Mini-Z LeViteZer Magnet Suspension Mod!

You may have seen the videos, if not you can find them at the bottom of the article. But first. Here's my small writeup about this fantastic development.

Source: Mini-Z Norway

Mr. Kim Jansson, a member of ZRacers Finland, and avid developer has worked on this really cool project for some time.

Magnet controlled front suspension for Kyosho Mini-Z MR-03. 

Sounds cool doesnt it? Not only does it sound cool, but it works as well.

He sent me a production proto sample for testing, and here are my first findings.

The arms shown in the pictures are not anodized, but it gives you a view on what to expect from the official parts.

Built into this system you have anti roll bar effect and springs. 

The LeViteZer are designed so you can use it on different manufacturers option front ends, as long as its based on the regular MR-03 suspension with fixed lower arm.

The product consists of the following parts:

- Upper arms

- Bottom magnet plate

- Magnets in different size and strength

How does it work?

Basically you have two magnets locate in the stock spring position on the MR-03 in the chassis. These are mounted on a plate in opposite direction of each other.

Then you have the upper arm, where two magnets are attached on the end. These two magnets are also in opposite direction of eachother. The lower magnet are opposite of the one mounted in the chassis.

The force of the magnet in the chassis, will push the magnet on the arm away. This creates a magnet "cushion" that again acts like a suspension spring.

Since the magnets on the arms are mounted in opposite of eachother, the assembly will also have anti roll bar effect. When the suspension compresses on one side, the arm goes down, and as soon as the upper magnet on the arm that lowers are inline with the lower magnet on the other arm, it will start to pull it down.

The setup work is quite easy, but the magnets are strong and can give you some headache under assembly ;) I had a magnet missing for a week, until I found it underneath my table attached to a screw.

Installing it is easy, but to get a precise optimal front end you need to work a bit with shims to get it perfect.

I have never driven a Mini-Z before that really feels like its floating around the track. Bumps are absorbed extremely well. Better than any other front end out there.

We have been testing it on the following configurations:

• Reflex Racing adustable upper tower and reverse king pin..
• PN Reverse king pin and upper tower.

Some modification of the RR adjustable tower are needed when you are using the big magnets on the arm, but when using the small magnets its plug and play. With the PN upper tower it fits perfectly, but this again limits you a bit on camber/ caster/ roll centre adjustments.

I have tested every single configuration of the magnets, and I am happy to say all of them are within the useable range. (This is very seldom the case when it comes to spring kits)

Hard, soft, more anti roll, less anti roll and so on.

In the pictures shown are my favourite configuration on our biggest track.

Two small magnets on the bottom plate. Small magnets both sides of the LeViteZer arms. PN lower arm, PN reverse King Pins, PN Knuckles and Reflex Racing adjustable upper tower.

This gives almost exactely the same stiffness as the PN double a-arm with the V1/V2 green springs. A favorite, for many drivers. The most noticeable thing is that since it doesn't have a spring that compresses it will give you a much more linear feel.

It works very good on smooth high traction tracks, and is absolutely superb at the more bumpy tracks around.

The feeling of the car is just amazing. It really has an extremely smooth feel to it.

Most people at our track who has tried the car with this has improved their personal best times. It holds the track record for stock car, and for modified it is currently sitting second. With some more setup work it should be even better.

I will do a followup with more details, pictures of the parts and also some more about setup thinking.

The videos mentioned earlier are a must see!

Enjoy!