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Old 2010.11.21, 09:31 PM   #1
mdowney
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Are aftermarket chassis dead?

I'm new to Mini-Z and the micro scale but I'm really excited about it. I've been digging around the various Mini-Z retailer sites and noticing that the Serpent 1/24 is the only alternate chassis kit that anyone still carries. There's a banner ad on this site for a MRCG1.1 but when you click it the product is out-of-stock and seems as if it's actually discontinued.

Are the Kyosho alternatives: 1) so popular that they're sold out everywhere, 2) not popular any more and effectively dead, or 3) a sign that this entire scale is dying?

I'm a huge fan of Kyosho and really excited about Mini-Z (we're buying a ton of cars and equipment to set up a racing club at my work and at one of our conferences next year).

Just wondering what the state of the market is. Growing, flat, or losing steam?

Last edited by mdowney; 2010.11.21 at 09:34 PM.
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Old 2010.11.21, 09:35 PM   #2
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IMO i think its because times are hard and thats a very expensive class to race in
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Old 2010.11.21, 10:00 PM   #3
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The market always moves up and down pretty quickly. In the summer/fall its usually pretty slow, but as it gets cold, it picks up.

One reason why you see aftermarket chassis come and go, is that they are produced in smaller production numbers. When they are gone, they may produce another run, but it has to be justified by the interest of the racers. The Kyosho cars are good, so the aftermarket chassis has to offer more at a similar price to compete. What Kyosho has going for it with the Mini-Z, is simplicity. Most parts are bolt on, and adjustments are easy to make. Plus there is a lot of aftermarket support for the Mini-Z. You can look as the Mini-Z as the foundation, and all the aftermarket companies expand on the foundation and build up 70% of the car with their parts.

There are many racers that never go on this forum. I think only 1/3 of the racers that I race with come on to the forums... We have 4 Mini-Z tracks within an hour drive from Manhattan.

Being that this is a hobby, when times get tough, this is one of the first things that are cut from the budget. Its a good thing that it is relatively cheap if you take the right approach. But can be just as expensive as larger scales if you dont watch the budget and get everything that is available.
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Old 2010.11.21, 10:04 PM   #4
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i jus got back from INSIDE LINE RACING in san jose....Sat night club race... 36 entrys 9 heats....there may not be much going on on this forum as of late... as the PNWC is now over... but mini-z racing is ALIVE and BIGGER than it has been in the short 4 years that i have been in it! i love mini-z
as for the aftermarket chassis...you can find the mrcg here:
http://www.kenonhobby.com/Greysacle-...n_p_40812.html
and u can find the p28 here:http://lajf.se/en/
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Old 2010.11.21, 11:16 PM   #5
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There are still a couple MRCG's in stock at Kenon, but for the rest of the distributors they were pretty popular and sold out fairly quickly. PN made a rush order for another batch because they were that hot for a time.

When the economy picks back up I'm sure there will be another wave of custom chassis coming out -- especially with the new PN Pan Car body allowing designers to get away from the Kyosho body mounting system, the chassis layouts can become a LOT more flexible and performance-optimized, rather than working around the Mini-Z front and side clips.
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Old 2010.11.22, 01:44 AM   #6
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Thanks! That's all very encouraging! I'm really starting to get into Mini-Z and have had a hard time judging how popular it was at the moment.

We are starting an employee Mini-Z racing club on our campus here in the Seattle area (Redmond) and if it takes off we may figure out a way to open it to the public.
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Old 2010.11.22, 02:32 AM   #7
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What ESC/motor combos can you use with the aftermarket chassis? Do you have to use the ESCs that the Mini-Zs use or are there other options? Would the Losi 1/36 brushless combo be a good choice? I assume the 1/18 combos like the Tekin and the Castle would be too big.
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Old 2010.11.22, 02:33 AM   #8
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WE have P28 instock for emediate delivery


www.lajfs.se
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Old 2010.11.22, 07:29 AM   #9
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i knew i'd see you around here eventually, mdowney...(contributed to your micro thread at rctech)

When our club went through its unlimited catagory, i had various MRCG's running and had a couple different esc's working on mine. The best motor, esc and receiver combo i had running was a Novak Spy micro decased, Spectrum 3500 receiver and PN anima...that and a little of quality setup and it was too fast for our track!



They are not so much dead as they are a very niche level of racer that these are marketed for....
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Old 2010.11.22, 02:27 PM   #10
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Another ESC you can use is the Tekin B1R decased ofcource, make sure that you shrinktube the connectors in it. We have for years run the Xray 300R decased.

For servos the Futaba S3114 for the Kyosho boards and the Futaba S3154 for the other ESC's, for the receiver spektrum DSM micro decased. S3114 for Kyosho as you need to rip the servo internal board out.

I also recommend the Kyoshos 2,4Ghz boards, with or without the usual fet-treatment to cope with any motor.
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Old 2010.11.22, 02:34 PM   #11
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i simply run a ko 2.4 board on my mrcg... same as in the miniz... i am currently trying to find a small enough digital servo to take advantage of the new 03 board... keeps things very simple and very light...
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Old 2010.11.22, 02:51 PM   #12
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here is a pic....
Attached Images
File Type: jpg IMG00101-20100102-1129.jpg (273.9 KB, 93 views)
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Old 2010.11.22, 06:02 PM   #13
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Very interesting! I'm going to order a P28 and an MRCG just to tinker with. I love the idea. I'll stick with Mini-Zs for racing but I love building custom stuff for fun.

I didn't know Futaba made a servo specifically for Mini-Z. Is it worth replacing the stock servos in the MR-03 with the Futaba?
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Old 2010.11.22, 07:01 PM   #14
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Originally Posted by mdowney View Post
Very interesting! I'm going to order a P28 and an MRCG just to tinker with. I love the idea. I'll stick with Mini-Zs for racing but I love building custom stuff for fun.

I didn't know Futaba made a servo specifically for Mini-Z. Is it worth replacing the stock servos in the MR-03 with the Futaba?
Futaba does not make a servo for kyosho miniz.
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Old 2010.11.22, 07:42 PM   #15
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As said above, Futaba does not make a servo for the Mini-Z. The servo is integrated in the chassis, and driven by the Mini-Z circuit board. In the case of the P28 and MRCG, when using the Mini-Z electronics, they use the case/motor and gears of the Futaba servo, but are driven off the Mini-Z circuit board.

If you ever want to use high end electronics on the Mini-Z, you would need a receiver, speed controller and servo controller (wired to the integrated servo motor and potentiometer).

Hope this info helps...
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