M03R REVIEW

My kit arrived in the morning, by the evening it was built, photographed, posted on a few internet forums and ready for comments.
The presentation of this kit - box design, packaging, instructions, are all excellent, as is to be expected from Tamiya.

Upon opening the box I was a bit shocked to see that the main feature of this kit - the chrome chassis, did not appear to be chrome at all, but more like a tinted chrome or smoked chrome, the appearance is still cool, but somehow not as chrome as the preview photos from the internet appear. There were plenty of blue alloy pieces to distract my attention from the chrome as well. And also the transparent blue shocks … very nice.

Building the M03R is pretty much exactly the same as a normal M03 … but there have been some slight changes ...
The gear differential building instructions tell you to add AW (antiwear - very thick) grease all over the bevel gears and washers, this will lock up the diff action somewhat, compared to the standard gear diff built with normal Tamiya grease.

The new blue alloy front uprights (knuckles) don't use king pins (step screws) like the previous M03 kits, instead they use a top hat style spacer top and bottom with a standard 3x10mm threaded screw, so at least if the screw falls out (use loctite to prevent this) it will be easy to find a replacement in your pitbox.
Please note that these spacers have a close resemblance to the top hat style spacers used to mount the shock absorbers, be careful not to mix them up!

You will also notice on the blue alloy uprights that there are now 3 holes for steering linkage adjustment.
The design of these uprights has changed too, the arm is now much higher from the ground, eliminating the need for the long brass ball studs. Will this be stronger than the revised M03M plastic upright? Or stronger than the older style (53523) M03 alloy upright? Only long term testing will be able to tell.

The 1.5 degree rear toe in blocks look pretty funky finished in blue alloy. They have 2 holes for adjustment at the top, and at the bottom they have a threaded hole so you could use a grub screw with a TL01 stainless suspension shaft set and not worry about the clips if you wanted to. Why they went for 1.5 instead of the usual 2 degrees is anyones guess, but it gives people with nothing better to do (like myself) another option to test on their M03.

Tamiya have included adjustable upper links for the rear - Wow! I hear you say, now you can finally give the M03 loads of negative camber … well no. If you build the rear links as per instructions with the 0.5mm spacer, the adjustable upper links work out to be the exact same length as the plastic non-adjustable link which it replaces. So you only have 0.5mm adjustment for negative which you might want, but more room for positive adjustment … which you don't want, unless you want it to look like an old VW Beetle.
In this case I think Tamiya got the upper links right the first time. Adjustable upper links are really of no use on an M03.

A full set of Tamiya super mini CVA oil filled shocks in limited edition transparent blue make a much needed addition to this kit. The standard M03 friction shocks can be made to work with some effort, but the oil filled shocks are so much better, smoother, with a lot more adjustability with the different weight oils and piston options available. I have run limited edition clear super mini shocks before on my M03, and whilst they look great, the plastic is a lot more brittle than the standard CVA black plastic items, and it only took a meeting of hard racing before I snapped the top cap.
You can use the transparent blue shocks, but if you race hard (or crash a lot ) you'd be better mixing and matching, perhaps run the transparent shock bodies, but with black CVA top caps. This way you'll finish your race.
I didn't really like the mounting of these shocks. The blue alloy spacers look nice, but the top hat style spacer doesn't fit snug within the holes in the shocks, so the shocks feel like they're floating about and the suspension feels sloppier than it normally does. I prefer to use the 5mm blue alloy ball connectors … but, if you try and use these with transparent (brittle) plastic shocks, the transparent plastic doesn't have enough give in it, so it makes snapping the shock on and off a lot more difficult than if you used the black plastic super mini CVA shocks.

 The M03-R comes with 6 short white springs, and while initially you might think "why do I need 6 of the same thing?", take a look at the ends of the spring, there you will discover that 2 have blue dots, 2 yellow and 2 red, indicating hard, medium and soft spring rates - they're just painted white to stop your rivals copying your setup.

The wheels are chrome plated Swift style wheels and come with the usual standard treaded tires.

There is no motor included, but you do get a pinion which you can attach to … a body clip for safe keeping. Also included is a complete set of the M03M "F Parts" tree in chrome and the M03L chassis extender in chrome. This is great for people that like to try the difference between short (210mm), mid (225mm) and long (239mm) wheel bases, just make sure you have the 3 bodies to go with it.

There are (non-blue) turnbuckles for the steering linkage, and blue alloy ball studs at each end. Pity that they didn't include some blue alloy turnbuckles, but I suppose they have to leave you SOME options to buy?...

All of the 3 x 10 self tapping screws aren't the usual stainless items, instead they are the nice black chrome colour finish.

 

The included blue heatsink is another nice option, as well as the interesting blue alloy servo mounts which add another splash of colour to the chassis.

All in all the M03-R is a must have for the any serious M03 racer or collector. It provides a few more tuning options to the racer, and a great limited edition shelf kit for the collector. The finish of the chrome chassis and blue alloy parts is top line and really makes this a special kit.

 

Is it a must have though? Well yes and no... If you're only interested in racing, then you can get a really good race-ready car happening for a LOT less than what you'll pay for an M03R. Check out our 'Mini For Dummies' section for what we recommend there.

If you want to race AND look cool then the M03R is still a proposition. Change the shocks and you're almost there. In the end it's all up to you.

 

NOTE - Since this review was written originally, the later 'blue chrome' edition of the M03R has been released. Seeing as how the only difference is the colour of the chassis, all our comment still apply.