the McLaren Racing Shell came and went recently… a testament to how rare items for dNano get snatched up quickly by dedicated fans. if there’s anyone who knows about dedicated, its the nanotrax crew and we’ve pushed for important replacement parts (main frame -plastics only with ic tag- set) that you can find now available @ our dnano and mini z online shop. there are also new dnano optional parts on their way into stock + the latest optional parts for Mini Z AWD. currently, we’re weathering the storm of the current economic atmosphere and we expect to be here for years to come, providing a special little something in an infamous city called Pattaya.
on sunday, we held the last race on the disastrous ‘WTF’ layout which i believe drove everyone away from play at the shop. it was difficult and certainly, that word and ‘fun’ just don’t seem to fit together for most people. as a matter of fact, we held only 2 races and ran in only one direction before removing and installing a new one. Hugh was rather direct, frank, honest…. even rude with his vocal melee on the layout but… he was right. it had to go and now, i’m sure he and everyone else will find fun again with ‘Blur’ on F1R. i call it that because the lanes are wide and action will be ridiculously fast. Gary surprised us with a rare visit and Calvin re-joined us on sunday so i suspect we’ll have some interesting racing to say the least during the next 5+ weeks before he leaves us again. i’ll get around to posting the race report over @dnanoclub soon so visit there to check that out and share your thoughts and experiences with dnano and club racing in your area.
Niky-O from Austria contacted me recently about a special order. he wanted a Race Spec Porsche 911 GT3 which i thought was strange considering this particular car is not very competitive with other GT Class dNano cars. in its stock setup, the track measurement is the most narrow of all available cars and its got a short wheelbase with a rear-mounted (RM) motor. an MM mounted motor with a longer wheelbase will normally give better overall handling. to compensate for some of these issues, there are a few things i’ll do to make this car competitive but just like every dNano, it starts with a basic chassis set. normally, i don’t do extra things like lowering the car, changing spacers setup or wheel sizes but in this case, i decided to put my own touch on this one so he could be at least a few degrees closer to a winning car… after its over, its all about who’s driving the car. if you have additional questions, comments or just want to say hi, shoot me an e-mail or post on the nanotrax forum to share your thoughts and experiences with our growing dnano family!
after an exciting weekend of ‘big’ scale R/C, this week things slowed down tremendously with several of our visitors going back to their home country and other locals taking a break from the every day party that is Pattaya. during this very quiet week, we received the latest in highly detailed, scale replicas from the always impressive, Kyosho dNano Auto Scale Collection. the detail in the works of art they produce for us to play with is simply amazing. take a look at the photos of the all new, Xanavi Nismo GT-R 2008 and you’ll see what i mean. this is a 1/43 scale car and that means its tiny. the sponsor decals, the spoilers, the fixtures are all there and if you’re starting a collection of models in this size, i guarantee you’ll want to make this a part of it. unfortunately, the body mount and fitting parts haven’t been released so if you’re looking to change from one dNano to another, you’ll need to wait a few more weeks but if you’d like to be pick up a CCS (Complete Chassis Set), then that’s available now. speaking of which…. how could we get this in and not give it a test run?
the first thing i noticed about this new shell is the length. though the wheelbase is only 62.8mm, the body extends several mm beyond the rear end of the chassis making it equally as long as the DBR9. this extension gives it a ‘swing’ sort of handling feel when navigating corners. i suppose that can be good or bad depending on how you drive it. another thing i noticed is the discrepancy between the specs of the car and the actual setup. if you’re familiar with the spacers used to adjust ride height and front suspension travel, you’ll know there are .5mm and 1mm spacers used between the upper & lower front suspension plates. in the DNX410 documentation, it specifically says there’s a 1mm upper spacer and no lower spacer but in the chassis sets we received, there ‘s a 1mm lower spacer installed (see photo). i ended up changing this spacer from 1mm to .5mm which helped to reduce the ‘swing’ feel in cornering and leveled the ride height. a car’s setup is really a personal decision based on driving style and circuit layout so if you get one of these, play with the setup to find what works best for you. after racing with many dNano, i’ve discovered the body is very important in the way the chassis will handle so always take care to choose that fits your driving style & performance expectations. a new ‘white’ version of the IC Tag is now installed, the previous generations were a light blue, then a dark blue. i assume the evolution is to implement improvements in functionality but that remains to be revealed.
just like the MOTUL Autech Z, this body is very low profile so you may notice it rubbing the surface during high speed cornering which can cause unpredictable oversteer. overall, i like the way the car handles on straights, it tracks like a bullet when i hit the throttle. the body is somewhat delicate and after the ‘Dylan Test’ parts that came off included the front ‘scoop’ spoilers + the front air filter/toe hook. as usual, when racing you shouldn’t expect the side mirrors to last long and the spoiler could come off easily if involved in a hard rear end collision. if you’d like these parts to last longer, strengthen them with acrylic, Joom handles that for all our members. that’s all i have for now, expect an update this week on the R8 Type Shell and if you’re interested in our club races, stop by the forum for the latest info.
yes, its been quiet around here and that reflects the general conditions of things in Pattaya at the moment. the economic slowdown, the strength of the Thai baht and the weakening of normally very strong currencies around the world has severely reduced traffic and sales @ nanotrax and many other local businesses. we’re lucky to see many of our regular customers returning and doing their best to support the shop. while things are a bit rough, we’ve done our best to cut costs while maintaining high quality service on and offline. a big thanks to our customers around the world who have reached out and continued to support our shop from thousands of miles away. because of that, we continue to bring you the latest in items that will hopefully enhance your experience with this hobby we all care so much about. we haven’t seen a new body for dNano since the Chevrolet Corvette C6-R was released in February and dNano fans have been longing for something new. X-Power has answered the call with a new, handmade shell designed to fit the (DNC502) Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 Chassis. the Limited Edition Reventon Type Shell is now available @ our online shop. additionally, the new XP Screwdriver for dNano has been added to our long list of available parts and accessories. for those on a budget, this is definitely an interesting, economical option for working on your moving chassis.
racing still continues weekly @ 5pm (Sundays) and with Robby, Erwin and Vincent back in town, expect to see some high speed, heated competition on both circuits in the coming weeks. for race reports and other topics, visit our dNano forum. have questions or concerns? e-mail the webmaster!
come on… 300 million USD & 15 years of development resulting in 2.5 hours of action packed 3D and you think i’m not gonna post about it? Avatar is an absolutely stunning movie which will almost certainly go down in history as one of the best visual experiences ever released for public consumption. Calvin, Joom and I went to see it at Central Festival Mall (Pattaya Beach) last night and from opening to closing credits, time just flew by. yesterday was Calvin’s last day @ NanoTrax and it was rather slow with only a few visitors and a couple of members stopping by for a few practice laps. he hooked up his Perfext KT-18 Transmitter with the new PRO Fit Steering Wheel from R246 which just came in a couple days ago. i don’t think anyone will be confused about who’s transmitter that is now ;-) …as for dNaNo news, the rumor is that the Corvette C6-R will be the next released in the series and specs are almost identical to the Mazda 787b. i’m not sure when it’ll arrive but you know i’ll let ya know. this sunday’s club race will also be the date for our 2009 NanoTrax Driver’s Champion Award presentation so if you’re in the area, stop by to congratulate our inauguaral season champion, Olaf Stuermer. we’ll have club racing as usual along with complimentary draft beer for members, food and all day happy hour for visitors. hope to see you all there…
the 2nd floor circuit hasn’t been getting much attention since the installation of ‘Art Deco’ on F1R so i took a few days to update the layout on F2L to increase interest and brighten the room. its a bit more technical than previous layouts but once you find the racing line, its a pretty quick run as well. if we have less than 5 drivers, we’ll hold the club race on F2L from now on. otherwise, there’s not much to report on at the moment, but you can jump in on our discussions @ the NanoTrax dNaNo & Mini-Z forum and help make our community the #1 place to meet and greet others who are discovering 1/43rd scale indoor racing. i post race reports, new products and tech updates you won’t find on the blog so visit and register to participate! i’m now waiting for the next dNaNo release… what will be next??
i was building a “Race Spec” dNaNo today for a customer and it occurred to me that i should give him an explanation for everything i’ve done before shipping this special gift he planned to give for the holiday season. though some may look at it as ‘just a toy’, the dNaNo is a precision racing model with various optional parts that have a distinct affect on its performance:
1) Gyro Unit – the dNaNo is a real car. its tiny but everything about it makes it like a full size car. when it runs across an uneven surface or surface with seams, those slight changes can knock the car off a straight course causing it to be difficult to handle. the gyro is an orientation instrument that helps correct these occurrences making the car drive smoother and straighter. additionally, it assists with throttle and breaking to limit the car only to what it can handle making operation more manageable. basically, it makes driving easier and more enjoyable.
2) Ball Bearings & Ball Differential – as i’ve discussed in my Diffs & Bearings video, ball bearings are parts that help make operation between moving masses smoother by reducing friction. this means with bearings, your car is free to move at higher speeds as its more free to reach its limits. just changing the bearings will make a huge increase in overall speed in the dNaNo. the Ball Diff increases the efficiency of cornering by allowing the rear wheels to rotate at different speeds while distributing power transfer evenly to the rear wheels. this means that your car can travel at high speed thru corners without losing speed, traction or control.
3) 32T-34T Spur Gear + 7T or 8T Pinion Gears- this optional part increases the acceleration by modifying the gear ratio from the stock 5.16 to 5.66 (higher ratio means greater acceleration but less top speed and lower means less acceleration with greater top speed). most of your time in racing is made up in the corners and acceleration is critical to winning since, normally, your car will never have the opportunity to reach top speed in a race. the 34T-Spur/6T-Pinion is the best racing combination for a layout with lots of tight corners. if you’re running on a circuit with long, sweeping curves or extended straights, try 34T/7T (4.86) or 32T/7T (4.57).
4) Suspension (Gold/Hard Front Shock Springs + Rear Suspension Plates) – rear suspension is important for stability and on most surfaces for mini radio control models, you’ll need to keep it pretty stiff for the most settled operation. you want to decrease “bounce” in the rear and “roll” in the front and this is accomplished with a “hard” setup. when surfaces change, you may need to adjust this but on foam or more slippery surfaces, this will give you the best traction and handling. you’ll find your car more settled and less ‘fidgety’ especially in cornering.
5) Aluminum Options (Front Suspension Plates/Rear Wheel Hubs) – the dNaNo is very light when its all plastic which is ok for speed but because of its size, its also very easy to put it on its roof when taking corners at high speed. an element of resolving this issue is adding weight and aluminum parts – while seemingly very light – will add a few micrograms of weight that will help to increase stability. the car will ‘feel’ heavier and may be a little louder but you can fix that with a bit of grease in the right places after installation. greasing the joints will quiet and smooth out operation but attract dust so stay on top of it with a small brush after every run.
6) Tires (25-45F/6R) – nothing affects car handling like tire compound. the dNaNo is very sensitive to tire compound change and you can immediately tell the difference in traction when comparing the stock #50 to anything softer. the traction increase when changing to a softer compound (25-45 degree PN Racing) is necessary to allow the car to maintain speed while cornering. traction increase can also cause the car to roll so adjustments to the steering angle (turning radius modification) will help to bring the car into a desirable range for manageable high speed cornering. the rear tires need to be a bit softer than the stock #10 to 6-8 degree to keep it from oversteering. which compound you choose will depend upon the surface you’re racing on.
7) SSG-DPS Kit- have you noticed your dNaNo ‘bouncing’ a bit in the rear during high speed cornering? this is a serious problem and can upset handling and your ability to maintain a consistent racing line. to reduce this, a ‘Damper Plate System’ should be installed which will significantly decrease this effect.
8)Racing Wheels (Aluminum or Plastic) – if you want to maintain a lightweight, quick car then you’ll want to stick with plastic. pick up some racing wheels that will give your car some style or add weight. aluminum is great for when you’re using a high torque motor and you need a bit more stability in cornering.
remember, a fast car is only part of winning races. you have to know every detail of your car for proper tuning and to occasionally resolve problems that may arise during operation. speed is a big part of winning, but speed without control is worthless. be consistent and methodical about your hobby and you can be successful. dNaNo is just one model in a hobby that’s lots of fun no matter what but can be even more fun when you win ;-). any questions or comments, post them here or send an e-mail to qon@nanotrax.net -interested in picking up a Race Spec dNaNo built by yours truly? check it out @ our online shop. until next time, see ya on the track!
the Audi R8 (White) arrived today bringing our available dNaNo inventory to 29 of 33 models. recently, Kyosho released the Aston Martin Racing DBR9 which will be on its way shortly to NanoTrax. if you’re interested in pre-ordering, register and once i’ve confirmed inventory, pricing and arrival dates, i’ll send an e-mail to everyone with your chance to be one of the first owners at an outstanding price. i’ve already decided to keep one for myself since its the first with the next generation battery case. there’s been a lot of anticipation about this model and i’m anxious to see how it performs. the dNaNo Home Circuit was also released and i’ll have only 2 of those in stock – if interested, you should probably be a registered subscriber for the first opportunity at our limited stock (FYI: the Kyosho IC Tag Lap Counter is already available in our online shop).
in other news, we now have a new sign outside of the shop and for the last few days, we’ve been entertaining Mai, another Porsche 911 GT3 owner. he’s in the area for work and needed a place to relax and enjoy a new hobby so we’re glad he’s chosen NanoTrax and dNaNo. check the gallery for a few “latest news” photos. last but not least, i’ve officially started writing dNaNo dIsection 3: Bearings & Diffs so expect that to be released in no more than 3-4 days (no… really, i’m serious this time!). i’m no hollywood producer but i try to keep it entertaining when discussing my nerdy interests. yes, i’m a nerd and proud of my nerdity (not to be confused with nudity but i’m kinda proud of that too). Sunday race turnout was low with only Chris & me dropping dNaNo’s on the circuit so we both bulked up an extra 5 pts. check the forum for the latest on points ranking & other dNaNo discussion.
