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Tamiya Official Website > Mini 4WD Setup Guide

Mini 4WD Setup Guide

Mini 4WD is a challenging pastime with almost limitless potential for upgrading and modifying your car. Check out this handy guide for some
hints and pointers that could help you get on the top step of the podium!

Recommended viewing for first-time builders

ミニ四駆・MAシャー…
ミニ四駆・MAシャー … Let’s build the Mini 4WD MA chassis!
This YouTube video gives an in-depth, start-to-finish guide to building the MA chassis, including tips
on how to use basic tools like side cutters and screwdrivers.

For Beginners & Intermediate Drivers

Advice on tuning your chassis and using Grade-Up parts
MA Chassis (Part 1) ｜ MA Chassis (Part 2) ｜ AR Chassis ｜ MS Chassis

A run-down on key setup points

All About Mass damp…
damp… These YouTube videos give a category-by-category introduction to key setup points.

Brakes Mass Dampers Motors Rollers Gear Ratio

Get the motor right

Motors can be broadly categorized as high-torque, high-RPM or balanced, and

your choice can have a big effect upon how your car runs: high-torque motors
suit twisting, undulating circuits, while high-RPM motors are great for circuits
with multiple long straights. Take a good look at the course before deciding,
and don't forget to fit Grade-Up Parts to account for improved motor
performance!

Gear up for success

Motors provide major changes; use gears to fine-tune your setup, for example
adding a touch more acceleration to a high-RPM motor car, or adding top
speed to a high-torque motor car.

Wheel/tire size is important too

Smaller diameter ones will favor acceleration while larger ones boost top speed.
Click here to see a guide to Mini 4WD motors!

Mini 4WD Motors Gears

Play it nice and smooth

Keeping your rollers, gears and bearings, etc. rotating smoothly and freely is a
key to quick cornering and good times. Apply grease and oil to them (not too
much!) as shown in the instruction manual, taking care to remove any dust or
dirt first.

Get on a real roll with ball bearings

Superior rotation and minimal speed loss are available. Ball bearings are
available for many sections of your car including gears, axles and are even built
into some rollers!

Bearings F Grease Oil Applicator

What tires will you choose?

Soft tires mean more grip, and hard tires less; however, in Mini 4WD as the cars
have rollers to help them turn, less grippy hard tires actually translate to more
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 Don't forget tire width
How wide a tire is affects the surface contact area, and consequently grip.
Arched tires have very little contact area, for minimal speed loss in corners.

Adjust tread with care

Larger tread (overall distance between left and right wheels) means more grip
in corners. You can adjust it with offset tread tires that allow different settings
depending on how they are attached.

Mini 4WD Tires & Wheels

Brakes and mass dampers

Mini 4WD isn't all about speed, it requires finesse too! Too much speed can be a
recipe for disaster in jump sections, sending your car off of the course. Brake
sets include sponge that drags on the slope surface, slowing and stabilizing the
car before it jumps. Mass dampers influence a car's landing, and their
position/weight allows fine setup changes. Choose your brake sponge and mass
damper types carefully to master the competition!

Nail the landing

Any time a car is airborne is time it could have spent accelerating! Mass
dampers cannot completely eliminate bounce, especially when landing on
slopes, but they can provide a big effect.

Study the course

In cases where a course has numerous jump sections of different types,
prioritize which jump will save the most time if perfectly negotiated, and alter
your car setup towards it.

Dampers & Other Parts Brakes & Other Parts

The Mini 4WD diet?!

Many Mini 4WD racers favor lightweight cars, as this reduces motor stress and
potentially boosts top speed. It also redistributes weight, altering the car's
center of gravity; thus, it's better to lighten your car from the top down - why
not start with the body? A number of lightweight clear bodies are available in
the Grade-Up Parts line.

Variety is the spice of Mini 4WD life

It's worthwhile having a number of bodies with different centers of gravity
(towards the front, rear, center, etc.) to ensure that your car can adapt to any
course.

Bodies & Other Parts

Rolling, rolling, rolling...

Rollers are a key player in getting your car smoothly through corners; which
ones you use and where you place them can make all the difference. There are
a huge number of roller options among our Grade-Up Parts, with different sizes,
thicknesses and weights at your disposal.

Benefits of width
The wider your car is (remember, official Tamiya race rules in Japan limit total
width including rollers to 105mm), the further inside the lane it will run on
corners - this effectively makes the track shorter! It will also mean the car needs
to turn tighter, though, so make sure your setup is up to it!

Stays & Rollers

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Get the right gear ratio
 5:1, 3.5:1 – gear ratios are a common sight for a Mini 4WD fan. Many will already
know that it shows how many times the motor turns for each rotation of a
wheel – or put another way, how much motor power is needed to turn the
wheel once. 5:1 is more powerful and gives better torque (for this, read
acceleration), but 3.5:1 gives greater speed thanks to quicker wheel rotation. This
principle is the same on a full-size car, with more powerful low and speedier
high gears. Mini 4WD cars don’t have the luxury of transmissions, so you’ll have
to decide: is top speed more important, or will turns and slopes stop your car
from getting up to top speed, making acceleration more vital? This is one of the
classic decisions facing a Mini 4WD racer.

■Top speed isn’t always everything?

The list in the PDF on this page shows which gear ratios can be used. Don’t
forget, how that ratio plays with other grade-up parts is also important! Using a
gear ratio AND a motor set up for top speed might backfire if the course doesn’t
have enough long straights for the car to reach top speed, while such a course
might be much better for a powerful ratio-motor combination with more
torque and acceleration. Add in other factors such as your car weight and tire
diameter, and there are plenty of variables in play! It certainly pays to have a
range of gears on hand to fine-tune your car…

Gear Ratio Matching List Mini 4WD Gears

A great first step

So there you have it! The six sections above have hopefully given you an idea
about the various tune-up options for your Mini 4WD car. It can all be a little
daunting at first, so if you are just getting started why not go for one of our
handy starter packs like Item 18710 Mini 4WD Starter Pack FM-A Balanced Spec
(Rowdy Bull), pictured to the right? They combine a model kit with parts
selected especially for novice tuners!

Basic Tune-Up Parts Sets Mini 4WD Starter Packs

Make sure the parts will fit

From quintessential classic rear motor chassis to front motor layouts, and of
course midship designs, there are plenty of different Mini 4WD chassis to
choose from: it’s important to know that the Grade-Up Parts you’re buying are
compatible with your car. The chassis guide at the link below has chassis
rundowns and lists of compatible parts ready for you to browse!

Chassis Guide

Categorized Grade-Up Parts and component lists

Cars (Assembly Kits) Cars (Finished Models) Basic Tune-Up Parts Sets Chassis

Bodies Motors Wheels & Tires Stays & Rollers

Batteries & Terminals Gears Shafts & Bearings Dampers

Brakes Tools & Cases Stickers & Decorative Parts Other Parts

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