IW Saleen S7 Body Review - Mini-ZRacer.com Forums

DogbreathRacing · 2006.02.04, 05:52 AM

Through a series of cryptic messages, and a couple of black ops covert operations with a Canadian contact of mine, codename: Machine, I was able to get my hands on a couple of these amazing Iwaver bodies.

Several things I observed need some attention, thus this review. (theres pics at the end of this)

The body, made by Iwaver is designed to fit the IW02 and Kyosho MR02 98mm midmount (MM) chassis.
On the Iwaver chassis it is a direct fit, but not so on the Kyosho MR02 chassis. The problem, and a very small problem at that, is that the Iwaver uses rear wheels with a -1 offset. So when mounted on the Kyosho chassis with 0 offset rear wheels, the tires sit right at the fender edge. This can hamper rear suspension movement, and can even scrub the tires resulting in lower speeds and added battery drain. The fix is very simple, you can either enlarge the rear fender slightly with a dremel to allow suspension movement....or....buy a set of -1 offset wheels (my preffered solution). The fronts fit well with 0 offset wheels which come with either the Iwaver or Kyosho cars.
What I actually did was to order a set of Tocad five spoke alloys with -.5 fronts (Just to tuck them in a hair more...I hate broken front end parts from smackin' the wall) and -1 rears, these should fit perfect. Atomic also makes the disc wheels in various offsets, a set of these in the proper offset would also look good, especially in chrome.

The second thing I noticed is that the body is molded in one piece, there is no seperate body and glass panel. The whole thing is molded in a smokey gray plastic, then the body color, trim, and details are painted on the outside. This body also features several vents and scoops that are molded clear through the body allowing alot of airflow through the body, this would normally make a weak point in the body, but after my test runs so far this hasn't been a problem. The body hugs the chassis tighter than any other body I have ever seen. It is low and snug and knocking this body off or loose will NOT be a problem. This snug fit plus the one piece construction makes the body very rigid and it doesn't have that clunky sound some Kyosho bodies have when you hit the wall or another car. These sound solid. The paint is pretty good though not as shiney as the Kyosho Autoscale bodies, the detail is good, but they could have done better than plain clear headlights (you can look right through them at the front wheels, but this may easily be fixed with either headlight decals or simply painting the inside of the headlight silver or white)

With the body as low as it is there is some rear damper fitment problems underneath. You can run a disc damper by itself, but not with a stock or alloy main damper in conjunction. You may also be able to run a stock or alloy main damper by itself but I have not test fitted that configuration yet. Removing the main damper and running just the disc system didn't change the handling much so I am pretty happy with it the way it is.

The mirrors are mounted high on the body and don't protrude from the sides so they are going to last a bit longer than the mirrors on some other bodies.

This Saleen S7 body also has a nice rounded front end (which I really like) that slides off the walls. Theres no sharp edges that might snag the walls and spin you out. This body is much more likely to glance off and keep going. That plus the balance of this body makes it stable and very very drivable.

Only hours on the track will tell for sure, but I think I just found a new "Favorite" race body. When I get the wheels here and get the car repainted I will post some new pics, but for now you are stuck with 'Stock" images.

Though a bit to dark for me to race, it is very scale and well detailed, like the real one. This one is mounted with IW narrow fronts and semi-wide rear wheels. Seven spoke wheels seem to be the wheels of choice on most of the real S7's I have seen.

It may have to get repainted to a race theme before it sees much track time.
Man, I want one of the real ones!!!!

These bodies are available through the on-line and this DOG recommends them!

will3kgt · 2006.02.04, 10:02 PM

Thanks for that info. I was wondering do you prefer the Mclaren body over the Saleen?

DogbreathRacing · 2006.02.04, 10:08 PM

I don't know, never ran a McLaren, I have a buddy who runs one and we can't get him to switch......

EnTg888 · 2006.02.05, 02:42 PM

Have you had any problems with the rear wheels being too far in the wheel wells? On my IW02 (New version) the rear wheels are about a milimeter from rubbing the wells and there is almost no suspension travel in the rear. Would a kyosho body be any different? Also, the body fits VERY tightly on the chassis, a little too tight... but i'll agree with you, this is a very nice and durable body. Should last a while.

DogbreathRacing · 2006.02.08, 10:53 AM

I don't think they make wide wheels in a offset that would set them in too far...

DogbreathRacing · 2006.02.19, 01:15 AM

The Blue Saleen body did turn out to be too dark for me to follow on the track (these old eye balls need something just a bit brighter) so I opted to add a lighter blue carbon fiber hood and rear wing, some blue "electric" side graphics, and sunscreen, and headlight decals. This was just enough to make the car stand out a bit on the track. While I was at it I added a set of 3Racing alloy wheels with blue accent color in the proper offsets (-0.5 fronts and -1 rears), a set of new GPM 8 degree AWD V-Grove radials, and an Atomic Medium FRP H-Plate. This made the car fit the body and it handles very well too!

I also bought an Atomic wing for it but the wing isn't quite what I wanted for this body, however when the car is ready for a race theme paint job, then I have a couple of wings that might work.....350Z wing, Supra wing, maybe a 575 GTC wing?

rharris · 2006.03.20, 01:19 PM

Where did you find the rims?

I found a store on ebay that sells them, but they didn't have the -.05 front offsets. The only thing they had was +.5 front and -.1 rear.

Thanks

DogbreathRacing · 2006.03.20, 01:30 PM

Check R C M A R T

rharris · 2006.03.21, 02:13 AM

Yea, I found them. I put an order in, and they want me to send them a scan of my drivers licence to verify my address.

I'm not too sure about that one. did they make you do that?

I'v got stuff from there e b a y account, but this is the first time I went strait to thiere web site.

DogbreathRacing · 2006.03.21, 02:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rharris

Yea, I found them. I put an order in, and they want me to send them a scan of my drivers licence to verify my address.

I'm not too sure about that one. did they make you do that?

I'v got stuff from there e b a y account, but this is the first time I went strait to thiere web site.

It's a one time verification, after the first then they don't ask again.
You can skip the verification if you pay through PayPal to a verified address.
If you do have to trnsmit a scan, leave the address info showing but cover the actual licence number for security.

They probably have the largest selection of Mini-Z parts anywhere.

shuter · 2006.04.07, 02:16 PM

Love the textured treatment and color contrast. COOOOOL!