Sacrilege! I hear you cry... An Associated product in rc-mini? Just what is the world coming to... Well, don't be too hasty, these little things have won us over, big time.
You see, mid-week racing for us, is indoor, on carpet. Or, indoor on tarmac, but either way, on smallish tracks. Oh we still take our Minis, but most other people run in the RC18R class. So of course, we bought some too... After all, you can never have enough cars, right?
Prevailing rules for the class allow...well pretty much nothing. The car comes out of the box (you can change receivers to allow you to use your normal transmitter) and you race it. Standard motor, standard ESC, standard tyres, standard battery pack, etc, etc... You can change your shock oil (don't bother), and your shock springs (Associated option only - don't bother, again) but that's it.
This is some of the action at Radical R/C midweek.
And DAMN, are these things good! My own car has been dropped a couple of mm (1 shock spacer out) and it handles superbly, absolutely no need to do anything else to it. No 'chasing setup' or any other crap - it just WORKS. Tony P's is pretty much the same. We just throw them in their bags at the end of the night, then bring them out again the next week.
Tough? You better believe it. Usually we marshall the Novice RC18R race each week and it's a PLEASURE to do so. Tim and I are usually falling over laughing it's so much fun to watch. The word 'carnage' is thrown around a lot these days, but never is it more appropriate than when applied to the Novice 18R's. Yet, rarely do they not all finish the heat. I have never seen such punishment handed out to poor, unsuspecting vehicles, yet inevitably the night ends with all cars still running.
My own car is now 5 months old, I haven't replaced a single part. Tony P's car is slightly older, and his gets used EVERY WEEK. Still as it came out of the box (just a whole lot filthier).
Is there a down side? Well, the only one we could think of is that nobody makes a Mini shell for them! So....we did.. Based off the Chevron Monster shell, this is a quick photoshopped version of the basic mould plug that I made. By the time you read this, the plug will be finished and hopefully actual shells won't be too far away. And the best part is that the 'cartoony' style of the Monster lends itself perfectly to the weird not-quite-true-scale dimensions of the RC18R.
Now, we can run 18R's AND Minis - at the same time... If your local track runs these things, beg, borrow, or STEAL a drive. Forget that they aren't all that quick, just enjoy them for what they are - a whole heap of FUN!
