Long Time

It's been a while since  I've updated my blog about Mini-Z racing. Recently I've started a new semester at school and a new job at Fast Pace Racing. Not only is it awesome to help others enjoy the R/C hobby, but I am also able to focus on my studies.  Getting to hang around the shop is cool as well. One cool opportunity that came about through FPR was the chance to do some 10th scale sedan racing. In the week before the race I was able to put together a ride using a borrowed TA05 chassis, motor & ESC. The car is an older design, but that didn't prove to be a problem in the parking lot. The car handled fairly well early on. I was able to make small adjustments throughout the day and the car responded well to my tuning. I wasn't able to turn the fastest laps of the day, but I could lap consistently at a decent pace. At the end of the day, I started 4th or 5th in the A-Main and I immediately passed Joe on the holeshot. Getting off the line quickly and cleanly has been a focus area with my racecraft. I followed  the leaders around the track for few minutes, they were a bit quicker than me so I did my best to run clean laps and try and stay within a few seconds. About 2 or 3 minutes in when we started to hit traffic, things started to happen. Hugo's CVD came apart while he was leading and Jaime bobbled, allowing me to take over the lead. From there on out I practiced patience, doing my best to get through traffic cleanly and do consistant laps. I wasn't going for home-run laps, I was going for clean and crash free laps. My strategy paid off and at the end of six minutes when the race ended I still had the lead, giving me the win in my first TC race in atleast 6 years! I was happy enough just to be in the A-main and racing with some of my Mini-Z buddies. I certainly didn't expect my race to go as well as it did in regards to my finish! I'd like to thank my sponsors... ;)

Aerodynamic

Today I took a trip down to ILR and I played around with a couple different aero packages on the Lefty Performance MR03. The first time out with the new 599 shell I opted to try no window. To my amazement, I found that I had more rear traction than I did running with the lexan window. This allowed me to drive a bit more aggressively, with more exaggerated throttle and steering inputs. My theory on this was that the lack of a window allowed more airflow directly to the wing. The second setup I tried was with the stock, autoscale style window. With this setup, I noticed more body roll in the corners and a bit more stability. With this window installed, it took more effort to make the car transition laterally. My fast lap today was the same with the stock window as it was with the lexan window, but I would say my average was about .1 better with the lexan window because the car changed directions quicker. In a low grip situation, I would give the stock window a try. Today I liked the lexan window best, but experiences may vary based on driving style and setup.

RIP Contents of my Savings Account

With my own MR03 on the horizon, I decided I should start getting prepared. I still don't quite have everything yet, but I got the essentials. When I get my car on the track, I want it to be as dialed as the one I'm currently driving. I don't even have the car yet and I've already spent $60 on it. Goodbye money, it was nice knowing you.

The 7 Club

I decided to take my rent-a-ride out to Inside Line Racing today to get some more laps under my belt with the modified setup. I expected to have to put in a lot of work to get those elusive 7.9 laps, but about 2/3rds of the way through my first run...

Update: Since this original posting, I've been able to back this lap up several times. The 7.9's are a little less elusive with a hot set of batteries. The grip is good today. I'm hoping I can retain this pace in tomorrow night's club race and at the KO Grand Prix

Hot Rod

Today was my 1st day running the MR03 rent-a-ride from my buddy Elliot. This car is FAST! My top-5 lap avg went from 8.6 to 8.3, my top-10 from an 8.8 to an 8.4 and my fast lap went down to a 8.1. Fot reference, track record is 7.79 and only a handful of drivers have hit 7.9 as a fast lap on this current layout. Thanks to this little hot rod and a little bit of helpful advice from Luke, I was able to rip off a 28/4:01 run to put this car in the mod A main tonight! I know with a little more time on this chassis, I'll be more consistant and maybe I'll be able to make a run for the 7 second club ;)  I made a mention last post about a cool new Lexus shell so here's a picture. Big thanks to Elliot for the sweet paint job!

Finally Finals are Final!

I can finally breathe a little bit now that I am complete with this semester's finals here at Mission College. I'm currently waiting for my buddies to get finished up with their Differential Equations final and then we're off for a celebratory dinner. This honestly has been the most difficult semester I've encountered to date, but nothing good comes easy.  Summer break part I is going to be 10 days until my online courses start and 25 days until I'm back in the classroom for a course in humanities, which feels like a little bit too long of a layoff for me. I decided to take on summer classes because I find that my brain and body are better off staying busy rather than remaining idle. Hopefully I'll make it into the online English Composition B class I'm waitlisted for, crossing my fingers.

Current Challenge: Mod

I recently decided to push my self and start running in a class called modified. For those of you who don't know there are two main classes that have always existed in R/C racing, a class where a specification motor is used (typically refered to as "Stock Class") and Modified class. In modified class racing (or mod for short) we are allowed to use any motor we choose. When I ran bigger cars, modified class was tough because you were piloting a ~1500 gram (3.3 lbs) object capable of 40+ mph. In the Mini-Z world, modified is even tougher because now you're piloting a ~170g (3/8ths of a pound) object capable of the same speeds!

Running modified motors with a car this small has proven to be a challenge because not only do you have to be good at driving the car, you have to be able to set up the car to work perfectly to achieve optimal result. There is less margin for error in regards to both driving and setup when running at a faster speed. It almost hurt to start running modified initially because when you first strap in that much power, you go through a phase where you really suck. It's almost like being a novice all over again, re-learning how to drive the car.  Understanding my struggles, the fellow racers at my track have been really supportive and encourage me to keep on practicing.

Also, as I found out at the last club race, if anything goes wrong on your car it effects the handling way more than in stock class. The last time I raced stock, I had a wheel come loose in my first qualifier and I was able to nurse it home. I damaged a brush in my motor last night and it drastically effected how my car ran from that point forward. Thankfully when I got home and rebuilt my motor, the comm still looked fine. Mod is definitely a challenge, but it's a challenge that is possible to take on, despite what you think when you take those first laps with a PN 33 turn.

First Post

I decided to start this blog to chronicle the experiences I have racing my Mini-Z R/C car. At a younger age I used to race 1/10th scale touring cars but I moved on because of rising costs, a lack of places to race locally and because I was about the age where women, wine and wild times become interesting. In March 2012, I found that the itch to race was still there and I decided to order a Mini-Z racer from eBay. I then took it down to Inside Line Racing in Cupertino, CA which is where the adventures started.

I've now been racing Mini-Z for about two months and I think I've had more fun doing this in those two months than I did in the whole six years I spent running 10th scale. I've already had the opportunity to participate in the Tekin Mini-Z Nationals and race in two A-Mains at the PN Racing RCX Challenge as well as meeting some pretty awesome people along the way. There is a much greater sense of community and camaraderie here in the Mini-Z world than I ever personally witnessed in other forms of radio control racing. My friends at the track are part of why I enjoy coming out at least twice a week to play with my small, but fast little car.