V12 Circuit Edition

Hello Everyone
Im wanting to get into racing mardaves,im going to order a V12 Circuit Edition ,because it the newest version,although i do like last years model because of the blue chassis but ive just noticed that there is a carbon fibre hop up chassis available,which looks amazing ,but and im just guessing here, would that not make it a wee bit lighter and if your already putting bits of lead on to it is it worth while getting it,
The main thing im needing major help with is the other parts of the kit ,Battery,battrey Charger,E.S.C and motor and a servo aswell,the club im a memeber of is mainly touring cars,so im needing some help from people who actually race these amazing cars,
Any help from anyone on which parts to go for is greatly welcomed,i dont have massive amounts of money so anything bottom/mid range is prob where im aiming just now until i get the money/skills to upgrade, I am enjoying this website because it just seems to be for mardave cars,so a big thanks from me,and also thanks to Gazza for being so open with his knowledge on these cars i will be studying all the info for weeks,
Just one more question,how big a floor space would you say is needed for indoor mardave racing ,was looking to open up a track,looked at a 500sqft place but it was way too small again any ideas/info welcomed,
Cheers for reading all this thanks again

Garry T

Hi Gary well the guru of Mardaves is Gazza the on here what this guy dont know about Mardaves is not worth knowing. where in the country are you mate.
We race mainly at Ardent raceway near castle donnigton race track. do please pm Gazza he will give you all the help you need buddy.

Mardaves can be raced on any track.
Oval or small circuit (Small village hall) right up to big circuit in sports halls.

Nice one Stox's glad to see you back mate this guy needs some help im sure you and Gazza can advise him when are we going to see you racing again buddy

Hi Garry,

I've raced Mardaves on all types of track - small ovals no more than 10x5m, small circuit tracks at about 12x15m right up to the 20x30m sized tracks used for National events. These cars go well where ever you race them becasue the current 'rules' only allow the cars a certain amount of speed. In fact they now have more grip than speed so drivers are not fighting the cars around the tracks (like touring car drivers seem to have to do these days) and a Mardave race is won by the driver who can drive smooth, clean lines and not always by the guy with the fastest / most expensive gear.

For your choice of chassis I would certainly go for one type of CE chassis rather than the 'old' alloy one. From what I have found, the CE does offer a slightly better car to drive - it can offer a little more total grip but it will offer you lots more choice for setup changes so you can dial the car in for different tracks and get it just as you like it. The adjustable front end is very simple but also very effective and the rear damper tube has a massive effect on how smoothly the car goes through the corners.

If you go for a GRP or Carbon Composite one will really depend on budget and what type of track you plan to race on. Obviously, the Carbon Composite one is a fraction lighter (about 10g I think) but its main advantage is its stiffness - it is a LOT stiffer than the GRP one. I have found that this stiffness is more suited to smaller, tighter tracks where you need stiffer spring settings to give you quick direction changes, or tracks where there is extremely high grip. The GRP one is still an excellent chassis, but is not so stiff. This makes it better for high speed, wide, open and flowing circuits or tracks that do not offer so much total grip. If you race it hard on tight, twisty, high grip tracks you might suffer grip roll issues unless you are extremely careful on your setup.

Whatever you get I would suggest either a Lotus shell (small tracks), Ascari shell (medium sized tracks) or the Mazda shell (larger tracks). Also, get yourself a diff axel, some UFRA pink medium tires for the rear and a selection of fronts in different compounds to tune front end grip. JAP Medium fronts have the most grip, JAP 44s are sort of in the middle and JAP 52s have the least. True your rears down to around 50mm diameter, fronts to about 48mm diameter and round off the inside and outside edges of all tires.

When you get onto the electrics you run you will enter a bit of a minefield. Your decision will depend on what your local club rules dictate and if you plan to race at the Nationals. You have two main choices - "4-cell and Brushled" or "1s LiPo and Brushless".

Brushed is the simplest and cheapest to start up but it is not as reliable as brushless. Motors and batteries do not tend to last very long and, while there is not so much difference in speed on small tracks, a brushed system is usually a bit slower than brushless on big tracks. If you choose this route then all the bits you need are available from Mardave - G2 motor, V60 speedo and some 4-cell MiMH battery packs. Almost any charger will be ok.

Brushless will need a higher outlay of cash to begin with, but I have run the same batteries and motor in one of my cars for nearly 3 years now and it is still going well. There is almost no maintainence needed but you do need to make very careful choices when picking your gear becasue there can be problems with the lower voltages from the LiPo packs. To get over the low voltages, many people run a voltage booster along side their speedo. This boosts the 3.7v from the battery to around 6v to run your radio gear, PT and servo. However, they are not always reliable (I have had 3 different makes fail on me over the last year or so) and I can name other drivers who have been forced to retire from Nationals thanks to their boosters failing on them during the meeting. My prefered choice is to run a brushless speedo that has its voltage booster built in - either a HobbyWing 1s, Nosram Peal V2 or LRP SXX V2. I have run all three over the years and NEVER had one fail on me. The only issue with these is that all three have what is known as "dynamic timing advance" options available (software programs that offer a "turbo" function for more car speed) and running this type of software is strictly outlawed by the majority of clubs. You can turn it off though (which I do) and the majority of clubs accept this. NOTE - soome drivers do not run any type of booster but manage to get away with this thanks to the exact make and model of servo, PT and speedo they run. If you pick the same gear as them you should be ok too. For motors, go for a cheap option like the HobbyWing 13.5t stock motor if you want to keep costs down but any brushless 13.5t motor under £65 UK RRP is acceptable for most club racing. There are also many different types of 1s LiPo cell available - anything over 3600mAh capacity will be more than enough, and what ever "C-Rating" you like if you want to keep costs down. Just make sure you get a hard cased one to keep them safe. Most of the common LiPo battery chargers all run the same electronics inside them so, again, get whatever your budget allows (the only real difference in these chargers is how high a current they can charge at and if they will discharge as well. 5A charge is fine, no need to be able to discharge).

I hope this helps,

James

Hi everyone ,
thanks for all the replys and to JimboJames to for the information,all very helpful,
.I'm actually based up in Scotland ,there is not much of a mardave scene up here but the club I race at has awed mardave racer s and that will do me for now,ordered my mardave last night so should be here for Wednes day can't wait

I think the tracks up there used to run the g2 brushless system up there not to shure about now.
Good set up starting point would be ufra 46's up front and pink meds up rear.
You can buy glued and tured from mardave direct.
if not i do them for (£8 front and £6 rear).
Take your time to understand set up and tyres and youll be onto a winner