Mini 4WD Tips
These are just some ramblings from stuff that I have either read, been
told or experienced. All tips are to be considered as-is and represent
my current pool of knowledge on the subject at the time of writing, as
little as that may be. Hopefully they will be of use to you and an aid
to help you edge out the competition in your local area! I'm not gonna
prune the tips so a tip further down the chain my contradict or just be
better than a tip added earlier. If you would like to have a tip added,
mail it to me.
Tip #1
In the days of old when the MachDash was the fastest motor, to gain
speed one had to really consider every component of the car in regard to
its weight. However, with a plasma or jet motor and a good set of fully
charged batteries, speed will not be the first problem you will encounter.
It will be stability.
Tip #2
If you have the standard set of stuff for your car and it keeps flipping
off, go buy some spacers (found in Screw Set A) and use them to elevate
whatever roller set you have in the front and back of your car. Be careful
not to make them too high without proper support or if you do run into
something, you can bend (if on aluminum) or break (if on plastic) the mounting
bracket. This will lower your center of gravity and thus make your car
more stable.
When addressing this type of problem, the rear should be placed higher
(thus making it more stable) than the front because when the front contacts
the wall it can, depending on the previous turn, slam the rear of the car
into the wall and potentially flip out.
Tip #3
Sometimes messing with a single or group of weights from one of the
weight sets can be a hassle. Next time try putting back on your rubber
stock tires in place of those reston or sponge. The difference in weight
may just be what you need to keep your car stable.
Tip #4
If you use the stabilizing poles with the white rollers on top and
are still having problems with stability, put the grey rubber wrap around
it (perfect fit). Some may say this creates friction, but that is the point.
When this pole/roller set is actually touching the wall, that means your
car is out of control and practically up on its side! At a time like that
you want the friction to slow you down and put all four wheels back on
the track.
Tip #5
If you use the stabilizing poles with the round ball on top, those
need to be bent at a 45 degree angle and aligned so they just barely are
NOT in contact with the wall on a straight. The closer the better but you
don't want them to touch the wall. This is probably a better solution than
Tip #3 because 1.) most rules don't have a limit on stabilizing poles but
they do have on rollers, 2.) when bent and properly aligned, your car will
wobble less than with an ordinary upright pole with or without the rollers,
3.) they look much cooler.
After one or two uses with this type of setting, your poles will no
longer be secured in their bracket thus losing their effectiveness. You
will need to get some glue or something to hold them in place.
Tip #6
The stabilizing poles are very versatile. If can bend one about 90
degrees you can put it on the middle of your rear stay, upside down. It
should just be off the ground so that if the front of the car rises, the
round end of the pole strikes the ground forcing the car back down. Cheap
and easy wheelie bar.
Tip #7
I wasn't aware of this for a long time, so maybe there are others out
there... but did you know that the round ball on top of the stabilizing
pole set comes off? You can easily slip the ball off, put a roller on with
some mechanism to hold it in place and then cap the round ball back on
top. I have used a small aluminum spacer and some locktite to keep the
roller from sliding up. Perfect for the front of a car if you don't have
the extra cash to buy the short pole and roller set.
Tip #8
If your wheels don't stay on, the best long term solution is to buy
new ones. The other short-term solutions such as glue, locktite, and tape
will only get you through, as the name implies, for a very short time.
Glue as the absolute last resort and then the tape. Never use the locktite
as it should never be applied to any plastic component because, for lack
of a better word, it eats it.
Tip #9
Those colored aluminum plates sure are slick to look at, but if you
ever crash your car and have either an elevated roller or some sort of
stabilizing pole setup, you had better check them before your next run
because at the speeds these cars get, they bend easily and then they can
really suck.
Tip #10
Not all stock motors are created equal. In turn, put each of your stock
motors in the same car with the same batteries and just listen to the difference.
So far, I have found 3 distinct speeds for my batch of 8 stock motors.
Tip #11
This may sound stupid, but if your car runs in the top 3, don't make
any drastic changes or you may end up running in the bottom 3. At that
level, subtle changes will make all the difference.
Tip #12
The Jet, Plasma and Ultra motors are real enticing, but unless you
also plan on purchasing a good set of NiCd or NiMh batteries, buy the Mach
Dash instead. The first 3 motors will kill normal batteries quickly whereas
the Mach Dash will run quicker and much longer making it the motor of choice
for Alkalines.
Tip #13
Another way to increase the stability of your car during curves (and
who flies off in a straight!) is to use the Aluminum Down-Thrust add-on.
If it still flies off after you put it on your car, try bending both swivel
arms upward a bit so that it puts even more of a down-thrust on the front
of the car.
Tip #14
From Paolo Doplon, if your car flies off the track over the cross-over
lane change, try putting the rear-brake and sliding dampener on your car
and make sure the brakes are just a hairline off the ground so they will
grab the track as they hit the incline and will slow the car down.
Tip #15
6/22/2000 - Batteries are the life-line of your car. They must have
enough capacity to last (hopefully) several races and have high voltage
to turn the motor fast. Batteries Plus, a retailer in the U.S., have a
set of NiMh batteries that are 1500 mah with a voltage of 1.25 (just like
NiCd!). These batteries have the high capacity of a NiMh and the voltage
of a NiCd. As of today, 6/22/2000, they rock.
Tip #16
6/22/2000 - Angle is an important factor for your rollers, especially
the front rollers. There are several things you can do to increase the
angle, but one that I found worth using was to get a large file, and file
at an angle (obviously!) across both screw mounts on the front bumper.
Another, not so permenant solution is to cut some of the plastic spacers
you get with some of the upgrades at an angle and mount your roller or
frp/alum plate on them.
Tip #17
6/23/2000 - Battery Life. In theor, two 1500 mah batteries could sustain
a 4000 mah motor (plasma/jet/ultra) for at best, around 40 minutes. On
the other hand, two 1500 mah batteries could sustain a 1900 mah motor (mach)
for around 90 minutes. Big difference.
Tip #18
6/23/2000 - Motors! I'm not sure if I've mentioned this enough, but
the Mach Dash motor is awesome and I use it much more often than the Jet/Ultra/Plasma.
Everyone wants to know why so here it is! #17 supports why, but basically,
the mach dash will run faster for a longer period of time than the other
motors.
Tip #19
6/23/2000 - From Arnel Almaden: You can make your car run faster, but
it has the tendency to fly off the track. One way to cure this is to use
the FRP Mount Plate as front and rear brakes. You can mount them below
the front screw mounts, it must be bearly touching the ground, as for the
rear you can mount it on the rear plate, just like the rear skids.
Tip #20
6/23/2000 - Also from Arnel Almaden: Another way to increase the motors
speed is by using WD 40. Make use of an old container and fill it with
with WD 40, just enough to dip the engine. Dip the engine, clean it and
wipe off the excess lubricant. It will run faster, but as with fast motors
the brush tends to wear down faster. The best engine to do this is the
Jet Dash engine.
Tip #21
6/28/2000 - People who are promoting the small wheel in front with
large in back setups, including myself, are all wrong that it increase
the acceleration. What it does is it makes your car appear 4 wheel drive
to the race coordinator when in reality the rear, larger tires are ALWAYS
pushing the front, smaller tires making it essentially 2 wheel drive.
Tip #22
7/14/2000 - Primarily use narrow tires instead of the wide tires on
both the front and the back. They have less drag on your car thus making
it go faster. The only reason to use a wide tire is if your car is unstable
and just wont stay on the track.
Tip #232
7/31/2000 - This tip only works for cars with the shorter wheel base
(not Super-X), but if your wheels keep failing off and you don't want to
use messy glue, drill a tiny hole through the hole where the axle fits.
It must go completely through and be very small. Then instead of the normal
length axles, use the Super-X style axles and push them through the normal
axle fitted slot and into the new drilled hole. It will poke out some on
the other side but it will create a very snug fit and the wheel will not
come off.
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