New Track

I was able to run at a different track last night. This was a fast track where average times are in the 9s for stock. I was also able to try a couple of new things. 1st, the kyosho 30s for the front. I'd say they're comparable to the PN 15s. I feel they grip a little bit less because I had to adjust my dual rate to give it a little bit more steering. Next, the new Orion 900 mAh. I have never tried a set of batteries that made my car noticeably faster until I ran these. Even the motor sounds different. My best time with eneloops was about an 8.8XX and my best time with the orions was 8.6XX. I'm still trying to get used to the speed with the orions so hopefully I can post better lap times in the future.

If you are using the duracell 15 minute charger, you would have to remove the orion wrapper from the battery. Don't worry there's another warping after that. Thanks to Grant for showing me this trick and to Matt for getting me a set of these batteries.

I'll be posting pictures tonight.

Back to kyosho

I had another bad experience with PN wheels. Two of the front black wheels that I bought cracked again. This time I haven't even used them. The place where the bearing sits seem to be too tight. Philip was nice enough to take them back, great customer service if you ask me. I heard new PN wheels are in the works, hopefully those will be better. So for now, I have to run mismatched kyosho wheels. I can't stand the look but I have to run the offset that I like. So now, black atomic dish wheels are on its way to my address :).

Just an update on the tires... The kyosho 20s seem to be very consistent. They are almost gone but the grip has not dropped that much. I'll be buying kyosho 30s for the front tomorrow.

New found power

I was able to drive the car a few more times since the last time I posted and I think I have the car behaving the way I want it to now. Since the 4562 upgrade, I have added a Kyosho ball diff and PN -1 degree knuckles (borrowed from Rod). The original plan was to run the 4652s only until we found stock fets but I don't think I can downgrade now. With great power comes great responsibility lol.

People at the track have been telling me that I need a ball diff. I really didn't pay attention to them since I felt that the stock diff was doing the job. Well, after having a hard time getting the car around the corners last saturday, I said (again) enough is enough. I bought a kyosho ball diff at PN before I left. I took me quite a good number of laps to get accustomed to it but after that, I had a grin from ear to ear. You can get on the throttle earlier around corners now, and usually, that equates to a faster lap time.

I have also been told to buy/try the Ferrari 360 GTC body. I have been using the supra body basically since I started. Well, I finally caved in and bought a white one (unpainted). It's in NML's paint shop right now getting the panda colors sprayed on. Since I can't use it yet, I tried bing's 360 GTC body last tuesday and all I can say is WOW!!! I never thought a body can change the car's handling characteristics. At least not on a mini-z. I looked like I pro out there when I had that body on my car lol. I can't describe how it's different but it seems to take corners better than my supra. I let a few of my friends drive it too and they were sold on that body.

Let me just tell you, Mini-Zs are very addicting. I basically went from a stock car to an all out racing MR02 in just a few months. Usually, I can hold off buying stuff for my RC longer than that. This is the best handling RC I have driven.

I want to thank Rod and Bing for getting me into this hobby. These 2 guys have given me a lot of parts and support. They even let me borrow parts so I can test it before I buy my own. I must say, mini-z guys in general are pretty cool but these 2 guys take the cake. Thanks guys!

4562 aren't just for audiophiles

If there are 3 letters that would describe how I felt when I drove my car again after the fet upgrade... it would be O.M.G. I can't believe how much of a difference it made. There were a lot of people who asked what I got under the hood, I just smiled and told them it was the work of DR. NML. I didn't get to drive the car that night as much as I wanted because people kept asking to drive it lol. Overall, I'm pretty happy. I just have to learn how to drive the car again and set it up to handle the new found power.

4562s have been used in audio applications for a while now and I was surprised that the mini-z uses the same ones to increase power. Well, I guess my top 2 hobbies have something in common.

Fet Attack

I had a chance to bring my car to the doctor and it was diagnosed as having a burnt fet. My motor is basically a speedy 05 but we swapped the speedy motor can with a ball bearing one. The commutator was also diamond tured. I want to upgrade to the newer 3010 fets but its pretty hard to come by. We might end up installing 4562s in the meantime. My car is going to go under the knife (or soldering iron) tonight. We shall see what happens.

Changes

Since the last time I posted until now, I was looking for a setup that I can stay with and basically race with. My car was handling pretty good already after installing the disk damper but the tires I was using were not consistent enough for me. It seems like everytime I drive the car, I have to change my driving style or settings on the radio. I was using PN 15º up front and PN 8º in the rear. While racing last friday, I decided to try the kyosho 20º slick tires in the back and I was surprised at how sticky they were. I ran the 2 qualifying sessions with the PN 8s and ran in the B main with the kyoshos. The car was pushing like crazy because the rear tires were so sticky. Even then I still did better than qualifying.

I had a chance to run again at the PN track earlier tonight and wanted to make the steering response better. I remember when I ran +1 offset in the front and +2 in the back, the steering response was awesome. Since I'm running +1 all the way around now, I tried the 0 offset F50 rims up front. Steering response is back and the grip was still there. So I bought some black PN wheels before I left the track. I'm pretty happy with the car's performance and I hope the kyosho tires would hold up til the diff gear starts rubbing on the RCP. I don't really care about tire life as long as they would stay consistent from start to finish. This is how the car looks now.



The Airtronics M8 is another welcomed change. I went from the stock KT-5 to this and it has solved the problems I was having. 1st problem I had with the stock radio was the throttle. It seems to only go from full stop (idle) to full throttle and nothing in between. I can now pull the trigger halfway and my car would only go half as fast lol. This really helps me out a lot on the slow sections of the track. The other problem I had with the stock radio was the steering. The steering radius when going left is smaller than when going right. I can now adjust the steering end points with the M8 and my left and right steering radius is pretty much the same. I don't know if I'm suffering from the placebo effect but my car seems a lot easier to drive. Here's a pic of my new (to me) radio.


I was this close to calling it a good night but my car started acting up before the track closed. My car wouldn't go forward anymore. I checked the radio settings and pretty much everything else I can without opening the car but I don't see anything damaged or broken. Looks like I have to go visit dr Rod M.D.