LeViteZer magnet suspension!

LeViteZer.
You may have seen the videos, if not you can find them at the bottom of the article. But first. Here's my small writeup about this fantastic development.

Mr. Kim Janson, a member of ZRacers Finland, and avid developer has worked on this really cool project for some time.

Magnet controlled front suspension for Kyosho Mini-Z MR-03. 

Sounds cool doesnt it? Not only does it sound cool, but it works as well.

He sent me a production proto sample for testing, and here are my first findings.

The arms shown in the pictures are not anodized, but it gives you a view on what to expect from the official parts.

Built into this system you have anti roll bar effect and springs. 

The LeViteZer are designed so you can use it on different manufacturers option front ends, as long as its based on the regular MR-03 suspension with fixed lower arm.

The product consists of the following parts:

- Upper arms

- Bottom magnet plate

- Magnets in different size and strength

How does it work?

Basically you have two magnets locate in the stock spring position on the MR-03 in the chassis. These are mounted on a plate in opposite direction of each other.

Then you have the upper arm, where two magnets are attached on the end. These two magnets are also in opposite direction of eachother. The lower magnet are opposite of the one mounted in the chassis.

The force of the magnet in the chassis, will push the magnet on the arm away. This creates a magnet "cushion" that again acts like a suspension spring.

Since the magnets on the arms are mounted in opposite of eachother, the assembly will also have anti roll bar effect. When the suspension compresses on one side, the arm goes down, and as soon as the upper magnet on the arm that lowers are inline with the lower magnet on the other arm, it will start to pull it down.

The setup work is quite easy, but the magnets are strong and can give you some headache under assembly ;) I had a magnet missing for a week, until I found it underneath my table attached to a screw.
Installing it is easy, but to get a precise optimal front end you need to work a bit with shims to get it perfect.

I have never driven a Mini-Z before that really feels like its floating around the track. Bumps are absorbed extremely well. Better than any other front end out there.

We have been testing it on the following configurations:

• Reflex Racing adustable upper tower and reverse king pin..
• PN Reverse king pin and upper tower.

Some modification of the RR adjustable tower are needed when you are using the big magnets on the arm, but when using the small magnets its plug and play. With the PN upper tower it fits perfectly, but this again limits you a bit on camber/ caster/ roll centre adjustments.

I have tested every single configuration of the magnets, and I am happy to say all of them are within the useable range. (This is very seldom the case when it comes to spring kits)
Hard, soft, more anti roll, less anti roll and so on.

In the pictures shown are my favourite configuration on our biggest track.
Two small magnets on the bottom plate. Small magnets both sides of the LeViteZer arms. PN lower arm, PN reverse King Pins, PN Knuckles and Reflex Racing adjustable upper tower.

This gives almost exactely the same stiffness as the PN double a-arm with the V1/ V2 green springs. A favourite for many drivers.
The most noticeable thing is that since it doesnt have a spring that compresses it will give you a much more linear feel.

It works very good on smooth high traction tracks, and is absolutely superb at the more bumpy tracks around.

The feeling of the car is just amazing. It really has an extremely smooth feel to it.
Most people at our track who has tried the car with this has improved their personal best times. It holds the track record for stock car, and for modified it is currently sitting second. With some more setup work it should be even better.

I will do a followup with more details, pictures of the parts and also some more about setup thinking.


The videos mentioned earlier are a must see!
Enjoy!

If you cant see the videos here, click here to visit Z Racers Youtube channel.

Pan Car body. Q-08A Chevron

Very high quality Lexan Pan Car body for Kyosho Mini-Z MR-02, MR-03 and MR-03VE.

Very detailed and superb finish (Not the paintjob :P )
Lexan seems strong and fleixible, and even a manual are included. Also a nice decal sheet, but no window masks.

The Japanese manufacturer really has made a beautiful "non scale" body, but this one actually resembles some kind of LM Protype body.

Really looking forward to try it at Speedy PigZ Raceway.

This is the original mounting system. Everything included. I choose to use the PN carbon bumper and standoffs on the top plate to screw it down with.

Picture borrowed from RCnews.de

Lexan windows for Mosler and more. Allowed in PNWC.

The 2012 rulebook for PN World Cup now allows Lexan windows.
PN has now released windows for several of the popular bodies.

First up was the Mosler.

Perfect fit.
Can be mounted with the stock mounting pins.

(Picture from PN)

Here you can see two of the other windows, and one Atomic window (GT-R).
The main difference between them is the thickness, and how they mount.

The PN windows are much more based on the stock windows regarding mounting.
As for material thickness. Atomic windows are 0.25mm thick. PN windows are 0.35mm thick.

Really looking forward to unlock more speed from my cars with the weight savings and COG improvement these will give you!

Atomic Mini-Z Aluminium lower arm set

Atomic has been real busy lately, and are sending out new products all the tmie.

This time I have tried out the new aluminium lower arm.
The one I got was without the lower servo cover, but a version with this in the package is also out.

Inside the package you find very nice machined delrin lower balls, kingpins, and the alu bar.
I have not tried the king pins and balls, but they are very precise. The king pins are of the same diameter (this is not always the case if you measure your kingpins), and the balls are a very nice fit to the lower mount.

The alu piece is of real nice quality, and I am overall impressed by the quality of ATM parts lately.

All in all this gives you a lot of good parts for the money.

As I use the RR low profile reversed setup, I wanted to see if this could be used together with the RR recessed balls. I can confirm this!
They are a perfect fit. Nice.

It offers the exact same geometry as the stock lower mounts. (I was maybe hoping for it to be a bit a tad wider, and with slightly raised king pin mount. This would have given us another setup option, but I understand why they also make it equal to stock.)

It adds a bit of weight, but since most race rules are giving the MR-03 a weight penalty, this is a good thing in my book. CG is important, and this adds weight to the lowest part of your car.

(In the pictures you can see the lower cover from RR)

A well thought out product from Atomic.

Reflex Racing Top Cover & Knuckles

It has been busy lately, so I have not had much time to do any updates. Sorry for this. Now we are on again.

Reflex Racing has released their new aluminium top cover for the MR-03.
The top chassis cover are maybe the weakest part on the MR-03. Not only does it break quite often, but you also have to buy the whole chassis set to get the cover.
The original cover are also very soft, so you get a lot of unwanted flex where you want all movements to go through your damper system.
Reflex Racing hit the nail on the head with this release. The new top cover are strong. You can clamp down your damper system without worry that destroy the plastic threads. It does not move or flex at all!

When you run hot motors, the FET's get really hot. We are talking so hot that the solder can melt. Roughly around 180°C.
Because of these temperatures, the top cover also deforms from the temperature. 

It also acts as a very good heat sink. A lot of the heat from the FET's gets channeled trough the cover, and should make everything more efficient, and your electronics should last longer.
I will get back to you with surface temperatures later. I am doing a small project to transfer even more heat to this plate. Stay tuned for more on this.

The fitment are superb. It is an exact replica of the stock cover, but requires a bit more fiddling to get it on, as it does not flex at all. But this is no problem at all. 
It weighs 2 grams more than the stock cover, but finally we never have to change these again.

Knuckles!
The knuckles are not that much to write about. They are of great quality, and has no more slop than other makes.

The main feature of these, are that they are a lot shorter than the stock knuckles.
Stock knuckles are 6.55 mm
These are only 5.07 mm, so you get a lot more room to play around with your suspension geometry, and also are opens up new possibilities in wheel diameters.
The axle are placed at 2.80 mm from the bottom (blame me if slightly wrong), so this gives room for shimming both over and under the knuckle.
This picture shows it with 2mm under the knuckle. 0,7 over, and 0 preload on top.

Compared to some other knuckles.
Stock plastic: 6.55 mm. 0.6 grams each.
3Racing: 6.57 mm height. 0.9 grams each.
Atomic FS: 6.07 mm height. 1 grams each.
Reflex Racing: 5.07 mm height. 0.8 grams each.

For a regular sliding knuckle setup, they give you less friction. For a reverse king pin type setup, they give you more setup options.

Review: QteQ Four Ball Connect T-Bar Set

This is a product I have been using for a couple months.
The review has been in the pipeline for as long, but I just never had the time to finish it.
Sorry for taking so long.

The parts are of the usual great QteQ quality. The finish of the alu parts are as good as it gets, and the plastic parts are very precise and durable.

Monting this piece together takes some patience and accuracy.
Make use of the instructions found here: Instructions
And diagram found here: Diagram

If you have any questions regarding installing, or need some more information, dont hesitate to contact me by email, or post a comment below.

A couple of extra tips:

• Do not overtighten the screws that connects to the chassis. The pillow balls can deform, and the threads in the chassis can strip easily.
• The T-bar has tweak screws. They do work, but aint necessary if you are using a tri damper setup. Then you can adjust tweak with preloading the springs on the side damper.
• Where the bar attaches to the motormount, you have a small set screw. Adjust this carefully until slop is minimized. Do not overtighten! 
• When you have everything installed, remove all dampers attached to your rear end.
  You should now have free movement both laterally and pitch. Make sure nothing binds.
  
  
  
  

This T-plate are ideal combined with a tri shock system.
You will then have a completely "free-floating" rear end, that you are able to control to perfection with different springs and dampening fluids.

Between the mounting screws, you have a small screw for adjusting the tenison of the plate. This is for use if you want a more regular T-bar feel, or want to use it with a disc damper.

This is very good for making small adjustments on the fly, without having to change the springs on your dampers.Think of it as an adjustable anti roll bar.

The slop in total is very small. The car behaves as precise as with regular T-plates, but it does not change after use as a regular T-plate.


I dont think I will go back to regular T-plates in a while.
I feel i am much more in control over my setup, since all spring action are controlled by the different springs you mount on your dampers.

After two months hard use and abuse, it has never failed. It is extremely consistent and still my favorite T-bar to this date.

Long term review's. A little write-up on my "essentials"

A lot of products have come and gone on my car these past months.
Products I don't end up using or keeping as alternative parts for different setups, I rarely write about. This will not be changed in the future.

The products I have on my car now, has stayed there for a good while, and I have a feeling they will for a good time (until something better shows up)
This is a little write-up about what i think is the essentials of my setups on two of my race cars.
Click "recap" on all the reviews to see the full original reviews.

I will start with the latest addition to my setup.
The Reflex Racing adjustable wheelbase motormount.

First a little recap from the first review.

• Light weight. 5 grams.
• Very easy to adjust wheelbase
• Very easy to adjust gearmesh
• Suspension mount are very sturdy
• Very precise bearing cups
• Compact
• Well thought out, and seems to be solid

I can confirm these initial results.

The mount has taken some serious abuse. It has been smacked into walls in almost 35 kmh. It has fell off elevated tracks. It has been hit hard by fellow racers.

Not a single time has the angle of the suspension mount changed. Nothing is bent out of shape. The adjustable wheelbase part has not become loose or anything at all.

This mount really can take all the abuse I have been able to give it. Seriously. It is tough as nails.

As for adjustability, it still works absolutely fantastic.

I cant recomend this piece high enough!

The Jomurema carbon diff shaft.

The recap.

• Very light weight!
• Precise
• Looks skinny, but has held this far 

As for the long term review.

The shaft has held up remarkably good.

It has taken a lot of direct hits, with the results of a few broken wheels. I have even hit a wall after a 17 meter straight with a speed of around 35 kmh. The car rolled, and went about a meter into the air, and hit a wood wall. Both rear wheels splintered to pieces, but the shaft was as good as new. The shaft is still straight as an arrow, without any signs of breakage or flex in the carbon shaft. 

I have used this shaft now in two of my cars for the last 4 months. And I drive quite frequently. None of them has failed me a single time.

I actually dont think I have destroyed a diff shaft in my almost 10 years with Mini-Z's, but I have seen a lot of bent shafts over the years.

I think some of the hits this shaft has taken, could have easily bent most other shafts out there.

The Reflex Racing adjustable upper arm mount.

The recap.

• Looks great
• Highly adjustable
• Very sturdy
• Compatible with almost any part out there

Long term.

The front end really holds up well.

The adjustability has really helped me many times with dialing in my cars. Camber, caster and roll center adjustments "on the fly"

Securing the arms after adjusting camber or caster has never loosened. Thread lock has not been needed.

I really like this one. 

Reflex Racing Low profile suspension & Delrin arms

The recap.

• Removes slop form your front end
• Light weight
• Very smooth suspension
• Easy to dampen with different types of grease in the lower pillow balls
• A bit tricky to adjust rideheight and preload.

Long term.

Still silky smooth. Almost never needed a rebuild. I just remove the lower e-clip, take out the pring, lift the king pin a bit, and clean the dampening grease out with a paper twirl. Regrase, and go!

As for tricky adjustments, you learn how to do it fast. No problems here.

The e-clips have never even loosened on me. 

A-arms holds up as they should. No problems here at all!

This is a really good option!

The PN tri damper setup 98mm.

The recap

• Very adjustable
• Easy to adjust dampening individually front/ side
• Easy to adjust tweak
• A bit tricky to route the motor cables
• A little heavy.

The long term.

Holds up very well. Low maintenance. The pillow balls and shocks has not worn out after a lot of use. It is a bit heavy, but works flawlessly every time.

The one thing I dont like much, is that the dampers are mounted so far out from center, that they will give you problems with new rear tires and wheel offsets less than 3mm.

I use this together with the PN 98-102mm LCG mount for my pan car.

A real good product.

The Reflex Multi option rear suspension.

The recap.

• Light weight
• Very adjustable
• Easy to adjust dampening individually front/ side
• Easy to adjust tweak
• A bit tricky to route the motor cables

The long term

It only works for the RR motormount and the PN LCG 94mm mount, but that is no problem since these are perhaps the best mounts out there.

The shocks and pivot balls holds up real well. A fellow racer has had one pillow ball fail after tightening the screws to much. Other than that is has given no problems at all.

It works with all wheel offsets. Are very compact, and are super lightweight. 

It is my favorite side damper kit by far. 

QteQ diff parts.

Recap.

• Very light weight
• Strong
• Looks great
• Great fitment 

Long term.

These has never failed me. Ever. Insanely great parts. These are essential for a real lightweight diff build. QteQ rocks!

Reflex Racing Spur gear V2.

Recap.

• Light weight
• Precise
• A bit tricky to get right, but super smooth when doing so
• Fits superb with the 64 pitch pinions available

The long term.

It is almost indestructible. I have changed out one spur gear after an incredible amount of mileage. In kilometers I have done a quick calculation. The one i have pensioned have been run at least 480000 meters.

This was still absolutely usable, and will be kept as a spare.

The pinions wear in a faster rate though, but that is ok with me. They wear a bit quicker since the contact patch are a bit smaller than on the other spurs available.

The reduced rotating mass are also really important for me and my driving style. Coupled together with the other diff parts I use, it gives i my view the absolute best ball diff out there.

The "unreviewed" parts.

Some parts has stayed on my car for longer than this site has existed, and have been forgotten.

I would like to mention some of them.

The yellow Kyosho oil shock.

This is by far the best top shock I have ever used (and I have tried every single one). Superb dampening. A lot of springs available. Only the imagination stops you.

Leaking is no problem, and it is light weight. Since the top shock are the highest part you have on your chassis, this actually does a lot regarding the handling of your car.

PN LCG 98-102 motormount.

It is the motormount with the lowest cog. If you use 98 or 102 wheelbase, this is a motormount you really should consider trying out.

It is strong and very well thought out. 

The gear mesh system is not everyones favourite, but it works ok.

The cups for the bearings are not very precise, but this can be fixed.

The next upcoming review will be the QteQ pivoting T-plate system.

This is so extremely good. It is on all my cars now, and works absolutely fantastic.

Reflex Racing Adjustable Wheelbase Motor Mount

Finally I have the new Reflex Racing motor mount in my hands.
This is a prototype, but the latest one. I think this is the final design before production.

RRAWM:-)

This is truly a well thought out motormount.
Only 6 screws, 4 alu pieces, and the bearing inserts.

The name states it features adjustable wheelbase. This is done by the piece that you mount the t-plate on. Regular position gives you 94 - 98mm. Switch it around, and you have 96 - 100mm whellbase.

In the future they will release optional parts for 1mm increments adjustment. This is one of the great features of this mount.

The complete motormount, with all hardware, are advertised weighing in at only 5.1 grams. I had to check out this, and on two different scales I measured 5.0 grams. This is with everything but the ball bearings.
This has to be one of the lightest mounts out there.

A pivoting design makes it super easy to get the correct gear mesh.
The top motor screw, are also the screw you use for setting gear mesh. Almost as the old Atomic mounts.
One of the best things are that the motor are never loosened from the motor mount when you adjust the gear mesh.

Mounting it together was really easy. Just look at the pics. Not a lot of parts.
Everything fit really good together. Even the bearing inserts are a precise fit. Not sloppy, and not to tight. Just perfect.

Damper position.
Loosen one screw on each side, and you can slide the damper mount up and down as you like. The difference between this and most other mounts, are that it is fastened at both sides of the mount. This means a much more stable base for your dampening system.
Misalignment should be of no worry. The damper mount are really stable since it is fastened on both sides. It also slides on guides, so there really are no chance on movement at all.

The part where you bolt on the T-plate seems to fit perfect on the following plates: Atomic, PN, Reflex Racing, QteQ and Kyosho. I guess the other makes also fits.
As mentioned, this bracket can be switched around for wheelbase adjustment. In the picture you can see the 96mm configuration.

In the picture above you can also see the screwholes for attaching a diffusor. ATM diffusor fits, and RR are also planning a Lexan version.

Regarding durability, I guess Reflex has done their homework. I only tested it alone on track for about two hours, and it still holds up (no surprise). But the way this is built, I think the material are plenty strong to hold up even the hardest impacts.

Reflex Racing says the centre of gravity are optimized for best all round performance. I am not doubting them. Our track has quite good grip, and it seems perfect for this track.

At $39.99 this mount surely must be most bang for the buck.  As for adjustments you can make. Wheelbase, ride height and damper position, it is one of the, if not the most, configurable mount out there. I also doubt there are lighter motormounts out there. 
My old 94mm mount weighs in at 6,4 grams with hardware.


As for tracktest.
Slapped the car on track after installation. Works great!
Now lets see if I can go any faster than before :-)