Remember mini 4WD racing?

Iñigo De Paula

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Remember mini 4WD racing?

BJ David

Tamiya Mini 4WD racing undergoes a high-speed resurgence

MANILA, Philippines — As far as 90s trends go, the success of Mini 4WD is as unlikely as they can get. Lots of trends have come and gone, but Mini 4WD racing has endured. Sure, enthusiasm may wane at times. But recently, interest in the hobby has shot up, and a dedicated scene has grown around it.

Satisfying hobbyists’ need for speed is The BrickYard, a partner store of the Lil’s Hobby Center. Lil’s had always supplied Tamiya Mini 4WD cars, but the surge of interest in these speedy kits inspired The BrickYard owner Ferdie Kahn to open a shop dedicated to Mini 4WD racing.

“We wanted to rekindle the hearts of the old hobbyists and the older fans back to their love of Mini 4WD. Now, we love seeing these older fans, most of them now parents themselves, bringing their children to The BrickYard,” says Ferdie.

Geekery on four wheels

The kids (and an equal number of grown-ups) today still obsess over aftermarket motors and mass dampers, but they’ve taken things to a whole new level of mechanical geekery. Hobbyists now talk about stability physics as if they were launching rockets to the moon — considering how high-powered these new motors have become, they may very well be planning just that.

A sizable portion of The BrickYard is devoted to what looks like garage spaces in miniature. Each racer hauls “carry pits” (basically, carry cases that function as miniature pit stops) to the work area. Work benches are crammed with toolboxes, lamps, and Mini 4WD cars in various states of assembly. Words like pitch, surge, sway, yaw, and heave are used in regular conversation, but are spoken with almost devout reverence.

Photo by BJ David

Racers are hunched, monk-like, over their workspaces, only leaving to scope out the track. Unlike larger radio-controlled cars (which Tamiya also makes), Mini 4WD cars cannot be controlled once they’re dropped onto the track. So racers have to study the various nuances of a track and make the necessary adjustments — even swapping parts out entirely — to their cars.

For example, high-torque motors are better for twisting “technical” tracks. But use a high-RPM motor on the same track, and your car could turn into a projectile.

A friendly environment

Any type of geek haven can be intimidating to outsiders (heck, even most insiders), but the scene is pretty welcoming to both newbies and seasoned vets of all ages. Most racers keep to themselves, as most geeks would, but there’s a strong communal vibe here. Occasionally, racers will cluster together to help solve some racing conundrum.

When a father has trouble helping his son assemble his new Cyclone Magnum, another racer pitches in to help. “There’s just something great about watching parents teach and show their kids about Mini 4WDs, and RCs,” Ferdie says. “That alone is a wonderful thing.”

If the work area has an almost monastic quality to it, the track itself is the high-speed life of the party. The only thing louder than the cars whizzing and clacking against the tracks are the loud cheers of onlookers. Racers buzz with excitement as they wait for their turn to lay their cars onto the track.

Regular days are for casual, or pick-up, races. Racers line up, and compete with each other in batches of three. Seasoned racers share the track with little kids who bought and built their first 4WD that same day. Having a beginner compete with a veteran sounds like a recipe for disaster, but Ferdie says that there is no need to implement brackets during casual races. He proudly mentions that racers at the shop have a way of self-regulating their races.

Photo by BJ David

The tournament scene

Casual races are fun and all, but all competitive racers set out to prove themselves at the organized tournaments, which are also sanctioned by the shop. They all have their sights set on The BrickYard Cup Series, which is a lead-up to the Asia Challenge 2019. The Cup is currently on its second leg, and racers of all ages eagerly compete for the chance to race against the best in Asia. The vibe here is definitely more competitive, than the casual races. But the same supportive vibe is still present.

The tournaments usually draw big crowds, and to accommodate these people, The BrickYard has to rent out the mall activity center. Attendance at these events easily dispels the notion that Mini 4WD racing is a fossilized trend from the 90s and early 00s. If anything, the fandom now seems bigger than ever — so big, in fact, that Tamiya has taken notice.

“It makes me very happy to see that Tamiya is still well-loved in the Philippines,” Tamiya chairman and president Shunsaku Tamiya said. The company even issued a Philippine-exclusive version of the Night Hunter kit.

Photo by Iñigo de Paula

This limited edition version of a popular Mini 4WD car comes with unique decals featuring The BrickYard and Lil’s racing livery. It’s a great tribute to the local racing scene, who keep the hobby alive and kicking. – Rappler.com 

 

 Iñigo de Paula is a writer who lives and works in Quezon City. When he isn’t talking about himself in the third person, he writes about pop culture and its peripheries.

 

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