Indeed, I know of at least 4 movers at present, so going to be as exciting in 2013 as ever..

The best things come to those who wait :)

This one is for AndyP and Darren (Just in case he didn't know!)
http://www.oople.com/forums/showthread.php?t=118206

Although I don't have any X-Factory cars myself, I was not too happy to read that. After Brian Kinwald in '11 another top driver has left this iconic team... On the other hand, I would have been happy if he'd joined Yokomo! ;)

Its taking far too long to develop this car and the good drivers are going, im surprised Ellis lasted as long as he did. Its a shame.

It goes without saying it is indeed a huge loss losing E from the XF brand, he is one of the very few talented "elite" in r/c off road and would be an asset in any team but as in most forms of motorsport it is always very hard for the small teams to hang on to such talent for too long....

In terms of small, it would be hard for anyone to imagine an r/c car company any smaller than X-Factory, with just two solitary employees (Chazz and Paul) and with Chazz being seriously ill over the past 12 months too, duirng large parts that was down to just 1!!

However, things move on, top drivers do change teams and there is one reason that Ellis did stay at XF for as long as he did and was becuse he knew (and demostrated on track last year) just what potential the X7 has and after all he had nothing to prove with the X6 after two back to back titles with the 2wd chassis in recent years too.

The two big things (other than Chazz's poor health) that have held back the X7's final development and ultimate production were simply time and finances. The "time" delay meant it was right for E to move on from all points of view, take on fresh challenge and chase that last ultimate goal he has of winning the UK BRCA 4wd title, with his new ride he has a car that can challenge for that without the need for it to continue being developed along the way. From X-Factory's point of view, they now also have more finances free due to this move to invest in the X7 project too, so in some ways the change actually helps everyone....

Along with several other exciting new projects that are coming along very nicely that will break cover in early 2013 and new team members inbound too, the future for both X-Factory as a company and the X7 4wd itself are still very bright...........

The 4wd market is bulging already, another reason the X7 will have to be 110% and spot on when it is launched for it to succeed in a fierce market, there can be no compromise on this car, and that sadly, in the hands of the r/c minnows takes time, time that has was set back by 12 months due to ill health, but the patience will be worth it for those who wait............

Whatever X-Factory do its normally groundbreaking and exciting. As they are a much smaller company than the likes of Associated and Schumacher etc. it was always going to take time to get right. I'm just looking forwards to seeing it released when the time is right. For them to keep going with it this long it must be something special and different. :thumbsup:

Nicest post I have ever read that you've posted Darren!

Maybe it's a New Years resolution?!!!

Good luck Ellis with the Durango....2013 is going to be interesting!

LOL, they are all like that really, depends how you read them :D

well said Darren...

but with no big name drivers now on the team there will be limited development going on ......
we have seen nothing new for the x6 4 a long time ...
how about a 8mm chassie or something........ cant even get a forward cab body cant be that hard !!!!come on !!

the cars r just falling back.....

and now with the big E gone i dont see much happening at X Factory:cry:
dont get me wrong i love my X factory cars but with every other car maker is moving forward, it just makes it hard to get 100% out of an ageing chassie!
the last big win was over here at the Australian Titles 2012 winning Stock

There is no negativity here. When I finally returned full time six months ago, we sat down for several meetings (Yes, you can have meetings in a 2-man company!) to plan the way forward. You're right, Mick, R & D pretty well stopped for 18 months (!) while I was sick.

We looked at many things carefully, including a major financial crunch, and plotted a way forward that included the revolutionary SCX - 60CF and X - 60CF. Unusual for any company, the 60CF was launched within two weeks of the original plan, and there has been no need for a single change.

The SCX - 60CF is a huge improvement over the SC10 and an improvement from the SCX - 60. The X - 60CF is an improvement over the X - 60, so, within six months this small company has launched two radical new vehicles successfully.

The plan we laid out last summer extends through 2013 and into 2014, so there is much to come. Several things are in testing now, both in the U.S. and in U.K. There are five major races here in the next 10 weeks, and those who look closely will see new products in testing at all of them.

New products and updates to existing products will be announced regularly as the first part of 2013 unfolds. I'm certain, Mick, that you will be very pleasantly surprised.

All I can really add to what Chazz has written is that you are indeed in for many surprises in answer to nearly ALL of your points....

Looking at the posts on this thread it would seem that the X7 is likely to out at the end of this year? Ironically this suits me as finance means that I cannot afford a new car at the moment.
I had four X5's and rated them one of the best cars I have driven so a new X factory 4WD is something I'm looking forward to.
However, The X7 will need to be very good to make me change my current zx5fs2.

We've got it covered, Steve!

Yep Steve, the X-5 I agree was best handing car bar none and prob still is. Only the transmission would struggle to cope with current power levels. So the X-7 is highly likely to be immense if it is going to be even marginally better with bullet proof transmission!

cool cant wait bring them on cant wait for the new stuff !!!!!
now must go and up date my truck to the CF version now!!!!!:thumbsup:


well done on the double win!!!!!!!!!:thumbsup:

Paul has arrived at W.C.R.C. with the new Gen 7.0 X - 7. He finished building it late Tuesday night and flew out Wednesday. Look for it on LiveRC this weekend!

Paul got one run in open practice at the Reedy race Wednesday afternoon, and broke a caster block on L3, so no real conclusions. Thursday he finished three runs in controlled practice, with decent results. Says the car is faster than the 6.3 that he ran at Nats last August, and he's changing from the motor he's used for the past six months to a new one which Viper says is better.

Answering here in response to a guy who posted in the Cubed thread.

Development of the X - 7 is ongoing. Up until now we have had two copies of each prototype car in testing, one in U.K. and one for Paul. We are confident enough of the current design, Gen 7.0, that a third is being built. Paul's is in the hands of a west coast Team driver and he is building another identical one for himself.

Why has the X - 7 project taken so long? First, my illness almost killed it -- there was no time for Paul to work on anything other than shipping orders because he was at the hospital every day for several months. Everything else, including Paul's primary job, R & D, stopped.

When I returned to the company in a tentative and very part time way, summer of 2011, the R/C market was changing fast from where it was just a year earlier, and X Factory had to move fast to catch up. Now I have returned to a "normal" schedule, and Paul does what he is supposed to do. In the past 12 months we have launched two new cars beginning with the SCX - 60CF short course truck, then on to the X - 60CF stadium truck, and now we are set to release the X - 6 Cubed.

These vehicles are developing sales and market share necessary for the launch of the X - 7, which will be, by a factor of five, the most costly and ambitious project we have ever attempted. We still have seen nothing on the market that has any of the engineering breakthroughs on the X - 7. It is revolutionary.

Stay with us as we continue to develop and release cars and parts that nobody else can or will do. The X - 7 is a true X Factory car.

If our club starts 4x4 then perhaps this is the car for me to wait for.
Nice