F1 2009 Season!!!

Here we go! The start of a new season is upon us! Practice starts at 10pm tonight, so we'll so who's been faking and who's been sandbagging! Lots of new tech like adjustable front aero, KERS and slicks should make this a VERY interesting season. It's funny that KERS "rewards" lighter drivers with more HP...so if you're a big boy, you don't get to have an extra 80HP! Apparently they have yet to figure out the packaging to optimize the weight balance for the larger drivers. Most teams have just skipped it for this first round, but BMW has opted for a split strategy meaning Kubica will have to continue making Heidfeld look silly without a "nitro" button...

Brawn, Williams and Toyota are "legal" until the whiners appeal otherwise... McLaren has gone the more traditional route of copy and catchup. Brawn is going to pick up Virgin as a sponsor, which is a major coup for both parties. The management buyout goes through, so they have talented people running the team instead of corporate bureaucrats. Virgin gets all the branding they want without the headaches of learning the technical side of the F1 business. Brawn GP gets the funding they will desperately need to keep up with the frantic pace of development throughout the season. There is a small possibility of collusion where Brawn GP may have convinced Virgin to withdraw their offer to Honda so that the MBO would have less bidding competition, then gives them preference as a sponsor. Also the rumors of Todt's "retirement" are intriguing...

Here's hoping Rubens makes Button look as boring as he is!

And I've always got to root for Williams! With Brawn GP and Williams F1, I'm hoping for TWO competitive "privateer/gentleman drivers" teams showing the manufacturers how its done!

Racing at M&M Hobbies January 31, 2009

Our inagural race at the newest racing club in Houston was held on January 31,2009. Turn out was not very big, but the racing was very, very good.

In Super Stock, Marcus Williams and Frank Hernandez battled at the front most of the day. In the end Marcus took the win with Frank in second, and the original Mini-Z race organizer in Houston, Mr. Danny Finley in third. Danny thanks for organizing this back in the day!!! Without you having hosted the races at M&M years ago, there wouldn't be a Reflex!

In the Modified class there was only 2 racers, Jacob Feinstein and Cristian Tabush. The 2 Reflex drivers displayed some great driving on this small technical course (6.5-7.0 second laps) going on average about 1.5 seconds faster than the super stock cars per lap. Jacob was out with a recently built AWD and was still getting used to the driving characteristics of the car. Cristian, on the other hand has been working on a super fast set-up on his AWD and won the 3 qualifiers and the main in convincing fashion.

Below are the results. If anyone ever wants to come race with us, feel free to contact us thorugh e-mail or phone or simply drop by on any saturday from 11am-4pm at M&M Hobbies in Bellaire, TX.

Super Stock A Main

Modified A Main

BTW, if you want to visit our other club track, there is pictures, results and info at www.hircr.com .

Busy, Busy!!!

Man have I been busy since coming back from Vegas! I am sorry I have been so MIA. There are lots of things to be excited of here at RR for the upcoming weeks, months and next year.

First let me tell you all I have a permanent Mini-Z track to practice and race in Houston now!!! All of you better watch out now ;) A couple of my hardcore Mini-Z buddies and I got together, got RCP, a Giro-Z system and after talking with Meir, the hobby shop owner, set up a track at M&M hobbies in Bellaire, TX. The best part is that the track is only about 10 minutes away from my house. M&M was also where Reflex and Mini-Z got their beginnings as this was the location where about four-and-a-half years ago we started racing Mini-Z's. We are planning on racing every other weekend and hope to coordinate with HIRCR, the other track in Houston so that we can race Mini-Z's in Houston every weekend, alternating locations. Stay tuned for a calendar and updates on our site!

Next are new products. We already have our 96mm h-plates tearing tracks across the world and gaining huge popularity. We have our new sticker sheets to deck out your rides in Reflex swag. Upcoming, we have a couple of new things coming that will revolutionize and keep pushing the envelope of set-up refinement in the racing scene.

First, we have the full titanium screw sets for the MR-02. This is a full screw set that will have self tapping and machine screws as well. You will be able to fully deck out your car with weight saving titanium screws from the chssis, to the motor mount and even the DPS mount.

We also are testing on some "tuned" 70 turn stock motors in order to get the most out of your machine at the club level and races where handouts are not mandated. We are currently seeing about 10-15% gains in power from stock form which is very exciting.

Our new tires, the SSGV2 will soon be available as well. This was the tire I used to secure TQ at the recent PNWC in Las Vegas. This tire is designed to have less grip than the SSG2WD for those tracks that are higher grip as well as the stock class, where maximum tire grip is not needed.

Finally, we have a new service we are going to offer soon. We will now be selling fully programmed ASF boards,with specific adjustmenrs for different racing classes as well as tracks. With the programming capabilities of the new 2.4 GHz boards, huge gains in performance can be found by properly tuning your car's electronics. We are in the final stages of testing the different settings we are going to offer. Amongst the settings we will have: 2WD Modified, Pan Car Modified, 2WD Stock, AWD Stock, AWD Modified Short Track and AWD Modified Long Track.

In the meantime, we would also like to thank all of you for supporting us in our first year back. It has been a great year at Reflex, but be assured this is only the beginning. We have many more great ideas and products coming this next year that will surely help you stay at the front of the pack!

Happy Holidays to all!!!

CT-

redrc coverage!

Reflex makes the front page at RedRC.net!

http://www.redrc.net/2008/11/pn-racing-mini-z-world-cup-finals/

Looks like we're on our way to getting more 1/28 coverage! Our hits have gone 4x on the site already!

reflex pnwc afterparty at pure...

EMU, Rui, Cristian, and 4-drink TQ Alberto

track layout from PNWC 2008...

Here's a composite panoramic pic of the track. I'll have it up in Sketchup soon.

787B on AWD...

Here are some pics of our new "barely legal" tail for the 787B. It's designed to shrink the 102mm wheelbased 787B to 94mm. Enjoy!