Bok

Okay after a couple more fitment tests, it turns out that the standard Tamiya 26mm wheel with the standard slick tire CAN RUB at the rear. The wheel/tires I used in the previous test were Tamiya drift tires, which actually have a smaller diameter compared to Tamiya's regular 26mm slick tires.

I have concluded that the best TC wheels you can use on the M03 are 24mm +2 offset. They're only slightly bigger in overall diameter, so it shouldn't heat up the motor too much, and the 24mm tires have the smallest sidewall of them all. More tire choices too for 24mm.






Here's the fitment with Tamiya 24mm Offset +2 wheels and Sorex 36R tires



front clearance


rear clearance



Unfortunately, TC size wheels and tires are not allowed in most sanctioned races for the mini class

Lunchboxer

Nice pictures of comparison.. Thanks!! [sm=thumbup.gif]

Casper06

Are the 24mm wheels allows in sanctioned races? Thanks for the comparison photos.

Lunchboxer

Casper, time for a FWD chassis?!

Casper06

But i have my special little baby coming! No RC money again for a little while.

Lunchboxer

Nice, can't beat another Tamiya... congrats!!

Casper06

Let's see if I can commit to a build thread. [&:]

Bok

Worked on the body today. Went for Camel Yellow, as it is the closest color to the R56 Mini's Mellow Yellow. Went with a black roof, which I think looks better than white on a yellow Mini

First a shot of my girlfriend's '04 Mini Cooper. Liquid Yellow exterior with red interior, a color combo Ronald McDonald would approve


This is the look I was going for. Mellow Yellow with a black roof


Painted the black areas first. No need to worry about the bad masking job on the fenders, the kit comes with decals to fix those Oh yeah the kit doesn't come with window masks. Instead, you get gray decals for the windows - not cool I opted to go for clear windows so I had to use masking tape


Then the main body color. Masked the headlights for a future project. The 997 911 GT3 VIP light buckets look like they will fit in there


Time to start applying the decals! The decals are not pre-cut. Again, not cool This is supposed to be a beginner-friendly kit. Wish they could have supplied them pre-cut like the decals on my Supra and RX-7 shells.


Finally done! All that's left is to paint the side mirrors and print out some custom license plates , and maybe put on some black hood stripes




Couple of shots with the TC wheels

Lunchboxer

Looks great! How did you paint the black part? Did you use brush?

Casper06

Great job! Keep the TC wheels on there for parking lot fun. FWD Drifter???

Lunchboxer

Not so easy to drift a FWD.. other than some lift throttle oversteer.. it is not gonna slide much... !!

Bok

I used spray paint for the black areas. So I had to mask the parts where the main body color would go




Yeah I don't think it'll be able to drift, being FWD. But I guess there's no harm in trying

Lunchboxer

Ha, nice.. a lot of patience on your part!! [sm=thumbup.gif]

Bok

A little update. Put on some black hood stripes, and used the "showroom license plates" for a nice car show look





Stuck the license plate decals on pieces of scrap lexan, that way they can easily be swapped out. And it makes the license plates more realistic by giving them a nice thick look


Also tried running with the drift tires. It is barely drivable, the rear end swings around every time you try to turn Will be taking this to the track today, but I'm kind of hesitant to run it, I'm afraid of scratching the body! [8D]

lee172

it will look ace once you trim the bodyposts down..

almost makes me want to get an M-03 again.. [sm=thumbs_up.gif]

Bok

Yup will trim the body posts down, once I get spare C parts

The Hedgehog

I don't know if you guys saw, but HPI is re releasing their X pattern mini tires, due to their mini being quite popular. Sorry if this is a repost.

Casper06

Hey Autox the M X pattern tires have been out for a little while now if you need them. I have a set for my Cooper rims but I had to get them directly from HPI though.

The Hedgehog

Yeah, they have been difficult to come by for awhile, but this Feb. they officially announced they are re releasing them by popular demand.

http://radiocontrolzone.com/showthread.php?t=258604

Casper06

Bok are the stripes tape or did you paint that on the outside? Looks great!

Bok

Casper06,

The stripes are tape. Gotta get some glossy black tape so it'll look better


Took the Mini to the track today




Before going, I swapped out the silvercan for a Tamiya Super Stock 23 turn motor I had in my toolbox. First impression: This thing is a blast to drive! There was a lot of wheelspin when gunning it from a standstill, feels like a real FWD car. What surprised me though was there was a lot of steering available. The rear end was a bit loose too, it would swing around when turning off-power. Had to dial down the dual rate and soften up the rear suspension. But not once did it roll over while turning, which is a good thing Will have to go to the LHS to get a set of springs. Right now I'm running soft all around, I think hard front and medium rear might be better like what they recommend here: http://www.rc-mini.net/joomla/index....d=44&Itemid=60


Also ran my TT01. Broke off the wheel and I didn't even crash during the run. This was a Yokomo wheel, this never happened to the Tamiya wheels I was using before. Good thing I brought the Mini! [8D]


So far so good! The Mini body suffered a couple of scratches, but it is just too fun to drive around the track. Tamiya Cup starts two weeks from now, it looks like I'll be entering the M03!

Lunchboxer

For Tamiya Cup, can you run the touring car wheel/tire combo?!

Bok

I'm not sure because the official rules aren't out yet, but I would think not since in the regular club races they only allow a maximum diameter of 60mm in the mini class.

Bok

Took the Mini to the club race last Saturday



After three 5-minute qualifying heats and three 5-minute mains, this is how she looks like [:@]





But I have to say, it was really awesome racing against other minis! As this was my first on-road race, I finished 7th out of 8. Not bad for my first race and being the only one running an M03. I'm already looking forward to the next one! There's an adrenaline rush you get when racing against others, it feels great A fellow racer lent me some ABC Hobby tires to try out, they were pretty good. In fact I started to have some serious traction rolling issues, rolling over a couple of times. More so when the sun went down, alot of us started to traction roll.

Now a little damage report. I managed to bend both dogbones. First the left one, then the right one on the next heat. I think this is because I managed to go airborne a couple of times [8D] Tried my best to straighten them, but they still wiggle a bit. Anybody know if the Tamiya universals are stronger?




Also cracked a Tamiya Swift wheel. This is supposed to be the strongest of Tamiya's M-Chassis wheels, according to rc-mini.net [:@]



That's about it, I guess I have to get some stronger dogbones or universals, and maybe upgrade the shocks next. So far so good!

Lunchboxer

Wow, you were racing against non-M-03s?! Not a fair fight!! I think those 4WDs are easier to drive, no?! But I guess if it is silvercan only, then maybe your lightweight can even out some of their advantages!?