wtcc5s Tamiya Super MadCap: Technical Updates

[wtcc5]

Thanks guys!

I put more time into the car and also ordered hardware for the future rebuild.

Today I cut the body, added the tires and motor. While doing so, I discovered the steering rack and also the servo-to-steering-connector touching the body. I rearranged the steering by flipping the arms to solve this and have the connector-arm sitting lower. Right now I am flirting with not completely cutting the body, but letting the rear side pods mostly uncut. This gives this buggy an individual look, should keep a bit more dirt out and will hide the rear suspension stiffener. Overall the car sits beautiful:

 

Now to the new designs.

In the picture is a small redesign of the front shock tower, making it stronger, optimizing the front body mount and adding two more holes for a future anti-roll-bar-mount. You can also see the flipped steering rack:

 

In the focus here are the reverse engineered rear hubs and the anti-flex-device for the rear suspension:

The hub receives a slip on part that includes the mounting point for a ball stud. It will be attached from the rear with a longer screw that will go all the way through the hub. In front a ball nut then will go on the screw for the camber link. The difficulty here is that there is only a small area between hub, cardan and damper spring where the anti-flex-link has to fit through. So the design is forced by the position of the ball stud:

[ThunderDragonCy]

Amazing work. Such great ideas

[wtcc5]

Used the Sunday to work on the car again.

During the week the ordered glue and carbon rods arrived:

I shortened the rod to 146,56mm length and glued the ball cups on.

 

While this assembly dried, I continued with the body. Washing and masking first:

 

Then making it a two color wonder (white and smoke):

 

I am on the 90s trip at the moment and love all florescent colors. With the Super Astute stickers easily available, I went for those decals and adapted them to the special-cut-MadCap body. Enjoy:

 

The wing is missing the Super MadCap lettering. I will make an adapted design here and then cut vinyl:

 

The rod is half dried, so we can risk a look:

 

Next tasks:

I pray that the carbon parts arrive soon, the shocks will get their socks with lettering and I will need to print and fit the anti-flex-parts.

 

 

[Howards]

All this needs now is lay- down shocks ;p

[jonboy1]

looks stunning mate!! Awesome work @wtcc5!!!! 

Are those JC Racing wheels you've fitted?

[matisse]

Said it before and i'll say it again, the Madcap is the best looking buggy shell of all time.

any other answer is wrong.

[wtcc5]

4 hours ago, jonboy1 said:

looks stunning mate!! Awesome work @wtcc5!!!! 

Are those JC Racing wheels you've fitted?

Yes! 

[wtcc5]

The carbon parts are shipped now, but won't arrive in time for the Tamico Offroad Cup Warm Up race next weekend...

Nevertheless, I continued with the mentioned tasks:

 

I started with installing the anti-flex-device. The slip-on-part kept its promise and fits tight to the hub tip. The installation went as planned, too:

I will make a small change though, because the damper in the most outer position on the arm can touch the link under load.

Overall it fits great under the body:

The other side:

 

Last thing for today, I put on the branded shock socks:

[ruebiracer]

Very nice idea for the paint job @wtcc5. It looks **** sexy, that thing.

[wtcc5]

@ruebiracer Thank you! Glad you like the style 

 

Today I cut the wing sticker. Unfortunately the colors are off. Especially the yellow has no saturation on the black base layer. I think I will try once more.

Well here the actual result:

[wtcc5]

To my surprise the carbon parts arrived yesterday. Today at the track I installed them and was curious how the car would handle. After putting harder springs in front, it was a blast to drive. I really pushed it without mercy , but had only some loose screws as problems. Big smile on my face!

The pictures are not so nice this time, but with the race coming tomorrow I focused on the car:

I hope I keep my cool and drive some good races…

[ThunderDragonCy]

Good luck Kevin!

[Howards]

I like the way this still broadly is a Madcap, not something that looks like one but has entirely departed the original design and intention. 

[wtcc5]

I am back from the Tamico Offroad Cup Warm Up and the smile continues!

 

I had a wonderful race day nearly without any issues. Both Dyna Blaster and the new Super Mad Cap performed excellent. Unfortunately in both of my classes drivers didn't show up today, so there was less competition.

... and I bought a new Mad Cap 

The start was already good with pole positions in both classes. The finals went good in the beginning. Then in both third finals the Torque Tuned motors died after half time. Not suddenly, but becoming significantly  slower with every lap. After installing new ones in the two last finals, the cars were flying again and I could manage heats in Truck and 2wd Retro just one second slower than @Quincy best run of the day in 4wd Retro class:

So the Super Mad Cap is super fast and easy to drive. In the finals I had no real competition, because the other drivers used Tamiya chassis that were not up to the task for these indoor conditions. I could really blast this car over the jumps and had steering galore while still enough grip in the rear to do consistent lap times over and over again.

In the end I won my classes and had fun galore with driving my cars.

 

Overall this event was great. Everybody had fun and the atmosphere was much different from other series. I had to make the following picture as statement:

Nobody there? Well not in the pits, but at the track either driving or cheering each other.

 

The Tamiya "good-old-boys-club" crew took home a lot of metal. Except for @Sgt.Speirs we were all there competing in 5 of 6 classes:

Precious memories and a exceptional good maiden drive for the Super Mad Cap!

[bsy2010]

16 hours ago, wtcc5 said:

the end I won my classes and had fun galore with driving my cars.

Happy to see that your ideas and creativity worked out  Beautiful cars! 

16 hours ago, wtcc5 said:

The Tamiya "good-old-boys-club" crew took home a lot of metal. Except for @Sgt.Speirs we were all there competing in 5 of 6 classes:

Hope to see everyone at EDC Kinzigtal, there will be a little more competition though 

[wtcc5]

@bsy2010: Pretty sure it will be! Also a big meeting of old and new friends!

 I designed the missing rear bumper for this car. Sturdy, but with large venting holes to allow for air circulation around the motor:

[wtcc5]

Another great race in the books. The race at EDC-Kinzigtal was already a great event last year. This year the club was able to increase the experience once more. Making it one of the unforgettable happenings in the hobby.

A large number of Tamiya- and vintage-fans met. Most classes were booked full in the first days after opening the listings. The track and surroundings were rebuild before to improve camping, parking, driving, catering. Overall the club spend every penny to make this the perfect event. And it was! Marco Heinrich did the commenting for the races and increased the excitement for every heat.

The Blautal RC Racer Crew and friends had a nice spacy two-pavilion-home close to the track. I bought a large table before to have wrenching space. @Sgt.Speirs provided the pavilion and I the table space for him:

 

The race was one seeding and then five finals. After every final of the class the overall times resulted in a ranking with points. The best three rankings then counted for the overall result.

First the seeding. The three consecutive fastest laps decided the group you would start in and the place for the first final of your group. I cannot remember, but MyRCM says I started first in the seeding. I was save out in front when in the third lap I lightly touched a board low speed and the steering was offline. 

Back in the pits I found the custom build long steering rod with a pulled out ball stud. I find it strange, that all the high-grip laps I did in Senden were no problem, but a light, slow, low-grip tap then was enough to make it fail... I replaced it with the plate-style-design rod and had no problems for the rest of the weekend.

So, I found myself in the slower group for the finals. No problem, as I still had chances to reach the podium. To my surprise the starting-place for the first final in my group was No. 4. I still don't understand if the guys behind me also didn't manage to make a third lap or the time-keeper had a glitch.

My finals then went on without large mistakes. I could easily pass the first three within several corners and then disappeared in front. The commentary celebrated my performance and also guided me through the lapped traffic. We were also very lucky with the weather. Rain was forecasted, but it ended in the morning and then never came. The race-director rescheduled the third final one day earlier to avoid the rain forecasted for the next day (Sunday).

I became overall second in the ranking for every run and pretty much had my podium in the books on Saturday. Only Emmanuel Mach was a class of its own (just like last year).

Sunday started wet and very slippery. I had my hands full with on-power-oversteer and getting the car to turn. As track marshal I could watch Emmanuels fourth run and even he was fighting to keep his Mad Cap on track. After this run my car had a wonderful patina:

The inner chassis underneath with all electronics was nearly spotless clean. I love that! For the last finals nothing changed and I became second behind Emmanuel in every heat. This then determined my final position. This second place made me very happy, as with such a large field of drivers I didn't expect to be near the first three. 

Emmanuel was very emotional, too and made some fun for the winner-photos. 

After the winners were announced a raffle followed. Tamico sponsored a huge box with prizes. And this raffle was crazy funny at some moments. During the raffle it became clear, that the guys standing next to the bridge seem to win everything. Marco Fehr then said to an Italian guy to go stand close to the bridge. He did and won the next price   The Italian then went on to hug everyone in his joy. Marco won every time I saw him at a race. This time too. He should go play Lotto! After that, Michi and I were silly and predicted the next winners are the guys that already own every kit in the hobby. And it became true  Peter Hudek (Michis big rival in Wheelie-class, an excellent driver and owner of a large collection) won a kit. Then Michi won the next kit. When he returned to the group with his price we were already laughing how crazy this is. The next I heard was my name xD I won an even bigger kit, a Tamiya M-05 Jägermeister NSU TT. I felt embarrassed having so much luck.

With this kit came a Blockhead Sticker from the Blockhead-man Jun Watanabe himself, who attended this race as kick-off for his world tour. Only a handful of these stickers were handed with the big prizes and to guys who bought kits. I love sticker!

 

What an historical event:

 

The Super MadCap proved his pedigree in low-grip-conditions. In hindsight I could've tested thinner oil for improved traction. Also the carbon-chassis brace was not helping in these conditions, but I was too lazy to wrench in the dirty conditions. A strange loud gear noise did worry me. Thomas then showed me, that this can come from slipper spring. After a little adjustment the car was as quiet as before. You always learn something new!

[ruebiracer]

Great review Kevin, and funny with the noise. I saw the final and was thinking, what could go wrong in the gearbox.  But so it was no problem to finish the run. It was a mega event, that will not be forgotten. And congrats for the podium and the M05! Seems you need to drive M-chassis finally...

[Kol__]

Amazing performance and outcomes @wtcc5, well done!!👏👏 Looks like you had some fantastic racing and I'm so pleased to hear the Super Madcap did so well😎

What's next for the Madcap?

[wtcc5]

@Kol__: Cleaning, rebuild and then I thought of making anti-roll-bars happen for this car. 

[monark192]

What wheels did you run for this event?  I'm still looking for wide enough for modern tires wheels for my super Astute race build - Tamiya 54338 are a bit too narrow.

[Andreas W]

Great writeup and congrats with the result. It's always satisfying to read that the car held up and the event went almost as smooth as can be. 

 

Now on to the truck review. 

[wtcc5]

On 5/7/2025 at 5:42 PM, monark192 said:

What wheels did you run for this event?  I'm still looking for wide enough for modern tires wheels for my super Astute race build - Tamiya 54338 are a bit too narrow.

Hi,

 I’m cleaning the car and now could take a look at the number inside the wheel. These are Tamiya 53728 wheels I used.

[wtcc5]

Benjamin Küsters sacrificed his whole weekend to make pictures of our tiny racecars. He uploaded a lot of pictures. Of my buggy he made three nice pictures:

I remember when this was made. The ramp of the jump was launching the car different. The best trajectory was on the outside which is also the right side for the following corner on the straight. So I tried to put the car on this line and was a bit more outside than Benjamin could've hoped for. I still see his avoidance move in my mind, saving his camera lens with a swift fast turn from my approaching Super Mad Cap. Fortunately nothing happened, but this cool picture of Crazy Kevin driving his Mad Cap 

 

Thank you Benjamin!

[Kol__]

5 hours ago, wtcc5 said:

I still see his avoidance move in my mind, saving his camera lens with a swift fast turn from my approaching Super Mad Cap.

So you nearly took out the photographer!😂

Great pics though, she's looking good in action mate😎

Tell Benjamin to use a faster shutter speed in future😉