How good is the x5??

[DaveG28]

lol, question is in the title! what key things are good to know about them?

[Fiddybux]

I'm a recent convert, but had a lot of trouble to begin with. Having said that...I'm glad I stuck with it....it's such a good car once you know how to tweak it.

First rule: Keep the slipper really tight....tighten it fully and back off 1.5 turns at the most. This will be fine for most tracks. If you let the slipper slip it will just heat up the plastics and stuff will melt. The drive train runs so fast inside the buggy (really really low internal ratio = fast!) that it generates heat quick. Keep the slipper tight and let the belts skip and you'll be rocking.

Second rule: Reinforce your shock towers with CF from penguin r/c or dc-racing. I broke loads and loads of shocks since upgrading to the X-5. Theoretically this should have been no different to the XX4, but I think that because of the extra grunt from the low internal ratio I was unable to handle the power and it resulted in some unusual collisions and big air!

Third rule: Fit the belt tension mod from 4wdrc here:

http://www.4wdrc.com/tech/BeltAdjuster.htm

This makes getting the right belt tension really easy.

Fourth rule: Get the upgraded machined pulley gears from Lesro. I think these now come as standard in the new kits though, whereas they didn't when I got mine.

That's all I can think of tight now.

I'm sure one of the X-5 crusaders like Chris Long will reply to either add to this or put me right :). He's been at this a lot longer than I have!

Once you get it right though...this car is very rewarding to drive.

[Gayo]

Pros :
- handles like a XX-4
- Accelerates like a XXX-4.
- Great support for the racers
- Rough stuff handling
- Smooth belt tranny

Cons :
- needs (little) skills, time and a dremel to be built
- Fugly
- Uses Losi bits, often more brittle (front arms mainly, specially when it's cold)
- 4+2 cells

[Chrislong]

You guys have summed it up very well.

Its a great car, and there's a lot of support for it - i.e. email anyone in the team and we'll be willing to help, and probably give you more help than you bargained for... thats because we're all enthusiastic for the product, it really is superb. :thumbsup:

Russ is slightly wrong with the ratio though, its the other end of the scale :lol:. With stock drive train it is 1.75:1 which means it needs a really big spur to slow it all down (I am using 110 tooth). Which means when the motor is spinning like the clappers, everything between the pinion and diffs (not including the diffs) turns 1.75 times to turn the wheels once. This means all the bearings, belts, pulleys are capable of such revs, and the car accelerates smoothly.

I run a XX4 layshaft gear on my X-5, and this lowers the ratio further to 1.66:1. I think this is the best gear for the car, along with the DDP diff gears.

Compare this to an Academy which I have experience of too, this has 2.75:1 internal ratio, so the whole drive train from the pinion to the diffs turn 2.75 times to turn the wheels once, and I found this to shake the car apart (literally), and it fried any motor I put in hotter than a 12x1.

When I ran brushed, I could happily run an 8x1 (Reedy Ti - still got it) in the X-5 and it'd still come off cool enough to touch, cooler than my 2wd with a 10turn in.

[super__dan]

Good! ;)

http://www.one-ten-rcforums.com/4wdrc/viewtopic.php?id=1540

You must know that it's not a stock build like a B44 or whatever (i.e. now prep to parts), but that anyone with any skill and patience when building will be rewarded as Raphael says above.

[Fiddybux]

I said someone would be along to correct me! LOL :)

I run a 104 tooth spur, and the standard drive pulley with a 5.5 brushless geared on a 18T pinion. I'm usually too lazy to change this.

I don't know a huge amount about gearing, but this works for me in most situations, but can get hot on tight indoor tracks.

One final piece of advice from me is to use plastics rather than graphite wherever you can. Plastic tends to bend and give a little before breaking, whereas graphite will break under similar stresses. I can't really tell the difference in feel between using graphite or plastic wishbones for example, so why go with something that breaks more easily is the way I see things.

Bear in mind though, you can no longer get plastic rear wishbones - they've been discontinued by Losi.

Why don't x-factory produce their own parts by the way Chris / Dan? Why do we have to rely on Losi for shock towers and arms?

[Chrislong]

Why don't x-factory produce their own parts by the way Chris / Dan? Why do we have to rely on Losi for shock towers and arms?

Hey Russ,
Its a good point, but while Losi are still supplying parts there is no need to. The cost of a mould to make alternative items is big $$$, and not enough potential sales from it to justify the expense (it'd never be recovered). One day somebody may make an alloy base unit for 4mm carbon towers to be bolted to

Instead X-factory has made the castor block screws to give strength to the Losi front arms, a B3 front brace strengthens the front bulkhead area, and CF braces are already available for the towers which I highly recommend. Right now im comfortable running my braced up Losi towers.

[bigred5765]

as above,
really is a good car take your time building it, makes sure everything is nice and snug and the cars ace,
it is a conversion not a kit so some modding has to be done but its more than worth it for the end result,

[Fiddybux]

Hi Chris,

Yeah the braced up towers really really work well.

On Sunday I hammered the X5 on some big ol' jumps, and it was superb. Normally I'd be 2 towers down by that point!

This gave me loads of confidence and I really enjoyed myself...which is what it's all about after all.

[footey]

or buy the x5s whats buit as im selling 2 on ebay 1 which dan built so gonna be buit right

[MikePimlott]

IMHO Very good. I tried the xx4 and it was tooooo twitchy for me. (i made it into an X5) The X5 takes away all the grip roll and twitchy-ness of the xx4. It is more driveable and very consistent. Great car. :woot: