Xray XB2
 

Prototypes out now at EOS race?
Team has been driving with Losi, Durango and Kyosho 2WD buggies but now with something new.
News from Xray facebook:
"Renaud Savoya, Martin Bayer, Jirka Mára & Juraj Hudy are on the way to Dortmund, Germany for the last round of European Off-road Series - EOS. The XRAY factory off-road team was testing at the new indoor off-road track at HUDY Racing Arena for several days the very first XB2 prototype.

Juraj Hudy, the XRAY chief designer:
"At the last EOS race, less than 1 month ago, I got an idea to modify the XB4 into a 2WD version so I could use the track time and drive in 2WD class as well. The quick modifications I have made at the race amazed me and this crazy idea stayed in my mind. After coming back to the factory the R&D team has worked extremely hard for several weeks and the production was even more busy with all the prototypes to be made, we have even designed and produced few moulds in a new record time - just incredible what our team is able to achieve when is motivated and excited.

We have quickly designed a very first 2WD prototype based on the XB4 platform and in just last few weeks got the first prototypes ready to test. To be able to test the prototypes we have built within few days own indoor track and had Reno, Martin and Jirka to come over. For the last few days the racing team has worked very hard from early morning till very late night to build the prototypes and to get some first hand-on experiences and to have some basics to start building on for the next development. I am really excited about this new project and I have been very proud of what we have achieved in just few weeks. We are ready to hit the tracks with the very first XRAY XB2 prototype."
— with Jirka Mára and Martin Bayer at Hudy Racing Arena. (9 photos)"

Interesting pic

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...na/Capture.png

I haven´t had a peek underneith the shells of these. I heard from someone else the motor is way to the back and it uses a stick pack.

What I saw myself was that first of all, there were quite a few of them running about. On the outside it was clear to see that they ran more caster, they seemed to have more kickup, at least a few had a brass rear suspension mount to move the weight rearward... They go well but you can assume that this is only the start for Xray and they will use data from their chopped and modded XB4 to optimize the car for indoor use.

Who knows, they might consider a mid-motor with the option to mount the motor parallel or perpendicular to the driveshaft (much like the Awesomatix) :D

See pic for the XB2

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...3/IMGP5964.jpg

XB2 in action :) No picture that shows what's under the lid, but I think you can clearly see some of the mods: Alu front hubs with increased caster, chassis with more kickup, rear shocks behind the shock tower... And I'll add some pictures soon that show the weight on the rear end, too.

Edit:
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...3/IMGP5881.jpg
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...3/IMGP6359.jpg
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...3/IMGP6361.jpg

awesome that would be great

This isnt a xb2 yet its a xb4 with the front two drive shafts removed and slightly adapted front hubs
Xray are just following a standard engineering approach of starting with what you know and working from their im sure the next thing to emerge will be a xb4 and durango dex210 love child then it will evolve to more one off prototypes
Before pre production tests and mods begin
It will be interesting to see if they go down the durango route or the team c route or a completely different approach.

I'll give you that they are relatively far away from releasing a 2WD, but it is much further modded than you might think. More caster, chassis with more kickup, rear shocks to the rear and added ballast/weight on the rear, and the chassis pic posted earlier shows an entirely different layout under the lid.

And I'm not saying the XB4 can't perform well when the front driveshafts are simply removed, but I'm not convinved just running more caster on it will be enough to put a standard (other than caster and 2WD) XB4 in the A-Finals of the EOS.