Problem Solved

I mentioned in my last post that I was having problems with my car spinning out. Tonight, I bought my 2nd set of PN Racing Mini-Z RCP Radial Rear Tire 8º and it instantly solved my problem but it presented another... the car wouldn't turn anymore. I had to adjust the steering dual rate almost to the max. That brought back some of the steering but there was still a lot of understeer. At this point, I was starting to enjoy driving it despite the understeer. It seems like it's time to get new front tires. I went with PN Racing Mini-Z RCP Slick Front Tire 15º this time instead of 20º to get a little more grip / steering. I didn't get a chance to test out the new front tires tonight though.
Sometimes, we forget the most important thing. In this case, it's tires.

New Setup

My initial goal for this car is to stay as stock as possible for as long as I could. I pretty much kissed that goal goodbye when I installed the Speedy 05 motor. Like my friend said... the faster you go, the more setup your car has to be. Setting up a car usually means buying new parts. I did a few races with the stock setup and I wouldn't show you the results even if you paid me. After that, I said enough is enough and decided to buy a few PN parts.

1. PN Racing Mini-Z MR02 Silver ML Motor Mount
2. PN Racing MR02 Multi Length Disk Damper Set - Silver
3. PN Racing MR02 MM Graphite T-Bar Sets 4-6mm (3pcs)

The PN ML Motor Mount allows you to put your motor in the mid mount position and set your wheelbase to 94mm. ML means multi length, so you can run the same motor mount and set your wheelbase to 98mm.

There are 2 kinds of PN Multi Length Disk Damper, fiberglass and graphite. There seems to be a lot of racers using the fiberglass disk damper. It is said to be smoother than its graphite counterpart. The hardware that comes with it will allow you to run an oil shock. It also comes with 3 sets of springs.

Running 94mm wheelbase with the PN ML mount requires you to change the T bar to a mid mount T Bar if your car's previous configuration is RM. There are 3 in a pack, super soft 4mm, soft 5mm and medium 6mm.

As of now, my current suspension setup is as follows:

Front:
-PN Purple Springs (medium)
-PN 20 deg slicks
-Everything else is stock

Rear:
-PN 8 deg radials
-PN ML Motor Mount (94mm)
-PN Fiberglass Disk Damper (red top spring - green lower spring)
-PN Graphite T Bar (Medium = hardest in the pack)

As of now, my car handles really well compared to how it was before I installed these parts. I still have to do some fine tuning because the car oversteers sometimes. It could just be the tires but a few of my friends suggested I get a ball diff. Well, looks like there are more parts for me to buy in the future meaning more posts on this blog. Next upgrade... driving skills!!!

Update

Just installed my new wheels. I really liked the PN wheels but I managed to crack one of the rear wheels. I was able to acquire a set of kyosho Ferrari 360 GTC wheels from my friend for free. They also have the exact offset I was looking for. (+1N, +1W). While I was swapping the wheel bearings over, I noticed that it was so much easier to install the bearings on the kyosho wheels than the PN ones. Maybe that had something to do with the cracked wheel.

I also installed the PN Racing Mini-Z MR02 Front Racing Suspension Spring I bought last saturday. I installed the purple ones which felt closer to the stock springs than the rest of the springs that came with the kit. I wanted to start as close to stock as possible then adjust as necessary.

I'm going to PN again tonight to test out the car. If it is a race night, then I think I might have to race for the 1st time. I don't think I'm good enough to race but to me, it's all about having fun.

The spring rates for the PN springs are listed below.
Yellow - Preload lift 175g = Kyosho Yellow
White - Preload lift 140g
Purple - Preload lift 115g
Green - Preload lift 100g = Kyosho Green
Red - Preload lift 55g = Kyosho Red

New wheels, new offset

If you guys remember, I got this car from my friend and he gave me the opportunity to choose the body and the wheels. I ended up with a supra body and ferrari F50 wheels. At that time I didn't even realize these wheels have different offsets. The original supra wheels are 0 offset narrows in the front and 0 offset wide in the rear. The F50 wheels on the other hand are 0 offset in the front and +2 in the rear. When I first ran the car (box stock), I really didn't have a problem with the wheels being too wide in the rear but when I installed the speedy 05 motor, the problem became apparent. Basically, the car hops in turns. I even managed to roll the car a few times. After that, I decided to run PN racing wheels. +1 in the front and +1 in the rear. I did install the front wheels first while running the F50 wheels in the back. I was surprised that a small change like this would make a difference I could feel. The steering became more responsive but the car still hops in turns. After installing the rear wheels, the car became more stable in turns. It would still hop but only if I get on the throttle too early.

The first picture shows you the PN Racing wheels, it also shows the crack on the rear wheel. I don't know how I managed to crack the wheel but I might be going back to a set of kyosho wheels with the same offset. The 2nd picture shows you the difference in offset.