With the touring car scene being so competitive and on the cutting edge of technology, it is pretty hard for a manufacturer to release something that is that much better than what else is out there. And sadly enough, the more cars that come out, the more they seem to resemble something else. Though you can only reinvent the wheel so many times, you would think that they would still strive to make something different form the rest. Well, the latest Mission from Schumacher is all about that, combining the proven performance of a dual-belt touring car with some serious unique flair that many would not expect from Schumacher. This car should mark a whole new era for the Schumacher name, as it is clearly a milestone for them.

Kit Features
The all-new Mi3 sports tons of unique features that are not only different from the Mi2, but that really allow this car to do the unimaginable: stand out from all the other touring cars.

Suspension. The Mi3’s suspension is completely redesigned from the ground up. Individual suspension blocks are still used, but are now mounted right to the bulkhead, and still allow for complete wheelbase, kick-up, and anti-squat via plastic quick clips and shims. Keeping true to the color scheme, all of the hinge pin blocks are nicely anodized in Schumacher purple. Swaybars are included both front and rear, and are uniquely mounted to the inside of the bulkheads, and then to the carbon composite arms. Multiple mounting positions on the arms and the 3mm towers allow for a virtually endless configuration for the aluminum threaded-bodied shocks to be mounted. One of the trickest new designs on this car is the reversely mounted vertical inner ball stud. However, this does require a little more work when swapping out shims for the roll center, as you can’t really access the ball stud without removing the bracket. All camber and toe adjustments are made via steel turnbuckles, and Ti pieces can be purchased as aftermarket pieces.
Drivetrain. This drivetrain is the same but uniquely different. This is the one department that forces cars to look so similar to one another, and Schumacher wanted none of that! Sure, it still has two belts and a low-mounted motor in the rear, but other than that, it is really on its own mission. For starters, the spur gear mount/center pulley setup uses a shaft that is held on only at one side, and can also be adjusted up or down to accommodate different spur gear sizes. Now for the most original part of the whole car: the way the diffs are mounted to the bulkheads. A mere two screws is all that is required to remove or adjust the diffs, as they clamp down on the notches in the housing for the diffs. The Mi3 comes equipped with ball diff in the rear, and a solid axle spool in the front, which is rapidly becoming the choice amongst racers and race holders, as the driver is able to dive into the corner and slam on the brakes without having to worry about doing a 360 into the wall or another car.

It allows for the racing action to get a lot more intense.

Steering. A single-bellcrank steering setup is utilized, which fully rolls on some silky smooth bearings for seamless steering. The bellcranks is actually located between the front belt, and is mounted on top of the bulkhead for the belt clearance, and is also mounted using nothing but carbon fiber and aluminum for the truest setup possible. A servo saver is included, but totally optional. If you opt to go with the servo saver setup, it is attached via a servo horn.

Chassis. Simply picking up the 2mm lower carbon-fiber chassis plate will show that the base of the new Mi3 car is a whole new Schumacher in the making. The lower plate has cutouts galore on every corner of it, yet still does an excellent job of keeping its rigidity as well as mounting areas for all the electronics. The rest of the car is all built around the four bulkhead pieces, no more, no less. The very nice gray-finished aluminum bulkheads allow for everything from the steering, arm mounts and swaybars to be mounted to them, leaving only the bumper and servo to actually be fastened to the lower chassis. A very small carbon fiber upper deck connects the front and rear bulkheads to get that touring car stiffness we all love so dearly, and if you didn’t notice just by looking at it, it sits a total of 10mm lower than its predecessor, allowing the CG to stay as low as possible.

Performance Testing
Testing time. We all know what this means, SoCal Raceway! But hold up, because as I’m sure a lot of you have heard, around the time you read this SoCal will be no more. But I was able to squeeze in some testing about a week before their final days. I was actually quite excited to give this all new whip some hot laps, and drive something that didn’t look like all of the other tourers I have run lately. This was also going to be my first time running LRP’s new ’07 Spec TC Sphere Comp with their crazy 4.5T Vector motor.
After I finished up some last minute wire routing and some ESC setting and programming, the RP’s were sauced and dried, and the pack was nice and warm and ready to rock. As soon as the Mi3 was on the track, I had to give the throttle a little test blip, and sure enough, I was pleasantly greeted with a TON of power. And the Mi3 had no problem putting all that power down nice and smoothly on its initial burst. I smartly putted around for the first few laps to avoid any previous layout brain fades. After that it was time for some serious hot laps. The first couple of packs allowed me to get the overall feel of the car, and allowed me to see if any changes were needed. During this time the car behaved extremely solid and smooth, but felt like it could use a hair more traction. This actually surprised me a little, as the chassis is on the softer side. But after looking things over, it made a little more sense. All of the shocks are set pretty stiff, and there was not too much rear toe. So, back in the pits I did a little tweaking to the suspension and also made a front belt tension change, because I thought I heard it skipping every now and then. Adjusting the tension is so easy that it actually made me laugh once I was done; very slick on Schumacher’s part. Gotta’ give it up to them for that. I would have liked to make some swaybar tweaks, but unfortunately the kit does not include any extras.

Running the car with the few tweaks made all the difference, and totally woke the car up. The car was very easy to drive, and even had an impressive amount of steering for being equipped with a spool. Although the tight SoCal track is not ideal for a spool, it is awesome to be able to out-brake the entire one-way field in the corners. No need to ever cringe when having to use the brakes. And the spool definitely aided in the car’s overall stability and solid feel. This car can actually be set up for aggressive driving, and will still feel very planted, much like how it initially felt. The car was very darty from corner to corner, and was still able to quickly zip through the turns. I would imagine this car feeling even better on a lower traction parking lot-style track, with its thin chassis and front spool.

The more laps I put down the more it made me think of just how much time Schumacher must have put into this car, not only did it work well, but it looks as good as it drives. With a countless number of packs through the car, I was a driving machine going to and from the pits and the driver’s stand. And the nice thing was how easily this car was able to handle and put down all of that insane LRP horsepower. On that note, I encountered a total of zero thermal shutdowns throughout all of my packs of back-to-back running. By the end of the day the car gave off the feeling that I was right at home with it, and felt nothing like it was my first time driving it. And that is exactly what a good car should feel like by the end of the day.

What Did We Like?
I love all of the uniqueness and thought that was incorporated into this car; it is no wonder why this car took a little longer than expected to be released, with so many original features. All of the aluminum is perfectly finished, giving the car an extremely serious look, and is much enhanced over the previous car, which had a somewhat dull look to it. Just about everything on the car is very easily accessible and is very adjustable.

What Would We Change?
This is a very solid car out of the box, and to be quite honest is pretty straight from the box. I could see the thin 2mm chassis being on the flexy side for carpet racing, and there are always going to be people that complain about the car not coming with a one-way or diff. The one thing that really annoyed me when building the car was all of the different style washers, I wish they would include all purple washers; and the necessary thicknesses, instead of having to use a purple shim here, gray one there, and a steel one somewhere else. And when needing to adjust the roll center, accessing the ball stud from the bottom is nearly impossible.

Conclusion
It is nice to know that there are still companies out there that try to differentiate their product from the rest, even if it takes a little longer than expected. The Mi3 has to be one of the most refined and refreshing cars out there. Sure, a lot of the car resembles all of the other belt cars out there, but a lot of the car also resembles none of the other cars out there. This is a tourer that can hang with the best, and turn heads in the pits. This newest Mission from Schumacher is, without a doubt, mission complete.

I NEED PARTS!
 If you have ever owned a Schumacher car or truck, I’m pretty sure that you are aware that getting parts is not he easiest thing to do. Well, if your local hobby shop does not carry the Schumacher lineup, a simple call to Schumacher USA’s headquarters in Florida will get you the exact part you need, and will ship that same day. Check out their website for full contact info at www.racing-cars.com

ON THE OTHER HAND...
    Stephen: Schuey’s newest electric touring car impresses me again, much like their last car. Schumacher may not be the biggest name in the US for pure racing cars, but in the electric sedan class, they have a winner.  Collin was impressed with the car’s performance, as I was, but being a non-TC kinda guy, it’s easier for me to pick on the car’s faults—like the rare parts support nationally. Fortunately, you can order everything you need from Schumacher USA, or have them direct you to a local shop in your area.
    Jason: What’s to say about the MI3 except that it’s freaking cool? The chassis layout follows the current trend in touring car setups, but Schumacher finds little ways to change up the monotony by incorporating new suspension mounts, innovative new bulkheads, and a reworked steering geometry. As the one of the underdogs in the armada of competition touring cars, Schumacher’s MI3 is sure to brand its name into the minds of the racers it leaves behind.

THE FINAL CALL
Highs: completely redesigned from the ground up, the feel and quality of this car is unlike any other Schumacher, tons of adjustability, and two screws remove the diffs.
Lows: Too many different washer and shim styles, Ti turnbuckles not included with kit, local hobby shop parts support is scattered and can be hard to come by.
The Final Call: I think that this could really be Schumacher’s calling card, and like I said before, it is such a greatly thoughtout and designed car, with tons of great features. It is just a little bit of a disappointment that it was not released a little sooner.

SPECS 

Vehicle: Schumacher Mi3
Type: 1/10-scale 4WD electric touring car
Part Number: K073
Price: $420 (street price)
Class Rivals: Team Associated FT TC5, Corally RDX, Hot Bodies Moore-Speed Cyclone, Kyosho TF5 Stallion, Team Losi JRXS-R, Tamiya 415 MRE, XRay T2 007, Yokomo MR4TC BD ME, Robotronic Avid

DIMENSIONS
Width 7.50 in (190mm)
Wheelbase 10.28 in (261mm)
Length 14.05 in (357 mm)
Weight 56 oz (1587g)
Ground clearance .0.2 in (5mm)
Wheel hex size 12mm
Chassis Carbon fiber dual deck
Thickness (upper/lower) 2mm/2mm
Suspension 4-wheel independent
Damping Aluminum threaded bodied coil-over units
Swaybars (f/r) 1.4/1.4
Drivetrain Dual belt 4WD
Pinion/Spur xx-tooth /89-tooth
Final Gear Ratio XX :1

Differential (f/r) Spool/Ball
Bearings Rubber shielded

PERFORMANCE DATA

Zero to 100 feet: 2.27 seconds
Zero to top speed: 4.48 seconds
Stalker ATS verified Top Speed: 46.52 mph

SOURCES

• Airtronics, 1185 Stanford Court, Anaheim, CA 92805 • (714) 978-1895 • www.airtronics.net
• Czech-It-Out Graphics, Mike Czech, www.czech-it-out-graphics.com, kanaikid57@sbcglobal.net
• LRP dist by Team Associated, 3585 Cadillac Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626 • (714) 850-9342 • www.rc10.com/lrp
• Protoform, P.O. Box 456 Beaumont, CA 92223 • (951) 849-9781• www.prolineracing.com
• RP Tires, dist. by Schumacher USA, 6302 Benjamin Road Suite 404, Tampa, FL 33634 • (813) 889-9691• www.racing-cars.com
• Slingshot Batteries, 2141 Philadelphia Unit V, Ontario, CA 91761 • www.slingshotbatteries.com
• Spektrum dist. By Horizon Hobby, 4105 Fieldstone Road, Champaign, IL 61822 • (217) 352-1913 • www.spektrumrc.com