Anyone race R/C ?
Discussion
I went along to my local club on Sunday to watch a friend who's recently started racing, I've not raced since I was 18, so some 14ish years and things seem to have moved on a bit!
The racing was indoors, and on carpet, there seemed to be 2 levels, Mini's and touring cars.
I'm interested in getting a mini, (I reckon I'd reduce a touring car back to its component parts within a race the speed they were going), which are limited to M03 or M05 chassis and 540 or Tamiya sport tuned motors.
Does anybody know what the differences are between the chassis' and which to go for?
I'm hoping to procure the majority of the kit i'll need second hand if anybody knows of anything.
The racing was indoors, and on carpet, there seemed to be 2 levels, Mini's and touring cars.
I'm interested in getting a mini, (I reckon I'd reduce a touring car back to its component parts within a race the speed they were going), which are limited to M03 or M05 chassis and 540 or Tamiya sport tuned motors.
Does anybody know what the differences are between the chassis' and which to go for?
I'm hoping to procure the majority of the kit i'll need second hand if anybody knows of anything.
Both are FWD, the 5 is a revised version of the 3 which has been around for donkeys. The pro version of the 5 has adjustble shocks and bearing included.
rc-mini.net has loads of great info on both:
http://www.rc-mini.net/joomla/index.php?option=com...
rc-mini.net has loads of great info on both:
http://www.rc-mini.net/joomla/index.php?option=com...
If your car is swapping ends try running a bead of superglue on the outer edge of the front tyres and thinly on the sidewall. It stops the tyre leaning under and only allows the tread to contact the ground.
M03 / m05
both are front drive with a front mid mounted motor. They use the same gearbox, suspension.
The M03 uses a high front mounted direct servo. The M05 has the servo toward the back of the car with a long link to the front.
The M03 is a clam chassis with the reciever normally in the middile of the clam, and the ESC on top of the chassis.
The M05 is a tub shell (at the rear) with the sorvo in the middle, and reciever / ESC on wings either side of the chassis.
On a high grip track the M05 is fine. IMO on anything else the M03 is better.
(I currently have two M03's and 2 M05's built and havent taken the M05's trackside since October!)
I'd start wih a fairly soft suspension. Maybe 35 wt oil all round, two holes on the pistons and red springs.
Also turn the rates down on your transmitter so that the steering isnt go the full travel (no need on a mini).
Move the ball joint on the steering knuckles to the rear holes, (less aggressive steering). Again if using M03 move the ball joint to the lower hole on the servo M05 the outer hole on the upper steering arm.
remove all anti roll bars.
try and start with the same tyre all round. You want the car to be balanced so the tyres heat up at the same rate. The kit tyres will produce wheelspin initially, but once they grip will throw the back end out.
Run the car without a bodyshell and make sure the car is leaning at the rear. If not it will either grip or slide. That is probably what is throwing the back end out if you have glued the front tyres and reduced steering.
Red springs all round, oil as above, one insert on the piston (to reduce travel) and the car should be fine.
I've raced all sort of stuff including on-road, off-road, TOCA, 1/8th. Minis etc. Great fun. I do love the little Minis, but spend some time on a few keys things and you will be amazed at what is possible with a virtually bone-stock car.
- Get a decent, high-speed steering servo. Futaba S9452 or something. (Provided your radio supports it).
- The tyre prep (decent inserts, properly glued, clean).
- Toe in a little at the front to induce some stability (understeer).
- Receiver and ESC both inside the clamshell and as low as possible (M03).
That's right - no oil shocks, no adjustable top-links, no universal shafts, no ball differential, no M-grips. Bone stock.
I have pasted many a modified mini with this. You really don't have to spend a fortune on these things to go fast. Just practice. I have a number of Minis (six or so at the last count) with one having virtually all the hopups and tricks. It's not *that* much quicker than the stock one despite having had hours and hours and hours spent carefully setting it up and experiementing with different configurations. This said, they do look *very* pretty with all the kit on them.
I'm a sucker for running low-spec cars. I resigned my TA-05R TOCA to the shelf and ran a thoroughly knackered TT-01 with a beat up stock Nissan 350Z shell just to prove a point that unless you are at the very top of your game, the chassis, setup, body etc is pure marketing fluff. I won the A in the stock class with it (23T Katana motor, control wheel and tyre). Only hop-ups were oil shocks, alloy propshaft, metal motor mount and a carbon-fibre chassis brace. Knocked seven shades out of cars costing literally 10x as much. Upset quite a lot of people. Didn't do it again.
Go and have fun. Don't be put off by the big boys throwing $$$ at stuff.
- Get a decent, high-speed steering servo. Futaba S9452 or something. (Provided your radio supports it).
- The tyre prep (decent inserts, properly glued, clean).
- Toe in a little at the front to induce some stability (understeer).
- Receiver and ESC both inside the clamshell and as low as possible (M03).
That's right - no oil shocks, no adjustable top-links, no universal shafts, no ball differential, no M-grips. Bone stock.
I have pasted many a modified mini with this. You really don't have to spend a fortune on these things to go fast. Just practice. I have a number of Minis (six or so at the last count) with one having virtually all the hopups and tricks. It's not *that* much quicker than the stock one despite having had hours and hours and hours spent carefully setting it up and experiementing with different configurations. This said, they do look *very* pretty with all the kit on them.
I'm a sucker for running low-spec cars. I resigned my TA-05R TOCA to the shelf and ran a thoroughly knackered TT-01 with a beat up stock Nissan 350Z shell just to prove a point that unless you are at the very top of your game, the chassis, setup, body etc is pure marketing fluff. I won the A in the stock class with it (23T Katana motor, control wheel and tyre). Only hop-ups were oil shocks, alloy propshaft, metal motor mount and a carbon-fibre chassis brace. Knocked seven shades out of cars costing literally 10x as much. Upset quite a lot of people. Didn't do it again.
Go and have fun. Don't be put off by the big boys throwing $$$ at stuff.
PeetBee said:
Simond S said:
I think I see the formula for a PH RC race then 
That would be fun, but we seem to have an even split between on and off road racers here so setting out a suitable track would be challenging!Then the scale results can determine the 1:1 grid and we'll have a proper race..?
Had many 1/10th touring cars including Schumacher, Xray's and the last was a hybrid Scythe.
I used to race in the Southern league a couple of years ago, really enjoyed it but with two young kids it was becoming more difficult to find the time at weekends plus as it was in the pre-brushless motor era the costs started to get a bit silly to stay at the front of the pack, made a few regional A finals. It got to the point of having one pasting table just to house all the setup and cell equipment, charger, equalising tray, cooling fans etc and another just to work on the car, seems like we had more stuff in our tent than an F1 team at times. Also remember blowing 2-3 set of tyres per race weekend too, on some races when the weather got really hot they were only lasting one race!!!!
Might be interesting in having another go now that brushless motors and lipos have taken a massive chunk out of the cost of running a competitive car. We used to turn up with about 6-10 motors each and spend so much time rebuilding them just to find the "one" that had that magic rpm output plus 6 sets of cells so you had the best pack to hand. We did have alot of fun though.
I used to race in the Southern league a couple of years ago, really enjoyed it but with two young kids it was becoming more difficult to find the time at weekends plus as it was in the pre-brushless motor era the costs started to get a bit silly to stay at the front of the pack, made a few regional A finals. It got to the point of having one pasting table just to house all the setup and cell equipment, charger, equalising tray, cooling fans etc and another just to work on the car, seems like we had more stuff in our tent than an F1 team at times. Also remember blowing 2-3 set of tyres per race weekend too, on some races when the weather got really hot they were only lasting one race!!!!
Might be interesting in having another go now that brushless motors and lipos have taken a massive chunk out of the cost of running a competitive car. We used to turn up with about 6-10 motors each and spend so much time rebuilding them just to find the "one" that had that magic rpm output plus 6 sets of cells so you had the best pack to hand. We did have alot of fun though.
Edited by Evo on Thursday 12th May 19:18
I've had a pre press release for this years Tamiya Eurocup. I'll update more info as soon as i get it
"Tamiya will this year be holding the Eurocup racing final in Switzerland on 15-18th Sept.
We will be holding 3 UK qualifying rounds – all to be staged at the new UK racing venue at Silverstone – Motoarena.
Races will be for Stock [TT-01] & M Chassis and are scheduled for ~ 24th July ~ 14th August ~ 4th September. Winners for each category will receive an entry to the Swiss final including flights and hotel accommodation.
Winners of Swiss final qualify for entry to the world final in Japan."
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