purchasing a m03 or m05 help

[ch!3f]

hi guys im looking in to buying a m03 or m05 mini to race and basicly im running on a tight budget and it would be in the next month or so when i would be looking to buy 1.

to be honest i dont mind second hand but i would prefer new hence why im asking the questions.

i have seen that they do a m03r which looks the business but is it still all plastic?

1st off is which is the stronger chassis parts wise such as c hubs steering knuckles so on?
2nd which is cheaper for parts?
3rd would i be better off just to buy second hand if the price is right alsowhat kind of price would i be looking at for a roller second hand?

any help would be appreciated thanks in advance ian

[alexb4]

I would recomend you getting a new one best price ive found is on ebay from hongkong for the fiat 500 m03 £75 posted id stayaway from the r kit as the paint easly comes of and makes it looks crap, also they drive no different, your best getting the m03 and some 3 racing shocks and some bearings of ebay and its ready to go

[ch!3f]

cheers fela im watching that 1 already as it was but wanted a mini shell as not too keen on that fiat,can always sell that though will be keeping an eye out though got a few things selling on ebay so should have some funds coming it towards it soon.thanks ian

[Spoolio]

The M03R is obsolete clearance-stock now anyway and you may struggle to get one outside the "usual" Hong Kong sellers. Not looked recently at the prices they go for but I bought a couple earlier this year and paid about £112 each all in delivered to the UK which I thought was pretty good value considering all the alloy bits they come with that are worth a good few bob sold via ebay. An M05 Pro was £135 at the time and doesn't have half as many hop ups in it.

The M03R doesn't drive any different to a stock M03 kit anyway so if budget is tight go this route and get some cheap third party bearings and away you go. At least with the stock kit you get a shell and motor/esc which you can always sell on for £15-£20. As stated in the first reply, the chassis plating (regardless whether it's the earlier smoke chrome or the later blue version) isn't flexible like the chassis so it just flakes off in chunks as soon as you start thrashing about, not good.

Both the M05 Pro and M03R have sh*tty clear plastic CVA shocks which are the most brittle things ever invented so they are the first things to fix; either by using the more flexible top caps off any other regular CVA parts tree or just getting some alloy shocks. Seeing as the shocks on an M-chassis do hardly any work at all it's up to you how much (or how little) you spend on them. My stock-class M03 has M05 friction dampers on it and it's a nicer drive than my M05 with pukka TRF M-Chassis shocks, especially on bumps and kerbs which it rides far better.

The arms and hubs are all interchangeable between 03 and 05 chassis anyway and they are plenty strong enough for most abuse you can throw at them. If you get an 03 and you really wanted to you can morph it into an 05 anyway, you just need a chassis and the steering parts tree and a few little odds and sods. Been there done that got the t-shirt, not recommended as it's obviously more expensive than just deciding on the right car in the first place but ho-hum.

M-Chassis are ace. If you fancy RWD remember there is a new rear motored M06 coming soon...