Anyone got a Mini Z Optima?

[keithrc]

Hey guys, I finally bought myself a Mini Z Optima and was wondering if anyone else on here had one? I've been wanting to get one since I heard about them being released. It turned up on Tuesday which was really fast delivery from Hong Kong considering I ordered it last Saturday night. I've been running it inside since the weather's been a bit crap.

I put some Duracell AAA's in it just so I could run it but I'll have to find some decent rechargable NiMH's, as it's a bit down on power. I'm thinking maybe the Energizer 1000mah AAA's unless there's something more powerfull. I've already ordered a more powerfull motor (Kyosho BBT2) and a set of yellow mini Lazer rims and tyres.


Keith

[Lonestar]

i dont have one but i tried one for a few minutes a few weeks afo. it s really cute, but driving it is terribly disappointing i found... and at the price, i was a bit puzzled. rechargeables will be even slower than alcalines... let us know how it goes with the bigger spec motor!

[keithrc]

Yea they aren't cheap but I bought the least expensive one I could find, around $250 AUD posted, not bad considering one place wanted over $500.

I'm not sure if it's just the batteries I'm using or if it'll perform better with some NiMH's, I'll try better batteries before swaping the motor over. Watching vids of them on youtube they can be made to go pretty quick.


Keith

[rangerg]

I just got 900HV Orion batteries. When I try them out, I'll post (comparing them to LaCrosse 1100 batteries).

[DennisM]

Alcalines are 1,5 volts per cell and the nimh´s are only 1,2 volts - so as Lonestar wrote, it´ll be even slower with nimh´s.

[rangerg]

The batteries didn't make much difference. The car is not fast, but it handles really well. I like it. I have seen complaints about its toughness, but I bash it around (and my daughter accidently ran over it with her bike) - no problems. I did get a small chassis reinforcement piece and stronger wheel locks (all from Atomic mods). These helped. I have had a Losi Micro-T. It actually seemed faster but this steers tighter and just seems more high-end (which it is considering the cost).

[Lonestar]

The batteries didn't make much difference. The car is not fast, but it handles really well. I like it. I have seen complaints about its toughness, but I bash it around (and my daughter accidently ran over it with her bike) - no problems. I did get a small chassis reinforcement piece and stronger wheel locks (all from Atomic mods). These helped. I have had a Losi Micro-T. It actually seemed faster but this steers tighter and just seems more high-end (which it is considering the cost).

I had a losi micro-T too with bearings and oil shocks...the losi was defo way faster but I had 2S lipos in there what shocked me with the 4wd mini optima was that you could almost drive full speed in the turns without much understeer... it remotely felt like a 12th scale onroad, and for an offroad it was just too far from an "enjoyable" feel. The MicroT being 2wd, you had to actually pilot it - the only thing that felt lower-Q in the losi were the hypersmart lexan "turnbuckles". The rest was a very very fine piece of reduction engineering - I actually felt that the optima was too toy-like...

I'd like to see proper races of 4wd offroad miniZ's though

Paul

[keithrc]

I'm gonna try some Energizer lithiums and see how they go, I'll be interested to see how the new motor performs when it arrives too. I'm really tempted to get the Jared Tebo version Lazer as well-maybe in a few weeks after my latest "investment" (electric 1/18 Inferno) arrives.


Keith

[keithrc]

OK, I just gave the little beast a run with Energizer lithiums and it made a big difference. I wouldn't say it was twice as fast as with the Duracells but definitely a big improvement.

So far my only gripes with this car would be the turning circle, it could be a bit tighter (maybe the Lazer is different with the narrower front wheels?) and it doesn't actually have an "Optima" sticker as such on the body anywhere.

I wonder if Kyosho have considered doing other vintage body's for them like the Javelin, Turbo Optima etc.


Keith

[rangerg]

Kyosho recently released the VE (lipo and brushless) version of the mini-z buggy. I see it is available in Japan right now. This is something I may go for and pass the old one to my daughter. Did anyone get one for Christmas? The VE is chassis only, but I would make sure to the Optima body on it.

[yellowdatsun]

I have a mini Z Optima, and I'm happy with it. You gotta take into account the limitations of packaging everything into such a small space, you aren't going to get everything perfect. I take mine on work trips and race it around the hotel room, using books as jumps.

I have another Mini Z car that I put a 1/24 scale Datsun 510 model body on, I love it.

[limestang]

Amain is running a pretty good price on these:

https://www.amainhobbies.com/kyosho-mb010s-miniz-buggy-optima-readyset-blue-white-kyo32082bw-b/p577498

[mugenbulldog]

Regarding the turning radius, the steering limits can be adjusted from the transmitter. You should be able to set it too tight... So can the throttle, reverse, neutral etc, and the only gripe I have with it is it can get confused, to the point where reverse doesn't work, and you have to reset it - the process to do so is either hidden very well in the manual or only online.

[rangerg]

MugenBulldog is correct. There are issues you will encounter that are not in the manuals that come with the car. There is a "Technical Guide" free in pdf from Kyosho that I have had to go to several times. I have it printed out now.