Got myself a Mini-Z!!

[ND4SPDR2002]

I bought a blue Kyosho Dodge Viper GTS Mini-Z today! I'm still trying to get it to go in a straight line on a hardwood floor :-P Really fun to drive, if not a tad difficult. Pics soon!

EDIT: Just burned through some Alkaline AAA's. SO much fun. I was driving it down my wooden hallway for over half an hour, chasing my cat and avoiding her attacks. Then I took it outside and drove it around the pavement and sidewalk. I'm kind of nervous about driving it on rough surfaces because of the gear that drives the wheels being so close to the ground. Charging up some NiMh's, should be ready tomorrow. Anyways, the traction on wood ain't too great, but the drifting is REALLY fun. On asphalt and sidewalk, it seems "slower," but its still quite fast for such a small car. Do I have to upgrade anything if I want to drop in the fast motor? And are there any other hop-ups you would reccomend?

[Paradoxx2k]

your tempting me, i might have to get one of those <img src=http://www.nepthys.com/i/emoticons/set01/happy.gif ALT=":D"> ...

ooooooh! my living room has a wood floor perfect for a track!! im gonna get a mini z when i have the money and fall time rolls around here.

[Zippy Pede]

You dont need to upgrade anything to drop in a faster motor but you should get those guys on ebay to do the turbo esc mod to it. Costs like 30 but your esc is stronger and wont burn out quickly.

To pede or not to pede?...uhh what was the question?

[STAMPEDEGUY]

mini - Z's look kool and all but are super slow
for the money get something with some speed !

( just the way i feel ) ,.,,,, but they would be cool if they came out with a monster truck mini z !! sweet !

Stampedeguy !

[The JANG]

Slow? <img src=http://www.nepthys.com/i/emoticons/set01/eek.gif ALT=":eek"> I'll tell ya what's slow, a stock Micro RS4, which is gonna cost ya 2x to 3x as much!

[ND4SPDR2002]

Monster truck Mini-Z you say...

www.marcweb.net/images/mi...nster5.jpg (http://www.marcweb.net/images/miniz_monster5.jpg)

...this little guy is from
zsfuture.com/miniz/index.html (http://zsfuture.com/miniz/index.html)

Oh, and my stock Mini-Z is REALLY fast...well, hard to tell its true speed, probably 7-10 mph stock, but try driving something like a Rustler inside a house.

[Zippy Pede]

Try a Tam Tech in a house humada humada Its the elder to the mini Z but does 30's stock and is mini Z size <img src=http://www.nepthys.com/i/emoticons/set01/eek.gif ALT=":eek"> Ya Ya Jang I know not everything has to be fast to be fun(as is the case of my Tomy caterpillar <img src=http://www.nepthys.com/i/emoticons/set01/happy.gif ALT=":D"> ) But when you drive a 1/25 at 30 on foams your eyes dont shut for a while :lol:
Hey anybody have a lithium charger?

To pede or not to pede?...uhh what was the question?

[ND4SPDR2002]

30 mph? Wow... Been overloaded with homework and networking, should be able to post pics tomorrow.

[madrustler]

i'v got a mini-z there great fun for those rainy days (i live in england so theres alot of them) the only mods i'v done is a carbon fiber H bar the plastic one isn't up to much, don't drive it without ure shell on cos if u hit something with the front wheels the servo gears have a tendance to shed there teeth. Nimh's are a great and relativly cheap upgrade, well worth it!

[Zippy Pede]

Most definetly! The nihms dont give you a noticeable speed drop and they give you near an hour of run time. <img src=http://www.nepthys.com/i/emoticons/set01/happy.gif ALT=":D"> I'm on a quest for lithium batteries and a charger for my tamtech as it is siitting in a bag due to no batt.

To pede or not to pede?...uhh what was the question?

[forolkin2]

I liked that monster mini-Z. What I would like to see is a buggy/stadium truck version of the mini-z.
Time to start to think how to rebuild it.
Any idees?

Mvh Jens

[Zippy Pede]

Ya Tamiya makes small kits called Mini 4WD cars and trucks that are built for track racing but they are the same size as a Z so you should be able to get some nice bodies from them and the rims and wheels "should" fit(if not a little modding would do it) I have a couple of these cars and it looks easy enough to make parts fit the miniZ. And its not a big investment as they are $10 a piece. G/L

To pede or not to pede?...uhh what was the question?

[ND4SPDR2002]

Yo tengo un pregunta. (I have a question) Anybody that owns a Mini-Z, when I'm driving it, usually at full speed, the car will twitch ever so slightly to either side and fly into a wall (as a minor twitch for a car going that fast that small is NOT a small twitch). This happens a lot on my hardwood hallway. Any suggestions?

[SuperStampede1]

Hey Zippy want to race tamiya mini 4s. I got a new moter and ball bearings and now mine is even faster than yours!

[ND4SPDR2002]

Just dropped in my NiMh's (they were charging) and, WOAH! I got used to the slugggish speed provided by Alkaline's, and the first time driving I managed to roll it at 1/4 throttle. I took it outside, rolled it about a thousand times, and then tried my "run-down-the-driveway-at-full speed-and-turn-hopefully-not-breaking-anything" trick. I rolled it repeatedly into the street. I try it one last time, and, once again, turn too early, smashing into the stairs. Put a nice scratch in the body (which flew off)and rolled the car into the street. Broke the right body mount, and the car acquired new patches of missing paint. Extremely fun though. Now I'm waiting for the SuperGlue to dry. Pictures should be up later today; I took a few last night.

EDIT: Here are the hop-ups I intend to buy once I get sick of driving this thing stock:

Kyosho Clear Ch~~~is
Megatech Damper/Spring set
Kyosho X-Speed motor
Mercedes CLK Warsteiner Body Set (includes wheels)
Blue Wheel Nuts

First priority is the ch~~~is and wheel nuts, followed by the damper/spring set and body set. Last is the motor, as I like the long running time and don't want to shorten it right now as the new motor would.

EDIT 2: My car just had an episode of SRCDS (Sudden R/C Death syndrome). I took the entire thing apart and discovered the culprit: loose battery leads under the board. I'm running again now, hopefully without incident.

[ND4SPDR2002]

Here's what I just ordered off Tower's website:

Clear Ch~~~is
www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi...LXVX69&P=7 (http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p.pgm?Q=1&I=LXVX69&P=7) $15.49

Wheel Nuts (Blue alum. anodized)
www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi...LXXG53&P=7 (http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p.pgm?Q=1&I=LXXG53&P=7) $7.79

Body Set (Toyota Altezza)
www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi...LXAGZ5&P=7 (http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p.pgm?Q=1&I=LXAGZ5&P=7) $19.99

Megatech Spring/Damper Set (purple anodized)
www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi...LXATU3&P=7 (http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p.pgm?Q=1&I=LXATU3&P=7) $22.99

Can't wait 'till the stuff gets here!

EDIT: Just found this pic, and thought everybody should see it:

www.marcweb.net/images/woahminiz.jpg (http://www.marcweb.net/images/woahminiz.jpg)

It does indeed belong to somebody, but I'll have to find the site first.

EDIT 2: (easier than adding a new post) I am really freaked out. Its about 90 degrees here in the Valley (Los Angeles) and I was driving my Z around. All of the sudden the motor starts making this really loud obnoxious screeching noise. The motor is WAY to hot to handle. I sprayed it with some air for a while, and it has cooled down now. Hopefully I didn't destroy the sucker. Maybe its time to invest in a heat sink cradle for the thing.

EDIT 3: Well, the motor is fine, but nevertheless my Z is out of commission until my parts get here. One of the wheel nuts is stripped, causing the left rear wheel to come out while driving, as well as scattering the parts on either side of the wheel. This also caused significant damage to the axle of the differential and some scratches on the T-Bar and motor mount. Oh well. Once I get my shiny new anodized (I hope they're aluminum, which they should be) wheel nuts, I should be back in business. How long does it take Tower to ship?

[ND4SPDR2002]

Okay, here are some old pics...I took these after about three battery "packs." The car is significantly more beat up now, and hop-ups are on the way.

Here's a picture of the car, body on.
www.marcweb.net/images/miniz1.jpg (http://www.marcweb.net/images/miniz1.jpg)

Here's a picture of the car, body off.
www.marcweb.net/images/marccar2cut.jpg (http://www.marcweb.net/images/marccar2cut.jpg)

Here's a picture of damage inflicted upon the body.
www.marcweb.net/images/marcar3cut.jpg (http://www.marcweb.net/images/marcar3cut.jpg)
...thats nothing compared to what it looks like now (I drive worse than a drunken weasel.)

And finally, the tire's get pretty worn pretty fast.
www.marcweb.net/images/ma...twheel.jpg (http://www.marcweb.net/images/marccar2cutwheel.jpg)
Notice the dent in the wheel (Ah! Mailbox! ::smash:: )
That little wheel nut is now stripped, meaning I can't drive.
The tires are now pretty shredded.

More pics as soon as the new parts get here.

[Zippy Pede]

Superpede1 remember back at camp the day my motor died(the black one) well since the I havent really bothered with it caus e the only other motor I have is the orque tuned and that really doesnt have much speed. Also I have no track so its pointless to race :p I just put em on a shelf cause they look kew.

Edit: Nice thrashing there <img src=http://www.nepthys.com/i/emoticons/set01/happy.gif ALT=":D"> All those arts will look so sweet o and those 3 Z's that were destoyed do you know how that happened? Looks like somebody who was fed p with em and just torched em <img src=http://www.nepthys.com/i/emoticons/set01/evil.gif ALT=":evil"> kew though

To pede or not to pede?...uhh what was the question?

[ND4SPDR2002]

Arts? Hop-ups that don't do anything, I ~~~ume? Oh, and I think the image was done with Photoshop, but I can't be sure. Torching cars...heh, sounds like fun.

[ND4SPDR2002]

More pics! These are brand new! More on the way. Just want you all to see the car before is gets hopped-up!

EDIT: Fixed the links.

www.marcweb.net/images/Mini-Z%20003.jpg (http://www.marcweb.net/images/Mini-Z%20003.jpg)
One of the other two things that I spend at lot of time with besides the Mini-Z. The other is Vanessa, but we won't get into that. ;-)

www.marcweb.net/images/Mini-Z%20004.jpg (http://www.marcweb.net/images/Mini-Z%20004.jpg)
Some more damage. Not a very good picture, but pretty mcuh the best close-up my camera can muster.

www.marcweb.net/images/Mini-Z%20002.jpg (http://www.marcweb.net/images/Mini-Z%20002.jpg)
Damage to the front of the car. I'll post an overhead pic later. That's where you can really see what happens when Marcus drives a car.

By the way, that antenna is indeed broken (it's about half-size now). Kind of ironic, I've never broken an antenna before.