Carbon Fiber vs Plastic Mini-Z Buggy MB-010 Outdoor Test Drives

I have two Mini-Z buggies. The red one is the AAA-powered brushless MB-010VE 2.0 with a bunch of aluminum upgrades. It's so easy to pop in AAA NiMH batteries and start driving. While it's not sealed against sand or small debris, for a car the size of of hand, it's very fast with amazing handling. This other buggy here is only partially an MB-010. The previous two videos featured this Sai Lai's CFV buggy. It uses a custom carbon fiber chassis and fully custom electronics. Things drivetrain and suspension are standard Mini-Z. In this video, I'm going to test drive the CFV for the first time, and compare the driving experience with the standard buggy.
I've installed my favorite tires on the CFV, the Carisma GT24 rally pin tires (CIS15639). They are grippy and durable. The initial impression is that the buggy runs quite smoothly. Off power, it rolls freely. On this concrete and wood plank surface, the tires provide a lot of traction, and therefore also steering. In fact, I needed to dial down the dual rate because this chassis allows for significantly more steering angle than a regular MB-010. The most obvious difference to the driving experience is the throttle control. The Furitek Momentum ESC is 10 years more advanced than Kyosho's board. I can drive the CFV easily and confidently.
(25% playback speed)
I lowered this buggy using some droop screws on the suspension arms. The dogbones run smoother, and there's less bump steer. These slow motion footage lets us see how the chassis leans and how the tires skid around during corners. Mini-Z Buggy's oil shocks and suspension are getting the job done. So not only the CFV looks pro, it performs well. This is a successful build.
For comparison, let's remind ourselves how the MB-010VE 2.0 does in the same environment. It's got the same Carisma GT24 rally pin tires, but the beefier big bore shocks. It's super fast! I forgot how quick this thing zooms around.
This is running AAA (~4.8v), 8500kv brushless motor, and 11/35T gear ratio. The CFV runs 2s lipo (~7.2v), 3500kv brushless motor, and 16/33T gear ratio. If I do my math right, both buggies should generate around the same amount of wheel speed. After rewatching the footage many times, I think the AAA buggy is a little bit faster. A Surpass Rocket 5500kv motor just arrived at my work bench. It's going into the CFV, which will certainly get faster. What a blast to drive this buggy though!
(Hi Loki!)
How about an indoor setting? Let's test it out starting with the same Carisma tires. These rally pin tires do pretty well on this surface. There's enough grip to drive safely indoor. The extra steering angle on the CFV can come in handy too. The rear end feels a bit loose. Perhaps in the future I can test putting a 5g weight in the back.
Here we have Kyosho's stock buggy tires (MBT002F, MBT002R). They are pin tires too more designed for carpet. With the body off here, we can see the electronics setup. That's a GL 330mah 2s lipo. Even with the dual rate dialed down, I can tell the steering angle is much more than the stock MB-010. I've run these Kyosho tires many times already. Visually, they look really nice, but they don't have too much grip on this floor. The buggy is still drivable, but it's a bit more shaky. These tires work better on carpet and concrete. In general, I recommend getting the cheaper Carisma rally pin tires instead.
I also have a different set of Carisma tires. These are the 38 shore GT24B tires (CIS15387). These are the softer version compared to the stock 55 shore GT24B tires (CIS15388). I have run the 55 shore ones before, but not these 38 shore. They feel a lot grippier in the hand. The fresh tires are super clean and grip well on this floor, but of course dust tends to decrease transaction quickly. With the flatter tire treads compared to the pin tires, I can see these working well on something like RCP.
Oh yeah, I must also show how the CFV performs at slow speed. Its turning circle is very tight for its scale. All indoor drivers will welcome this benefit. Its turning radius has gotta be half of that of GT24, and roughly 70% of the standard MB-010. You might also have noticed the low end throttle control here, due to the modern ESC. Let's just say it's miles better than what Kyosho put in the MB-010VE.
I hope this video provided everyone some ideas of how the Mini-Z Buggy carbon chassis conversion performs in practice. I never thought I would have a second Mini-Z Buggy, but this was well worth the cost and effort. After the previous video had been published, Sai reached out to me and sent me an improved version of the CFV chassis. This means I will be talking about the CFV soon again!
To buy the carbon chassis, contact Sai Lai by Facebook ( / sai.lai.37625 ) or Whatsapp [phone])
Music: "Alive", Ikson ( • #16 Alive (Official) )
Songs by TELL YOUR STORY music by ikson™
Link: ikson.com/tell-your-story

[@KingLoggFrogg]

Great video and great platform!! Love the CF chassis!!! Keep up the awesome work!

[@sammybaka]

Thanks! The project has been a lot of fun. Kyosho designed something very versatile in a small package with these buggies.

[@spockfpv]

Thank you for this video sammy. I'm definitely going to have to do this to my mini-z as well. The increased turning radius makes it worth it! Plus I like the fact that we can use a modern ESC for better speed control, especially at slow speeds.

[@sammybaka]

Thank you! Please let me know if there's anything I can help with your build, either here on youtube or in facebook groups.

[@spockfpv]

@@sammybaka thanks I will, very kind of you to offer.

[@kevinruan]

great video with tons of information! really thinking of building one myself :) also, how do the ball diffs compare to the open diffs?

[@sammybaka]

Thank you Kevin. This is the first time I'm running kyosho awd ball diffs. To be honest for just messing around, I'm not taking advantage of the ball diff's adjustability for different traction levels. FYI this carbon chassis doesn't not allow gear diffs because of the width of the cut out, so I had to get these blue ball diffs, or the cheaper black ones, or maybe Atomic ball diffs. However, Sai is making available an updated version of the chassis to allow for gear diffs. I think that's a great change because gear diffs don't need much maintenance and are much cheaper.

[@saifthegreat9073]

Thank you sammy. Is the carisma pins tire fit to kyosho rim? Which is the best version of carisma tire in terms of grip?

[@sammybaka]

Yup the carsima rally pin tires fit on kyosho buggy rims. My favorite tires that generate good traction are carisma-shop.com/products/gt24-mini-pins-rally-tyres

[@saifthegreat9073]

@@sammybaka just received my tires. Can't wait to try it on my buggy!

[@smartexport]

graut video!, thank you! I just bought the brushless VA. One of the issues I have right out of the box is that the tires come loose. They basically jump off the little groove on the wheel. any ideas how to fix that? couldn't find anything online.

[@sammybaka]

Thank you. It's common for people to glue the tires onto the rims with CA glue. I also read that it's possible to use double sided tape in the groove to keep the tire secure.

[@smartexport]

@@sammybaka thanks for your input! you seem one of the view people on KZbin making videos about the miniz buggy. have you found a solution to get better low end control on the brushless version? I know about the app and also read about a motor swap. not sure if either of these options are worth it

[@sammybaka]

@@smartexportthanks again. with the kyosho brushless esc in the buggy, i don't think it's possible to gain better low end throttle control unfortunately.

[@smartexport]

@@sammybaka That’s what I thought. thanks again, appreciate the help!

[@joeredmond7954]

I had the same problem with the tyres coming off the rim with my brushless buggy. I bought foam tyre inserts made by PN racing for the buggy and it stopped this, the foam just gives a little support to the sidewalls of the tyres and keeps them from rolling over and coming off the rim. They make a pair to fit the front and a pair to fit the rear wheel sizes. I can't tell if they improve or worsen grip levels but it saves me refitting the tyres every 5 minutes.

[@aquaticnstuff7666]

I bought a Mini Z evo a few weeks ago and now I am realizing that at 1/28 or 1/24 scale the mini z rwd are basically like slot cars they have no suspension and struggle indoors with just random bumps etc. I think I prefer rally car style now but Im stuck with the evo... I am considering buying a mini z 4x4 and putting small wheels and a fast motor

[@sammybaka]

What surface are you driving on? In general, it's quite challenging to generate enough traction with RWD outside of a track or office carpet. It's possible to improve tractions for mr-03/mr-04, using super soft and extra wide tires, and sometimes adding weight. The surface also must be super clean. AWD gets more intrinsic traction and it's easier. Mini-Z 4x4 is a crawler with fixed diffs. It's not a good general driver.

[@musaedalqattan8976]

now they have brushless sensors mr04 so do you thinks soon buggy cam with sensor

[@sammybaka]

to be honest I'm not sure when Kyosho will come around to update the buggy. it'd be nice but I'm not counting on it any time soon.

[@reevesc87]

Any jumps yet Sammy?

[@sammybaka]

Not yet! I will need to unlower the buggy, and make a better ramp than what I have right now. I'm a bit weary because there's no servo saver at all and jumps feel like a bad idea :)

[@drawstraw4483]

Is that little guy 4wd? 😊

[@drawstraw4483]

😬 oops, I see now... Really cool though if you just need a little rc fix

[@sammybaka]

Yeah for a buggy this size it's very capable. I don't have access to places to drive larger RCs so I'm glad we have smaller platforms that can provide a fix.