Zx5 and RB5 ... Competative or not, current models or about to be replaced?

[RogerM]

Can anybody shed any light on how competative the ZX5 and RB5 cars are in the real world?

Are either about to be replaced?

The reason I ask is that I have a work collegue who is thinking of returning to racing after a break of 12 years or more and is wanting to pick up Kyosho cars as he always used to race them back in the day.

Will be doing regionals next year, maybe nationals the year after.

Looking for sensible information and opinions that I can pass on as I stopped racing 1/10th as these cars came to the market so I can't help him.

[Dan Cockill]

there is a "worlds" zx5 kit coming out early next year and a conversion to it from a standard zx5 coming out first, no idea of price or availability yet

[Scouser]

As for whether or not they are competitive, the North West regional 2wd was won by Stu Wood driving a Kyosho RB5, and the 4wd was won by Barry Wheldon driving a ZX-5. I managed to finish 8th also with a ZX-5. Great car, easy to work on, cheap parts available in loads of places and still (IMO) the best looking car out there.

[jim76]

i have to mirror Scousers comments.
I have both, and the ZX5 took me to 4th at the F3/4/5. I also made 2 regional A finals with the RB5 out of two this year and moved up to an F2.

The spares are peanuts and freely available. The shocks are the best out there, so smooth. The ZX5 has that real classis Kyosho optima look to it.
The RB5 has a few nifty features such as adjustable front kick up just by turning over a block etc. The ZX5 also comes with all the front diff/one-way options in the kit as standard.

The worlds kit will probably be a slight improvement, but very similar to a KMC conversion currently available.
If he intends to buy new then the ZX5 will need a few upgrades more for a reliability point of view, like alloy front brace etc. If he buys second hand then you can get a fully modded ZX5 with atomic carbon bits, alloy braces and shock towers and titanium screws for around £120-140 on ebay and here.

There is loads of build tips in the kyosho section, the main one being to shim the diffs slightly tighter than the manual to avoid stripping diff gears.

[Martin-Barbour]

I also have both an RB5 and ZX5 and agree fully with all of the previous comments.

I'm new to RC, started about 6 months ago so I can't really say I'm competative but the results for the cars above speak for themselves.

They are very easy to work on and spares are indeed very cheap and easy to come by.

The only negative thing I would say about the RB5 more so than the ZX5 is that there are very few people running them in comparision to some of the other cars. This means that if you're new to the sport and need help tuning your car to a particular track, specific set up advice can be hard to find.

That being said, if you do manage to bump in to someone else who runs one, like Stu Wood for example, then they always seem happy to help out.

Now to the sales pitch.....

I have a spare ZX5 which I'd be happy to sell if you're friend is interested.

Cheers

Martin

[woOdy]

I am always on here so please ask any questions or even PM me and I will try my best.

[RogerM]

Woody,

you have been a great help already .... however .. PM sent