Lovely Mini-Z

Plenty has happened which I haven't yet written about, but the single most important thing was that on Wednesday (May 14th) we started an open event dubbed "BR Race Days".

It's essentially an organised practice session, where friends can gather and race their Mini-Z's. It's free to participate, and the fun is tremendous.

Since it's for practice, we decided to add a bit of an extra difficulty factor, making the finals 2x15 minutes races - instead of a single 15 minute.

Full gallery of the first event here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.450707118406484.1073741829.442019055941957&type=1

Videos are on our new Youtube channel here: http://bit.ly/BRRaceDaysVideos

Full Results are here:  http://bit.ly/BRRaceDaysResults

Hellenic Mini-Z Cup, Round 8

There's no really "nice" way to put it, but I completely botched my race. It started in the quali's where, after the technical inspection, I forgot to tighten the DPS post and the car was just all over the place. I'm glad I finished on the same lap as the last guy.

As for the second quali, it was better than the first, but a lot of mistakes on my part and a few unfortunate accidents, kept me in third.

As for the race... well let's just say I managed to make as many mistakes possible in the 15 minutes I had available. I never stood a chance from the start. I do have a good excuse, but I don't like excuses... so I got awarded the 8th and last place.

Hellenic Mini-Z Cup, Round 7

On Saturday, April 12th, the 7th race for the Hellenic Mini-Z Cup was held - as always - at RC Xtreme Race Park. This was the first race where the club was using the new Robitronic lap counter system.

On my initial qualifier, things did not go toο well. I had problems with oversteer and just barely kept myself in 5th place. After adjusting the diff, oversteer was fixed and things were looking better. My 4th place in the second qualifier also gave me 4th place on the grid.

The race wasn't my best run to date, but it definitely was the best result I've had so far. 3d place meant I got to pick up my first trophy.

I've started my first ever Mini-Z Body Paint Job, and I'm documenting every step of the way.

Battery Management

Taking care of your batteries is probably the most tedious of all RC tasks. And we all know that proper battery management extends battery life and performance. Charging is one part. The other is actually managing the batteries.

I'm going to discuss how I manage my batteries, store them and use them while at the track. I have the Atomic Battery Box, which stores the batteries horizontally. I'm sure my method works great for any battery box though...

And when I say "my method" I just mean it's how I do it, without full knowledge about how everyone else does it.

For starters - and I will elaborate in another post - I create matched sets for my batteries, and always pack those together. I assume all my packs can be in either one of the three states: Discharged, Used or Charged.

Charged: Ready for Use

Used: Have been used (unknown remaining power)

Discharged: Have been fully discharged

In the image above you can see how I store the batteries in order to quickly identify in which state each pack is.

Hellenic Mini-Z Cup 2014, Round 6

What started as a small driver turnout, quickly became an amazing race. A few factors came into play but the most important was the new track layout. From the first timed practice sessions, we all could see that it was a pleasant and fast to drive track.

With little to no delays, the 1st qualifier started. To my disappointment (and lesson to be learned) I softly tightened my diff right before the Quali started. This basically made the rear end of the car very "nervous" and I was very careful on hitting the power on every corner exit. Of course, this basically destroyed my attempt.

On the 2nd qualifier, I tuned everything back to how I liked, tested and made sure everything was right. And the results do tell the right story. I came in second, only after the unbeatable Valerio, and my best lap was pretty impressive.

Now for the mains. I'm not sure what went wrong, but the rear end started acting up again towards the end of the race. I couldn't quite put the motors' power down at all. Again, It was a disappointment. And if it wasn't for a crash in the final laps (Permetis) I would have finished 5th.

Mini-Z Attica Cup 2014, Round 1

On Saturday, March 15th 2014, the first round of the all new Attica Mini-Z Cup took place. It was a great success, and all drivers had a blast. Since this was my first "open" race, I had a lot to learn...

When we say "open", we basically mean no restrictions on your motor. So the race was made up of a huge variety of motors and types. Anything from typical brushed motors up to brushless beasts.

I was running my Kyosho XSpeedV which by all means, compared to the competition, is not one of the fastest motors. It slightly matches the PN  50T.

But I still managed to stay on top of my game, and ended up up in 6th place overall, which is - for me - another great race.

Full race report and video on Minimaniax.gr

Next Saturday (March 22nd) we'll finally resume the Hellenic Mini-Z Cup after a very long break. I hope to make it there as well.

It's been a while since I last published something, but nothing much has actually happened. With the exception of the few recent days...

Since my last post, I've been either working or staying at home with some sort of flu. Suffice to say, I missed January's Hellenic Cup Race, and I've only been on the track a few times.

Alas, I hope things will change in the upcoming days/weeks. We've got the next Hellenic Cup Race this Saturday, and I have a whole bunch of new toys to try out.

First and foremost, I ditched my EX-5UR for a brand new EX-1 along with a 3D Extension Wheel. I still haven't tried it out yet, but I'm overwhelmed by the settings you can tamper with. This thing is massive. I will need a lot of work and any help will be appreciated ;)

Other than that, I finally received my package which was considered lost (55 days in transit form Japan to Greece, ugh!) which contained a new chassis. My original chassis got a nasty crack right on the screw hub, which holds the lower arm in place. It resulted in a huge tweak which I couldn't fix. A few other stuff included the Long King Pin Colored Spacers and a set of Kyosho Rear Springs.

Hopefully I'll find some time to practice before the race, and setup my new Tx. 

FOR SALE - Kyosho Ex-5UR ASF

I've finally decided to upgrade my Transmitter. Although this is one fine piece of equipment that delivers performance and quality, my plan was to jump ship ever since I got it a few months ago. I just couldn't afford a high-end Tx at that time since I was buying all my equipment in bulk. 

It's in mint condition. No scratches or wear is evident. I've upgraded the steering wheel with Sanwa's Foam wheel, which basically adds girth and grip. All for better driving performance. The only mod/hack is that I've crazy glued a spare tire on the throttle trigger, which adds grip and reduces the blank spot when braking. I'm sure it could be removed if needed.

Happy New Year to all! Wishing all a great RC season!

This is my first post for 2014, and it's a good one. I have been meaning to write this all through my vacation time, but here was always something I had to do. Bottom line is that I had plenty of quality time with my family.

So, for my updates... Just in time for Xmas, on Dec 24th, I received my latest package of upgrades. These included the much anticipated PN Upper Arms and of course a full stock of rp747 batteries.

I also had some other things shipped in from eBay, like the LED light, which I found at an amazing price...

My full list of parts include

PN Upper Arms 0˚ Camber

PN T-Plate Mount

Minor Spare Parts (Brushes, Washers & E-Clips)

LED Table Lamp

3 sets of TRP rp747

OniSake Motor juice

Hellenic Mini-Z Cup 2014, Round 4

Last Saturday (Dec 14th) was the 4th Hellenic Mini-Z Cup race, the last one of 2013, and as always it was held at RC Xtreme.

This was my best qualifying session to date, finishing 1st in both qualifiers, and I also managed to get into the A Mains for the second race in a row.

As for the race itself, it was kind of bumpy. I had three major crashes, two of which saw my car land on it's back. Overall I managed 58 laps in the 15 minute race, and ended up 8th overall.

I did manage an extremely great best lap, which clocked at 13:86, my personal best so far on this layout.

The only bad thing about this race was that it was plagued by lap counter mishaps (last photo says it all). There were too many missed lap hits, and the end result was somewhat under scrutiny. The race host (RC Xtreme) has announced that it will be changing the lap counting system to the more robust Robitronic as of the new year. 

Hellenic Mini-Z Cup 2014, Round 3

The 3d round of the Hellenic Mini-Z Cup was held on Saturday, Nov 9th. It was a full house, a total of 12 cars showed up, splitting up the races into two two groups, based on their previous race results. I was in B group (the slower one ;).

As usual, the were were two 5 minute qualifiers and a single 15 minute final.

On my first qualifier, i ran into some bad luck and had three amazingly harsh collisions, but with some equally amazing luck, my car kept on running. I managed to complete 18 laps which isn't all that bad, considering my best is 19.

On my second qualifier, things were far better. I kept my pace and although running into traffic, I reached 19 laps.

My qualifiers were good enough to send me into the A group final (A Main). Woohoo! 

The 15 minute long race started off pretty smooth. I kept my pace for the most part, and managed my fastest pass on lap 32 (14:55). After that my batteries stated to give up, and my car felt quite sluggish. Although running on good lines I couldn't get the car to go under 15".

Overall, I ended up 7th, after re-calculating both group's results, just a second behind 6th.

The main focus was on the 1st place battle, which took place in the final laps. Although I was focused on my rounds, the cheering was overwhelming. The 1st place was literally drawn on the finish line.

Will wait to see the video...

You can download my setup sheet

Sheet generated by Mini-Z Racing Web App

Last night's practice session was more about testing the new 126p Spur/Pinion set. My car has been setup to my liking, so I just needed to make sure everything works great with the new pitch.

First impression was amazing. I used a similar ratio to my previous stock gear setup, albeit a bit more top speed. I ran it at 109/21 (5.190), compared to my previous setup which was at 42/8 (5.250).

What I lost in gear torque, I gained back with the perfect mesh. The throttle was instant! Brakes were sweet, mostly thanks to my EX-5UR's ABS option. It was a great ride.

On a controlled 5 min practice session, I managed 19 laps, setting my best lap at 14:45. Which is a good number...

The only problem with the new Spur is that the pressure plates sit shorter, thus giving more room for grit to get into the diff. Not much of a problem, but I did notice a bit of grindiness after every long run.

I picked up a new 126 pitch spur-pinion set from X-Power RC (http://j76.me/SINr).

My main disappointment was that although X-Power claims that the part is 100% compatible with the Kyosho Ball Diff, it - in fact - is not. I had to perform a minor procedure as described by Kenon Hobby (http://j76.me/SHNu).

I’ve noticed that there is a great amount of wobble on the spur’s side. I don’t know if this is normal, but I have read that the spur tends to wobble in most cases, but when run it trues to the pinion.

I only applied a very light amount of grease since the greater part of the bearings are still visible, and I don’t want too much grit getting stuck in there.

Hellenic Mini-Z Cup 2014, Round 2

Update: Here's the full gallery on the Minimaniax blog

On Saturday, October 12th, the 2nd round of the Hellenic Mini-Z Cup Race was held at RC Xtreme Race Park. Unfortunately I had to bail out after the 2nd qualifier - due to a personal agenda, so no results for my run. But all in all it was a great experience. Isn't that what racing is all about? Here are some photos from the race day.