M-05 vs FF MB-01?

[Kjell_pergren 15]

So I’m really excited about the new releases announced at the Nuremberg toy fair. Especially the return of the Mini!

Do I buy a M-05 now and the mini body on release, or the complete MB-01 kit with Mini body?

I’ve not read so much positive about the MB-01.

[ADRay1000 703]

as an old school former M chassis owner that completely missed the M05, I’m fine with starting fresh with an MB01. 

I’d say rebodying (I just made up a word) an M05 would make sense if you’re already have one and want to stick with driving / maintaining / buying parts one design.

[Kowalski86 4751]

I've driven both quite a bit when I ran in the postal races, I'll give a brief comparison:

MB-01: Better battery retention, better motor protection, easier to work on, more planted, lower CoG, fits square LiPO.

M05: Lighter, easier to find 20t 0.6 pinions (vs 31t or whatever the MB01 takes), more rollover prone, only fits NiMH packs unless if you buy a specific chassis separately.

For just running around outside for fun (let alone sitting on a shelf), I'll take the MB-01s quality of life improvements over any slight handling advantage that an M05 might have.

[Alex97 532]

If it's just for hooting around then I'd go for MB01. I think all the MB01 needs is bearings and low friction suspension balls to be ok. 

 

As you can't really buy an M05 you could also look at building one from scratch (order the parts from plazajapan), there wouldn't be that much in it in terms of cost between a brand new MB01 and a from scratch M05v2. 

[ABigChungus 241]

The MB01 and BT01 were intended to be entry level kits with a lot of scope for customisation and upgrading. However due to design, the suspension arms have a large of amount of play and slop that affects how straight the car runs. Once you get those arms shimmed up and put on oil dampers, it completely transforms the car.

Certain Youtuber's from the UK were pretty quick to call the MB01 and BT01 trash and a dumpster fire. This is a major over-reaction, which one readily admitted was purely for click bait.  When you look at the Japanese Youtubers and how they approach builds and kits, they take the chassis as a challenge and come up with solutions, i.e. shimming the arms up to remove all that play. I followed a Japanese Tamiya builder and how she built the car, and it honestly, hand on heart, is some of the most fun I've had with a Tamiya touring car. It runs nice and straight and is nippy and agile. The same I imagine will be true of the MB01 when I get it, I shall follow the ladies build guide and I imagine it will be just as much fun as the BT01. Now, is it on us to fix Tamiya's issues and fundamental flaws in their kits? No, but at the same time this was a kit aimed at a entry level audience and the price and stock performance reflects that. A lot of Tamiya's do have slop anyway, which people take upon themselves to fix. Again, it was intended to be easily customizable and hop-upable, so you could add hop ups when you felt more confident. I've got virtually every upgrade on my BT01 and it is one of the best runners I have.

I wouldn't listen so much to what a lot of the big Youtuber's have to say. A lot of them tend to act as if what they say is the word of God and come up with some daft reason to justify why they are right.  It doesn't matter how many cars they've reviewed, how many subscribers they have etc. It is just their opinion. Not facts. Remember they are paid and sponsored to review kits that are way ahead of what Tamiya offers. So when they review kits designed for beginners, which the MB01 was, and aren't paid to talk about it, of course they will just label it trash or a "dumpster fire" or "sloppy joe" and discard it, ready for the next sponsored review. Which reflects in how insincere some of them can be. 

[Kowalski86 4751]

33 minutes ago, ABigChungus said:

Certain Youtuber's from the UK were pretty quick to call the MB01 and BT01 trash and a dumpster fire. This is a major over-reaction, which one readily admitted was purely for click bait. 

I wouldn't listen so much to what a lot of the big Youtuber's have to say. It doesn't matter how many cars they've reviewed, how many subscribers they have etc. 

Well spoken regarding the youtube nonsense.

When I first got my MB01 I was dissapointed that the plastic balls popped easily (just running around on asphalt at that), and the weird pinion gear size, but I absolutely wouldn't call it "bad".

I've had RCs (that youtubers love) snap their chassis or drivetrain components while just playing around the street. An MB01 won't randomly snap its chassis or drivetrain parts while being driven around.

[ABigChungus 241]

4 minutes ago, Kowalski86 said:

Well spoken regarding the youtube nonsense.

When I first got my MB01 I was dissapointed that the plastic balls popped easily (just running around on asphalt at that), and the weird pinion gear size. But I absolutely wouldn't call it "bad", I've had RCs that youtubers love snap chassis or drivetrain components while just playing around the street. An MB01 won't randomly break parts while being driven.

Not meaning to hi-jack the thread with the Youtube rant😅 just a little pet peeve of mine, having met one of the bigger Youtuber's at our local club, who acted quite a lot different in person to how he did online. He would tell everyone online not to race a Tamiya, but yet in person he would encourage people to race them to get into the hobby...need I say more?

I'm looking forward to getting a MB01 and getting it up and running. Currently rebuilding my M05 as well with the Honda CRX Mugen body, so I'll be interested to see the differences

[Kjell_pergren 15]

45 minutes ago, Alex97 said:

If it's just for hooting around then I'd go for MB01. I think all the MB01 needs is bearings and low friction suspension balls to be ok. 

 

As you can't really buy an M05 you could also look at building one from scratch (order the parts from plazajapan), there wouldn't be that much in it in terms of cost between a brand new MB01 and a from scratch M05v2. 

M-05s are still for sale, as far as I can see. It’s for our very small carpet track. Box stock class just for funsies. Mine’s the bug! M-06

 

[gogsyfinnie 713]

2 minutes ago, Kjell_pergren said:

M-05s are still for sale, as far as I can see.

Very true!  There might even be an M05v2 lipo ready one in the for sale section as we speak! 😂

Despite that bias on my part, I would take the criticism of the MB-01 with a small pinch of salt, it really depends what you are after.  I race an M-08 in the mini series at my club and it’s exclusively M07 / M08 depending on preference / driving style, but nearly all racers (and certainly those at the front) are only on those chassis.  There is very little chance of an MB being involved, but if it was it would lack the adjustment options for “proper” racing and the lack of steering precision would I expect be a limiting factor.  Much like a TT-02 against “serious” touring cars.

That said, I have a TT-02, set up for rallying, and while It’s got a lot of slop and a p-poor steering angle even with mods, it’s still a fun RC and my daughter loves it.  Also it’s capable for postal racing, as long as it’s not too tight a course!  I would guess the MB-01 is similarly a competent performer, maybe not setting the heather on fire, but certainly not the disaster some would have you believe.

[Alex97 532]

20 minutes ago, Kjell_pergren said:

M-05s are still for sale, as far as I can see. It’s for our very small carpet track. Box stock class just for funsies. Mine’s the bug! M-06

 

 

That all old stock. 

 

 

[Kjell_pergren 15]

7 minutes ago, Alex97 said:

That all old stock. 

 

 

Even more reason to pick one up if they’re more desireable.

[Honza 1255]

2 hours ago, Kowalski86 said:

MB-01: Better battery retention, better motor protection, easier to work on, more planted, lower CoG, fits square LiPO.

Does MB-01 really have lower Cog? Battery sits quite high in it. M-05 can take square battery with V2 chassis... I never understood why later revisions didn't ship with it, especially when they adopted V2 rear part with low profile servo mount and downstops.

[Alex97 532]

3 hours ago, Kjell_pergren said:

Even more reason to pick one up if they’re more desireable.

You can still order everything you need 😉

[Kowalski86 4751]

2 hours ago, Honza said:

Does MB-01 really have lower Cog? Battery sits quite high in it. M-05 can take square battery with V2 chassis... I never understood why later revisions didn't ship with it, especially when they adopted V2 rear part with low profile servo mount and downstops.

Truth be told I'm not sure, it's a wider chassis without a motor sticking out so it always felt more planted to me. The M05 V2 can take a LiPO, but that's an extra part that you would need to buy.

[Elbowloh 1483]

Got my M05v2 for £90 plus postage from buyee. Love it.

[qatmix 949]

The mb01 wipes the floor with the M05. So much better handling. Some people had issues with the suspension balls, but £8 for the aluminium ones can eliminate that.

 

I raced the M05 a lot, and the mb01 is leagues ahead as a stock car. A few simple hop-ups and there is no comparison. 

 

 

 

 

[Verskis 417]

1 hour ago, qatmix said:

The mb01 wipes the floor with the M05. So much better handling.

Really? I think we really need a detailed MB-01 review on The RC Racer website! 🙂

 

Even better if there would be a chapter focusing on comparison to M-05.

[Honza 1255]

15 hours ago, Kowalski86 said:

Truth be told I'm not sure, it's a wider chassis without a motor sticking out so it always felt more planted to me. The M05 V2 can take a LiPO, but that's an extra part that you would need to buy.

The motor sits on the bottom, but the battery extends over the edges, so hard to tell..

Yes, you need the V.2 chassis part, that was point of my rant 😁

I wonder how much of the MB-01's improvements lays in longer suspension arms, and if M-05 could be better with an improved suspension design. But that doesn't matter now, when it's being discontinued..

[Rinskie 1282]

From the Japanese videos out there on the MB-01, it seems they enjoy the little car. The Gaga guy and few other have made several videos a piece on the chassis. Either the videos get a lot of clicks or they really enjoy messing around with the car. I don't speak Japanese so they could be bagging on the car the entire time but judging from they way they drive the car and how planted it looks, my guess is they are driving it a bunch because they really enjoy it. I must admit, I like the way the chassis just looks happy and fun.  

 

 

[ABigChungus 241]

2 hours ago, Rinskie said:

From the Japanese videos out there on the MB-01, it seems they enjoy the little car. The Gaga guy and few other have made several videos a piece on the chassis. Either the videos get a lot of clicks or they really enjoy messing around with the car. I don't speak Japanese so they could be bagging on the car the entire time but judging from they way they drive the car and how planted it looks, my guess is they are driving it a bunch because they really enjoy it. I must admit, I like the way the chassis just looks happy and fun.  

 

 

Most of the people I've watched like it, they essentially say these are the issues I've noticed, this is what I did to fix said issue, this is how it performed afterwards. These are the upgrades I fitted. This is how it performs before and after. These are my final thoughts, either more experiments needed or this is as good as it will get. Nice and simple, no life story or anything like that

[ucacjbs 172]

On 2/1/2025 at 12:14 PM, ABigChungus said:

I followed a Japanese Tamiya builder and how she built the car

Do you have a link? I’d like to watch. 

[ABigChungus 241]

5 hours ago, ucacjbs said:

Do you have a link? I’d like to watch. 

The youtube translate isn't the best but it is is pretty easy to work out what is going on.  I followed her guide about the BT-01, loads of great tips in that so I imagine this MB01 guide will be the same. She has built and raced quite a lot of Tamiyas.

[njmlondon 747]

 

[Kowalski86 4751]

Looking back, I remember one very annoying detail with the MB01. I had a handful of M chassis wheels (all stock Tamiya) and some wouldn't fit without rubbing on the arms, only wheels with the certain offset or some shims would work.

It was bad enough that the edges of the front and rear arms actually wore down just a little bit.

[Model RC 7]

I've just built one and absolutely love it.

The Racing Mini shell suits it perfectly and the stance is fantastic.

Because the rear toe in is fully adjustable the wheels can be centered within the arches perfectly, something that's always bugged me about my Monte Mini which has odd looking rear toe in.

The chassis isn't visible through the windows. Something that can't be said about the original M-03 Racing Mini!