Any Mini-Z People?

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Jiggs H

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Arrma RC's
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I know I could have went on RC Talk for this but I like you Arrma people so I'm just going to drop this here. I'm looking at getting into the Kyosho Mini-Zs and it looks quite intimidating (not only the high initial cost) and I was curious if any of you used them and what a good start with them would be. Being still pretty new to the RC hobby in general I'm doing more daydreaming and window shopping than actually picking things up at this point, and I have a lot on my wishlist ahead of Mini-Zs but the fact is I'm quite curious!
 
I'm not an expert: I just got into Min-Z about three months ago, but I'm learning. I have two Min-Zs: a Readyset and an EVO. The most popular Mini-Z is the Readyset MR03, a RWD vehicle. Many folks race them in the "box stock" class, which is basically out of the box with a few modifications (based on what your local track allows). The Readysets are brushed, and the EVOs are brushless. The EVOs must be run in a super stock or unlimited class, again depending on your local track.

If you have any more questions, feel free to PM me.
 
Mini Z's look killer and are a bit pricey, but the detail is top notch. I keep thinking about it but haven't pulled the trigger yet. They have a great variety from street to off road. I think performance wise the off road stuff looks great but not as capable as the SCX24's and others. They only thing stopping me from their street cars is I don't have anywhere smooth to run them.
 
Mini Z's look killer and are a bit pricey, but the detail is top notch. I keep thinking about it but haven't pulled the trigger yet. They have a great variety from street to off road. I think performance wise the off road stuff looks great but not as capable as the SCX24's and others. They only thing stopping me from their street cars is I don't have anywhere smooth to run them.
I'm a bit the opposite when it comes to having room to run them, my wife insisted on renting the house with the large bedrooms vs large living room, so we have this big open space in the master that has no furniture or any other purpose, with hard wood floors - really tempting me with this cold wet weather we've been having.

I have an SCX24 so I don't think I'll go into the Mini Z crawlers, but the street ones do look epic so I'll certainly be getting one eventually. Even if eventually turns into months from now or even next year lol. It gonn'happen.
 
I've been running mini-z's for almost a year now I think. I have three, all are just readyset MR03's with minimal mods. Mainly just wheels, tires, and PN pinion gears. We run laps and race for fun on a pretty nice track in a guy's shop building. You don't have to go nuts with mods, the tires make the biggest difference along with proper gearing (we use the PN pinion gears because they run smoother and quieter). Where you run will have an impact on durability. We mainly run on RCP track which has foam walls so when you hit them they don't typically cause any breakage. The main thing we break is bodies after enough time t-boning another car but the bodies can be repaired pretty easily.

The regular readyset cars have a noticeable downfall in that the steering has poor resolution...it has obvious steps of movement when steering. I sometimes drive someone's evo and kinda hate doing it because it spoils me...it's so much nicer to drive as the evo mostly does away with that notchy steering feel. That said, you can be pretty fast with a readyset as I've raced against evo's and been faster, but it's harder to be consistent. One day I'll get an evo maybe but when I do I have a feeling I won't want to run the readyset cars any more.
 
I have wanted to get mini-zs for about a year, but haven't yet. I wanted one of the lamborghini bodies, but they are $120 each and after adding the price for an evo chassis, remote + receiver, and any other necessary parts, the price adds up. I also have no local mini z club or anybody to race against.
 
I've been running mini-z's for almost a year now I think. I have three, all are just readyset MR03's with minimal mods. Mainly just wheels, tires, and PN pinion gears. We run laps and race for fun on a pretty nice track in a guy's shop building. You don't have to go nuts with mods, the tires make the biggest difference along with proper gearing (we use the PN pinion gears because they run smoother and quieter). Where you run will have an impact on durability. We mainly run on RCP track which has foam walls so when you hit them they don't typically cause any breakage. The main thing we break is bodies after enough time t-boning another car but the bodies can be repaired pretty easily.

The regular readyset cars have a noticeable downfall in that the steering has poor resolution...it has obvious steps of movement when steering. I sometimes drive someone's evo and kinda hate doing it because it spoils me...it's so much nicer to drive as the evo mostly does away with that notchy steering feel. That said, you can be pretty fast with a readyset as I've raced against evo's and been faster, but it's harder to be consistent. One day I'll get an evo maybe but when I do I have a feeling I won't want to run the readyset cars any more.
Everything I've found for beginners says to get the MR03, but I can't stop looking at the Readyset Civic Type R body on the MA-020 AWD, chiming in at almost 200 bucks it certainly isn't the cheapest model to enter the hobby, but I think the scale looks and the fact I'm more interested in drifting than racing might push me to pick that one up eventually. I'm not sure how new it is, maybe the price will drop some before I can afford to pick one up. Also having never driven one I want to check out one of the local places here and do some test driving to see if I'll enjoy it as much as I have a feeling I will. We have one place that is all mini Z all the time, and a few LHS that have them for test drive on little tracks in their stores so I'll have LHS support for sure
I have wanted to get mini-zs for about a year, but haven't yet. I wanted one of the lamborghini bodies, but they are $120 each and after adding the price for an evo chassis, remote + receiver, and any other necessary parts, the price adds up. I also have no local mini z club or anybody to race against.
Yeah its tough I think once you identify a body you really want, and it doesn't fit into the "budget" category. I drive a 2011 Honda Fit Sport and I thought it'd be funny if I had that body for my Mini Z and sure enough there are a few on eBay. mostly white and red, and I've seen one gray (which is the color of mine). I figure that Civic Type R looks well enough to get in, then if I go all in I'll eventually pickup one of the Fit Bodies to play with :D 💸 💸
 
Yeah its tough I think once you identify a body you really want, and it doesn't fit into the "budget" category. I drive a 2011 Honda Fit Sport and I thought it'd be funny if I had that body for my Mini Z and sure enough there are a few on eBay. mostly white and red, and I've seen one gray (which is the color of mine). I figure that Civic Type R looks well enough to get in, then if I go all in I'll eventually pickup one of the Fit Bodies to play with :D 💸 💸
I found a mini-z body in a non-local HS that was a only 10,000 made body. I don't even remember what the body was. It was $200.
 
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