Dex410 or Xb4 ?

[shannow95]

Hello everybody,

First I'm very sorry to ask something like this because it's one very repeated question (b44.2 or k1? etc etc...) but I'm truly hesitating a lot between them and any input is very helpful.

My 4wd 1/10 background is :
-B44(first one) didn't like it because of cheap and nasty american size screws mainly.
-zx5 fs which was ok apart from spares that were difficult to get hold of and expensive.
-And the last a cat Sx3 which is truly beautiful, handles ok, a little bit too much on the nervous side. My biggest problem with the sx3 is setting it up... I have 1h30/week playtime with it and changing the sway bars , links etc is a real burden (and an extra option for the later). The belt drive is nice and silent but as they're not protected when I smell something hot/burning at the track I'm always thinking "that's it, something rubed the belts and cought fire, quick to the stop pit..." . And a little heavy (1688gr rtr)

Now I know that both these cars (and the previous ones I owned) are very good in the hands of champions but I wanted to know if one is better than the other in terms of reliability, ease of setting it up and perhaps easier to drive for somebody that has a rather smooth driving style. I'm the sort of driver that has the worst time lap but they're pretty consistent and if there's nobody barging into me I very rarely get off the track.

What information I gathered at the moment is that:
The xb4 is a very classic (boring?) setup easy to maintain, kit is a bit expensive and so are the spares but they probably last forever. A bit worrying is the fact that for exemple the new 2014 edition has changed many part such as the wishbones already ... Normaly the diff wear problem and chock tower fragility has been taken care of with the 2014 edition.
The dex410 seem to be tough (apparently not the first verisons?)and fairly cheap. Setting it up from the manual "seems" nearly as simple as the xb4 (apart the direction servo). There's very little spare room for the electronics.
In sum the thing that makes me lean towards the 410 at the moment is that it still wins some championships so it's extremely capable, it's cheap, easy to change the set up and looks good.

By the way in 2wd I have a TLR22 v2.0 and enjoy it a lot. The 22-4 I'm not interessed because of ball-diffs mainly and it's not due out before a few months apparently also in france (where I live) spare will come at least 1-2 months after the kit release witch I discovered at my expense with the 22 v2.0... The k1 is the same problems as for setting up the sx3 plus the sway bars and plates for the links position are not compatible, truly beautful car but by no mean practical. The yokomo and kyosho are a problem for spares here.

thank you again for your time a patience.

Also I'm french so sorry for the bad writing.

Jonathan

[AfroP]

If your choice is between the 2 cars I would choose the XB4
its a newer kit and you get more in the box.
it comes with diff oils in the box, and alloy front and rear hexes

I myself faced this decision earlier in the year and went with the XB4.


But i would also look at what other are running at your local track.
its no good getting a car that nobody runs as you will struggle with setups and parts.

[shannow95]

Thank you for your quick reply ,

Well to be honest at the moment 90-95% of the other people are running 2wd mostly 22's or Team C cars. The club is very small (10 guys per evenings max) we run only Tuesday nights for about 2h max in a gymnasium with 95% carpet 5% rubber. That's why for fine tuning I need a fast tuning car .

Usually for the setup I just take one of the champion's setup who has for carpet (in this situation), copy and adjust very little from there. The xray will probably run with the standard carpet setup for a while if I go for that one.

The xray is in favor of my local shop too when I asked them .

thank you again

Jonathan

[AfroP]

Your fellow country man reno savoya just put the xray into 3rd place at the EoS
Martin bayer the euro champ should also have some setups on petitrc

[shannow95]

thanks! .

I just had a look. They're using sometime really heavy duty sway bars (2.8mm!). edit: it must be a typo, 2.8mm is way too big and they don't list them.

Setting up the car I can live with it with two conditions :
-options not too expensive (xray are not really cheap at nearly 7€ the sway bar alone )
-easy access for fast changes

I think that I can use my sx3 springs sets. I'll probably have to machine the cups to accommodate them to the car (I have a lathe and miller at home).

Also it's a bit off topic but I'll get a new motor because I can't make the x12 6.5t work with my speed passion gt2.0. It's too unpredictable, the timing is very much on/off. Anyway I'm thinking of getting a hobbywing motor for the same esc (I already did this with the 13.5t on the 22 and it's soooo much better).
For a carpet gymnasium size carpet track would you recommend a 8.5t wind ?

Thanks again

[andoiwebb]

I've run an xb4 for most of the season, and apart from the free v2 upgrade pack that was sent to me I've used NOTHING in the way of spares. The only things I am going to replace before I sell it and get the 2014 version are the drive pins in the 4 driveshafts. It's also very easy to set up and doesn't need any hop ups. They've only changed the wishbones because they've made it more adjustable for wheelbase and to add stiffeners. I've run a couple of Durangos, very good cars, I needed to replace a few more things on them and found them more difficult to drive and set up. It's personal preference and somebody will have a completely different opinion to me somewhere!

[AfroP]

an 8.5T motor is fine in the XB4 as its a very quick car.

the springs from your losi will work on the xb4 shocks as will associated big bore springs
here in the uk a common setup is losi black springs in the front and associated grey at the back
but to be honest I tried that in-doors and went back to the xb4 kit springs

[shannow95]

I've pre-ordered the xb4 2014 with a 7.5t sp motor.

Thanks you so much for your help!

[neallewis]

Originally Posted by shannow95

I've pre-ordered the xb4 2014 with a 7.5t sp motor.

Thanks you so much for your help!

Good choice. You won't be disappointed.