TAMIYA MO3L BMW MINI COOPER:
This is my new Tamiya Championship Series(TCS) racer...
I spent last year at some very enjoyable TCS races hosted by Southern Ontario's finest Hobby Shops..I ran my Tamiya F103 chassis topped with my Audi R8R Roadster body (c/w body conversion kit)..For the 2003 season, the Lemans class has been eliminated from the TCS series and because I enjoyed the "stock" racing so much I felt I had to run in a similiar class..
I managed to run one M-Chassis (borrowed a car from Team Fowler) race last year and found it very enjoyable as well..For this reason I decided that M-Chassis was the chassis for me..I have been waiting for this new MO3L chassis to come out since I first heard of it last year..It is the latest version of the M-Chassis front wheel drive line.
The "L" stands for "Long", as in wheel base..If you look at this chassis pic you will see that there is an extension to the chassis..It is the part between the four silver screws (mid-chassis).
The design of all the M-Chassis cars are very similiar..Very similiar also to the Tl-01 Chassis cars..Obviously some design differences are very apparent mainly because of the different drive systems..
I haven't yet compared all the parts but I have noticed that there are a lot of parts interchangable between the M-Chassis cars and the TL-01 Chassis cars..This is great for those of us that have an abundance of TL-01 parts and plan on nailing a few boards in the near future.
The MO3L is front whhel drive..I look forward to having some fun with that fact..I'm used to running the rear wheel drive Lemans cars and you had to be really careful when accelerating out of the corners to keep the back end planted..It has a forward mounted motor to help assist with traction over the drive wheels..A similiar monocoque chassis common to all M & TL-01 chassis cars..Four wheel independent suspension..Coil over shocks(aka friction dampers)
You will note that the first stock part to go was the friction dampers..I've had these in previous Tamiya cars and they are very ill handling...They aren't even removed from the kit's "parts tree"..Since this chassis is being bred to race in the TCS series, all the hop-up parts have to be Tamiya parts..Those pink shocks are the Tamiya Low Friction Aluminum Damper Sets(Part #53155)
The quality of Tamiya kits is always top notch and this MO3L is no exception..All parts fit together as planned and the instructions were clear and precise.I am taking a slightly different approach in the building and review of this chassis than my former kits as it is being built specifically to race in the 2003 TCS and because of that I'll be adding hop-ups before it even hits the carpet/parking lots..
However, I must point out that if you wanted to get into racing this chassis or just have a fun vehicle to amaze your friends on the street the MO3L is up to that task in it's stock form..This kit includes Tamiya's Silver Can motor and, of course, the three step speed control..All you need is a radio(as cheap or expensive as you'd like) and a couple(or one!!) of 1500mah batteries and you are ready to go
One of the best things about the TCS races is that you can race a car in its stock form and still be competitive..These series are set up to encourage Tamiya drivers to get together and have fun..I drove my Lemans car last year with a pretty basic stock set-up and had a blast..Win, Lose or Draw though, I had fun and thats the most important thing..This chassis will get you to the finish everytime and that's the first step to victory..As your driving skills improve you may find that this hop-up or that hop-up may improve your lap times, but until you know what works for you, track time is the best hop-up anyone can get..
That said, I'm adding hop-ups as recommended from my friend Tom Wright of Borgfeldt(Tamiya Canada), and from a great article I found on the Tamiya USA website.. As mentioned, the first hop-up had to be the shocks..Second and maybe even more important is ball bearings..Tamiya TCS allows the use of any manufacturer's bearings..I managed to outfit my MO3L with full ball bearings for about $70.. The stock plastic bushings aren't very effecient and you should replace then all..This will give you longer and faster run times because of the reduction of friction to the rolling chassis..
Although not yet added, I'll also be replacing the stock silver springs by purchasing a Tamiya Touring Car(Short)Tuned Spring Set(Tamiya Part#53333), using blue springs in front and yellow in the back..I tried replacing the stock silver springs with regular length Tamiya Touring Car Tuned Springs, but to get the ride height down low enough, the preload tension on the springs is too tight to be efficient..I've added spacers(6mm worth)inside the shocks to decrease the up travel and will adjust more once the new springs are installed..
I will also be replacing the stock radials with Tamiya Type A 60D Slicks(Tamiya Part #53222)..I'll be purchasing a new set of rims to mount them on because this way I will also have a couple of sets of tires/wheels to play with..Either set-up wise(radial at one end..slicks at the other) or just having a spare set for the street..
Although I have finished building this car(pretty much), I now get to tear the whole thing (or most of it) apart because the other hop-up I will be adding is a Tamiya TA03 Ball Diff (Tamiya Part # 53267)...It allows for better tuning of your drive according to track conditions..You can loosen it to make your car less punchy and less likely to incurr wheel spin out of the corners..The diff spins as apposed to the tires(sort of!!)..Or, if you want more punch you tighten it..Of course this is a pretty general description and these adjustments may be very minute but you get the idea of the benifits of a ball diff as apposed to a gear diff which isn't adjustable at all..
A lot of time and effort went into this paint job..Because of my British heritage I wanted to definitely use the Union Flag on this car(a definite Mini classic)
So off I went to the Hobby Store and bought myself a blank sheet of XXX Main vinyl...I printed a pic of this flag and when I was happy with the size I taped it to a window (house window!!) and taped my vinyl sheet over that..I carefully (with a ruler) traced the lines of the flag with pen on the vinyl until my pattern was complete..
Because of the alignment I found it easier to place the vinyl mask on the inside roof of the car and cut it out as I went..Just be careful not to cut too deep..The last thing you want to do is cut through the Lexan of the body..
. Before doing the first color I would reccommend that you tape over the "flag" lines so that you don't cover them with any other colors..First color is the black(darkest first)...Everything else gets masked off and two or three coats of black should do fine..I tend to overdo my coats a little bit and because of this I find that the masking doesn't come off cleanly because the paint is thicker than the masking..I'm still learning but next body I'll be trying to cut down on my coats..
The next color I did was the blue..I was a little concerned picking between blue and red as my second color choice but figured blue would be considered the darker color..Because I was concerned I took an additonal precaution and painted over the blue with a coat of white before continuing on with the red.. After the red is done its just a matter of removing the remaining tape/vinyl(except the windows) and blasting the whole car in white..
The mirrors were white and to get a realistic two-tone effect to them I just used a brush and followed the lines freehand with black..
A little tip for getting your flag lines to co-ordinate with your roof lines...Cut the outside edge of the flag according to the lines on the outside rim of the roof and continue your straight flag line out so that they meet this edge..This makes for a nice fit to the actual shape of the roof rather than two different shapes(the roof line and flag outline)..
I also attempted to make a custom logo on the rear window..I used my XXX Main custom masking for the "Ontario Racing" part and did a little bit of freehand taping/masking for the "RC"..The result was close to what I wanted but not quite..I'm considering added some tinted windows to make it stand out a bit more and also to add a little realism to the body itself..I will update pics of that as I get it done..
Race Day;
As promised I am now updating this review with the race ready pics and thoughts on my M03L chassis..
Hop-Ups..I have added the Manta Ray Ball Diff(part#50676)..The instructions say to only use rubber O-Rings in the ballcups if you are using universals..Forget that and add them anyways..This diff is designed for the Manta Ray and the instructions are reffering to that chassis..The drive cups in the diff will slip out if you don't use O-Rings to help keep them in place..I had heard of guys talking about the diff coming loose but with three qualifiers and a main it never happened to me..Tighten the diff right down when installing the diff..I attempted to loosen it just a bit and it had too much slip..My only beef is that it takes 1/2 hour to adjust the diff..You have to pull the car apart and remove it..Tighten it right down and you should be fine..
Tamiya Slicks and the Short Spring Set were the other necessary hop-up to making this car competitive..The slicks were great..I used a little traction compound on the rears to compensate for a loose on power condition..On Power down the straight the back end wanted to come out..I also adjusted the front toe(1 degree out)to help with the loose condition..Once again referring to my XXX Main/Martin Crisp set-up guide..
The first adjustment I made was to the springs..I started with the yellows in the back and had to switch to the softer reds..So my set-up ended up being front blues and rear reds..It worked great and the spring switch made a huge difference to the handling of the car.
Tom Wright of Tamiya Canada(Borgfeldt) was watching my qualifiers and approached me with some appreciated advice...To help my loose condition even more I will be replacing the rear uprights with the 2 degree toe-in set...A cheap upgrade and it will enable me to reduce some of the toe out I had to have in the front which helped with the loose rear condition but also added drag and slowed me down..
Note: I've now added the toe-in uprights(Tamiya Part #53345)..Looking forward to testing it out at Toronto R/C Raceway TCS race next weekend(February 16th)
The Tinting..I went to my local Canadian Tire and purchased some 35% tint..Do yourself a favour and get the 5% the first time..A lesson learned for me..
I attempted to follow the instructions...Then I improvised..This tint is hard to work with..I applied it to the inside(dry?)..Then after that wasn't working I used some Windex as "lube" for the tint film..Applied the windex to the window and left it there..Put the tint in place and squeezed out the windex lube...Worked OK on a side window but the curve of the front window made it almost impossible to use...
The final cure??..Apply this stuff to the outside of the body whenever possible..It works so much better..Cut it to shape(a little bigger than the window and then smooth it on from one side to the other..Trim off the excess and you have a great looking finish...THe back window had to be done on the inside because of the R/C "O" logo but the rest is done on the outside of the body..Looks great eh..And I got tons more for the next kit..Some clubs don't allow for window tints..Its not ROAR legal but if it comes to it I can always tear it off..It is however legal in TCS and thats all that matters for this car..
How did it race??...It was awesome..After some adjustments this car was dialed..I raced it in Kingston at Leading Edge Hobbies..These guys have a huge M-Chassis class and I didn't expect to accomplish anything there aside from havin' fun...I won all of my qualifiers and was chasing the A-Main all day..Just seconds off the pace..I ended up qualifying 2nd in the B-Main and thats where I finished my main..I owe it all to the great design of this chassis which improves on the MO3 simply by adding length..I'd also like to give credit to the guys at Tamiya USA for a great article on setting up this chassis and to the guys at Leading Edge for some pre-race tips about their home track...As usual Tom Wright is always available and very helpful...This is why TCS'n in canada is becoming so popular..Join in the fun...See how your new mini stacks up against The R/C Guy..