Tamiya Mini Should I Get One

[Squirrel30]

hey guys i cannot make my descison weather to get a tamiya mini or not. What is so good about them to make them so popular

Show us your mini's

[Origineelreclamebord]

hey guys i cannot make my descison weather to get a tamiya mini or not. What is so good about them to make them so popular

Show us your mini's

From what I can understand the M03 is cheap, tough, has enough spares thanks to it's popularity, it goes quick stock and it's madness with a big motor in it, it's very easy to drive because it's FWD and above all that - it's a Mini

So I don't know what kind of handling you like/what you expect from your car, but the M03 is a great car for bashing around or learning to drive. And it's a great base for project cars (Short wheelbased (210mm) RWD cars, RWD buggies like the Dakar buggy of member Wrc Action, M-chassis rally cars, etc etc).

[Squirrel30]

i just want it to bash around my teenis court and stuff

[DuaneB]

Just get one, they can look amazing if you want to spend a lot of time detailing the body, or just spray it up in whatever colour you like and get driving.

Its a fun and easy kit to build, is fast right out of the box and can be tuned very cheaply into a fun, fast and very driveable car.

All mine has is a 20 tooth pinion and ball bearings with standard kit motor. Its a great drive with lift off oversteer and on power understeer, really easy to balance around a turn and feels super quick due to the small size and responsive steering - mine has the standard friction shocks, but I have lowered the ride height with spacers inside the shock body, the back is a little lower than the front - an experiment that worked to stop the car spinning under hard braking.

Hope you get one and enjoy it as much as the rest of us,

Duane.

[Squirrel30]

yeah were can u get spare bodys from

[taliesin]

yes. you should get one.

they need exactly ZERO hop ups to be lots of fun. [by the way, full ball bearings are not hop-ups in my mind - they are essential.] one of the few cars to be fast enough right out of the box with a silver can motor too. anything past a sport tuned and you can't stop the wheels from melting off.

parts aren't really a problem; these cars are so robust you really have to work at it to break something. the bodies take a pretty good crash to damage as well.

my only issue is they eat tires pretty quick and tires are getting a bit hard to find, so when you find some, buy them all.

[Squirrel30]

HAhah iv never heard they eat the tyers u can buy sets on ebay now

[Bearhawk_Boy]

If the shells are finished to a nice level then they can look really classy more so in classic colours like Red, Blue or British Racing Green.

If you like the look of them Id just go for it, you see plenty of members on here with Minis in their avatars so.. they cant be THAT bad

[Squirrel30]

Well iv been offered a trade with my Thunder Tiger Phoenix St its a purpel mini sure will be changin that colour to Snot Green

[Gruntfuggly]

You can fit 1/18 tyres to minis...

... don't mess around - just get one - they are great fun. I wish I never got rid of mine...

[Squirrel30]

Grug Get another

[hedge]

Hi

Just to add balance I would say no don't get one. They are noisy and the FWD is weird, works in the real world but somehow scaled down its just not right, RWD or 4WD is the way to go - note Yokomo did produce a good FWD tourer but it never really caught on. On the plus side they are very strong but not really my thing. I would recommend a 4wd buggy or a truck, more versatile for bashing on road, off road, rallying, beaches, mud tracks etc etc...

<flame suit on>

Paul

</flame suit on>

[lupogtiboy]

i absolutely love my mini, its a hoot to thrash around. i have a couple of bodyshells, the most recent i made a mess of the paint, so thats my basher shell. surprisingly, i went in to my local modelzone, and they had a boxed mini shell for 20! cheapness!

at the moment, mines been converted to RWD, and its mad! easy to swap from front wheel drive to rear!

[Squirrel30]

Awsomeness quite lot off people have them on this forum then

[Acto-Tuned]

You should buy one. A great way to describe them would be charming as edit: actually that word didnt pass the censorship but you get the idea. They do make some noise and the front tires dont last to long but they dont really need any option parts at all.

If you only drive on large parking lots and such they might loose their appeal. But for informal racing/bashing on a small track or with friends there really isnt a better choice in my opinion.

Not sure if I would have traded for one since they are so cheap.

Ole

[twisty]

Mini`s are ace,every TC member should have at least one

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/moviecomment.asp?id=2925&uid=

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/moviecomment.asp?id=2313&uid=

[pedromondo]

We race 'em at our club at Bransgore in the New Forest indoors on carpet (Monday nights 7 for 7.30 at the village hall if anyone's interested). Bog stock, all variations in body and chassis style, silver can motors and rubber tyres. Ace fun. Silver can makes everyone equal and it comes down to driving style and skill (and a bit of luck staying out of peoples' way). Bashing round your local tennis court is fine but as an introduction to racing they are the dogs doo-dahs. Cheap, strong as anything, reliable and great fun.

Go on, you know you want to ........ ;-)

Pete

[Squirrel30]

Yeah i live in Plymouth in the UK devon

[Rabiedmushroom]

There are a few Tamiya cars which are guarranteed to make both a driver and bystanders smile.

One is Wild Willy, another is the Mini.

It is simple and fun, relatively cheap with tons of hop-ups available.

But get a classic shaped one, not a BMW - after 50 years they are still one of the coolest cars around

[HereBeMonsters]

We race 'em at our club at Bransgore in the New Forest indoors on carpet (Monday nights 7 for 7.30 at the village hall if anyone's interested). Bog stock, all variations in body and chassis style, silver can motors and rubber tyres. Ace fun. Silver can makes everyone equal and it comes down to driving style and skill (and a bit of luck staying out of peoples' way). Bashing round your local tennis court is fine but as an introduction to racing they are the dogs doo-dahs. Cheap, strong as anything, reliable and great fun.

Go on, you know you want to ........ ;-)

Pete

Was just about to post the same thing!

I used mine for bashing around on tarmac for a couple of months, then started racing it. Great fun, probably more so than the touring cars if I'm honest.