December 28, 2006 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: NASCAR, the most popular racing series in the US, has teamed up with Kyosho to produce the only hobby-grade, officially licensed NASCAR RC cars available in the world.

 

The Kyosho team visited the racing development facilities of many of the top NASCAR racing teams, and even attended NASCAR events, all in an effort to ensure that the bodies include exceptional detail that is unmatched in accuracy and scale.

 

The Mini-Z i-Series chassis features the same quality chassis construction as the rest of the Mini-Z line-up, which is the standard when it comes to mini RC vehicles. It has independent front suspension with solid axle rear suspension, just like the full-size racecars. Additionally, the electronics feature full digital proportional control, instead of the analog resistor-type controllers so common in cheaper mini-size cars. This means you have fully proportional control of forward, reverse, and steering with digital precision.

 

The series begins with the 2005 Ford Taurus of Carl Edwards and the 2006 Chevrolet Monte Carlo of Kevin Harvick. The 2005 Taurus represents the car used by Edwards for his first full season of NASCAR NEXTEL Cup racing for Roush Racing, in which he scored four wins and two poles. Harvick's 2006 Chevrolet Monte Carlo is a replica of the Childress Racing car used to win at Phoenix, Watkins Glen and Richmond, and the same car that won a total of five races and one pole award during the 2006 season.

 

30792-99B - Carl Edwards '05 Office Depot #99 Ford Taurus

30793-29B - Kevin Harvick '06 Goodwrench #29 Chevrolet Monte Carlo

 

I don't know how many people know about this and I hope I am not opening the floodgates, but you can now order parts through the KyoshoUSA website.  You may think this is a good thing but in my experience it's not.  First, a couple of facts.

1.  You are NOT ordering directly from Kyosho stock. 
2.  What you order may not actually BE in stock.

Now here's my personal experience. 

I was checking out the KyoshoUSA site, and along with a massive redesign, I noticed the Shopatron link on the bottom left.  I clicked on it and poked a round for a while and found some stuff that I wanted to order.  I usually purchase as much as I can from the shop here but there were a couple of items that were out of stock and I figured I would use this as a test. 

Shopatron gives you the impression that they have accurate stock information and you can order everything directly from the warehouse.  As you dig a little deeper you realize that the stock isn't checked until after you place your order.  They farm your order out to Local Hobby Shops in an attempt to get it filled in one place.  Whoever has what you need and is close to you gets to fill the order.  If there is not a single shop that has everything, you may be hit with multiple shipping charges, but you are able to make that choice when you place your order.

So, I ordered some stuff.  It took about two business days to determine if my items were in stock.  In a list of 8 items, one was cancelled and one was delayed for a week.  I was able to cancel the delayed item (I am just going to get it from the shop) and I accepted the rest of the order.  At this point I was a little annoyed that I had placed the order on a Thursday and I was still dealing with it on Tuesday.  The order finally shipped on Wednesday.

Here's the kicker, the shop that is filling my order is on the other side of the country so it will take a week to get to me via UPS ground.  It will be almost two weeks after I placed the order and I am still not getting everything that I wanted.

I wanted to post this recount for several reasons.  1) Information.  I wanted to present facts to everyone to let them know how Shopatron actually works, I also wanted to provide feedback on an actual purchase experience.  2) Comparison.  Sometimes it's difficult to get information from the shop on incoming stock but even if it took a week to get that info, I would still have my products before I got them from Shopatron. 

Am I plugging the shop here a little bit?  Sure, but that's because I think it's a superior resource.  If you need one hard-to-find item and you can locate it at KyoshoUSA then maybe that's the way to go, but I would at least check in with the MZR shop first.  Otherwise, it's a crap shoot.  The shipping takes longer and it's not really cheaper.  If the shop heres steps up communication just a notch it would be a blowout.

Pan Car body with new wheels:

More Info

 

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3Racing just posted some images on their site of the new diffs they will feature. I say diffs because ...   more »

Finally there is a ball diff for the AWD! Atomic released theirs this week and it looks very promising!

The ...   more »

3 Racing Hong Kong revealed their new MM motor mount that looks like a exact copy of Team Atlas's mount in Japan.  Also new is their disk damper system.

New Atomic version 2 charging rack lowers even more resistance than the older version which the batteries gain more punch and lower temperature.  Please email mini-zracing.com for availability.

I got some infomation that Atomic will release a Mini-Z white plastic body for Mini-Z MR-02MM 98mm wheelbase.  No release date set but its expected end of October to early November.

Mini-ZRacing.com brings you the latest news with Kyosho's new short movie clip showing the all new MA-010 AWD car.

http://www.kyosho.co.jp/web/download/movie/2005prshow/miniz-j.html

 

 

This great new tool from Speed Way Pal in Japan, this adapter attaches to a 12V slave motor or 540 ...   more »

The New NASCAR style Mini-z MR02 Kit is called the CP CUP CAR 2. Like the CP CUP CAR the ...   more »

The new CP Revolver Rims are for the MR-02, the MR-015 and the IWAVER 02. These rims use Kyosho F1 ...   more »

You heard it here first - guess what? At long last, Kyosho is coming out with some American muscle:

30461MB-B Ford Mustang GT Metallic Blue Mini-Z MR-02
30371S Chrysler 300C Silver Mini-Z MR-015
30371M Chrysler 300C Magnesium Mini-Z MR-015

The Police Cruiser and Taxi that we've all been waiting to add to our fleets have been delayed!  Kyosho has cancelled all orders, and will be re-taking orders during the Tokyo Toy Show in October.  Also delayed were the 2004 JGTC Supras.

The upcoming film "Team America: World Police", from the creators of South Park, will feature several vehicles based on Mini-Z Monster and Overland kits purchased by Paramount Pictures from Mini-ZRacer.com!  Be sure to look out for scenes featuring the Team America H2, a Chinese Jeep, and a red and white Pickup Truck, which were based on Mini-Zs supplied by the Mini-ZRacer.com Shop!

Aoshima has announced a new addition to their SKYNET lineup: the Batmobile!  The Batmobile will be available as a ReadySet only, in normal and limited edition "black metallic" versions.  Pre-Orders are being taken at the Mini-ZRacer.com Shop, please email shop@ for details.