini R/C was absent as I didn't have enough track at that time)
[IMG]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...inski/bte4.png[/IMG]

Im definetly checking this out!! thanks Greg for coming out at our 10thscale Drifting Event.

what is the preferred Scale for this racing??? well if I do like it I think im gonna get one.

The club races Kyosho Mini-Z which is 1:28 scale. The club provides all the cars so you don't have to own one to race. Right now we are focusing on racing but I do have 4 All Wheel drive drifters for some drift fun.

Forgot to response to the reservation. The M3 is reserved for Kole. :)

This is the layout we are running this Sunday. Same as last time. Normally the HFAY series does a clockwise and counterclockwise race. For this month's Big Track Event (BTE), they just run clockwise but do run a MOD motor class. What does this mean? It means those that ran times last weekend have a chance to run races again to post in MOD class. Any motor including stock is allowed so this is a rare chance to better your time.
You are not allowed to re-run races but since this is another class, you get a second chance.

I've also included results from the last race. You are not allowed to post lap times or results until they go up on the HFAY website. So I replaced the lap count with the amount of laps trailing from the winner.

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...ki/th_BTE5.jpg
Click to Enlarge


http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...ski/bte5-1.png

Ill be there to break in my new MR-03:nod:

left handed radios?
 

I'm considering coming on out with my son, but he is left handed. Do you have any left handed radios (radios that can be converted to left handed use) that he can use?

My Mini-Z is many years old, and it's a right-handed radio only. I think the newer ones use a different radio, and I heard that some other radios are compatible, so maybe one of those can be turned around for lefties?

Thanks.

m u s t b e a t d a n w i t z............