RC Car Line up! Mini-Z MR-03EVO, MA-020, GLR-GT, GLD, Mini-Q Q7, MB-010VE, GT24, MX-01, MR-03

Happy new year everyone! I want to start 2022 by taking a checkpoint of what I have on the bench and in the drawers. At this moment, I only run 1:28 or 1:24 scale cars because living in NYC I'm limited by the amount of storage space and places to drive them.

The first car to show here is the Mini-Z MR-03EVO RWD. This is the 20th Anniversary Edition, and I've since modded it further. I did kingpin flip, delrin servo gears, toe-in tie rod, negative camber front, knuckles, softer front springs, and a stiffer t-plate. It's my 94mm narrow racer which is fun to upgrade and forgiving to drive. The EVO servo electronics are pretty loud though so it's not a car to just chill and drive.

The second car is the Mini-Z MA-020 AWD. At the onset of the pandemic, I figured I wanted to try micro RC, and so I picked up this MIni-Z. I appreciate that it's a very easy car to pick up and drive. From the factory, it came in at 90mm wheelbase with drift tires already ready for AWD drift actions. I've further modded it quite heavily. It runs with a front one way diff, solid axle rear, gyro, soft front springs, metal servo saver and horn, and counter steering mod (1.9 CS ratio). With the CS mod, it drives like a hybrid AWD/RWD, giving this MA-020 quite a unique and interesting driving experience.

The next car here is not a Kyosho Mini-Z. It's a GLR-GT by GL Racing. This is a 98mm wheelbase pan car architecture designed for RCP track racing. It's like a Mini-Z MR-03, except it's an open platform for electronics, runs 2S lipo, gimbal rear pod, double wishbone front suspension, and is often configured for lexan bodies. I bought this to have a 1:28 race machine. Sure, it's too fast for my skill level, but it's still a ton of fun to drive. It's my quietest car too. I also really enjoy building chassis from scratch, especially GL kits which are known for their high quality. Currently, it runs a nice GL sensored system. Currently, it runs a nice GL sensored system. The rest of the car has been modded with brass base plate, negative camber front knuckles, GLA adjustable shocks and medium-hard springs.

Next up is a car from HRC and GL Racing, the GLD RWD drift chassis. This is still my favorite micro RC car. Even after more than a year, I'm still finding room for improving my RWD drifting skills. It's perfect for someone like me limited by space. All I need is a little flat area of floor. Similar to GLR-GT, GLD required building from a kit. As with any RWD drift chassis, attention to all the details of the build and understanding drift mechanics are critical. This GLD has also been heavily hopped up with alloy parts. It looks good and performs quite flawlessly. I'm quite proud of the outcome.

There's also this Mini-Q Q7, my designated AWD racer at 98mm wheelbase and wide. This was my first open platform car. Though it doesn't have much of upgrade paths, out of the box it drives nicely. It does AWD grip or drift competently. This has become my experimentation car since it's easier to work on.

Aside from 1:28 road cars, I also have a couple of 1:24 scale "offroad" buggies. I put quotes around offroad because 1:24 is still tiny. This is the Mini-Z MB-010VE 2.0 Buggy. Out of the box, it comes with oil shocks, brushless electronics, and drives brilliantly. While there aren't many 1:24 buggies these days, the Mini-Z stands out with a large variety of upgrade options available. Kyosho hasn't updated the chassis since 10 years ago (!!), but fortunately, the company does a decent job stocking replacement parts, and occasionally upgrade parts.

The main competitor to the Mini-Z Buggy is the Carisma GT24 series. It's also 1:24 scale and less expensive. My GT24 started life as a Subaru WRC narrow chassis, but it's become a more versatile GT24TR Truggy configuration. Aside from widening the track, it's been upgraded with Losi oil shocks and GL ESC and Radiolink electronics. Replacing electronics and getting the chassis cover back on required lots of dremeling and sweat., but the result was a great performing buggy.

Most recently I picked up a Mini-Z MX-01 4x4 Crawler. This is something new to my RC experience. I like how I can reuse the NB4 transmitter + RM005 FHSS module for the 4x4 as well. I also like it's reasonably close to true 1:24 scale and not something larger. Sitting on top of the chassis is a white Jeep Wrangler body. So far I haven't had enough opportunities to drive this truck yet so I will reserve my thoughts and planned upgrades later. I think my cat is going to be quite interested in this one too.

I almost forgot about this one. I have had a standard Mini-Z MR-03 sitting in a drawer for a while. The plan is for this to become my box stock RWD racer.

Thanks for listening to me talk about my RC car collection!

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