BloodClod
16-03-2006, 02:23 PM
http://www.cool.per.sg/external_links/zx5/01.jpg
http://www.cool.per.sg/external_links/zx5/02.jpg
http://www.cool.per.sg/external_links/zx5/03.jpg
http://www.cool.per.sg/external_links/zx5/04.jpg
Hi guys,
Have been reading up the great info on this forum. Just finished my ZX-5 and it seems like a competent buggy. Thought I'd share some initial thoughts as a new owner.
THE BUILD:
- This car takes a while to build... cos Kyosho thinks you're pro enough to identify every part without much help. All plastic parts on all trees are not numbered. You have to refer to a chart in the instruction manual to find the right part number. Add to that the fact that there are several similar looking spacers and stand-offs it means looking for the right part takes some time during the build.
- I have nothing against phillips head screws... but phillips head screws + machine threads + untapped plastic = painful build I would've even preferred irritating self-tapping screws... otherwise, give me hex head screws please.
- Everything goes together very nicely and it's always fun building a new car. It's obvious this car was a "serious" car when you consider all the little shims that go everywhere to make sure that everything runs just right with as little friction as possible.
- Most of the parts feel really top quality. The slipper assembly is awesome.
- Unfortunately stuff like the gearboxes are made of somewhat softer material than the carbon composite chassis and rear hubs. Would've been nice to see harder materials used there.
- As many already know... you have quite a few options for the transmission here. Two one-way bearings are included so you can either run (a) front one-way or (b) one-way on the shaft. If you want to get the very aggressive combination of both (a) and (b), you will need to purchase another one-way bearing. You also have the option of (c) a ball diff up front or (d) running a spool. Tune to your hearts content.
- The ball diffs are very nice units. Feel really refined. Use american-sized diff balls so associated and losi stuff will fit.
THE CAR:
- One of the most tunable buggies IMO. Of course, that can be a good or bad thing. You can tune yourself to a better ride or tune yourself to disaster.
- among the things you can adjust are kick-up, anti-squat, roll-center, camber, wheelbase and the standard toe-in (front). Optional caster blocks can be purchased too (standard is 7 degrees). Wing can even be positioned higher or lower and the wing angle adjusted.
- chassis isn't the stiffest but it isn't exactly twisty.
- Some parts like the suspension arms feel very stiff though and should provide good suspension responsiveness.
- The center shaft is designed to be easily removable so the front one-way can be swapped out and vice-versa. Nice design.
- Shocks are awesome. Very easy to bleed and feel as good as any other top-end competition shock. Look great too!
- Front is equipped with CVDs that look very well made. Rear has just dogbones though... disappointing.
- open spur design will need testing to see how well it holds up.
- body shell is nice but there is hardly ANY space to fit stuff in there. Re-wired my BL to fit and had to be very careful with everything to make sure the shell can fit on.
- wheels are dish type and 12mm hexes mean that pretty much nothing else from the US manufacturers will fit. Tamiya off-road wheels are a no-go too since the offset is different and the wheels will rub on the suspension.
FIRST DRIVE:
Just a quick test run on tarmac showed that with the one-way installed this car is WAY different from any other 4WD I've recently driven. LOADs of steering... perhaps too much. When turning this car will steer like a 2WD because of the one-way. There's no typical push of running fulltime 4WD - and this means this car can be driven round hairpins aggressively, but it also probably means that it's need some setup to keep the rear in check. Who knows... might swap out the one-way after some running to see how that changes things. I'm sure it'll be a different car then.
Suspension feels very plush and it looks like it'll handle bumps and jumps well. The shaft drive design also means that it can have more ground clearance than the XXX-4 which has large belt pulleys to fit in the transmission.
All in all, so far, it looks like it'll be quite a decent runner. But some guys have said it's more durable than the XXX4 but others have said it breaks every run... let's see how it performs at the next bash.
http://www.cool.per.sg/external_links/zx5/02.jpg
http://www.cool.per.sg/external_links/zx5/03.jpg
http://www.cool.per.sg/external_links/zx5/04.jpg
Hi guys,
Have been reading up the great info on this forum. Just finished my ZX-5 and it seems like a competent buggy. Thought I'd share some initial thoughts as a new owner.
THE BUILD:
- This car takes a while to build... cos Kyosho thinks you're pro enough to identify every part without much help. All plastic parts on all trees are not numbered. You have to refer to a chart in the instruction manual to find the right part number. Add to that the fact that there are several similar looking spacers and stand-offs it means looking for the right part takes some time during the build.
- I have nothing against phillips head screws... but phillips head screws + machine threads + untapped plastic = painful build I would've even preferred irritating self-tapping screws... otherwise, give me hex head screws please.
- Everything goes together very nicely and it's always fun building a new car. It's obvious this car was a "serious" car when you consider all the little shims that go everywhere to make sure that everything runs just right with as little friction as possible.
- Most of the parts feel really top quality. The slipper assembly is awesome.
- Unfortunately stuff like the gearboxes are made of somewhat softer material than the carbon composite chassis and rear hubs. Would've been nice to see harder materials used there.
- As many already know... you have quite a few options for the transmission here. Two one-way bearings are included so you can either run (a) front one-way or (b) one-way on the shaft. If you want to get the very aggressive combination of both (a) and (b), you will need to purchase another one-way bearing. You also have the option of (c) a ball diff up front or (d) running a spool. Tune to your hearts content.
- The ball diffs are very nice units. Feel really refined. Use american-sized diff balls so associated and losi stuff will fit.
THE CAR:
- One of the most tunable buggies IMO. Of course, that can be a good or bad thing. You can tune yourself to a better ride or tune yourself to disaster.
- among the things you can adjust are kick-up, anti-squat, roll-center, camber, wheelbase and the standard toe-in (front). Optional caster blocks can be purchased too (standard is 7 degrees). Wing can even be positioned higher or lower and the wing angle adjusted.
- chassis isn't the stiffest but it isn't exactly twisty.
- Some parts like the suspension arms feel very stiff though and should provide good suspension responsiveness.
- The center shaft is designed to be easily removable so the front one-way can be swapped out and vice-versa. Nice design.
- Shocks are awesome. Very easy to bleed and feel as good as any other top-end competition shock. Look great too!
- Front is equipped with CVDs that look very well made. Rear has just dogbones though... disappointing.
- open spur design will need testing to see how well it holds up.
- body shell is nice but there is hardly ANY space to fit stuff in there. Re-wired my BL to fit and had to be very careful with everything to make sure the shell can fit on.
- wheels are dish type and 12mm hexes mean that pretty much nothing else from the US manufacturers will fit. Tamiya off-road wheels are a no-go too since the offset is different and the wheels will rub on the suspension.
FIRST DRIVE:
Just a quick test run on tarmac showed that with the one-way installed this car is WAY different from any other 4WD I've recently driven. LOADs of steering... perhaps too much. When turning this car will steer like a 2WD because of the one-way. There's no typical push of running fulltime 4WD - and this means this car can be driven round hairpins aggressively, but it also probably means that it's need some setup to keep the rear in check. Who knows... might swap out the one-way after some running to see how that changes things. I'm sure it'll be a different car then.
Suspension feels very plush and it looks like it'll handle bumps and jumps well. The shaft drive design also means that it can have more ground clearance than the XXX-4 which has large belt pulleys to fit in the transmission.
All in all, so far, it looks like it'll be quite a decent runner. But some guys have said it's more durable than the XXX4 but others have said it breaks every run... let's see how it performs at the next bash.