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Tamiya Mini Racing

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You need some lightweight racing paint too :lol:

Best to avoid metallic though, it weighs more :P

Best way to get lightweight paint is to not paint the shell at all lol :P

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Oh dear, it seems my stunning performance was a one off :P .

I needed to fit new tyres as my previous ones were worn through to the foam, I scrubbed them in fairly well before the heats, but obviously not enough.

I had also fitted slightly stiffer front springs to try & offset the negative camber under compression but this only resulted in a severe loss of front end grip.

I tried Skip's magic formula of S grip fronts & Xpress rears for one heat but this was even worse. :lol:

I switched back to Xpress tyres all round & refitted the original springs for the C final (qualified last) & spent the 10 minute break practising to try & scrub the tyres a little more, by then the car was beginning to show hints of returning to the sweet handling of the last meeting.

The racing was far messier than the previous meet, lots of crashes, even a couple of retirements.

I finished 2nd last in the C final, still struggling for precise handling & fighting a weird steering issue where the LH arm was intermittently binding on the edge of the motor, leaving me with very little LH turning radius. I haven't had chance to strip the car & figure out what was happening there yet. I don't understand why the steering is suddenly binding, I couldn't see anything bent or broken & there didn't seem to be any more slop in the front suspension than usual. :D

Hopefully I can restore the car's handling & fix the steering problem for the last meet before Xmas & improve my results.

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I tried Skip's magic formula of S grip fronts & Xpress rears for one heat but this was even worse. :blink:

Its a proven working solution! Paul seemed to manage! :lol:

I am really torn with what to do about the M01 - although I had issues with it last night I ended up with my best result all year! I think a careful strip of both chassis to see if I can make the best into one. Then start the new year back with the M03 and retire the M01.

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Its a proven working solution! Paul seemed to manage! :blink:

Not for me :lol: , the front end was washing out at every turn.

Once I've stripped & rebuilt it again, I'll mount up that pair of S grips & try again.

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Well Ian now has my M05 which he will be stripping and rebuilding for me for the next meet. I can't understand why it was such a dog and sounded terrible. I killed one motor last night, took it out and it had no magnet strength at all.

Was talking with Barry last night and there are new rules coming into play starting January. It looks like it will be Kit standard car running silvercan motor and 20T pinion only, x-press XPA-118 control tyre, UJ's, ball races and replacement alloy front knuckles allowed.

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Was talking with Barry last night and there are new rules coming into play starting January. It looks like it will be Kit standard car running silvercan motor and 20T pinion only, x-press XPA-118 control tyre, UJ's, ball races and replacement alloy front knuckles allowed.

Yes I was talking to him about that - he said that M01, M03 and M05s will all be allowed but must all follow those same rules. Seems fair enough to me - no one can complain about anyone else then.

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Yeah lets hope so. I have heard several people moan about what people were running and one even hasn't been up the club in ages.

Ian did have a little moan about the pinion rule though. Apparently the M05 runs like poo on the 20t pinion compared to the M03 due to the extra weight the M05 has to pull.

I have just ordered myself a couple of RW Racing 20T pinions from Apex lets hope they send the right ones unlike Demon.

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I have to say, I don't see the point in the pinion rule, the car is designed to have one of 3 standard pinions & the gear ratios are the same on the 03 & 05 and given the way most peoples cars accelerate, many of us already have the 16t pinion fitted.

To my mind it will slow the racing down & make it less exciting. :blink:

Anyway, is there really that much weight difference between the two ?

Has anyone actually weighed the cars all up & ready to run ?

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I have to say, I don't see the point in the pinion rule, the car is designed to have one of 3 standard pinions & the gear ratios are the same on the 03 & 05 and given the way most peoples cars accelerate, many of us already have the 16t pinion fitted.

I thought everyone was running the 20t pinion? I always have.

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Nope, got a 16 in mine, I know Ian has too & I think Simon has. I suspect Luke has less than 20T but I don't know which,his car positively leaps forward when he hits the throttle.

You can see that John & a few others use 20t pinions, they just don't accelerate like some of the cars.

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Nope, got a 16 in mine, I know Ian has too & I think Simon has. I suspect Luke has less than 20T but I don't know which,his car positively leaps forward when he hits the throttle.

You can see that John & a few others use 20t pinions, they just don't accelerate like some of the cars.

Looks like I have been cobbling myself before the race has begun then! :blink:

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Anyway, is there really that much weight difference between the two ?

Has anyone actually weighed the cars all up & ready to run ?

Not on the scales but by hand you can feel that the M05 is heavier, i would guess about 400 grams. Will weigh mine when i get it back from Ian

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If they do bring in the pinion rule they will have to check peoples cars. Barry is running a 20T but his flys.

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Not on the scales but by hand you can feel that the M05 is heavier, i would guess about 400 grams. Will weigh mine when i get it back from Ian

400g ? I doubt it's that much, that's the equivalent of nearly 3 silver can motors or a decent NiMh pack.

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400g ? I doubt it's that much, that's the equivalent of nearly 3 silver can motors or a decent NiMh pack.

It was just a wild stab in the dark, but it's a noticable difference.

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The talk of tyres from you guy is both very interesting but also worrying.

I cant really afford to buy numerous different tyres just to see which works at the end of the day, the 118's seem to be the most reliable from what I can gather?

When you guys talk about scrubbing your tyres in, are you refering to taking the shiny surface off the tyres from brand new, or at the beginning if every meeting?

Thanks :blink:

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The talk of tyres from you guy is both very interesting but also worrying.

I cant really afford to buy numerous different tyres just to see which works at the end of the day, the 118's seem to be the most reliable from what I can gather?

When you guys talk about scrubbing your tyres in, are you refering to taking the shiny surface off the tyres from brand new, or at the beginning if every meeting?

Thanks :blink:

The reason the club is going to use the XPA-118 as the club tyre is that they work on our track and everyone seems to be moving towards them anyway.

I have never scrubbed my tyres in. I let the track do it for me with a few practice laps. You only really need to take the shiny surface off the tyre. No need to scrub before every meet. I did find swapping the fronts and backs over after every race helps give you a nice even tyre wear.

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I found the gearing ratios for the M01 and it has taller gearing than the 03 or 05 so I am giving myself a disadvantage straight away - oh well :blink:

I just found this too Skip

M01 = 5.65:1

M03 = 5.8:1

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I just found this too Skip

M01 = 5.65:1

M03 = 5.8:1

So with you, Ian and Russ with your 16t pinion and my M01 with its 20t I will be much slower out of the corners but should be going a lot faster at the end of the long straights (but we don't have any long enough for it to matter!) :blink:

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The talk of tyres from you guy is both very interesting but also worrying.

I cant really afford to buy numerous different tyres just to see which works at the end of the day, the 118's seem to be the most reliable from what I can gather?

When you guys talk about scrubbing your tyres in, are you refering to taking the shiny surface off the tyres from brand new, or at the beginning if every meeting?

Thanks :blink:

Just to create more confussion we can and do run Slicks at Worcester! Then theres inserts, springs, dampers etc... Like i've said before just turn up with the kit tyres on Friday and see whatever one else is running.

Next problem you'll have is finding people running the M03 to ask about set-ups. There aren't may left!

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So with you, Ian and Russ with your 16t pinion and my M01 with its 20t I will be much slower out of the corners but should be going a lot faster at the end of the long straights (but we don't have any long enough for it to matter!) :blink:

If they arrive i will be running my M03 and M05 on a 20T pinion next meeting to see what it goes like. Ian and myself will be stripping and rebuilding the M05 on Sunday to see what was wrong with it.

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If they arrive i will be running my M03 and M05 on a 20T pinion next meeting to see what it goes like. Ian and myself will be stripping and rebuilding the M05 on Sunday to see what was wrong with it.

lol - I am going the other way - I am going to try a 16t in the M01 just for a giggle :blink:

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I think to settle all the arguments everyone needs an 18t pinion & be done with it. :blink:

I think that might be a good idea. You have something in the middle then. Trouble is a couple of the guys wre moaning that they want it to be a rule of 20T pinion only as they can't afford to buy a new pinion. I nearly laughed in their faces as they are only a couple of quid.

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