Hi again after another break, everyone. For the past 2 months I've been switching back and forth between the grey SP chassis and the stock black chassis on my MR03 -- which covers both Stock and Mod class racing -- and I think I have enough data to report now. But especially since this seems to be a somewhat controversial topic with mixed results, I can only present my own impressions and it would be great if you guys and gals reading my blog could respond with your own.

So...

color0

Dear readers,

My apologies for dropping the ball the last couple months -- it's been another helluva school term and things are only winding down just now!

So, the next couple weeks are going to be a little bit of recapping of things so you can see where I've been (Mini-Z wise) and where we're going towards as the summer season approaches. And to start that off, I kept some pictures from the Tekin race in March that may prove helpful for those new to Mod racing on...

color0

One of the curiosities I've encountered after making the switch in my car from ball diff to gear diff is how the instantaneous power delivery causes a lot of problems with my setups -- setups that have been honed very carefully for the smoother power delivery of a ball diff. What happens? Well, in my case, I get a bunch of spin-outs on power:

[Wall] <-- [My car]

Since my setups tend to emphasize turn-in oversteer and powering out of the corner before the apex, I...

color0

In response to the last article, mugler writes:

Of course, he is referring to the stock top shock that comes with MR-02 and MR-03 chassis kits:



The way this shock is assembled...

color0

Box Stock is a Mini-Z racing class getting popular nowadays because of its low entry cost for serious racing action -- anyone can go out and buy an MR-02EX for $180, put in some AAA's and off you go! It also appeals to veteran racers because of the potential for even-performance racing: in theory, no one racer will have the advantage of the part-of-the-day cutting-edge upgrade, everyone will gravitate to the same gear ratio, same motor, same everything.

But of course, this is my technical...

color0