183 replies to this topic

[yamita]

Wow. 4.5' is pretty extreme.

My current suspension setup uses 3* of rear toe-in which is pretty average. My buddy Rob is using as much as 4.5* in the back of his EVO.

[94eg!]

Wow. 4.5' is pretty extreme.

I agree, but you never know what works till you try. The track we race on is very tight with only sub 10 second lap times. In fact it's so small (w/ relatively low grip) that the fastest motors seem to be 27T (or 17.5T). Anything more simply goes to waste. It is nice cause it's pretty inexpensive...

[skip665]

Primatrack GT or PrimaDuo. Both are designed specifically for racing and it's more or less universal in the UK.

I would start with the kit tyres and go from there. My own experience of using Tamiyas Mini tyres, albeit on a 4wd mini so not too useful to you, is that kit radials and M-Grips didn't produce enough grip, S-Grips grip rolled whenever it just though about going round a corner and I stuck with Xpress radials scrubbed in on the road outside every week. The best advice is to see what the fast drivers at the club are using and get the same as them.

Additive is a liquid that's used to give you more grip, with the advantage that you can tune the amount of extra grip by how long you leave it on and how much of the tyre you coat with additive. You coat it on your tyres before the race and leave it on for anywhere between 5 and 30 minutes (longer gives more grip) and then wipe it off to dry the tyres before you race. We use additive because it gives more grip and more tyre life. Without additive you can choose a tyre soft enough to give you all the grip you want, but it will wear out faster. Or you can choose a harder tyre that will last longer, but it won't give you enough grip. By using an additive on the harder tyre it softens the outer layer of the tyre, so you have more grip during the race, while still having the longer life.

Thats the stuff - thanks Terry!

That was my plan - I have the kit tyres and the S and M grips from the M04 Eunos and also some original tyres from the M01 Mini so I will just take them all along and see how it goes.

Will I still need to glue them on with the relatively low power of the Mini?

[Butler]

I wouldn't risk not gluing, especially for a race. Reading this thread, car prep counts for a LOT.

[skip665]

I wouldn't risk not gluing, especially for a race. Reading this thread, car prep counts for a LOT.

Yup I normally take a lot of care building RCs but this is the most fussy I have ever been! Its taken three evenings just to build the M03 chassis!

[Sideways-King]

Yup I normally take a lot of care building RCs but this is the most fussy I have ever been! Its taken three evenings just to build the M03 chassis!

Put plenty of glue on both sides of the rim skip665. After my first attempt with no glue resulted in one flying off, since then there has been no issues with the early departure of rubber. However on the face of the rim I applied it all the way round but on the inner part of the rim I put it in patches, don't quite know why? So they came away again, hence this week I glued myself to everything in the hysteria !!

[yamita]

Cleaning off the grease/oil throughly before gluing helps tremendously.

[skip665]

Well tonight is the night - car is ready - all spares, charger and batteries etc loaded in the boot of my car ready - quite nervous but spoke to the guy who runs it again last night and it sounds like a relaxed place - he says they get about 10-12 cars most weeks so should be fun! Expect a report tomorrow!

Here is my finished steed - will cut the body posts when I know what the ride height needs to be.

[TA-Mark]

Love the colour. Would have been my choice too. I so need to buy me a M03 Mini.

[skip665]

Love the colour. Would have been my choice too. I so need to buy me a M03 Mini.

I thought you and Twinset might approve Its PS6 as if you didn't already know!

[TA-Mark]

I thought you and Twinset might approve Its PS6 as if you didn't already know!

That predictable huh? I've never painted in PS-6 before believe it or not. I mix up my own paints and airbrush. I'm still trying to talk my wife into letting me paint the 1:1 Pajero bright yellow.

It's easy to see, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it

[Sideways-King]

Well tonight is the night - car is ready - all spares, charger and batteries etc loaded in the boot of my car ready - quite nervous but spoke to the guy who runs it again last night and it sounds like a relaxed place - he says they get about 10-12 cars most weeks so should be fun! Expect a report tomorrow!

Here is my finished steed - will cut the body posts when I know what the ride height needs to be.

Nice bright colour Skip so you can spot it in the hustle. Good luck for tonight, if I wasn't half the country away I'd be with you, although the wife would take until next week to talk to me again for two nights on the trot of RC delights!.

DONT be nervous, come tomorrow morning you'll be buzzing for next week to come around. There was another newbie there last night and now I'm slowly sinking into the furniture of the group with the banter and helping out setting up (I'm still the only other member other than the organisers to help do this!!), you would actually not know they are there as everyone is in their own 'zone'. So don't feel like everyone is watching as they're not. The only reason I spotted this lad was because it reminded me of my first night with an overly tight sounding pinion and spur gear and the driftesque style non tyre additive sliding - he was happy and nobody bats an eyelid.

On a my note 5 weeks in, I've moved up a class with the 'life and soul' of the clubs members, had an absolute ball, my times remained consistent, I felt no pressure as I figured I would be coming in last anyway as theyre all brushless, lipo, superfly guys. Apart from burning my thumb on a hot motor (I sill don't learn and they had to pull my head out of the basketball hoop I jumped that high!!) after changing motors and esc and doing a full blown solder job at my own leisure I still managed two... yes two 2nd places and I'm on 19T brushed with Tazer esc and box standard car.

If you'd have said 5 weeks ago I'd be changing parts and soldering in the pandamonium between races I would have laughed! Thing to remember is now I've been a newbie and watched a newbie I think what makes you come back again is to look around and get tips off everyone else and listening now to the stories they tell me of their first nights racing mine seems like a walk in the park even if I thought it was a nightmare.

We all start somewhere Skipster....... remember even the superflys did !

Good luck

[skip665]

Cheers

One thing that is quite amusing was I couldnt think what to carry all my stuff in - I have a small tool carrier thing but nowhere for the car and handset etc - a trip into the loft revealed my 15 year old "Beatties" buggy bag - its still in great condition so I am using that - proper old skool but its perfect for the job!

The guy said last night that no additives are allowed on their carpet so it keeps things equal and also they are sorting a deal on some Xpress Mini tyres with a 20% discount so they can have a "control" tyre - will only be £12 a set too.

[94eg!]

Even control tire racing can get very expensive (and even more-so). Without additives, things can get very complicated. It will come down to who can prepare the tires best for the conditions. At major events where they use a spec-tire, they use tire lathes to shave the fronts & fine tune the size of the contact patches (same as they do with additive).

Also, once the races figure out which run produces the best lap times, the guys with the biggest budget for tires will always have the advantage. They can afford to always have a set ready for that peak run...

Give me unlimited tire options w/ unlimited traction compound options. The details will work themselves out. Then all you have to do is buy what the fast guys use...

[terry.sc]

Even control tire racing can get very expensive (and even more-so).

Ah well, I guess you haven't tried mini racing then.

Club racing in the UK is generally just that, everyone turns up and has a good time whether they win or not, and don't particularly care about how fast the quick guys are going. The clubs that take it even half as serious as you do have either shut down or are desperately short of members. The only time tyre lathes go anywhere near runner tyres in the UK is at national level to remove the moulding marks on a new set.
Here if a club chooses a spec tyre they expect to get several months use out of the tyres with no degradation in performance, or it isn't chosen by the club members as a spec tyre. Mini racing is popular at many clubs because if you throw lots of money at the cars they go no faster than the basic kit with a couple of tweaks, especially as everyone uses the kit motor.


Here's some useful preparation techniques to get the best performance out of Xpress mini tyres. Firstly if they come ready mounted on the Xpress wheels, remove them and stick them on Tamiya wheels as the Xpress wheels are pretty fragile around the hex drive - in an accident the centre stays bolted to the axle while the rest of the wheel goes flying.
Under some conditions the tyre will grain up on the surface and lose grip. To fix this you don't need a tyre lathe, just accelerate and brake hard outside on tarmac to scrub off the outer layer to give you a fresh surface. Do it once, then swap front and rears so you can do the other pair. Takes about 30 seconds to scrub them and that's it.

[skip665]

Ah well, I guess you haven't tried mini racing then. Club racing in the UK is generally just that, everyone turns up and has a good time whether they win or not, and don't particularly care about how fast the quick guys are going. The clubs that take it even half as serious as you do have either shut down or are desperately short of members. The only time tyre lathes go anywhere near runner tyres in the UK is at national level to remove the moulding marks on a new set.
Here if a club chooses a spec tyre they expect to get several months use out of the tyres with no degradation in performance, or it isn't chosen by the club members as a spec tyre. Mini racing is popular at many clubs because if you throw lots of money at the cars they go no faster than the basic kit with a couple of tweaks, especially as everyone uses the kit motor.

Absolutely spot on Terry - full race report tomorrow but just got back and had a brilliant time - close racing, great banter and all the cars were equal no matter what - it was all down to skill and lack of crashing!

[Sideways-King]

Absolutely spot on Terry - full race report tomorrow but just got back and had a brilliant time - close racing, great banter and all the cars were equal no matter what - it was all down to skill and lack of crashing!

Can't wait for your report and glad you had a good time

[skip665]

My first race since 1992! (sorry for the length of the post! )

Arrived nice and early to find they were still laying the carpet - introduced myself to the guy I had spoken with on the phone - he seemed nice and friendly. He was setting up the timing equipment and was explaining to me how it all worked as he was doing so. As people arrived everyone said hello and shook my hand etc. I was shown a table where I could lay out all my stuff. My car created a fair bit of interest as it looked so shiny and new! A transponder was fitted for me and I was asked if I would like to do a few laps to practise as I was new to it all. No problem - except everyone wanted to see how the new guy got on! 9 people raised their heads from prepping their cars to watch me in action! Luckily my car seemed to perform really well straight out - plenty of grip and turn in and a decent turn of speed down the two straights. Did about 6 laps without crashing too badly and got some approving smiles and nods from the other drivers Had a wander around to nose at the competition and couldn't help but notice that a lot of the shells were rather badly beaten - especially at the front. Everyone said to me - take pictures of it now while it still looks new - it wont look like that for long! Noticed that most people had fitted the alloy front uprights - 'the kit ones bend really easily' I was told - luckily I had the ones from my old M04 Eunos with me (more on that later too! lol). Was shown a bag with a load of balls in it and picked one out - "B" it said on it - which meant I got to watch a race before my first one (phew!). I marshalled the first race and couldn't believe how quick these little cars can go! I now understood what they meant by the damage to the shells - the speed the cars go its very easy to clip a corner marker and sent it flying into the wall etc. First race over - '3 minutes until the next race' comes over the speakers. This is it! My first race!

Heat 1 - Lined myself up with the 4 other cars (there were 10 of us at this meeting split over 2 heats) and the count down began - and we were off! Managed to hold my own reasonably well - there was plenty of crashing going on from some of the drivers - but from the tips I have read in this thread I knew that consistency was the key so I just tried to stay out of trouble. The top corner was the scariest as it was taken flat out and it only took a slight clip of the corner marker to send you flying into a wall heater! I felt it was going quite well - I noticed that only one guy was really quicker than me. The current positions were announced from the race system and it said that I was in second place! Couldn't believe it! The guy in the lead was really fast - he could nudge me down the straights! The race lasted for 5 minutes and I noticed about half way through that the car was slowing slightly - oh no I thought! They when it passed me on the straight I noticed that the NSF tyre had come off the rim - doh! Then I remembered that I had only glued the S-Grip tyres on (which were on the back) and the M-Grip front ones weren't glued at all! Next lap round I grabbed it and quickly shoved it back on which was enough to get me to the end - which to my delight I found that I had finished second!

Heat 2 - Tyres now firmly glued on and full of confidence the second heat began. For some reason I didn't have as much composure as I did in the first race and was crashing a lot more. About half way through the race I was one from last (out of 4!) and I noticed that my car was pulling badly to the left - I limped on for another two laps but was crashing even more! I decided to call it a day and pulled off - picked the car up and noticed that one of the front uprights was badly bent - one wheel was pointing straight and the other trying to turn left! Oh well, that was that race over! Luckily I had taken all the hop-ups with me so spent the break fitting the alloy arms - everyone was being really friendly chatting to me about how it was going and RC in general etc - it had just the sort of atmosphere I was hoping for - everyone was just there to have fun not just to win. During the break as I had the wheels off I thought I would swap the S-Grip rears for the M-Grips on the front and do a quick couple of laps to see what happens. LOL Every corner if lifted off it just swapped ends! Two laps were enough for me to come back in and swap them back again!

Heat 3 - With the new alloy arms and glued tyres etc I felt good for the final heat. I kept my composure throughout the race and ended up with another second place behind the super speedy guy who was just beautifully consistent. (He used to race in the Tamiya Eurocup apparently!)

B-Final - Thanks to my reasonable consistency and two second places when the two A and B heat drivers were put together I was placed 6th out of 10 making me pole position for the B final! An older guy (who had been racing in the A heats) said to me that he was gutted I was in the B final with him as he said I would be his toughest competition! The winner of the B final gets a special bump up to the A final too to add a bit more excitement. Sitting on pole with a number 1 on my car was a proud moment. The race was fantastic - I made a silly mistake early on and let the older guy through - I followed him for of the race about 2 corners behind - I could hear everyone talking about how he was under pressure knowing I was only just behind him. Then he made a mistake and I overtook him! "1 minute drivers" I heard from the race control - please please don't crash I kept thinking! A few bumps here and there but I managed to bring it home in 1st place with the older guy only just behind! Couldn't believe it! He came and up to me all smiles and grins and shook my hand firmly and said what a fantastic race it was

A-Final - A quick battery change and it was back out almost immediately for the A-Final - I was in last place (obviously). It was 10pm by this point and I was still buzzing from my win and I think my concentration had gone - the competition was also a LOT tougher in this race - I crashed numerous times but did manage to make up one place - finishing 5th out of 6 starters.

So that was it - a fantastic first night of racing - everyone was super friendly and swapping ideas/tyre choices etc and I really felt that I had been welcomed into their club. I spoke to every driver there at some point or another and there wasn't a single "attitude" or anyone looking down their noses at anyone else - just a bunch of guys looking to have fun racing cars without getting too serious - which the M03 Mini is superb for.

The shell is looking a little battle scarred but no cracks or splits so I think it survived quite well really. Will clean it up over the weekend ready for the next race which is in two weeks time (they don't race every week)

Sorry it was long winded but I wanted to get it all down for my own memories too

[Butler]

Great write up.

I think you answered your earlier question about gluing the tyres.

[TA-Mark]

Sounds like you had a great night. Excellent write up.

Leaving tyres not glued on drive wheels has them slipping on the rim somewhat which will eat into your acceleration. You were well prepared for the night (except that bit of glue), Well done on making the A-main on the first night.

Really enjoying reading everyone's racing experiences in such detail. More please

[dazaa]

Have a look here to see if there are any clubs in your area.

OHH found a club afew miles away from me....but the £6 fee to race put me off. Never been to a club race and I have always wondered, do people still use the old acoms mk5 trannys? If I ever had a chance to race I would definatly use a mk5 or maybe even a technidrive if I could trust it. And also do people use beatties bags to carry the cars?

dazaa

[Sideways-King]

Sorry it was long winded but I wanted to get it all down for my own memories too

Excellent write up Skip665 and a big well done for the good positions on your first outing. I bet your fit to burst having to wait 2 weeks for the next event! I've had a NIB Mini sitting on the shelf staring at me for 12 months and having seen the speed of these on YouTube I might give it a whirl at the club one night and pitch it against some of the others, as sadly there isn't a mini only race.

Long may your delight continue as mine is doing.

OHH found a club afew miles away from me....but the £6 fee to race put me off. Never been to a club race and I have always wondered, do people still use the old acoms mk5 trannys? If I ever had a chance to race I would definatly use a mk5 or maybe even a technidrive if I could trust it. And also do people use beatties bags to carry the cars?

dazaa

Hi dazaa - ours is £6.50 for members and £7.50 for non-members and I spoke to a chap yesterday in Aylesbury who's club nights are £5, so it would be interesting to know what others pay, or the average at least?

People use everything and anything and also bring them in everything and anything. As mentioned in one of my reports there's one lad and his dad that use biscuit tins for the parts and carrier bags for the car and transmitter.

Chris

[skip665]

OHH found a club afew miles away from me....but the £6 fee to race put me off. Never been to a club race and I have always wondered, do people still use the old acoms mk5 trannys? If I ever had a chance to race I would definatly use a mk5 or maybe even a technidrive if I could trust it. And also do people use beatties bags to carry the cars?

dazaa

I took my Beatties buggy bag - thought I might look a little silly but to be honest it was a sensible thing to use! There were people there with just the original kit box and carrier bags and also people with the proper roll along trolleys etc - so I wouldnt worry. I used my old Acoms Techniplus Mk4 which was fine - no pistol grips were being used at the club I went to.

Excellent write up Skip665 and a big well done for the good positions on your first outing. I bet your fit to burst having to wait 2 weeks for the next event! I've had a NIB Mini sitting on the shelf staring at me for 12 months and having seen the speed of these on YouTube I might give it a whirl at the club one night and pitch it against some of the others, as sadly there isn't a mini only race.

Thanks Chris - it was awesome fun and yes I am fit to burst at the two week wait in between! They also stop racing from July until September as people cant commit so well during the holidays - which is fair enough I guess - it takes a few people to lay the carpet and set up the track/timing etc.

One thing I forgot to mention was that after the 3 heats and 2 finals the osf tyre is now bald! It had plenty of tread before! They change the track layout each week so hopefully I can wear out the other side next time!

If anyone wants me too I will do another race report next time?

[skip665]

The results are already up! Check me out!

http://www.weetingmodelcarclub.co.uk/

Here is a video of one of the layouts:

[Mr. ED]

The results are already up! Check me out!

http://www.weetingmodelcarclub.co.uk/

Here is a video of one of the layouts:

Yes please; do another report next time

I think some touringcar drivers reinforce the frotn of the bodies with textile tape on the inside: makes them less prone to tearing I guess. And ofcourse a foam bumper helps preventing te body getting folded double and catching the tires