I race Tamiya Mini 4WD cars.
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TYPE-3 and ZERO Chasses
Super TZ and TZ-X Chasses
I first encountered Tamiya Mini 4WD race cars in 1997 when I bought my first two kits from an Asian bazaar in Seattle: a Thunder Boomerang W10 and a Black Stalker (both Super TZ chasses). Although these were marketed as 1/32 scale cars, I read that they were actually 1/30 scale. I built the Thunder Boomerang, installed a Hyper Dash motor in it, played with it a few times, noticed how fast it was, and then stored it in its box until 2021, almost 24 years later. The batteries were still in the car. Not surprisingly, it didn't turn on. I changed the batteries, the car moved a couple of feet and then stopped. What was going on? I changed the motor and it did the same thing, moving a couple of feet and then stopping. Picking up the car, the wheels spun fast and made a high-pitched sound. It sounded normal to me, but I didn't have much to compare. Little did I know, the little cog-like part at the end of the motor axle - the pinion - was the problem. Notice the crack in the gear that shows up when I enlarge the photo? The actual size of the pinion is less than 5mm. The motor was spinning, but the pinion didn't turn much because it wasn't gripping the axle!
Some of the things you learn racing Mini 4WD cars parallels what you learn in life. When you drive real cars, you know that the fastest car doesn't always win races. Oftentimes, the car that wins is not the fastest, but one that can stay grounded around corners. The first two iterations of my Thunder Boomerang were the basic box stock build followed by a conservative set of add-ons for tuned class.
I added 17mm rollers with rubber rings and purple stabilizers up front and 19mm rollers with plastic rings and ball-race rollers in the rear. Adjustable mass damper weights were also added, two up front and four in the rear. I changed the gear from 4:1 to 3.7:1 and swapped the gear shaft for a fluorine coated gear shaft. The car is capable of handling a Light Dash motor, but a well-tuned Atomic Tuned motor can be faster than a Light Dash motor. Anything more would be too powerful for its specs. Aluminum wheels added some needed weigh to the rear of the vehicle. I crafted a new piece of tech - The "Dragon Tail" - and installed it in the rear of the car. The end result is Thor. Super X and XX Chasses
Super XX chassis cars (introduced in 2009) is the successor to the Super X and provides a stronger nose guard to cover the bumper up front, stronger body and side guards, and additional mounting points on the side guards. Its greatest strength is the abiity to swap out motors quickly. It's a heavy but stable chassis because of the additional armor. Like the Super X, every feature is pretty good, except its cornering ability.
The Phantom Blade Black Special stays on any track like it's on rails, but it's not going to be winning any races soon because it's slow as molasses right out of the box compared to other box stock cars. Still, it's an intriguing design worth checking out and a little more competitive as a tuned class car. Super II Chassis
The Shining Scorpion Premium and Kumamon Racer are speedy cars with the Shining Scorpion winning close battles due to its light weight (minus the side stay) and faster gear. Trust the Black Bear in highly technical courses and use heavier, longer-running rechargeables to keep the car hugging the track. To get a less rickety cowl, I reversed the tail.
The Kopen Future Limited XMZ looks like a MINI Cooper Convertible. It's wicked fast on technical tracks with its 4:1 gear and heavier body. Removing the cargo door in rear reduces the weight by 0.5 gram in the rear. The Neo Tri-Dagger ZMC Carbon Special has carbon everything, but it's a little disappointing in real-world speed tests.
The Astro Boomerang is a lightweight car that has a tendency to flip over easily, so I first transformed it into a cute little tuned class car to weigh it down properly and then upgraded it to an open class car with a more aggressive stance. Loki is the result. 4.2:1 gear ratio with a HyperDash motor giving 33km/hr monster speed with a ton of torque. AR Chassis
The Aero Avante is a cool-looking car that looks faster than it actually is. Its body is literally covered with stickers. It was especially challenging to line up all the stickers as many of them are adjacent to one another. I upgraded my Avante with the AR Basic Tune-Up Parts Set (green parts above). I also built an AR Speed Spec version of the Aero Avante (blue parts above). I used the AR Speed Spec version in the Tuned Class races on June 12, 2021. It's not that fast, but it stayed on the track.
The Flame Astute Red Metallic is not the be-all end-all box stock racer, but it sure is fast. Initial tests clocked in at 27 km/hr, but with the motor properly broken in after several races, it now tips the scales at 28 km/hr. Many of my tuned class cars are not as fast as this.
1g lighter than the Flame Astute Metallic, the Shadowshark's top speed is not as high as Phoenix, but it can make waves with Phoenix's engine. This car kit is ten years old and still has the potential to be a box stock killer. Blue Thunder is the Aero Avante Asia Challenge 2024 with a myriad of custom silver trim. MA and MS Chasses
Both the MA and MS chasses are on the heavier side, so you will need to factor this in when designing your next MA or MS car. Both use double-shaft Pro motors that contain additional torque over single-shaft motors. Personally, I feel MS chassis cars are terrible box stock racers, but very good open class racers.
The Festa Jaune (MA chassis) is a hot-looking yellow sportscar. It's one of my box-stock cars. I did a motor break-in to try to coax a little more speed from the stock motor. As a result, my Festa Jaune is faster than my son's Festa Jaune Black Special and he actually has better tires! The Exflowly (MS chassis) is another hot-looking car with a clear polycarbonate shell and a doube-shaft motor. You can see all of the innards of the car through its unpainted body. It's a terrible box stock car as it always flies off the track. It sure looks great on a bookshelf, though.
Slingshot is a best-in-class Shooting Proud Star Clear Blue Special (MA chassis). It's rock solid and fast due to its larger wheels and tires. CandyCane is another car similar to Slingshot with its huge tires and 4:1 gear ratio.
Midnight is the TRF-Racer Black Special. Sadly, due to its narrow width and small wheels, the car has issues staying on a track, so it might be relegated to my shelf display. Azure is too fast for its own good. With a 27k Venom-tuned motor, the car will fly off a lane changer... until I devised the MS box stock brake!
Tarantula is my first MA open class car. I built it to challenge myself to think outside the box and not rely on the usual chasses I'm already familiar with.
Scooby Doo was built completely from scratch using an MS Pro flex suspension chassis. A polycarbonate body sits on top of a back-to-front lantern body damper of my own design. The rear AT bumper is my custom Flexi-Plate design. Rounding out the specs are a 3.7:1 gear, HyperDash motor, carbon wheels, and custom sponge low-frix and superhard tires. Firefly sports the same great features as Scooby Doo but with the addition of a sliding front damper and front weights. It has a Flexi-Plate rear AT bumper, a 3.7:1 gear, a HyperDash motor, carbon wheels, and custom sponge low-frix and superhard tires. Originally, I was going to use a front-to-back lantern body damper, but it didn't work as well as the back-to-front design. Wasp is an MS Pro flex suspension car given to me as a gift by a fellow racer. I added matching rollers to the front and rear.
My son Matthew's Midnight tuned class car is based on his favorite chassis, MA. Although heavy, it's still a very fast car and rock solid due to the sliding damper up front. My son Brandon's Gazoo car is quick due to its lightweight polycarbonate body. FM-A Chassis
Medusa K4 has my standard single roller front/double-roller rear setup with mushroom car front heads and tapered ball-race rollers on the bottom rear. MadTang custom wheels with a combination low friction/super hard tires allow for less bounce on jumps and better cornering. Version 1 uses Tamiya tape to hold the cab together. I may rethink this for version 2. The Geo Glider Black Special is one of the fastest cars in box stock due to its carbon six-spoke wheels and low-frix arched tires. Unfortunately, the polycarbonate-reinforced chassis is its greatest asset and Achilles heel. I switched the chassis to a fluorescent one rendering it unusable for box stock.
Beast has the merit of being the very first FM-A chassis car. It sports a beautiful metallic blue Ford Mustang-like body. Its bulky weight adds to its stability and vibration control. Lighter cars beware! Scorpion also has a bulky body and is a favorite among FM-A racers who want to race something more robust than a Mach Frame. Shiva gives you the ability to race a bare FM-A chassis, since the polycarbonate cowl weighs next to nothing. On tracks without slopes, it is an unbeatable car.
You can't say enough about the Mach Frame, everybody's favorite box stock car. In one box stock race, nine out of 45 cars were Mach Frames. That should tell you how reliable and consistent the car is across tracks. The Mach Frame Black Special takes everything up a notch with its polycarbonate-reinforced chassis, but I personally feel it's a piece of crap because the front roller mounts can easily crack. The stiffer chassis ekes out another km/hr, but at the cost of being more fragile, even though the reinforced chassis is supposedly stronger. Weighed down in BMAX class, the Mach Frame is a monster. Don't push it too fast, though, as the car has a tendency to course out with motors above 34k. Dove is a very special car that weighs more than a typical box stock Mach Frame. Watch this video to learn how to turn your Mach Frame into a hulk! Some racing events might ban Dove even though it follows an acceptable interpretation of the Box Stock rules. In response to that, I offer this video to show you how to create the Spider-Man Mach Frame.
Venom 1.0 and 2.0 are my FM-A open class cars. They contain my best-practice technologies for both car catcher body dampers and carbon plate body dampers. Both have clocked in at 37 km/hr on Hyper Dash motors. VS and VZ Chasses
Although the VS chassis is an antiquated design, many racers feel this is an excellent chassis for competition as it has a narrow wheelbase for tight cornering.
Many animal racers were introduced with VS chasses. Unfortunately, as box stock racers, these animal racers leave a lot to be desired. Use them as a basis for your tuned or open class cars.
The VZ chassis (Neon Vicky, left) has several improvements over its older sibling, the VS chassis. The VS chassis (Firefly, right) can still compete favorably with the best of the modern chassis cars.
You can do no wrong with a VZ chassis. I built a VZ car made of all junk parts and it ended up being my fastest car at an unheard of 47 km/hr. The Dual Ridge is a very fast car that allows for quick modifications to its weight. Remove the tailfin and front faux springs to make it lighter and more solid. Reverse the front and rear rollers and you now have a battering ram up front.
The Dual Ridge is already pretty fast on its own, but with the lighter polycarbonate body of the Japan Cup 2021 version, this car wil fly around the track. Swap the front and rear rollers and you will have a very formidable vehicle that will cause plenty of vibrations behind it. The Super Avante Jr. gives you several configuration options with a removable engine cover, canopy, and tail to allow you to adjust the weight to a more front- or rear-heavy car.
Thunder Dragon is an ode to yesteryear and will spark plenty of conjecture and conversation with its controversial mid-roller mounting. The car is certainly shorter overall for more dramatic turns and its 4.2:1 gear ratio will certainly give other cars a run for their money on technical tracks, but its leaping ability is suspect. The POM 12-13mm rollers and spike tires are classic racer fan favorites. With a carbon plate up front and a triple carbon plate sandwich on the rear, Pango has solid aluminum rollers, 3.7:1 gear ratio, and 24mm tires and wheels to ensure good top speed and cornering speed. Front and rear sponge brakes enable this racer to negotiate inclines and lane changers safely.
Note: Weight (gms) is the weight of the car without batteries BX = box stock, TT = Torque Tuned, RT = Rev Tuned, AT = Atomic Tuned, LD = Light Dash, HDb/w = Hyper Dash black/white, MD = Mach Dash, SD = Sprint Dash, PD = Power Dash, UD = Ultra Dash AT(**) - 7/20/21 Battery weights in pairs, heaviest to lightest:
Wheel shaft weights, heaviest to lightest:
Join the MCBYTE East Coast Mini 4WD Team! We have some of the best East Coast Mini4WD racers on our team! Clare Din - Master of Innovation |
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TYPE-3 and ZERO chassis cars (introduced in 1989 and 1990, respectively) have seen a resurgence of interest lately with the reissue of the Dash-1 Emperor, Super Emperor, Dash-0 Horizon, and Great Emperor kits and the three Classic Tune-Up Parts Sets. TYPE-3 chasses are upgrades over TYPE-1 and TYPE-2 chasses (introduced in 1986 and 1988, respectively) and improved on acceleration ability. There were also TYPE-4 and TYPE-5 chasses (introduced in 1990 and 1992). TYPE-4 still had mediocre features. TYPE-5 improved on cornering ability. Most modern Mini 4WD racers will likely never attempt to seriously race one of these cars believing that it is simply not possible to transform these cars into formidable racing machines, but I have seen a carefully designed ZERO chassis car win a podium spot in a tuned class race. In my own experiments, I've made a tuned class ZERO chassis car beat its box stock 10-lap time on a Japan Cup Oval Circuit by more than 10 seconds. Never discount the classics! Just be careful about racing these cars long term. Their weak chasses will likely be badly damaged after their first crash. Note the very simple design with lack of rear roller stay. You need to purchase the rear roller stay as a tune-up part.
Super TZ chassis cars (introduced in 1996) are very good at cornering but are mediocre in all other areas. These cars can be considered "your grandparent's Mini 4WD cars" because they came out over 25 years ago. There are many opinions about the raceworthiness of Super TZ and TZ-X cars, but they're all just opinions. If you know how to design your TZ or TZ-X, you will find yourself with a very formidable racer. It might not last very long after you crash it up a few times, but it can give the newer chassis cars a run for their money if you take advantage of its feather lightness.
Replacing the pinion was easy and inexpensive. I bought a pack of carbon reinforced 8T pinion gears. The car now runs fine, although a bit slow, even with a Hyper-Dash motor. There's nothing wrong with the motor because I installed it in an Aero Avante and there are no issues with speed. My Thunder Boomerang wasn't very sturdy as parts would fly off upon impact. I learned that I could replace the chassis with a new version of it, the Super TZ-X. Many Mini 4WD racers love this classic design and seek out these antique cars. Unfortunately, it's not very easy to upgrade these classic chasses as the body or parts may need to be cut or modified to work with current parts. My practice run with it yielded unfortunate results. The car blew up on the track. Instead of retiring it a life on a bookshelf, I upgraded everything on it and now it is one of the most raceworthy cars in my collection.
Super X chassis cars (introduced in 1997) are classic racers your grandparents had. Every feature is pretty good, but its one potentially unforgiveable weakness is its cornering ability. This was the first chassis to use 72mm wheel shafts. The wide stance of the car means great stability, but that comes at the expense of cornering abiity. Think about how great a BMW or MINI is at cornering versus a typical wide American car. The ability to corner well is one of the keys to success in most Mini 4WD races.
Super II chassis cars (introduced in 2010) are beasts in cornering and acceleration, but have weak chasses and are known to be less stable than other chasses. If you are building a Super II car, replace any standard chassis with a polycarbonate ABS one. Add an EX Side Stay so you can mount side mass dampers. Sandwich the front bumper with a front roller stay and underguard plate to strengthen it. With a little ingenuity, you can have a front roller angle greater than 5 degrees. Replace the flimsy rear roller stay with carbon or FRP plates for strength, stability, and a myriad of expansion options. Copy the NEO-VQS Advanced Pack rear sandwich and you will have an excellent back end, but do use 19mm aluminum rollers for best performance.
A well-tun ed Super II chassis car might be your next tuned class winning car.
Lots of interesting animal racers are either VS or Super II chassis cars. Racing an animal racer is the easiest way to make your opponents lower their guard. Little do they know what's in store for them!
AR chassis cars (introduced in 2012) are great all-around racers and some of the sleekest-looking cars have appeared in AR chassis form. Only the MA chassis cars have better overall performance, but the AR is a tough chassis to beat. For box stock technical tracks, the AR is hard to beat. An included POM skid bar attachment acts as an underguard for the rear of the vehicle, helping it negotiate slopes better. AR chassis strength is pretty good and I would generally recommend an AR chassis to novice racers seeking durable, but fast and agile single-shaft motor cars. The AR Speed Spec Kit featuring the Aero Avante is an excellent first or second purchase. Some say that you can swap body shells between TZ or TZ-X chassis cars and AR chassis cars, but this is not always the case. The greatest strength and weakness of this chassis is the one-piece design, which requires cutting to reduce weight, but it can be argued that the chassis is already very well-designed, so why mess with something that's already good? 
MA chassis cars (introduced in 2013) are great all-around racers. For box stock technical tracks, the MA is hard to beat. An included POM skid bar attachment acts as an underguard for the rear of the vehicle, helping it negotiate slopes better. MA chassis strength is pretty good, although your mileage may vary as I've had a polycarbonate chassis crack on me. The use of six rollers right out of the box makes this chassis a cornering monster and one of the most stable and raceworthy among all the chasses. I feel that MA cars are the best bang for the buck for novice racers, but just like other Mini 4WD cars, they must be built with great care and consideration to produce their optimum potential. The greatest strength and weakness of this chassis is the one-piece design, which requires cutting to reduce weight, but it can be argued that the chassis is already very well-designed, so why mess with something that's already good? The motor cover is relatively easy to attach and remove once you get used to it. A handful of people have attempted to make suspension systems for this chassis, but with no notable success. 
MS chassis cars (introduced in 2005) are very good all-around cars, with MA cars typically being better right out of the box and because MA chassis technology is eight years newer, but MS chassis cars have a strong, stable following in the Mini 4WD community. Because the MS chassis has been around for so long, there are a lot of parts for it and there is a lot of experience modifying and optimizing the chassis by incorporating a suspension system into the removable front and rear units. Although there are attachments for a side mass damper plate, most people designing an open class car will opt for a body damper and use the attachment points for their suspension system. In the open class realm, the MS chassis is king of all monsters. Typically, MS chassis cars can be seen at the podium at every open class race and it is not uncommon to see all three spots won by MS chassis cars. Perhaps the only cars that have any chance of coming close to the performance of MS suspension cars are well-built VZ chassis cars, but VZ cars often lose time after a jump.
FM-A chassis cars (introduced in 2017) are a favorite among Mini 4WD racers who prefer having the heavier motor weight up front to better negotiate jumps. An included POM skid bar attachment acts as an underguard for the front or rear of the vehicle, helping it negotiate slopes better. Wide-height rear rollers are also a nice upgrade to the typical crappy box stock rollers. Some racers switch them to the front depending on the track. FM-A cars are acceleration monsters, so take care when selecting gears. FM-A chassis strength is pretty good, although your mileage may vary as I've had a chassis crack on me. For this reason, I would say chassis strength depends largely on the kit you buy. The Mach Frame has a very light, slender body with very litle protection for the chassis whereas a Copperfang has ample full-coverage protection for the chassis. Typically, I would see Mach Frames at the podium in every box stock race.
VS chassis cars (introduced in 1999) is perhaps the most adored and also the most hated of all the chasses. Just like TZ and TZ-X chassis cars, the technology in these chasses is antiquated, but there is a wealth of knowledge available for upgrading it. VS chassis cars make terrible box stock racers, which is ironic considering that their major market nowadays is children purchasing their first Mini 4WD car, which is typically a VS chassis animal racer. Its primary advantage is feather lightness, so take advantage of this in your design builds. You can win many races if your car is lighter and faster than everyone else's. VS chassis cars are renowned for their cornering and acceleration. Swap in a 3.5:1 gear in an animal racer and you have one formidable machine that will make you smile every time you beat a $600 podium car. Alas, the Achilles' heels of the VS chassis are its weak chassis and stability. Stay away from box stock races with this car. Turn these cars into tuned or open class monsters. Here's a tip: the downthrust angle of a VS chassis is 6.5 degrees versus everyone else's 5 degrees. Use that to your advantage.
VZ chassis cars (introduced in 2019) are successors to VS chassis cars and are improvements in every area except for the weakness of the chassis. There are several reports of broken front bumper stays, but these are easily replaceable. Both the front and rear bumper stays are removable so you can have a bumperless setup without the need for cutting or other such destructive modifications. The use of six rollers right out of the box makes this chassis a cornering monster. It is also hella fast on straightaways and curves. The VZ chassis is lighter than the VS chassis, so use that critical information when designing your next podium car. Every VZ chassis comes with POM plastic bearings and an 8T carbon pinion gear, but lacks a skid bar. Like the VS chassis cars, skip the box stock races and go for tuned or open class races. Add front and rear brake stays mounted with sponge brakes to your car to give it the ability to negotiate slopes. 
Blackpink is the Super Avante Jr. Black Special. Immediately noticeable is its pink wheels. The standard Super Avante Jr.was already a speed demon. This one is a bit more raceworthy with its super hard tires. It also has the same detachable engine cover, canopy, and tail for a myriad of weight distribution options. Blue Venom is a reverse VZ open class car. It outruns Hellboy, a tuned class car, with a Light Dash motor.
After the race, I replaced the bad plastic roller with a good one and replaced the wheels with aluminum ones to get the center of gravity lower. These wheels are supposed to be specially designed for STZX chasses. I reduced the mass damper weights in the rear. I also replaced the crappy battery latch with a better one of my own design, a modified VZ chassis battery latch. 
The Liberty Cup, Round 1 - September 18, 2022 - I won Box Stock Gold with Voltron. My son Matthew won Tuned Class Gold with The Midnight. Co-host Evan and I designed a very technical track with two loops and three jumps that forced everyone to consider battery strength and car speed. We had 6 cars in Box Stock and 7 in Tuned Class with 6 racers in attendance and one proxy. Prizes included a Rowdy Bull FM-A kit, a Lord Spirit VZ kit, and many Mini 4WD parts. I wanted to create a legitimate, competitive Mini 4WD event that would attract the best racers from our area to compete for prizes just like in the hobby shops. I'm so happy to say that I did just that!
The Liberty Cup, Round 2 - October 16, 2022 - Neil won Box Stock Gold. Ken won Box Stock Silver. I won Box Stock Bronze with Voltron. J.P. won Tuned Class Gold. Doug and Bob won Silver and Bronze, respectively. Unfortunately, my new Vulture Mach Frame didn't make the finals, but it still did very well considering it didn't have any damper weights and I built it the day before without cleaning the bearings. It was the second fastest car in Time Attack. Co-host Evan was out sick, so it was a challenge setting designing and setting up the track by myself, but thankfully my friend Ken was there to assist with the track assembly and disassembly. I designed a very technical track that some say outdid last month's track. An elevated tabletop with four jumps, a loop, and hairpin turns made this a dynamic and devious challenge for every racer. We had 10 cars in Box Stock and 15 in Tuned Class with 10 racers in attendance and one proxy. Prizes included a Chevalier MA kit, a Big Bang Ghost VS kit, many Mini 4WD parts, pull-back racing cars, and comic books.
The Liberty Cup, Round 3 - November 20, 2022 - I won Box Stock Gold with Venom FM-A (brake BS, IH, FM, rear rollers inside). William and Andre won Silver and Bronze, respectively. I also won Tuned Class Gold place with Green Goblin. Bob and William won Silver and Bronze, respectively. We originally laid out an ambitious track on the rooftop, but the 25mph winds destroyed it several times, so we had to move our event indoors. We raced on a smaller, but equally fun track. The major components were all there: my new rainbow lane changer, hairpin turns, a little tabletop, and washboard hazards. I initially thought the washboards were useless, but they did affect some of the cars. Unfortunately, my Vulture Mach Frame suffered a head-on collision with another racer's car that flipped over and headed backwards towards me. Co-host Evan was out sick, so it was a challenge setting designing and setting up the track by myself, but thankfully my friend Ken and the racers were there to assist with the track assembly and disassembly. We had 11 cars in Box Stock and 11 in Tuned Class with 5 racers in attendance and one proxy. Prizes included a Night Hunter FM-A kit, Avante Nero MS kit, many Mini 4WD parts, toy figures and models, and comic books.
HobbyTown Tom's River Mini 4WD Open Class Race - December 10, 2022 - I wasn't able to secure any victories in Box Stock or Tuned Class as my cars either coursed out or made it to the semi-finals and then coursed out. My cars were very fast, perhaps too fast and too light for this month's speed track with two inclines and three tabletops. Many racers were trying their luck with Mach Frames and other FM-A cars. I should've entered more than one car in Box Stock as many folks entered two or more cars. Voltron made it to the semi-final rounds three times, but coursed out in each of them. The second semi-final spelled doom for Voltron as its front roller mount was visibly cracked. The roller tore right off of it, so that is the end of Voltron. Thankfully, I was able to substitute Venom FM-A in the final chance for lane 5, but, sadly, it coursed out, too, even though it was noticeably faster than other cars. I entered two cars in Tuned Class - Vulture and Pango - but they coursed out, too, in the quarter-finals or semi-finals. Strangely, my cars were seldom the first car off the line, but they all managed to climb their way to first over the course of the race. The final race in Open Class had me racing against four of a competitor's cars. His cars had easily bested a field of 13 cars, including mine, in a few semi-finals races. I found myself in a David and Goliath situation with my junky, jalopy car versus some highly-tuned, award-winning cars. However, there is one thing that my cars have that nobody else yet has: my unique innovations. 
I don't see many racers truly crafting their own unique gimmicks. Many just copy a successful design and compete with it. The most rewarding thing about any hobby is the amount of creativity you can bring to it. What knowledge can you share with others in your hobby to make your hobby better for everyone? That is the spirit of inclusivity. Using my own ingenuity, I've crafted a number of successful gimmicks for Mini 4WD cars, some of which were copied and used by other racers. One of these inventions is my Flexi-Plate. I think it's awesome, but my critics like to tell me about the flaws of its design and yet, when it comes time to race, my Flexi-Plate cars still compete very well. I'm not sure that the situations that give my car "negative camber" ever really come about in the course of racing, especially with all the other parts of my car compensating for it. Consider its 19mm rollers in the front and rear, its shaved tires that are half low-frix/half reston up front and half super-hard/half reston in the rear mounted on carbon wheels, its minimalist design allowing it to weigh just 112 grams, a low-voltage set of batteries under 1.44V each, and one of the finest MS suspension chasses on the market. My car was in the mix in the final race and steadily moved towards the front. One by one, each of my competitor's cars slowed down or even stopped at various points of the track while my car smoothly progressed. Only at one point did it ride on the rails of a corner track, but it rode back in. In the final seconds of the race, my heavier car edged out the presumed leader by inches, laying the foundation for a dramatic tale that will be talked about for years to come. My prizes included a Tamiya Phillipines Trairong FM-A kit, an acrylic setting board, and a keychain. One racer noted that this was perhaps Hobbytown's largest track to date. This is likely why my car prevailed. In a field full of cars with rechargeable batteries, it's my alkaline car that supplied consistent voltage to its motor to finish the race.
The Liberty Cup, Round 4 - December 18, 2022 - Two different tsunamis and a tabletop twister are the highlights of this month's Liberty Cup track. I had the option of creating a second twister in place of the second tsunami, but I wanted this to be a speed track so I kept the track with more straights than turns. That right turn out of the lane changer and into the tsunami was a challenge for many cars. The track is even good for Open Class cars! I won Box Stock Gold with Cooper, a Kopen Future Included kit that looks like a MINI convertible. It's 4:1 gear ratio allowed it to take corners like a champ and it was just fast enough on straightaways to compete against the 3.5:1 speed demons. Bob and William won Silver and Bronze, respectively. My Tuned Class cars, Vulture (now renamed to Eagle) and Pango, were beaten by superior cars this month. To be completely fair, I promised everyone that racemasters will be allowed no more than one hour of playtesting prior to any event. Fellow racers Ken, Bob, and Andre won Gold, Silver, and Bronze, respectively, this month in Tuned Class. We had 6 cars in Box Stock and 12 in Tuned Class with 6 racers in attendance. Prizes included a Panda Racer S2 pre-built car and NEO-VQS Polycarbonate Special VS kit, many Mini 4WD parts, collectibles, and comic books. It was a good day as everyone did very well.
HobbyTown Tom's River Mini 4WD Races - January 14, 2023 - I won Gold in the Box Stock and Open Class categories. My new Mach Frame, Optimus, won handily against my competition in Box Stock. I won the races for lane 1, the pole position, and had a lot of time afterwards to relax and walk around the store as the other racers duked it out for the other lanes in the final. In the finals race, the other racers were far behind me after the first couple of turns, even though my car had a late start! My battery charge was no more than 1.3V each alkaline. I didn’t run my car with any brakes. I’m surprised Latif and his family weren’t there, because I felt that only he could’ve beaten me with his Mach Frame. Racemaster Eric took a closer look at Optimus to see if there was any funny business with my car, but there wasn't. It was just faster than everyone else's cars.
In the finals of Open Class, my lone car, Firefly, went up against four cars from the same racer as last month. I’m not sure what compelled me to accidentally drop my second Open Class car, Scooby Doo, in reverse, forcing it to be disqualified in the semi-finals for lane 5, but that one turning point led to the same David and Goliath situation that I experienced last month, a dramatic ending for the second month in a row. At this point, you might think that only one other racer and I were racing in Open Class, but that wasn't true. There were several racers in Open Class and we raced so many cars in that and the other classes that the entire racing event didn’t end until almost 8pm, almost three hours past the typical ending time.
The Liberty Cup, Round 5 - January 15, 2023 - A hard right goes into a lane changer followed by a crazy almost-360 degree twist to a tabletop with washboard hazards, a hairpin turn, a 360 degree twist down and up a sharp incline (some cars will go BANG!!! after the dip) and back down to hairpin turns finally concluding with a mini tsunami that'll likely cause havoc on long jumpers. This is the longest Liberty Cup track to date at 66 meters. We had some really exciting races today. Newcomer April won Box Stock Gold with her superfast Mach Frame. I won Box Stock Silver and Bronze with my Dual Ridge Jr (Lily) and Mach Frame (Purple Rain). That was surprising considering Purple Rain is much faster than Lily, but Purple Rain coursed out in the finals and took third. Ken won Tuned Class Gold and Bob won both Tuned Class Silver and Bronze. My tuned class cars were wicked fast, as they took the top two spots in Time Attack, but speed doesn't always translate to wins. Sometimes speed kills around turns or off jumps. I tabulated all the scores and we had a medal ceremony afterwards to celebrate the winners of all 5 rounds. I won the Gold medal, Bob won Silver, and Ken won Bronze. It was a close race for third as fourth place was only five points behind. Prizes included a DCR-02 MA kit, a Roborace MA kit, Mini 4WD parts, collectibles, and comic books. A couple of generous benefactors donated prizes for this and future Liberty Cup races. Everyone had fun in their first Liberty Cup tournament. The fun continues with the Liberty Cup 2 races beginning in February.
HobbyTown Tom's River Mini 4WD Races - February 11, 2023 - I won Silver in the Open Class category. Out of 15 entries, I had two cars in the finals in lanes three and five. No easy feat considering we four more experienced racers showed up this month, including one who raced regularly at DxN and another who returned after a hiatus. Scooby Doo won Silver and Voltron, a BMAX car, finished fourth. Putting this into perspective, a BMAX car beat 10 other superior Open Class cars to make it the finals! It was similar to the time a 
Liberty Cup 2, Round 1 - February 19, 2023 - A hard right goes into a lane changer followed by a crazy almost-360 degree twist to a tabletop that enters an inclined rainbow lane changer with the other two lanes sporting washboard hazards followed by a hairpin turn ending with a mini tsunami that winds 270 degrees back to the start. This Liberty Cup track is longer than the previous one! 
HobbyTown Tom's River Mini 4WD Races - March 11, 2023 - I won Silver in the Tuned Class category. The track was a deadly, winding maze of courseouts for everyone this month. There were ample opportunities for cars to fling themselves off the track due to the sharp turns and bumpy hills. There was some stellar competition this month with 24 cars in Tuned Class, including some from new experienced racers I had never seen before. I felt I should've won something in Box Stock and Open Class, but, alas, it wasn't meant to be this month. One of my newest Box Stock cars, Dove, collided head-on with another racer's car going backwards, causing permanent damage. Dove's rollers were askew after that. The jarring nature of the track caused permanent damage to my Flexi-Plate on Scooby Doo. Scooby Doo is one of my best handling cars, but I couldn't race it because of the damage. Still, Silver in Tuned Class is a worthy victory considering that I feel that Tuned Class is the most difficult category for me. I raced Eagle, Voltron, and Pango in Tuned Class this month. I should've just entered Eagle, but I really wanted to see what Voltron and Pango could do. In my heart, I will always want animal racers to win, but I know the reality is they probably won't very often, not with all the Tuned Class Mach Frames out there. Unfortunately, my head wasn't where it should be this month as I had the regional yogasana championship looming over me. Perhaps next month I'll return back to my quiet yet merciless Mini 4WD form. The prizes weren't that great this month and there were no ribbons. Usually, everyone on the podium gets multiple prizes. This time, Gold received a kit, Silver received a high-end part, and Bronze received a low-end part. Thankfully, we got to choose our kit or part. I chose a set of 12-13mm double aluminum rollers, always a useful item.
Liberty Cup 2, Round 2 - March 19, 2023 - A hairpin turn ends with squiggle and a hard sharp left followed by another hard sharp left, a squiggle, two more hard sharp lefts, an incline across a tabletop, a hard sharp left, another hard sharp left, a lane changer, a hard sharp left, another hard sharp left, across a straightaway to a tsunami with a 30 degree angled decline around a hairpin turn back to the start. Many cars were flying off the lane changer or the decline. We had some exceptional competition and hard-fought victories today. There were 18 cars in Box Stock, 19 cars in Tuned Class, and 14 racers total. In the Box Stock category, Kip won Gold, Andre won Silver, and William won Bronze. In Tuned Class category, Andre won Gold, my son Matthew won Silver, and Neal won Bronze. Prizes included a Mach Frame FM-A kit, Blast Arrow MA kit, Big Bang Ghost S2 kit, Mini 4WD parts, a Mini 4WD style guide, Deadpool, Sharknado, Megaman, and Poison Ivy collectibles, Heroclix action figures, and comic books. Oddly enough, my car, Voltron, had the top 2 scores in Time Attack, but could not win a podium spot. My scores were mediocre in the first round, but I climbed back into the top 3 with this month's scores using Scorpion, Mako, Voltron, and Ganesha. My son, Matthew, has been winning with my car, Eagle, even though it's not the fastest car in my fleet.
Liberty Cup 2, Round 3 - April 16, 2023 - A hairpin turn with squiggles goes up an incline onto the length of my couch to a lane changer and back down to a devious tabletop mini-oval with a wave and decline. Another hairpin turn introduces a second lane changer to another giant squiggle that goes back to the start. Many cars with flying off the track along the path into and out of the second lane changer as well as the descent into the mini-oval. This is our longest track to date as I find ways to innovate with the limited indoor space that I have. Next month, we will hopefully resume our rooftop racing! We had some exceptional competition today. There were 14 cars in Box Stock, 16 cars in Tuned Class, and 8 racers total. In the Box Stock category, Neal won Gold, Matthew won Silver, and April won Bronze. In Tuned Class category, Neal won Gold and my son Matthew won Silver and Bronze. Prizes included a Liberty Emperor VS kit, Lord Spirit VZ kit, Mini 4WD parts, Hulk, and Miku collectibles, Heroclix action figures, and comic books. My scores were mediocre today with Spider-Man and Black Bear in Box Stock and Kogo and Ganesha in Tuned Class, but my son, Matthew, secured his spots on the podium with Optimus and two of his own cars, the brand new BlueJay, based on my Eagle design, and the classic HyperSupreme that won last year's very first Liberty Cup Tuned Class race. Nobody could catch Neal in Tuned Class, though, as his car was in a class of its own. Neal's double Gold wins were well-deserved.
Relatively thick front and rear brakes pinned it to the floor of the track, but I could've been a bit less conservative, opting for brakes 1mm less in thickness. I reduced the top end speed by replacing my 3.5:1 gear for a 3.7:1 gear and my Atomic Tuned for a Torque Tuned motor. My other Tuned Class car was Eagle, but Eagle kept running into problems under the overpass. I had to switch out the 3.5:1 gear to 3.7:1 because the 3.5:1 gear was a little too fast on this track for this car. In Open Class, I raced three cars: Venom, Wolfie, and Saeko. I was able to secure laps one, two, and three out of the five laps, so I ended up with three cars in the final. Venom was giving me the most grief, so I made an attempt to revive the motor on it. In so doing, I ignored my other cars when I should've been checking the voltages of my batteries in them. I couldn't revive the Hyper-Dash motor in it, so I had to replace it with an Atomic Tuned. That wasn't a bad decision, because Venom tested well on my home track with an Atomic Tuned motor. I must admit that the Atomic Tuned motor I used was no ordinary Atomic Tuned motor. I broke it in so that it was rated at 33k RPM, which is about as fast as some of my Hyper-Dash motors. I call it "Shivatomic." Venom with Shivatomic paced well with Tarantula, my Open Class car that uses a Mach Dash motor. Wolfie was perhaps the most suited for this track. Armed with a 4:1 gear ratio and Hyper-Dash motor, this car moved around with great spirit. Saeko, my pro car, couldn't stay on the track with rechargeables, so I had to weigh it down with alkalines. All three cars would've benefitted from a fresh set of batteries. My prizes were an oil pen for Tuned Class and double-aluminum rollers with O-rings and a Hyper-Dash motor in Open Class.
Liberty Cup 2, Round 4 - June 25, 2023 - Tabletops, dual lane changers, a bank incline, an angled tsunami, hairpin turns, an S-turn... whoaaa... this little track has it all! Three laps is easy, but six laps is diabolical. The hard right between one tabletop to another can corkscrew or course out your car. There were 12 cars in Box Stock, 13 cars in Tuned Class, and 8 racers total. In the Box Stock category, April won Gold, William won Silver, and Matthew won Bronze. In Tuned Class category, I won Gold, April won Silver, and Brandon won Bronze. Prizes included an Estoura MA kit, Nitrage MA kit, Rise Emperor MA kit, Mini 4WD parts, Thor and Ted Funko Pops, Heroclix action figures, and comic books. This was the first time I got to use my new Mario Kart start signal. My car, Voltron, had the top 3 scores in Time Attack and finally won a podium spot in a Tuned Class race. I played it safe by lowering the battery voltage a lot during the races, but upped it during Time Attack. Ironically, I thought Eagle would've fared better than it did. It coursed out at odd places. Brandon's car, Optimus, was a sleeper hit and had surprising speed for a car made of junk parts. This was Brandon's first win and he felt good about it. Matthew felt good about his Box Stock win. Jeffrey won many races and had arguably the fastest Box Stock car. I won many Box Stock races, but unfortunately fell short in the semi-finals. We had several close races, including one where the winner won by an inch.
AAA Hobbies Mini 4WD Races - July 2, 2023 - In AAA Hobbies third Mini 4WD race of the season, we raced on a technical track I designed. A 180 degree hairpin turn swings into another hairpin turn followed by a loop leading up a tabletop, right into an incline, and back into a second tabletop with a lane changer, down to a hard right, into another lane changer, and two more hard rights to get back to the starting line. Due to various complaints about it being too difficult, we moved the lane changer from the tabletop to the bottom of the track to speed up the track and accommodate certain cars that would likely course out. We still kept two lane changers in play to reduce lane bias. Ken, my sons, and I marshalled the race with the AAA crew. Sadly, my two cars, Koreana and Iron Man, coursed out in each of the races. They were plenty fast as they were able to get to the semi-finals, but would course out at crucial moments. I discovered some loose components on my Tuned Class car that I corrected. Hopefully, it'll fare better in the next event. Matthew raced Volt and Optimus. Optimus, a junk car, did very well in practice, but kept coursing out in the races. He did better in Box Stock than I did whereas I did better in Tuned Class than he did. Even with our bad luck today, we're still in the top seven for the season. Rob, Kip, and Joe won Box Stock and Bill, Ken, and Mike won Tuned Class. We had exciting photo finishes in both races! Every podium winner won a Mini 4WD kit, including the new K4Tasche FM-A kit. I was very proud of my sons for helping out with this event. I bought them a Traxxas Rustler for their efforts, since they've been coveting one for quite some time.
MCBYTE @ Hobbytown Tom's River - July 15, 2023 - Hobbytown held a very special racing event for legendary West Coast racing team MCBYTE. Some of Hobbytown's fiercest racers competed for honor and glory on both an aggressive 5-lane speed track and a challenging technical 3-lane track. I was late to the races, since I taught yoga in the morning, so I missed the 5-lane Tuned Class race. I entered two cars - Venom and Wolfie - in the 5-lane Open Class race, made the lap finals three times, but couldn't win in each of the lap finals. I had a good chance with Venom, but it kept sustaining damage after every race. A harsh hit on the underguard when I was catching the car tore off the underguard and screws from the main chassis. I had to bolt it back on with superglue. The car was never the same since. I felt my chances would've been much better if Venom was undamaged. I raced one more race, the 3-lane Tuned Class, and entered Iron Man and Eagle. I had good chances with both, but it was Iron Man's time to shine today. I got into all three lap finals and ended up winning the third time. I took a conservative approach to battery power and gave Iron Man just enough juice to finish the race. In retrospect, I should've juiced up the batteries more, but I didn't want to course out and get third place. I won Silver because of Leo's course out. For me, the day was special because I got to meet and race against legendary racer Pons Espinosa, the leader of the MCBYTE racing team. Pons presented me with an official team jersey annointing me as a part of his team. I'm honored to be a part of this special group as I've been following the MCBYTE races for quite some time.
Liberty Cup 2, Round 5 - July 16, 2023 - This winding maze of a track contains two inclines, including one that rises to a third level! The name of the game is speed as our racers careened around harrowing hairpin turns and treacherous tabletops in the most fantastic Liberty Cup indoor track yet! There were 10 cars in Box Stock, 10 cars in Tuned Class, and 5 racers total. In the Box Stock category, Ken won Gold, Matthew won Silver, and Neil won Bronze. In Tuned Class category, I won Gold and Silver, and Ken won Bronze. Prizes included a Little Ryan VS kit, an Estoura MA kit, Mini 4WD parts, Ted and Loki Funko Pops, and comic books. Ken, Neil, and I had the top 3 scores in Time Attack. I pretty much went maximum voltage on all my cars. My Box Stock cars were Scorpion and Piggy. Piggy was fast, but not fast enough with its 4:1 gear and small wheels. Matthew raced his Mach Frame, Volt, and felt that he could have won Box Stock had he changed his batteries. Brandon raced his TS050 and did well. In Tuned Class, it was Eagle's time to shine today as its impressive stability kept it safely inside the winding track. Eagle was able to beat my much faster car, Iron Man. Both cars used 3.5:1 gears and Atomic Tuned motors. Iron Man's motor had a purple pinion; Eagle's had a carbon black. The races were challenging and quick, because Ken's cars are super fast. Brandon raced my animal racers, Ganesha and Pango, and did well on his first two-car outing. Matthew worked on his first body damper system for a future car. Afterwards, we held an award ceremony for the top Liberty Cup II racers where Neil earned the Gold medal, I earned Silver, and Matthew earned Bronze. Neil won the overall prize for the Liberty Cup II, an MS-suspension chassis. There were so many exciting and memorable races this season, I look forward to hosting the next Liberty Cup soon. 
AAA Hobbies Mini 4WD Races - August 6, 2023 - In our fourth race of the season, the AAA crew created a straightforward speed track with the usual hard right turn after the lane changer obstacle. Steve from AAA said that he based his design on an actual Japan Cup qualifier track. My team and I considered adding a dragonback obstacle after the first turn, but it probably would've frustrated a lot of box stock racers. We had a pretty large number of racers entering the Box Stock category this month, so I had my work cut out for me against some very fast cars, especially since my Korean Mach Frame liked corkscrewing if it had too much speed coming out of the lane changer. Whoever raced in the red lane definitely had a disadvantage, since he or she had to negotiate the lane changer without building up too much speed. My strategy was similar to the MCBYTE race last month where gauging proper battery voltage was the key to staying on the track. An adjustment of 0.01V probably would've helped me secure a win. I earned Silver and received a Super II Pig Racer and a gift certificate as prizes. Some winners like to trade their kits for any of the myriad of other kits in stock, but I felt happy with the one I received, because, out of all the animal racers, I actually don't have the Super II Pig Racer. Unfortunately, I took too many risks in Tuned Class as Iron Man was a rocket of a car, but the battery voltages were a bit too high. Alex, Derek, and Mike won the podium spots. I probably would've gotten a podium spot had I tried a more conservative approach. In races where you lose the top spot by a tiny bit, sometimes your mind pushes you for the win in the next race. It's best to have the discipline to consider every race a separate event. My friend Ken photographed and video recorded the event. 
AAA Hobbies Mini 4WD Races - September 3, 2023 - In practice runs before today's race, everyone had cars that successfully stayed on the track, but something changed from mid-week to today. We were all coursing out. I brought a limited number of cars on race day, so I had to make the cars I preselected work. I raced Scorpion and Matthew raced Silver Surfer in Box Stock. Even though these were both FM-A chassis cars, it took herculean efforts to get them to stay on the track. The strategy for most everyone racing was to dumb down the battery voltage to successfully navigate the lane changer. It was a source of frustration for many and was quite the challenge. Interestingly, I developed a laissez-faire attitude during the races, not really caring if I won or not. I didn't even bother to change my batteries after each race. I think that was the key to my success in Box Stock this month. I raced Iron Man in Tuned Class and made modifications to it: I bolted down the flapper so it wouldn't flap and replaced the thin pancake weights with thicker cylinder weights. It ended up being much faster than Eagle, but I ended up coursing out at crucial moments, especially in the semi-final runs. I let my son Matthew race Eagle, since I sent his car, BlueJay, to DxN's Unity Cup. Like many other cars, Iron Man had trouble negotiating the lane changer. Eagle did not have this issue. Eagle's quickness was enough to win Silver in Tuned Class. My prizes included a Spin Axe Mk. II MS kit, a Tamiya screwdriver, and a gift certificate. I actually set my sights on winning Gold in Box Stock just for this month's prizes! Matthew won a NEO-VQS and Jadow-A VZ kits, a Tamiya Pocket Tool Set, a Brake Sponge Set, two Rev-Tuned motors, and gift certificates.
AAA Hobbies Mini 4WD Races - October 1, 2023 - AAA's replica of a 2018 Japan Cup qualifying track had everyone racing their fastest cars with very little concern for courseouts. In a track with so many waves and hairpin turns and no slopes, body damper cars were actually at a disadvantage. This was our last race of the season and all the contenders vying for the top spots were present. I had to win at least one of the categories to cement my place in the season's top three and perhaps win Gold. It was anyone's race as everyone exhibited refined builds with powerful batteries. I had only heard of Duracell Optimums - batteries that give off a whopping 1.7V - in today's race. My Rayovac's give off 1.6V and I thought that was strong. Even with my opponent's stronger batteries, I still prevailed and won Box Stock Gold with Shiva. Unfortunately, in Tuned Class, I didn't fair as well. My car, Iron Man, stayed on the track with 24mm wheels, but couldn't keep up with cars with larger wheels. I think Iron Man was just a bit too heavy. My MCBYTE Racing colleague secured Tuned Class Gold, so our team won Gold in both categories this month. My prizes included a Mini 4WD Wild Mini Lunchbox kit, an oil pen, a Rev-Tuned motor, and a gift certificate.
HobbyTown Tom's River Mini 4WD Races - October 14, 2023 - I played very conservatively today by not upping my battery voltage too much. Anyone can go superfast with the right batteries and car weight, but a large number of 90-degree angle turns will quickly make any racer change his or her mind. It wasn't the 90-degree turns that were the true challenge. It was the 45-degree turns, especially, the one off of the dragonback, that caused havoc with many cars. The digital turn wrecked some of the lighter cars not equipped for the damage, but today's track was not the most difficult we've seen from our racemaster. I won Bronze in Tuned Class with Pango. This was a monumental achievement of sorts, because it was the first time in a while I had won Tuned Class at Hobbytown. Not only that, but I secured the first lane against tremendous competition. My little animal racer had a consistency that was unmatched. It didn't wobble or shake like my FM-A cars. I played the final race very conservatively. My battery voltages were 1.51V and 1.53V. Had I gone with my original settings of 1.47V and 1.58V, I likely would've gotten second and possibly first. Unfortunately, I didn't have any wins in Box Stock or Open Class, but I did make it to the lane finals in each. My feeling is if you want to compete successfully in one-and-done races, like at DxN, you must learn how to win the finals for lane one. My new Venom 2.0 is going to be a force to be reckoned with. I was very pleased with its first outing. It has my own carbon body damper design and many improvements over the original Venom. Quite strangely, my Open Class cars stayed on the track much better with rechargeables than with heavier alkaline batteries. I got a chance to test my new Duracell Optimums. They actually shut themselves off during one of Saeko's races. My prize in Tuned Class was a set of Double Aluminum Rollers with Rubber Rings.
HobbyTown Tom's River Mini 4WD Races - November 11, 2023 - Unfortunately, no wins for me today in Tuned Class or Open Class. I got into the Tuned Class finals, but finished fourth. I was just a nose behind third place. I wasn't ready for the stellar competition in Open Class. Everyone was using rechargeables versus my alkaline cars. Racing for the final lap with just Wolfie, I showed how fast Wolfie can be with rechargeables, but, unfortunately, it coursed out in the end.
Liberty Cup 3, Round 1 - December 16, 2023 - This devious track includes a tsunami, hairpin turns, and a winding tabletop in between two inclines. Not for the faint of heart, this looks easy, but it's anything but! There were 8 cars in Box Stock, 8 cars in Tuned Class, and 4 racers total. In the Box Stock category, April won Gold, Matthew won Silver, and Ken won Bronze. In Tuned Class category, Ken won Gold, I won Silver, and April won Bronze. My Box Stock cars were Scorpion and Cooper. Scorpion coursed out due to my overzealous battery charges. Cooper was stable, but just wasn't fast enough. Matthew raced Blue Wasp, a Shooting Proud Star Clear Blue Special, and a Shadowshark Italia. His Shadowshark surprised everyone with its 4.2:1 gear ratio, big wheels, and stability. It was a surprisingly competitive car. In Tuned Class, I raced Voltron and Eagle. My cars were very fast, but kept coursing out at inopportune times. I slowed both down a lot to stay on the track. Ken's superior Korean Mach Frame design prevailed. I took a very conservative approach with my battery voltages towards the end. My goal was to stay on the track and I did. That enabled me to win Silver with Eagle, a slower car. Matthew's Blue Jay is a stronger version of Eagle, but his car coursed out in the qualifiers.
Liberty Cup 3, Round 2 - February 17, 2024 - A squiggle and a hairpin turn goes up an incline, across a tabletop with two hard rights, a lane changer, a hard right, up an incline, down a two-section tsunami, a squoval, a squiggle, and finally a hairpin turn to arrive back at the start. There were 4 cars in Box Stock, 8 cars in Tuned Class, and 4 racers total. In the Box Stock category, I won Gold, Ken won Silver, and Matthew won Bronze. In Tuned Class category, I won Gold, Matthew won Silver, and April won Bronze. My Box Stock car was Shiva. Matthew raced Volt, a super-fast silver Mach Frame with a top speed of 27 km/hr. It was so fast it kept coursing out at inopportune times, especially in the finals. I did not change my batteries in Shiva at all. I used the same alkalines in it (1.48V) from two-month storage. I edged out Ken's car by a nose. In Tuned Class, I raced Eagle and Voltron. My cars were lightning quick and stayed on the track with NiMH batteries. Matthew's Blue Jay is a stronger version of Eagle, but Eagle had the edge with NiMH batteries versus his Duracell Optimums. Ken won the special kit this month, a Liberty Emperor GPA with a blue bell box stock motor.
AAA Hobbies Mini 4WD Races - April 14, 2024 - AAA set up another Japan Cup-inspired track. This was quite possibly the longest indoor track I've experienced at AAA. I entered Shiva in Box Stock and Hellboy in Tuned Class, but didn't win in either category. My cars coursed out at inopportune times. My best chance was beating everyone to be the first finalist, which is usually my goal. That way, I could be fast, but not too fast. That strategy backfired on me when I had to race against Mike in Box Stock. His car edged out mine, so I didn't make the semi-finals in the first round. On the second and third rounds, I amped up my batteries and coursed out each time. What could've been a decisive victory each time was ruined by my own misguided strategy to amp up my batteries and be undisputably faster than everyone. As we all know, speed kills. The same happened in Tuned Class. I had a good shot at making the semi-finals in the first round, but was bested by a car that pulled ahead at the final moments. The next two rounds ended the same way as in Box Stock, with courseouts that should've been victories. If I had taken a more conservative approach with my batteries, I might have fared better. My MCBYTE colleague Joe won Silver in Box Stock and Gold in Tuned Class. Liberty Cup champion William won Gold in Box Stock. Aiden, Liberty Cup champion Andre, and Derek rounded out the group, so there were definitely some heavy hitters on the podium this month.
AAA Hobbies Mini 4WD Races - May 12, 2024 - AAA set up a mostly flat layout this month. Still, it wrecked havoc on cars with big wheels, especially after the little tabletop. A number of people saw my newest Box Stock speed demon, the Kumamon Eleglitter. "That car is a beast!" Joe from MCBYTE remarked. I didn't race it because it couldn't finish three laps. For the second month in a row, a MCBYTE racer wins a category. This time, my son Matthew won Gold in Box Stock with his reinvigorated Silver Surfer Mach Frame. It was wicked fast and stable! My Spider-Man 2099 Mach Frame had a chance, but I pumped up the batteries a little too much and ended up corkscrewing while coming out of the lane changer. The same fate happened with Hellboy in Tuned Class. It was plenty fast enough, but it met its fate coming out of the lane changer. Matthew's Bluejay was competitive and rock solid stable, but it wasn't as fast as other cars. I noticed that many others were simply amping up their batteries a lot and just relying on luck to win. In the end, that's what we do when we want to eke out the most of our cars for that last spot in the finals. Rounding out the Box Stock podium, Cyril won Silver and Ken won Bronze. In Tuned Class, the Alex won Gold, Derek won Silver, and Cyril won Bronze. The car kit prizes were the new Feste Jaune L Orange Special with carbon patterned cowl and the Cross Spear.
AAA Hobbies Mini 4WD Races - June 9, 2024 - AAA set up another classic Japan Cup track with about the same level of difficulty as last month. I won Silver in Box Stock with my Spider-Man 2099 Mach Frame. MCBYTE wins again this month! Cyril won Gold with a Ray Spear Asia Challenge and John won Bronze with a Festa Jaune TKC Special. I was very conservative with my battery voltages this month (1.47V). I felt that completing the track for points was more important for my overall score. In Tuned Class, I raced an unlikely car, my MA chassis Nitro with the big low-frix tires. It was built like a tank but fast! It seems as if people were just removing their brakes altogether for a chance at the podium rather than an accumulation of points. Omar, Alex, and Derek were the winners in Tuned Class. I should've been in the final race, but Alex edged out my car by a nose. Unfortunately, my son didn't win anything with Silver Surfer or BlueJay but he did receive lots of points. My prizes were a Super Avante Jr. car kit, a green car catcher, a neon yellow FM-A chassis, and a Rev-Tuned motor. For next month, I'll have all new cars to add to my arsenal.
Outcast Mini 4WD Races - June 15, 2024 - My first visit to the Outcast Mini 4WD races held at Arena Stem Paramus was met with enthusiasm and elation from familiar, friendly faces I've met at Hobbytown. The Outcast group and various racers from Portal Tuners and D'Pitstop welcomed me with open arms. All convened for the love of racing and it was good to see such 
SideBite Mini4WD Races - July 4, 2024 - My first visit to SideBite was met with fearsome competition from the local Mini 4WD racing enthusiasts. I was surprised to see so many competitive racers in the Box Stock category. Every heat I had won was met with someone just a little bit faster in the semi-finals races. My son, Matthew, and I turned up the juice in the final two heats and we both secured spots in the finals. The winner raced a Korean Mach Frame, a car known for its all-out speed. Very few cars can beat that car. On most days, I could go toe to toe against it with a standard Mach Frame, but today was not an ordinary day. My second place victory secured an awesome SideBite trophy and two grade-up parts, a carbon plate and a pair of low-frix tires. Unfortuanately, neither my son nor I fared well in Tuned Class. I got to the semi-finals a couple of times, but there were faster and more stable cars in the hunt. SideBite owner Latif made each race very exciting with his energetic announcer's voice. It actualy sounded like we were watching a full-size car racing event! My other Box Stock car was the new Aero Avante Asia Challenge, which had red, white, and blue colors that were perfect for the holiday. It's a really stable car, but not super fast. Typically, I would win a heat because a faster car ahead of me would course out. Matthew raced Silver Surfer, a Silver Metallic Mach Frame. His car was faster than everyone in the Box Stock Finals, but he juiced it up too much and coursed out. For Tuned Class, I raced Eagle and Hellboy and Matthew raced BlueJay. They were competitive, usually finishing second, but were always edged out by other cars. I believe that my brake settings could've been more optimized to yield faster results.
Hobbytown Tom's River Mini 4WD League Racing - July 7, 2024 - On the first Sunday of each month, Hobbytown has held its Mini 4WD League Racing event. Two categories are offered with Tuned Class always being one. Ironically, those events didn't interest me as much as the curious little track off to the side. Known as "The Force Labo Test Track," this little infinite loop is the same test track that hundreds of Mini 4WD racers have competed for best overall lap times. Never feeling intimidated by challenges such as this, I placed Hellboy on the track right out of my pitbox shortly after I arrived at the shop. The result was a lap time of 8.00, not bad for a first attempt, especially since the record so far was 7.81. I upped my battery voltages little by little, from 1.3V to 1.45V to 1.5V to 1.55V and experienced crashes and course outs as a result. Removing the Tamiya tape on the front of my cars helped grip the incline and I was able to achieve lap times in the high 7s. Ken tested his cars. His Prostock cars are lightweight and wicked fast. He was able to beat my record with a lap time of 7.56. Racemaster Eric showed us his unofficial time of 7.73. Both scores are amazing. I noticed that everyone seemed to be using a faster motor than what I used. Hellboy had a Torque Tuned motor with a 3.5:1 gear ratio. I decided to up the ante by using a Hyper Dash motor. The first test didn't register. 
The laptimer flashed "Lo" on its display. The second test resulted in a crash underneath the overpass. Most cars hit that if they're going too fast. The third time my car rocketed around the track like a little Dangun racer. It sounded almost perfectly smooth. The result was a lap time of 7.28, the overall record for the league. There are stories of Japanese racers achieving times lower than 7 seconds. Alas, we won't know how these numbers were achieved unless we know how the track was maintained. Every little nuance of a track can affect your lap time. Once my lap time was announced, a number of racers tried their best to beat it. I think the Mini 4WD gods must've smiled upon me for a brief moment because my record was unbeaten this month. My time was eventually beaten by an Open Class car two months later, but what I did felt more amazing because I achieved my time with a BMAX car.
HobbyTown Tom's River Mini 4WD Races - July 13, 2024 - It was Hobbytown's 75th anniversary of sorts, meaning 75 months worth of Mini 4WD racing events have been held at this location. I was late for Box Stock as usual and waited for Tuned Class. Little did I know that Tuned Class wouldn't start until 6:00pm! 67 cars vied for the top three spots. We only had three, instead of the usual five, opportunities to make the finals. Tuned Class didn't end until 9:30pm. A subset of people stayed for Open Class. I would've stayed if I didn't have an event the next day.
Liberty Cup Summer Cup @ SideBite - July 21, 2024 - I had two competitive entries for Box Stock, Blue Thunder and Hurricane. Unfortunately, a switch malfunction and a broken roller mount decreased our chances with Hurricane and a failure to change batteries in the finals of two lane races decreased our chances with Blue Thunder. I had my best chance in Tuned Class. After a dismal first lane qualifier, I ripped off the front brakes on Hellboy and let it fly around the track. And fly it did. The car that I annointed as "The Fastest Car" no doubt had a target on its back by everyone who's seen it. It was certainly up to the challenge, but by the fourth and fifth heats, something changed on the car and it kept coursing out on the camelback. It's a shame because Hellboy was beating everyone for two rounds. I believe that tape wear and a loose roller mount were the issues. I should've been more diligent in checking my car before a race. Unfortunately, my Open Class car, Saeko, didn't have enough juice against the other cars. Saeko was built for three-lane tracks with no steep inclines, not five-lane tracks like this one. We had over 110 cars across all three categories making this a very successful SideBite x Liberty Cup event. Car kits, comics, collectibles, and other souvenirs were given to all the winners and there were also prizes for Coolest/Cutest Car and Best Paint Job. There were 103 cars total across all three races.
AAA Hobbies Mini 4WD Races - August 11, 2024 - At the risk of sounding like a broken record, no wins again, but that's okay. I came close, but I took a very conservative route with my batteries on the first two attempts with each car. On the final attempt, I juiced up my batteries too much. In Box Stock, I raced Spider-Man 2099, a very able car. I had 1.54V batteries in my first attempt; I was not fast enough with these. I had 1.59V batteries in my second attempt; I did better, but was edged out by one of my teammates who also raced a newer Mach Frame. I had 1.63V batteries in my final attempt and coursed out. The car flipped over and ran backwards over the tabletop on the far end. I really only needed 1.61V to win. A lesson learned. In Tuned Class, I had a wicked fast car, but there were many other fast cars as well. A loss of stability on a race and re-race in the semi-finals for lane three lost my spot on the podium. Same as last month, tape wear and a loose roller mount contributed to my loss. I should've been more diligent in checking my car before the final race. There could've been three MCBYTE racers on the Tuned Class podium this month. My son raced Shiva and BlueJay. Shiva did well beating various cars. BlueJay was stable, but not fast enough. It was always behind the competition. The track was deceptively easy as all AAA Hobbies tracks are. There are buildups of speed where you don't want them, especially over the tabletop and the lane changer.
Portal Tuners Mini 4WD Races - August 24, 2024 - I won Bronze in the BMAX Class at the monthly Portal Tuners race at Arena Stem Paramus. The track looked like a larger version of the tracks I designed for my indoor Liberty Cup races. It had three levels of twists, turns, and mayhem as some of the most formidable racers on the East Coast vied for podium spots. Unfortunately, it was too late for me to enter Tuned Class as I did not arrive until 2:30pm. BMAX Class didn't start until after 3:00pm and Open Class started after 5:00pm. I didn't leave the event until 7:20pm. There were a lot of cars in each race and racemaster Arnell's ticketing system seemed confusing to me at first, but I quickly figured it out. I had no idea what I was doing other than place my car at the starting line every time I was called up to race. After each win in BMAX, I simply knew that I was getting closer and closer to the finals. I was quite surprised that my car made it to the final three as I had to beat some serious competition to get there. The other two finalists, Ciel Shock and Joshua, were top ten scorers at SideBite's Time Attack challenge. The prize for my Bronze win was a Japan Cup 2024 Ignicion. I also tried my luck in Open Class and got two of my three cars into the qualifiers, but could not hold on to win. It was good to see my homemade MS suspension cars making it to the qualifiers because they were certainly speedy cars.
SideBite Mini4WD Races - September 15, 2024 - I won Silver Place in this week's SideBite Sundays Box Stock race. My MCBYTE teammate Cyril won Gold. Chase won Bronze. I had two cars in the finals, but, sadly, my superfast car, Hellfire, my Exflowly Red Special, that led every race until then coursed out leaving my second car, my resurrected Hurricane Sonic, as the determinant of my fate. I took a conservative approach with my battery power at 1.51V because too much over that would've led to courseouts. MA and AR chasses were the champions of this track. FM-As were having a hard time. I raced Eagle and Hellboy in Tuned Class and got Eagle into the finals, but did not place. My prize was a pink Japan Cup 2024 carbon plate. The usual trophies were replaced with ribbons this time.
Liberty Cup 3, Round 3 - November 17, 2024 - A squiggle and a squoval ramps up to a hairpin turn across the way to a second squoval and a downramp to a hairpin turn, a jump, another hairpin turn, a lane changer, a hard left, a tabletop, and another hard left back to the start. There were 17 cars in Box Stock, 16 cars in Tuned Class, 6 in Open Class, and 9 racers total. In the Box Stock category, Chris won Gold, Marcello won Silver, and Cyril won Bronze. In Tuned Class category, Chris won Gold and Evan won Silver and Bronze. In Open Class, Evan won Gold, Chris won Silver, and Will won Bronze. My Box Stock cars were Scorpion (Brocken Gigant) and Ghost (Aero Thundershot). Ghost was my best chance at securing a podium spot. Unfortunately, it coursed out at an inopportune time at the end. In Tuned Class, I raced Hellboy and Nitro. My cars were lightning quick and were a little too fast with high battery voltages. I charged my batteries a little too much for Hellboy. 1.33V was a good choice for it. Sadly, I amped it to 1.46V and ended up coursing out. Nitro was a solid contender and a winner, but it, too, coursed out with a little too much battery charge. In Open Class, I raced Grim Reaper and Venom. Venom was too slow and a non-contender. It used a deprecated HyperDash motor. Grim Reaper used a Light Dash motor that was plenty fast and provided a smooth ride around the track, but a freak accident where the car got stuck just before the lane changer prevented its win. It was supposed to be the car to beat. This month was just filled with a lot of bad luck. Will borrowed my new prototype FM-A open class car that had a DxN AT pivot on the front and my Katana pivot on the rear. It is a rebuild of my Venom 1.0 car. I lent Will my car so that he and John could build their own Open Class cars.
Sometimes there is no way to revive a dead or burnt out motor. At best, a burnt out motor will end up being a box stock motor. At worst, it goes to motor heaven. At that point, open it up and remove the white motor spacer inside. Use the spacer for your open class cars. However, bear in mind that it takes a lot to kill one of these little motors. Try to revive it again or use it as a slow motor in a test car.
Oil and Grease: Do not use the grease in the little blue toothpaste tube that comes with the kit. That is inferior to the F grease you can buy separately (picture on the right). Do not use either kind of grease on your wheel shafts. Use an oil pen or Ganapati oil instead.
Mako
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